"Fall in love with someone who is both your safe place and your biggest adventure."
~Blanca Sparacino
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Five months later...

Elsa

While I knew white heather was rare, I still hoped it would be as easy of a find as the peonies in Spain and the chamomile in Germany were. I was hoping that some God, somewhere, was taking our side in this silently declared war and helping us, but no. We'd been searching since late July for white heather, and no matter where we looked, we couldn't see it anywhere. We were at our wit's end by the middle of September, especially knowing we only had a couple weeks before our timeframe disappeared until next year.

We sat in a small patch of grass next to a calm loch surrounded by a valley of purple heather. Despite our low morale, we found it difficult to be upset with such beautiful scenery. I leaned back on my hands, enjoying the shockingly sunny, slightly breezy day, a far cry from the usual dreary, rainy, and windy weather.

I glanced at the medium cliff nearby, a great vantage point for surveying the land and searching for the elusive white heather. I pushed myself up and meandered my way up the rock cliff. I heard someone trailing behind me; it turned out to be Spencer.

"What are you doing?" he asked, coming to stand next to me at the top of the cliff. It wasn't too far of a drop down, but it was enough that if either of us went over, we'd probably break a bone or two. I made sure to keep a conservative distance away from the edge.

"Praying for a miracle and hoping I can see white heather in this valley somewhere," I replied, scanning the area with such intensity I was giving myself a headache.

"You'd think we would've found it by now. I'm getting worried we won't. It's been a month and a half with nothing but pictures of white heather." Spencer rubbed the back of his head, surveying the land with me.

"We still have two weeks left. Maybe we'll get a miracle. Where are the binoculars?" Spencer handed them to me, and I slowly panned over every inch and crevice of the valley we resided in. About a mile down the loch and just around the corner of a hill, I saw what appeared to be part of an abandoned castle. I pointed it out to Spencer and asked, "Want to go explore it? Just the two of us?"

"Would I ever say no to an opportunity to explore an abandoned castle and maybe get up to no good with you?"

I grinned. "No."

"Exactly. But how are we going to avoid having the others follow us?"

"Follow my lead." I led us back down to our pack and said, "Hey, Spencer and I are going to follow the left bank of the loch and see if we can miraculously find the heather. Since we're running low on time, if you all want to search too, I say we split up. Cover more ground faster, and meet up here in an hour or two?"

My pack agreed without question. Spencer bit back a smile. He and I shifted and trotted alongside the loch's black waters, our eyes searching wildly for the white heather but seeing nothing but purple. At least I had the castle to look forward to.

The mile passed quickly, and within fifteen minutes, we were at the abandoned castle. It'd fallen into disrepair, and I doubted it'd been inhabited in at least a hundred years, but I didn't care. I was thrilled to explore it. Who knew what history lay in there?

Spencer reached the doorway first. A rusty padlock tried to stop us, but with a quick, powerful yank, my boyfriend ripped it off and tossed it to the side. He swung the door open and stepped inside with me on his heels. We quietly meandered through the castle in respect of the building's undisturbed peace. Parts of the wooden ceiling had collapsed, allowing us to see up into the room above. In the center of the first room resided a large hearth, the stone still scorched from fires past. A long wooden table sat in front of it. I wondered if this had been either a kitchen or a dining room.

Spencer and I entered the next room, which resembled a wide, elongated hallway. Wood paneling lined the walls, and upon closer inspection, I could see it once used to be elegantly detailed.

"I wish we could've seen what this place looked like in its prime," I said softly, turning in slow circles. I could see the iron chandeliers above alight with flames, lighting up the room for the guests to dance, sing, and be merry. I could see the castle's laird sitting at the high table at the end of the room, watching his guests enjoy their night.

Quiet, ethereal music played behind me. I turned around to find Spencer setting his phone down on an abandoned table. He then held out his hand to me, which I willingly took. As he pulled me flush against him, I realized I recognized the song.

"Is this from Outlander? Dance of the Druids?" I asked.

"Nailed it. I think it's fitting for the abandoned castle," he replied, swiftly leading me into a smooth dance all over the hall as the music built up to its faster pace. I was spun, dipped, and lifted into the air to the beat of the song. For the next few minutes, I forgot about my troubles, woes, and the Controllers and lived in the moment.

When the song ended, I stood on my tiptoes and intended to give my boyfriend a quick peck on the lips, but he deepened the kiss in a flash. Before I knew it, my back was pressed against the wood paneling with Spencer's hands roaming down my hips and to the backs of my legs. Without a word, I looped my arms around his neck and jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist. He moved his mouth from my lips, trailing kisses down my neck.

I wanted to do so much more than have a hot make-out session in the abandoned castle, but a howl caught our attention. We both groaned in dismay. Spencer set me down and muttered, "My brother has the worst timing."

I gave him a peck on the lips. "We can continue this later. We should probably see what they're calling us about."

"Fine, but I'm holding you to that."

"Yeah, well, don't fall asleep the moment you get into bed tonight," I said, shooting him a teasing smirk over my shoulder as I stepped outside.

"That happened one time!" Spencer protested. "Never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"No. I like getting you all riled up."

"Remind me why I started dating you again?"

"Because you love me and couldn't stay away even though our relationship was considered an abomination to our old packs?"

Spencer sighed. "Oh, yeah."

I stopped, hearing the disappointment in his voice. "What's the matter?"

His heart skipped a beat. "Nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Spencer. I know you."

My boyfriend hesitated, then sighed. "I don't know, I just... I know you've been expecting me to propose ever since I mentioned it, but I always wanted to go about it the right way and get your parents' approval. I know it's impossible and that they'll never say yes unless Hell freezes over or something, but-"

"Hey, look at me," I said, looping my arms around his neck. "You propose to me when you're ready. If you want to wait until you get my parents' approval, then you wait until that happens. If you want to wait until you feel the time is right, then do that. I'll be here when and if you're ready. I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

Spencer smiled softly at me. "I know."

"Good. In the meantime, I say we finish getting these ingredients, find a way to destroy the Controllers, and then go live our lives without fear of being hunted. What do you say?"

"I say let's not waste any time, then." Spencer leaned down and kissed me. "I love you."

"And I love you." The two of us then shifted into wolves and raced as fast as we could back to camp once we heard Dom howl for a second time. Upon arrival, we found Anna, Dom, and the rest of our pack standing around a pot with-

"White heather!" I exclaimed, rushing next to my twin's side. "You found it!"

"Yeah!" Anna replied, equally as enthusiastic. "Dom nearly rolled from the top of the mountain into the loch to find it, but we got it!"

"That's amazing!"

"Show us which mountain," Spencer said, smirking. "I want to see which one Dom nearly fell down."

Dom flipped his brother off but replied, "You have to get up on the cliff ledge to get the best view of it."

"Say no more." Without a word, Spencer started moving up to the ledge, dragging me in tow. I wanted to question what was so important about seeing this mountain but decided against asking. Spencer's answer would probably confuse me rather than clarify the situation.

We stood at the cliff's edge, and Spencer pointed at the mountain in the distance. "I think that's it. Here, use the binoculars to see if you find any more white heather. If so, I say we get it for backup."

I took the binoculars from him and zeroed in on the mountain. "I don't see anymore up there," I said, lowering the binoculars. "See if you can-"

I cut my sentence abruptly when, in the light of the setting sun, I found Spencer next to me on one knee. He held open a small, red velvet box with a glittering diamond ring inside it. The binoculars slipped from my hand.

Spencer smiled nervously. "I wanted to wait until we reunited our packs somehow, but after today, I realized I don't want to wait for the opinions of others. I love you, and nothing and no one will ever change that. It would be the greatest honor to be your husband. Elsa Felicity Laroche, will you marry me?"