AN: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, so far! Here is chapter six, which is the longest thus far. Enjoy!
Chapter Six – Beginnings of a New Life
From the day she arrived at her new home, Claire's life changed completely. No longer did she have endless lessons, the point of which were to make her what her mother called a "proper" young lady. No longer did she have to be watched every second of the day. She was considered an adult now, and had the freedom of an adult. She could do whatever she chose, whenever she chose to do it. All twenty-four hours of the day were hers to fill as she pleased.
Her new family was considerably more relaxed than her parents and sister had ever been. They always made her feel completely at ease and at home with them. She felt so welcome, as if she had always been a part of the family.
They were so relaxed; in fact, that it seemed a day did not pass in her new home without two of the siblings ending up in some kind of wrestling match. Claire was both shocked and amused to find out that even Leah participated in these bouts of rowdiness, just as much as any of her brothers did. And, on top of that, she was quite good at it too.
At first, Quil had been worried that his siblings would scare his fragile-looking wife with their playful violence. Instead, the young woman just laughed in amusement, and even went so far as to encourage her in-laws' antics. This was especially the case whenever Jacob was involved, as he was the most at ease of all the family members and Claire.
Things between Quil and Claire were perfect. They spent every moment of every day together, the only exceptions being when Quil would go and "patrol" the villages around the castle. She didn't know why they did this, but all of the siblings, again, even Leah, participated in this activity. She didn't mind; she was usually asleep by the time he left, and he always came safely back to her before she awoke.
One thing she had learned about her new husband was that Quil loved to spoil her. One day when he had discovered Claire's love of riding, he promptly bought her a beautiful bay colored mare. The girl had, at first, protested against her husbands' ostentatious gift, but he had just given her a smile and told her; "This is nothing in comparison to what else I have for you."
True to his claim, one night Quil brought her to a room she'd never been in before. Inside were so many wrapped packages that she couldn't count them. Her breath had caught in her throat at the sight.
"They're all the presents I got you for your birthdays and Christmases, that I could never give to you," he explained, and Claire had nearly cried at the thoughtfulness of it all.
"Thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, showering her husband's face with kisses, before pressing her lips feverishly to his.
Quil had chuckled at the reaction of his young wife. "You haven't even opened them," he teased, and she grinned.
"I don't need to," she responded. "I know I'll love them because you gave them to me."
And indeed she did. There were too many gifts to count, all of them beautiful, and only some of them practical. Quil reveled in the delight of watching her eyes light up with the opening of each new package, fourteen years of collecting, wondering what she would think, proving to be well worth the wait.
During the day, the two would do all sorts of things together. They would ride their horses far out into the country, or spend hours reading to one another. Quil introduced Claire to the beach, and taught her how to swim. They walked in the gardens, and helped Emily in the kitchen. But no matter what they did, they were happy.
One day, while in the library, Claire came upon a strange book. It was obviously very old, the paper a must yellow color, and the brown leather cover very faded. It was barely legible, but Claire was able to make out the words "Quilete Legends" across the spine.
Her curiosity was peaked by that. Her husband and family were Quilete, she knew, so she took the book with her to her favorite window seat and began to read as rain spattered against the glass pane beside her.
The stories, which were held within the pages of the book, fascinated her, and before she knew it, she had read them all. Quil had never spoken to her about these legends and she wondered how many of them he knew. Secretly she wondered if any of them were true, but she doubted it. She finally decided to ask her husband about it later, and taking the book with her, returned to their chambers.
Quil came in later that night, soaked from head to toe, to find his wife already sleeping on their bed. He smiled happily to himself as he looked at her – she looked like such an angel – before he bent over to kiss her softly on the lips.
Her eyes slowly opened, and a smile spread across her face. "Quil," she murmured, as she usually did, sitting up and wrapping her arms around him. She abruptly let go, however, when she realized he was so wet. "You're soaked!" she exclaimed, laughing.
Quil grinned. "Yes, well, I was outside," he explained. "I'm going to take a bath."
"Okay, I'll come in when you're ready," Claire responded.
This was a usual thing for them. Although their physical relationship had not progressed past kissing, Claire liked being in the room while he bathed. He was always a perfect gentleman about it, staying turned so that she wouldn't see anything she wasn't ready to see.
Quil retreated to their bathing chamber, using the furnace, which was located there to heat his water. Once that was all settled, and he was inside, he called to Claire that it was safe for her to come in.
The girl wandered in, looking adorably tousled in her nightgown, with her long hair spilling down her back, and settled comfortably onto the bench they'd placed in there. From her seat she was perfectly positioned to admire her husband's muscular body, and for not the first time she felt desire for him, but they were still waiting to take their relationship further.
"Did you have a nice day?" Quil asked as he relaxed in the hot water.
"I found an interesting book," Claire responded, her voice indicating that this was an affirmative answer.
"Oh yeah? What about?" her husband asked.
"The Quilete legends," Claire responded, and was surprised to see her husband's shoulders tense. Was that something she wasn't supposed to have gotten into? No one ever said anything about it being off-limits.
There was a long pause before Quil finally spoke. "Claire, that's something I'd like to talk about with you, but it's going to have to wait until I get out of the bath," he explained, his voice strained.
Claire didn't understand why he needed to get out of the bath to talk about his family's legends, but her husband hardly ever asked her to do anything unless it was important.
"Okay," she responded, feeling very unsure of what was going on.
"I won't be long, sweetheart," Quil stated, and relief flooded through her. For a moment, she had feared he was angry with her. But she had never actually seen Quil angry, now that she thought about it, and she didn't know what that would be like.
"Okay, I'll be in our room," Claire responded, leaving her husband to wash and dry and dress. She shut the door behind herself, and went to lie back down on the bed. She must have fallen asleep, because it seemed like the next thing she knew, Quil was climbing in with her and pulling her close.
"Hi," she whispered with a smile. "You're all done."
"Yes, I am," he responded, laying down on his side to face her. Claire mirrored him, turning onto her side as well.
"Are you ready to talk?" he asked, and she nodded. "Good. I wanted to be out here because I wanted to be able to see your face," he explained.
She looked at him in confusion but he didn't explain. "I know the book you found," he instead went on to say. "I've read it so many times, I could probably repeat passages from it to you. How much of it did you read?"
Claire blushed. "All of it. It was really interesting and I felt like I was learning about you; about your family," she explained.
"Our family," he corrected, watching her smile. "And you know you can ask me anything that you want to know."
"Is it true, then?" Claire blurted out, before covering her mouth with her hand for saying such a silly thing. He was going to think she was stupid for imagining he could turn into a wolf.
He looked at her strangely; not as though he thought she was stupid, just as though she had confused him. "The idea doesn't…terrify you?" he asked.
She blushed. "I guess it probably should, but, no, it doesn't. Why does it matter? Does that mean it's true?" she asked again, this time with excitement in her voice.
He just stared at her, now really confused. "Claire, why doesn't that scare you?" he asked in surprise.
"Well, the book said you only turned into a wolf to protect your family, and I'm your wife, so I think that makes me family," she gushed, her cheeks horribly red.
He laughed at that point, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. "Claire, you're more than family. You're my life," he explained, leaning over to kiss her pretty lips. She laughed into the kiss, which was short, but tender.
"So, can I see?" she asked with excitement.
"See me turn into a wolf?" Quil asked in disbelief. He couldn't believe this was really happening. Claire nodded, and he thought for a moment. Well, she had guessed for herself, but she was going to want proof eventually… "You can see me as a wolf, but you can't watch me change.
Claire pouted, which had to be the most adorable thing Quil had ever seen. "Why not?" she asked.
He laughed. "Because I have to take my clothes off to change," he replied gently.
"Oh, okay," she responded, embarrassed.
He got up from the bed and walking into their bathing chamber. Claire leaned up slightly on the bed, and heard a loud cracking sound. For a moment she as scared, and almost jumped off the bed to see what had happened, when the biggest wolf she had ever seen bounded into the room.
She knew she should have been afraid of the chocolate colored creature. He was easily as big as a horse. For some reason that made her think of climbing onto his back and riding through the castle halls. The thought made her giggle and then, to her surprise, the wolf opened his mouth and laughed with her. It was the strangest sound she had ever heard, and it made her laugh even more. And then the wolf jumped up on the bed – lucky everything in the castle was so sturdy, and now she understood why! If he had jumped onto a normal bed, he would have broken it – and proceeded to lick her face.
"Oh, Quil, EW! You're drooling on me!" she exclaimed, pushing him away with a laugh. "If you want a kiss, you're going to have to go turn back into a person, please."
Suddenly the wolf was gone, and her husband was back, sweeping her into his arms and spinning her around. Claire giggled, allowing him to pull her into a sweet kiss. When they broke apart, each was grinning.
"You have no idea how much better I feel now that you know," he insisted. "I kept worrying. I was so afraid you were going to hate me, or be scared of me."
"I could never hate you, you're my husband," Claire replied happily, her arms wrapped around his neck as he held her in the air.
"Good," he replied, kissing her again, before walking them back to the bed and allowing them both to fall onto it, Claire still cradled gently in his arms.
"It must be…amazing. Being able to turn into a wolf like that," she murmured, and he nodded the affirmative. "How long have you been able to do it?"
"About fourteen years. Actually, I met you shortly after the first time I phased," he explained. "Which reminds me. Do you remember our wedding?"
"Of course!" Claire exclaimed. As if she could forget!
"Do you remember how you asked me about how I knew you were perfect, even though we'd only really just met?" he continued.
"Yes. You said I wouldn't understand," she responded with a frown. "And I still don't."
"It's part of the wolf thing," he said. "When I saw you when you were two years old, well, don't get me wrong, but I knew then that you were my mate. It's called imprinting, and it just means that I knew then that one day, I would want to marry you, that I would love you forever, and that you would always be the most important thing in the world to me."
"Oh," Claire responded, her eyes wide. "Is that all?"
Quil smiled and laughed. Claire laughed too, but her laugh turned into a yawn. It was late.
"Bed time?" she asked, her blue eyes suddenly adorably sleepy.
"Yes, I think so," Quil agreed, allowing his wife to climb into her usual place in his arms. With another yawn, she snuggled up against her husband, and after a brief goodnight kiss, the two drifted off to sleep.