Shattered

21

"It's been said that love finds you when you're ready."

By James Patterson.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

"Well, I'm pretty glad that we're back to the colder climate." I commented breezily as I stared out our apartment's massive window—this month marked my last year of studying and then I would graduate at my last study location. I was excited and eager to finally complete a long, tedious chapter in my life—I wanted to go home and begin my career as an herbalist. The months since I left home have made a bigger impact on me then I would have liked—Deon frequented my mind. At first, I hated that Deon plagued my mind so much but after some time...I began to look forward to the days where I would see him again.

I didn't want to give myself false hope but...I couldn't help but to hope that somehow Deon and I would work. My wolf certainly hoped so, too. I wanted to see my first nephew as well. I had been in such a bad mood when I received a call from my mother stating that Emma had gone into labor and I hadn't been there to witness the birth of the family's first pup—Julian Scott (The middle name came from Emma's father) Bellemore. I continued to be in continuous foul mood's up until Emma sent me pictures of the beautiful, baby boy and I couldn't help but to be happy afterwards.

I even got a tiny smile from Natalie when I showed her the picture.

Natalie liked Emma—although Natalie seemed to think that my brother's were complete idiots—she really took a liking to Emma, I mean, who wouldn't? So, when Natalie saw the picture of Julian...her face softened and she got this dreamy look on her face.

Natalie would never admit but some part of her did want to find her mate and have pups one day. I mean, it appealed to most women, right?

Anyway, today marked the first snow-fall for Lauterbrunnen and we couldn't have been anymore excited for the long-awaited cold weather. The town would soon be blanketed in white powder and Natalie and I were waiting in our onesie's and a large pot of hot chocolate that was freshly made.

Kuma was slumbering, like always, on the bay window-still and on top of the large beast was...Toulouse—the gigantic Maine Coon that Natalie swore she hated. After that morning where I caught her feeding and petting Toulouse...Natalie later confessed a few days later that she had some weird connection with the feline and eventually when we were packing our things to move here to Lauterbrunnen...Natalie brought the feline along and eventually named him Toulouse—we had stuck to calling him Monster prior to making the decision to bring him along with us to Switzerland and then Natalie declared him a Toulouse because Monster didn't describe him at all.

Toulouse was a very affectionate and laid-back feline when he was with us but he seemed to be similar to Natalie—he hated everyone else in the world. It was funny, honestly, and I often tell Natalie that we should have named him—Nate—the male version of her name.

She would then proceed to try to kill me in training.

Toulouse was just like any other Maine Coon but his fur was a deep grey color—like the color of storm clouds and his eyes was a brilliant and vibrant shade of gold. It made his staring very creepy and unsettling but you got used to it. And stated previously, he was monstrous despite already being a Maine Coon.

He wasn't overweight at all but very large and fluffy.

Natalie was wearing her grizzly bear onesie with a book curled into her lap as she was brushing up on her Switzerland history. "Same here," Natalie responded as her eyes flickered across the pages in front of her, "Want to go to the hot springs later on? I bet it'll feel so good in this cold." She glanced up at me and grinned slyly.