Shackled (The Lord Series) by Amy T

213. Olivia - Gifts IV

My eyes fill with tears.

Mother and daughter finally reunited.

The two horses almost look alike. If not for the white spots all over Speckles' back, she would be identical to her filly, who is all black.

"Can I?" I ask, wanting to get close to the stall.

"Just a few more steps. The filly arrived today and Speckles might be a bit overprotective with her."

I nod. "I understand. I would be the same if... I was... in her position." Looking at Ansel, I ask, "How did you find her?"

"Through the family of her old owner. But the fucking bastards didn't want to let her go without a substantial amount of money, so I had Rin help me convince them to give her to us without much fuss."

Ansel means that he and Rin tortured that poor family. Typical of the Lords. But on the other hand, it made Speckles happy. "I hope you did pay them something."

"They are lucky we let them conserve their lives after they took pleasure in abusing animals. Speckles wasn't the only one," Ansel lets me know.

the right thing." While I would love to

says. "The filly is

gaze goes to the stall before it goes to Mose, then to Jasper, and lastly, it stops on Ansel's face. "Mine?" I surely heard him wrong. Who in their right mind would give me something so...

such an expensive gift, but when it comes

would not have known about the filly. I

and I throw myself into Ansel's arms. I still can't find the right words to express how... I feel right now. But Ansel seems to understand me. His arms lock

brought some joy to

wrong.

I want to enjoy simple things before I die? Not that a filly is a simple thing,

to spend time with her as much

Could the bond with Ansel protect me? But when he made love to me, we were already bonded, and the pain was so intense I fainted. Could it be that the bond was too fresh? So many questions swarm inside my head, but I have no one to ask for answers. I bet Wasp would know,

hugging Jasper. "You will have

he always ends up lifting me up from the

not little,"

are," Jasper

Jasper puts me down, I turn to Mose. "I'm sure you'll find a new goat soon to keep to Juniper company." Mose laughs, and I wrap my arms around him. "I thought the perfect surprise didn't exist. Until now." Mose grabs my face between his palms, his brown eyes staring into mine. "Jasper was right. You do have stars in your eyes." What a strange thing to say.

horse. Speckles and her filly seem to embrace each other. While I wish to stay right here and watch them until I no longer can keep my eyes open I want to give Jasper and Mose what they want a bond. It might not be something that I want, but them doing such a nice gesture to me deserves to be rewarded. It's more than a nice