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“I’m fine, Kade.”
He almost argued, a retort ready, but his name on her lips stopped him in his tracks. He prepared Evelyn some stew, a few slices of barmbrack, and a single scone with butter. He sat next to her, plated his own dinner. It wasn’t lost on him that a week ago, they’d sat in similar places, before their world had unraveled. He’d been about to spill his secrets, and now he readied himself once more to admit something, make himself vulnerable.
“A witch taught me,” Kade said.
Evelyn stilled. “A witch?”
“After my mother died, each of my brothers and my father mourned differently. My mother and father were mates.”
Evelyn’s eyes flashed.
But Kade continued. “We all assumed my father would die, as most do after losing their mate. Instead, his health declined, but he didn’t succumb like other werewolves. Eldrick, my older brother, leaned into becoming the next Alpha and became consumed with it. My middle brother, who is a latent wolf, receded into himself, never leaving his books and potions.”
Kade paused, remembering Lorkan and those dark times. Rain continued outside, the sound a calming current urging him on.
“Guilt gripped me with an iron hand, and I turned to my duty. Training to fight the vampyr, but I also knew I’d one day marry you, binding my soul with another.” Kade set down his spoon, leaning back in his chair. “Werewolves take marriage seriously. I witnessed it with my parents, and yes, they were mates, so fate played a part, but they were partners. And I decided, if we were to defeat the vampyrs, our powers alone would not be enough. We would need to be a team, partners against the darkness.
“Except I knew nothing about witches and, of course, the Elders forbid us to meet each other, something I hated and respected. All the while, I kept thinking, if I could learn what it meant to be a witch or something about the magic of being a third-born, I could gain your trust. I traveled deep into the Vadon Mountains and found Carena, the first Daughter of the Goddess.”
Evelyn shook her head. “That’s not possible. Carena died. My tutors told me she hadn’t survived after her bond with Finton was severed.”
“They weren’t mates,” Kade said. He wanted to add, not like us, but refrained. “It’s true Finton died in a battle against the vampyr, but Carena lived for decades without him. Scáths eventually raided her village, and she died protecting her pack.”
Evelyn leaned back into her chair, picking at her scone. “So she stayed with his pack? She didn’t return to her coven?”
Kade sighed. “I gathered she preferred a quieter life. Carena and Finton had not been mates, but they had grown to love one another. She missed him every day, and I think a part of her didn’t want to leave a land that reminded her of him.”
“And the werewolves, Finton’s pack, never told anyone she’d lived?” Evelyn asked.
“No,” Kade said, shaking his head. “I think they respected her enough to let her live the rest of her life in peace.”
Evelyn sat up, swirling her spoon in her stew. “She taught you remedies like this?” She nodded at her arm.
Kade nodded. “I hoped that maybe, when we did meet, I’d know something about you to help understand you. Even if it was one thing. And I never expected anything from you. Carena told me she and Finton had become friends, and that over time friendship grew into love, and I hoped we’d at least find the same. But I’d settle for partners with the same goal, to defeat the vampyr, if that’s what it came to.”
Evelyn didn’t say anything, her brows furrowed. Kade listened to the hammering of her heart and feared he’d said something wrong. She suddenly stood, staggering a few steps as she did so.
“Evelyn—”
She moved before he could catch her, taking a few steps closer to the fire and bracing her hand on the mantle.
“Is that what you still want?” she whispered. “To be partners?”
Kade stood, joining her by the fire in two long strides. He cupped Evelyn’s cheek, making her look at him.
Words didn’t seem right for the moment.
The fire in the small apartment crackled beside them. The spilling rain surrounded them in a small sea town far from their homeland. The pounding of their hearts beat like thunder. Between them was the electric charge of what they were to one another, what they’d been through, and who they wanted to be.
So Kade kissed her.
His passion overrode reason, and he kissed her fiercely, like he hungered for her. Evelyn met his kiss, one hand grasping his tunic and pulling him to her, and the other hand threaded through the waves at the nape of his neck.
Kade gave her his answer with lips molding over hers, cupping her cheek as he kissed her. His hand found her waist, pulling close, and teasing his fingers on the start of her backside. As he parted her lips and explored deeper, drawing out gasps from his beautiful brave mate, Kade told her yes.
Yes, yes, and yes.
He wanted them to be partners, but also so much more. He’d never wanted anything more. It outmatched his duty, his hope to defeat the vampyr. Kade wanted Evelyn by his side. He wanted her in every way he could have her, and the new hope he harbored was that she would want him the same.
