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Gladly, Willow went ahead with her basket in hand and dress flowing behind her while she padded through the soft grass.
Even just watching her brought a calming sensation over me, and every worry I ever had seemed to fade away.
Making our way through the words together, a peaceful silence lingered between us before she asked quietly, “Did you see anything unusual on your watch?”
“No, fortunately,” I said, looking for protruding roots and sharp rocks hidden beneath the dirt. “There wasn’t anything.”
Willow nodded pensively, unphased by the ground as it turned rougher.
Recalling the change in myself since our night together, I couldn’t keep that detail to myself any longer.
“I do have some news, though,” I murmured, catching her attention at once.
She perked up at that and looked curious. “And what’s that?”
“After the club the other night, something changed for me. I’m able to shift again. I don’t know with absolute certainty what the source was, but I believe it was you,” I explained, swallowing back the dryness in my throat. “I think you helped coax it back out of me.”
Willow’s eyes brightened with shock, looking caught off-guard by it. But that shock melted into a more excited bewilderment. “Really? I thought it was gone completely.”
Shrugging, I knew I didn’t have any concrete answers, but I couldn’t ignore how genuinely moved she seemed by it. “I did, too, but maybe it was just so dormant that nobody could sense it?”
“I didn’t sense any change until I read your aura the other day,” she said, looking bewildered by it all. “Have the others smelled it on you?”
Shaking my head, I glanced over at her while we walked. “Not that I know of.”
“Maybe the bond was enough to awaken it, but it isn’t prominent enough to be detected easily,” she suggested, looking intrigued by the idea.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”
Her eyes grew like saucers at the realization. “Maybe it’s the key to helping the others! What if the curse can be broken by uniting fated mates?”
While it was a good thought, the logistics of such a thing didn’t seem all that manageable. I couldn’t help but find it amusing. “Doing so might be difficult to achieve for multiple reasons.”
Remembering herself, Willow blushed. “You’re right about that.”
I’m not sure how organizing a fated mate matchup in Rose Valley would blow over with Kai and the others.
“I don’t know if it was a fluke or just plain lucky, but I’m glad it happened,” I said, aware of that surge of normalcy as it ran through my veins. “I feel so much better. Everything around me is different now, and I hope all the shifters in my group get the relief they need, too.”
Willow smiled at my relief. “I’m glad. I hope Soren has an answer for you soon. Are you going to tell Kai about it?”
“I’ll have to eventually, but I don’t want it to cause any problems in the meantime.”
“In case Finn decides to challenge you?” She asked with a knowing look.
I scoffed. “Is he always so quick to anger?”
Willow shook her head, rounding a tree trunk so wide that I didn’t think I’d be able to wrap my arms around it. “He’s been acting strangely recently, but no. Ever since he married River, he changed a lot, but this isn’t normal for him.”
Wondering why that might be, I only hoped that Kai could keep him in line long enough for us to figure our mess out.
Before long, excitement spread across Willow’s face as she spotted a nearby stream and placed her wicker basket in the long grass that bordered it.
I tried to stifle my laugh as she hoisted up the hem of her dress and dipped her feet in without thinking twice.
“The water’s perfect!” She called back to me, crouching slightly as she examined the rocks around her.
Willow reached into the water when she found ones she liked, then kept them in her hands and continued scanning the creek bed. She often brought them up to the light to see how they glimmered and sparkled.
