AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come in.” She steps back to admit me, scanning me up and down.
She’s peering not at me, but at my altered magical signature. And I know exactly what she sees. “Thank you.”
“This ought to be interesting.” She gestures me to follow her until we stop in a cozy sitting room. When I sit on the sofa, palms sweating, she folds herself into a plush chair and stares unabashedly. “So… You finally found your mate, and you Called to her?”
Of course she can tell simply by looking at me. Everyone with the blasted fairy-dust gene can. “Yes, and she’s in danger because of it.”
“Is that why she has neither Bound to you nor Renounced you?”
“In part. It’s also why I’ve come to ask for your help. What I’m about to divulge, you can’t share with anyone.”
“I don’t keep secrets from my mate.”
“This doesn’t involve him, and I’m not here to threaten your bond.”
She scoffs. “Of course you’re not. You never tried to win me over in the first place, despite how mad I was for you.”
“I should have been more kind. I’m sorry.”
She arches another pale brow. “My, my. You’ve apparently learned a thing or two in the past few decades. Tell me what you need, and I’ll decide what to share with my mate.”
“The Wolvseys are cursed—all of us. We have no mating instinct. Or I was told that we don’t…”
After filling her in on the family history, she cocks her head and frowns. “So…you weren’t intentionally a prick?”
I’d love to lie, but… “No, I was. When we were…”
“Shagging?” she supplies.
I intended to put it more politely, but… “Yes. I had no interest in taking a mate then. That wasn’t fair to you.”
“You’re forgiven. We would have made an awful pair, and I found the perfect wizard for me, so everything worked out. But you didn’t come to apologize or share your family secrets. What do you need?”
Avalyn is a powerful witch who grew up on the fringes of dark magic. If anyone can watch over Kari unobtrusively while I address the threat, it’s her. “Can you pop into a little pub for the next few evenings and keep your eye on its owner? She’s human and…”
After I fill Avalyn in, she peers at me through a long silence. “You love her.”
“Yes, and I’m terrified.”
“I don’t know this Rhea witch, and I’m no fighter.”
“All I ask is that you watch over Kari temporarily. You don’t have do anything but contact me if something goes sideways.”
“Once upon a time, I would have loved to see you brokenhearted so you could understand how that feels.”
I try not to wince. “I deserve that.”
“But I’m not angry anymore. I’ll watch over Kari for a few days. Longer than that, and my mate, who is away on a family matter, will come home. He’s quite protective, and he will balk, especially once I give him my news…” Avalyn strokes her still-flat belly with a smile.
“You’re expecting a youngling?” I see it in her magical signature now. Faint, but there once I look for it.
She nods, looking giddy. “We’ve finally been blessed.”
I stand and shake my head. “Then I can’t ask this of you. I won’t put you at risk.”
“Nonsense. Sitting in a pub and watching the woman who managed to capture your black heart will be quite entertaining. Just…make her safe as quickly as possible.”
“You’re sure?”
