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Winter squeezed his hand before turning to jog back into the abbey.
“You miss her,” Brie said as she watched him watch his former beta.
“I do. I’m happy for her, and she’s where she belongs, but I miss Winter’s wise counsel. She was never afraid to disagree with me and, being a woman, she often brought a different perspective to an issue. I think Scott will do well with my sister as his beta. They’re a good counterbalance to one another, and Windsong and its people are in good hands.”
“You don’t seem overly sad at having left Alaska.”
“I’m not, but then you have to remember, I’ve been working slowly and surely at building up St. Piran’s for the past several years.”
“Did you always know you would come here?” she asked.
“I did,” he answered, nodding. “There’s something about this place that always called to me. Even though I was born and raised at Windsong, from the moment I came here to heal, I knew this place was truly my home.”
“You never talk about it—what happened, I mean.”
“It doesn’t matter now. Let’s just say that thinking of you, feeling your presence, was what kept me alive. For me, all that remains of that time is the man it allowed me to become. I am content that perhaps it was one of those defining moments where everything shifts, and you are thrust onto a different path.”
“Do you really think you can lure Strode out and beat him?”
“I think it’s crucial we do just that. We need to make him commit and deal him a lethal blow. Whoever and whatever remains of the League after our first real confrontation needs to think twice before rearing its ugly head. I want them to lay low while we hunt them down one-by-one and kill them.”
“I agree. It’s not enough to take out Strode. We need to destroy the League once and for all.”
“You do know in time, some other iteration of the League will emerge.”
“Probably, but as you said, we can make them think twice. I only wish I believed that with the League removed, female shifters and humans will be safe.”
He took her hand and once again raised it to his lips. Brie had once found the gesture cloying and affected, but now she realized he only did it to those he held dear.
“I wish that with all my heart, but like you, I do not believe that will be how it plays out. I thought St. Piran’s might be able to serve as a home base for the Shadow Sisters. The legends about this place are incredible. The women who lived and worked here for more than a thousand years have provided sanctuary not only to themselves, but to the town. These walls have withstood Viking and Norman invasions and Henry the Eighth’s dissolution of religious houses throughout the kingdom.”
“He really was a bastard.”
“That he was, but my point was, this abbey has always been a fortress and a place where good triumphs over evil.”
“So what? You’d just give it to us?”
“No. That would only invite constant attacks by ambitious alphas looking to take you on. By establishing this place as my home and the place of my primary clan, I would hope to offer you and the Sisters some safety and a way to focus on getting help to those who need it.”
“No strings attached?” she asked, wryly.
“None. Would I like it if you finally gave in and followed your destiny…”
“My other destiny…”
“That’s just it, Brie, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. What’s to say my destiny being linked to yours doesn’t make the Sisters stronger?”
“Colby, could we not? Just until Strode attacks or Adriana goes north? Do you think she’ll be safe there?”
He nodded. “I take it you’ve never seen Castle Curaidh?”
“Only in pictures.”
“Trust me, pictures don’t do it justice. You should see this place from the sea; it is pretty awe inspiring, and it is nothing compared to Curaidh. I asked Maya to keep an eye out for Adriana. I think, as tired as we were, she was even more so.”
“I agree. I don’t think she’s had a chance to really come to terms with what’s happened to her. It may well be that St. Piran’s had the same effect on her as it did me.”
“What was that?”
