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He didn’t have the large, boisterous personality of some of the mastyrs like Jude of Kellcasse or Ethan of Bergisson. He was more like Gerrod in that he ruled with a stoic, dedicated drive that overshadowed everything else in his life.
More than all the other ruling mastyrs, Seth lived an almost solitary existence. He rarely had any of his Guardsmen over to his house for social reasons, not even Aaron. And though he had a small apartment in the southern plains of his realm, he only stayed there if he was caught out patrolling near dawn and couldn’t get back to his Shauck Gorge home. And this dwelling was tens of miles away from the nearest town.
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He stood almost six-seven, something she loved because she was just shy of six foot herself. She’d be very comfortable in his arms, his kissable lips only inches away.
Of course this thought brought her back to her surroundings because she tried very hard to keep her personal fantasies, like longing for Seth’s arms, and yes, his bed, from affecting her professional relationship with him.
She cleared her throat and looked away from him. She clasped her hands tightly together behind her back in hopes that he wouldn’t notice her renewed trembling. To say she had a thing for Mastyr Seth was like saying the moon was round.
Her gaze drifted through the north-facing window of the breakfast nook and landed on the snow-crusted, steel railing that ran the length of the broad, wrap-around porch. Seth’s home was an amazing architectural wonder. He’d hired one of the Nine Realms’ leading architects to design a modern structure that could hang off the side of the granite-based gorge. The result was a single-story, elegant structure of dark wood and black steel supports, suspended two hundred feet above the Athalia River. She’d come to love the dynamic house, as much a representation of the owner as it was his permanent dwelling.
The shifter part of her relationship with him was simple; she knew Seth as her pack and she doubted that would ever change. But the fae part of her savored what was complicated and had fallen hopelessly in love with him.
Seth, however, hadn’t exactly taken to her presence and he definitely didn’t appreciate her being his bodyguard but he was right. She had no battle experience nor the physical strength to fight off an attacker.
But Queen Rosamunde had commanded Lorelei to serve as his bodyguard, and that was enough for her. And perhaps to some degree, enough for Seth, since he always permitted her to track him through the night. He was a man of the law and he obeyed the queen. At the same time, he didn’t hide the fact that he’d petitioned Rosamunde to have Lorelei removed from his service.
Her gaze traveled beyond the railing to the view of Defiance Falls in the distance. She could hear the falls though they were a half-mile away.
The view was exquisite, of the mountains and forest blanketed with snow. Rosamunde may have had her own reasons for sending Lorelei to Walvashorr, but Lorelei had never been happier. She loved the forest, the falls, the fast-moving frothy river below, and especially her new life serving Mastyr Seth.
She stood up a little straighter, proud that she was finally making a contribution to her world instead of living a half-life on the run as she had for the first ninety years of her existence.
Maybe she lacked traditional Guardsman credentials, but her faeness, always dipping into the future, told her that she would one day be of great use to Seth.
He hung up his phone and drew close, searching her eyes. “You do understand that I worry like hell every night you traipse along beside me?”
“I know. But the realm part of me understands that I’m supposed to be here.”
“I’m still petitioning the queen because I believe you put yourself at risk every time we head out.”
Again, she straightened her shoulders. “For as long as it lasts, I’ll serve as your bodyguard.”
She couldn’t say the rest—that she’d lay down her life for him, or for the queen who’d made her new life possible. Queen Rosamunde had taught her the layered enthrallment skills that now protected her from Margetta.
Even if Lorelei hadn’t had a deep attraction and very realm-like commitment to Mastyr Seth, she would have remained at his side simply out of loyalty and gratitude to Rosamunde.
He switched suddenly to telepathy, a sure sign he was ready to go out on patrol. You intend to shift to wolf anytime soon?
Did she detect a slight curve of the mastyr’s lips? Was it possible Seth was teasing her? She’d been seeing more of this side of him over the past two weeks. Just waiting on you, mastyr, but you sure are chatty with Aaron these days.
Chatty? You’re calling me chatty?
She grinned. If the boot fits--
He passed by her and opened the door, holding it wide for her. Let’s go, bodyguard.
Lorelei nodded as her heart thrummed with excitement. The few short weeks she’d been doing this had given her a love of the shifter-side of her genetics that she’d never really explored before, of embracing her wolf-side and running. Previously, she lived in her fae form, but, Sweet Goddess, how she loved to run.
In a swift blur of intention and movement, she became a wolf. Her clothes were absorbed as part of the incredible process so that later, when she shifted back to full fae form, she’d be dressed as before, in full winter gear, furry boots and all.
It was damn cold in the Shauck Mountains, so despite her shifter metabolism, she was grateful she’d be running most of the night.
She ran past him and by habit bounded up the incline toward the mastyr’s favorite launch-point at the top of the steep ridge behind his house.
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