AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Within minutes, Weyland is snoring loud enough to shake the rafters, but it’s a familiar, comforting sound that has me snuggling into my fur to keep warm. When my eyes close, however, my mind wanders once more, remembering the fear on the naga’s face and the men joking about what they would do to her.
What about Cora?
Can I truly abandon her? She never abandoned me, but saving her wouldn’t be easy if I traveled that path.
It would mean going back to a place I vowed I would never return to. It would mean leaving the safety of our cabin and the life I have found here. And what if she’s fine? Then I would have faced all that for nothing. What if it’s just a few odd hunters we have already dispatched?
“Sleep, little oblivion. Your problems will still be there tomorrow.” Rook’s voice is soft in the dark, a warmth that eases some of the tension.
The command in the shadows has me softening into my bed, and as Rook wraps his darkness around me, holding me in those comforting shadows, my mind relaxes long enough for me to fall into slumber.
No nightmares plague me that night.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
WEYLAND
Kai is different today. She wakes with the sun, but instead of us forcing her from the cabin, she skips out of it. She reaches for my hand over breakfast, and there is something unguarded about the smile she gives me as we collect firewood. There was always a shadow there before, but now the shadow follows her. Rook is unable to leave her side, and something about having him there seems to have given her some confidence—or maybe it is the fact that he forced her to face her demons.
I don’t know, but what I do know is that Kai looks happier than I’ve ever seen her. She appears unburdened, at least a little.
We fall into our routine and, surprisingly, Rook fits in well. He helps Kai with her chores before helping Kaito with the crops. It’s as if he were always here, as if we were always meant to find her and be together. My eyes go back to her, and I realize we were.
She called us together. She made us a family.
The monsters nobody wanted.
The nightmares of even our own land.
The wanderers, the loners, and the lost.
Kai is the same, and maybe that’s why we fit so well. I do not care about the whys, though, only the now. Kai is mine, and when she walks past me, grinning widely at me, I know my future is bright with her at my side.
For the first time in a long time, I have a family.
I have a mate, and I have a future.
“The manI saw in your memories,” Rook suddenly says, breaking the silence as we eat dinner. “Who was he?”
We all freeze, our eyes swinging to our Kai, ready to protect her. Her spoon clinks against the side of the bowl as she raises her gaze to his.
“The one in the fields with you,” Rook clarifies.
When she blows out a breath, her shoulders relaxing, we all sigh in relief. We thought he meant the king, the one who hurt her. No matter who he is, I won’t allow Rook to upset mybaccalike that.
“Oh, that’s Merryl,” she whispers softly. “My ex.”
“Ex?” My head tilts to the side, and she grins at me.
“You’re adorable,” she remarks, making my eyes widen. Clearing my throat, I ignore the wagging of my tail behind me. When it’s clear I still want to know more, she slumps a little. “Someone I dated.”
“Dated?” Kaito asks, puzzled like me.
Humming, she scoops another spoonful of stew as she seems to contemplate how to explain. “Unlike monsters, we don’t know our mates. We find them. We often date, which means we get to know someone we like. If we are compatible and happy, then we marry.”
“And you and he dated?” I want to growl. I’m pretty sure I show some teeth.
