Page 102 of Found in Obscurity

They were nowhere to be found.

His heart jolted and his eyes snapped open.

He looked down at his own hand again as he mentally counted how many hours he had been human. The rush of extra magic from finding the pathfinder room had sustained him during the day. Once the mating was over Kit had been expecting to wake up in his fox form, but he’d forgotten that as he’d rolled in the gentle surf of their bonding, letting the tide take him.

He was…free?

He felt stunned by the possibility.

Everything they’d shared last night and the effervescence of the tie that bound them irreversibly made him whimper. It had burned through his body and lit up his mind, eclipsing all else.

Kit blew out a shuddering breath, slipping out of Lorin’s hold and off the bed. His feet took him out of the bedroom and to the back door, sliding it open silently.

He let the chill of winter prick his naked body, raising gooseflesh all over that the sun did its best to wash away. He turned his face up to it, listening to the rustle of the trees as he reached for his fox.

The change was like sliding into a cool pool.

No longer did he fight or struggle. He wasn’t bound by anything but himself and what he had chosen.

He felt the connection between himself and Lorin, humming and solid. A tree that could not be felled, its trunk too strong, its roots too deep.

He raced into the snow on four paws, dashing through the undergrowth with his newfound freedom and crying it out. Creatures scattered at the noise, birds taking to the skies and pawprints left in the snow to signal retreats.

Kit crashed through all of them, rolling and hopping through drifts until ice clung to his whiskers and lashes, clumps sticking to his fur.

He hadn’t realized how chained and weighted he’d felt even in his fox form until the spell had been removed. He’d forgotten the joy of shifting because he wanted to, no vicious hand holding his scruff tightly.

He raced, heart beating fast, legs moving faster with no destination in mind.

But he always ended up home.

He skidded to a halt as he broke through the bushes that separated the garden from the forest and saw Lorin was standing there waiting for him.

He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, leaning against the frame of the open door with the muted glow ofa lamp behind him. A mug was between his decorated hands, steam curling up into the air.

He was the end of Kit’s path. The home to reside in. The place that would never waver.

Kit drew closer and Lorin smiled at him, beautiful and wide, his eyes sparkling from beneath his dark messy locks.

Kit reached for his human form and shifted on the way to him, watching Lorin’s eyes widen at the ease and grace of a shift without chains. His smile turned into open-mouthed awe as he realized.

Lorin hadn’t sent him any magic.

Kit didn’t need it anymore.

He approached Lorin on light feet, snow crunching and sifting between his toes until he was standing before him, shivering, but alight with boundless joy.

“How?” Lorin breathed.

Kit grabbed the mug from Lorin and set it at their feet before grasping Lorin’s slack hand in his. It was still warm from the heat of the ceramic.

Kit laced their fingers together and flipped them so their palms were showing, their marks side by side, like a tapestry woven together.

Lorin swallowed audibly. “The soulbond…”

Kit gave him a cautious glance from under his lashes. He knew that it must have been frightening. The idea of it had sent Lorin running from magic entirely once. Had caused him untold pain.

Lorin opened half of the blanket and used their joined hands to tug him in. His arm curled around Kit’s shoulders and the blanket wrapped him in heat. Kit tucked himself into Lorin’s neck, feeling Lorin shaking slightly as the bond between them thrummed and glowed, golden and alive.