Page 2 of Hexes & Heartstrings (Shifters of Bastion Keep #2)

"It's the Blue Caves, westernmost anchor," he declared, and the room broke out into excited murmurs.

He raised a hand, quieting the room. "We'll have three packs investigate the incursion, one pack on patrol, and one pack reinforcing the keep and our new garrison troops.

Any trainees that have been identified as taking part in today's mission, find someone of your pack for orders.

We'll leave in five hours. For now, pack leaders to me. "

Bruin navigated around the amassed guardians, trying to reach his mate so he could share a few words, but found himself blocked when he was only a few short yards away.

"Sergiy!" he called.

His mate turned, and for a moment the young, dark-haired lord's usually solemn face brightened.

But then it was like a curtain fell across it, and Bruin saw the difference as Sergiy settled into his role as warlord.

Bruin was given an apologetic shrug of a shoulder, and then Sergiy was swallowed up by the surrounding guardians, divvying out assignments and making plans as required of his position.

Bruin sighed, then turned around, looking for where he'd glimpsed his coven. Time to get to work.

Ten minutes later, after coordinating with his fellow witches and receiving his own tasks from High Priest Roland, Bruin stepped out of the Hall to a quieter location and waited.

As he'd hoped, he soon saw the approaching figure of his other boyfriend, Russell, who'd sniffed him out.

A big man with freckles and red hair, big like a rugby star but without even a shred of aggression that would allow him to play, having him nearby always felt like having a warm sun shining on him.

"Hey, handsome," Bruin said as he accepted a hug from the gentle giant, burying his face between his boyfriend's pecs while being mindful of his own tusks.

"I was kind of hoping for the day off, but I guess it's incursion time instead, so now I've got to spend the rest of the day preparing for a ritual. "

Russell laid a heavy hand on his head, patting him consolingly, but didn't say anything, as he usually didn't.

Bruin took in a breath and considered, then looked up.

"Want to help?"

◆◆◆

"This should do it," Bruin said, carefully adding in four drops of scented oil to a shallow bowl. He did a final stir of the clay-based body paint, releasing a woody scent of spruce into the room, then handed the bowl to his boyfriend. "Ready?"

Had Russell been in his werewolf form, Bruin was sure that he'd be seeing his tail wagging nonstop. As it was, his oversized grizzly bear of a beau merely nodded his head, his beard and body hair glinting in the room's lamp light.

"Yes. Thank you for letting me help."

Bruin stood up on his tiptoes, lifting his head, and Russell obliged him by giving him a quick kiss. His burnished red beard split open into a dopey smile, and Bruin took a last chance to touch his cheek before they got underway.

"There's nobody else I'd rather have painting my naked body," he quipped.

Bruin stepped away from his work desk and its pile of herbs and pigments, closer to the center of his living quarters so that Russell could have the space to work. His boyfriend looked one last time over the simplistic diagrams Bruin had drawn for him, then followed.

Dipping a pair of thick fingers into the bowl, Russell began tracing white lines on Bruin's skin. It began with parallel lines on either side of his heart, then radiated outwards.

Chest, belly, and back. A tree motif, with branches on his arms, and then roots traced down to his bare feet.

White paint to prepare Bruin for a magical ritual, suitable to his Green witch talents.

As he knelt before him, Russell playfully licked the tip of his penis before adding a carefully painted line down his shaft.

After finishing with Bruin's legs and feet, Russell dipped both thumbs into the bowl, then set it aside. Stepping close enough that Bruin's rising member began poking him in the kilt, Russell painted a radiant sun on his forehead.

And then last, heedless of the paint, Russell gripped Bruin by the chin and kissed him.

"Smells nice," Bruin said when he was finally freed. "But I'm going to need to wipe that off, now."

Russell used a paint-free finger to tap him on his tusks, not looking at all apologetic.

Grinning fondly, Bruin bent over and picked up one of his dirty shirts off of the floor. He used it to wipe the paint out of his own beard, then handed it to Russell for his hands.

"It's fine, though. This particular Earth ritual isn't finicky."

Russell helped him tidy up his room, Bruin's personal domain within the castle that was about the size of a large hotel room with an attached bath.

Bruin only slept here one or two nights a week nowadays, usually staying with either or both of his two boyfriends instead, but it was where he still kept the majority of his witch supplies and implements.

After covering the bowl with a lid in case he needed to touch up the paint later—like, say, if he tripped and fell and smudged everything, or accidentally dumped water on himself before it dried—Bruin put it away on his redwood shelf.

"I'm going to go," Russell said. "Ser needs to eat."

Bruin nodded his head, meeting his boyfriend at his door.

"And you're just the guy to make sure he doesn't forget. Tell our mate hello for me, and I'll see you both in a few hours."

Russell crossed his arms, staring down at him. He frowned, and Bruin waited patiently for his boyfriend to finish whatever he was thinking.

"I want to hug you goodbye," Russell said at last.

"I want you to do that, too, but the markings aren't dry yet. Case in point." Bruin tapped at the front of Russell's red and gold kilt where Bruin's cock had done a bit of finger-painting. "It washes out, don't worry."

Russell shrugged, apparently not caring. Cautiously, he put his hands on either side of Bruin's shoulders, then brought him in just close enough where he could rest his chin on top of Bruin's head. "Mm."

Stealing one last careful kiss from his boyfriend, Bruin shut the door behind him as he left.

Time for the next step in the ritual.

Bruin's L-shaped, forest-themed room had two halves, one side with a bed, closet, dresser, and entrance to the bathroom, while the main area, as he thought of it, had a desk with books, a footlocker to contain his larger witch's tools, and then a shelf.

Going to his shelf, he considered his collection.

The top shelf had his instruments, a miniature djembe drum, a set of pipes, and a flute, which he would often use to add longevity to his charms. Then a couple of shelves dedicated to his crystals, mostly quartz, amethysts, and assorted cheap gemstones.

And lastly, several shelves for storing his plants and gardening tools.

For a Green witch who specialized in Crystal, Earth, and Healing magics, it was his one-stop shop.

He first grabbed a woven basket and carefully selected five crystals from his shelf, followed by a quick bathroom break, which gave the paint an extra few minutes to dry. Then, he carefully wrapped a thin towel around his waist for modesty, leaving his quarters.

Bruin's bedroom was on the second floor of the Sage's Quarter, the eastern wing of the castle where he and his fellow witches lived. The hallway was covered in hardwood floor, with rainbow prisms lighting the area from the stained glass.

Padding barefoot down the hall, Bruin descended to the first floor, the smooth stone cool against his feet, and exited out of the castle. His feet followed a familiar path on the grass until he came to a ring of stones beneath the canopy of a maple tree, his usual spot for outdoor meditation.

Bruin set out the crystals he'd gathered within the ring, made sure that no one was watching before setting his towel aside, then sat down tailor-style in the center. Feeling the earth beneath his body, he began channeling white light up through the ground and into himself.

He took a deep breath in, held it, released it, and then repeated the process as he let his mind wander, listening to the steady thrumming of the land.

◆◆◆

In a burst of green light, a thousand hand-gathered petals were carried by the wind through and past the four packs of shifters gathered at the castle's mustering yards. Petals that touched the guardians glowed briefly before seemingly being absorbed into skin, fur, or scales.

Next to him, Lux, Rosemary, and Roland were performing their own rituals, sending the guardians out with long lasting protective charms.

Sergiy Usenko, warlord, drake shifter, Lord of Bastion Keep, and Bruin's handsome mate, strode forward. He barely twitched a finger in their direction, turning his steely gaze one at a time to each priest or witch, double-checking that they had completed their magical intentions.

When his golden-eyed mate met Bruin's gaze, he softened ever so slightly, but still held himself rigid and professional.

That was fine. They'd said their farewells a half-hour ago, after Bruin had managed to pass him in the hall. A quick kiss and a well-wishing wasn't a lot, but Bruin would take what he could get at this point.

Bruin dipped his head, letting Sergiy know that his own magic was complete, and Sergiy turned towards the gathered packs of guardians.

"The prayer's been sung, the bell's been rung, and now there's work to be done," Sergiy recited. "Bastion Keep, move out! Awoo!"

Bruin wobbled on his feet as forty-plus armed guardians shifted into their animal forms and charged down the trail, two humvees with supplies revving up to follow behind them.

His friends, nearly family at this point, heading out in defense of the land.

Bruin especially watched as his brooding, muscle-bound mate shifted into his drake form. Down the trail he charged, a golden-scaled, horse-sized dragon, his mane and tufted tail blowing in the wind as he took point, leading the packs.

Russell came up beside Bruin, putting a hand on his shoulder as they watched their mate depart into probable danger.

Just another day at the keep.