Page 28 of Hexes & Heartstrings (Shifters of Bastion Keep #2)

Russell picked his head up off of the storeroom floor as Lily walked past, his tail wagging hopefully, and he was rewarded with a few proper pats before she moved on.

As his dwarven stepmom climbed back into her chair behind the counter, freshly filled pipe in hand, he laid his muzzle back down on the floor, returning to a delightful post-lunch lie-down.

Barely five minutes passed before the front door to Moonbeams n' Dreams chimed as his ma entered her shop.

With a pleasant-sounding clacking of beads and ruffling from the fringes on her jacket, his ma spun her way across the small store to give him some very fierce head pats, and then went behind the counter to kiss Lily.

"Long line at the post office?" Lily asked, taking Ma's hand and linking fingers.

Russell watched as his ma set her bag on the counter, then used her free hand to remove a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses. Yawning, Russell stretched his forelegs out, then got up to his paws.

"No, but I saw madams Jenny and Flip at the hardware store and we got to talking. They said they'd be up for a wine and boardgame night this weekend."

"Aye, I could do. Let 'em know Saturday, girlie. I'll make a stir fry."

"Groovy.However!"

Ma put her hands on her hips, and tried to look fiercely disapprovingly at them. Hopping up on his hind legs so he could put his paws on the edge of the display counter, Russell shared a quick glance with Lily, whose gray eyes sparkled and whose lips twitched before she adopted an innocent mein.

"Aye, something on your mind?"

"Yes. You promised me you'd restock the snowglobes, and yet here you sit, relaxed as anything!"

Lily jabbed her pipe in the direction of the occult half of the combination occult and smoke shop.

"You mean those snowglobes right there?"

"Oh. Yes, so I see. But what about—"

"Your books? Aye, I swapped out the low-sellers for the new stock you'd been meaning to put out since the summer solstice, all four boxes of 'em.

" Lily grinned up fiercely at Ma, and Russell couldn't help from wagging his tail and barking.

" And we dusted the shelves, including under and behind all the merchandise. Well, Russ did, the good lad."

His ma's smell of shock was steadily being replaced with the kaleidoscopic scent of her love. "You two did all of that?"

Lily tapped out her pipe, setting it carefully within a box.

"The second you went out the door, Russ and I jumped on it. Wanted to surprise you, we did."

His ma leaned down to press her cheek firmly against Lily's. "Color me surprised."

Beckoning, Ma gestured for him, and Russell moved behind the counter. Even without being in his horse-sized dire form, Russell normal wolf form was large for its species, and his shoulder was above his ma's waist, so she didn't even need to lean down to squeeze both him and Lily.

Closing his eyes but being careful with his size, Russell pressed himself up against his moms. After enjoying himself for a moment, he pulled back, then shifted into his human form.

"I'm going to head back," he said, opening his arms wide so that he could take a turn at being the deliverer of hugs.

"Already?" Ma asked, and he nodded. He wouldn't have minded staying another hour or so, but his ma's praise at a job well done had apparently put Lily in the mood, and he wanted to give them space. "Alright, but give us both big hugs before you go!"

He already was! But just in case, he squeezed harder.

"And give our regards to Bruin," Ma said. "Tell him we're sorry he couldn't make it."

"Aye, and tell that boyfriend of yours I want another video call with his little dad, his mi'ba or however you say it. That man knows his cooking spices."

Russell nodded, but as he turned to go, his ma put her hands up, stroking the sides of his face. He looked down at her, tilting his head.

"Ser will be fine. He'll be back before you know it, just like he always has."

Swallowing, he nodded, then turned and walked out the front door. As he took his time shifting into his large wolf form to make the run back to the keep, he noticed Lily flipping the Open sign to Closed.

His tail wagged a few times, and then he was off, charging down the bike path and through the checkpoint and back the several miles to his home.

He tried to grab hold of his ma's assuredness, but he couldn't help but worry anytime that Ser suffered through his pain, or went in for maintenance. Still, Ser had said that it looked like there wouldn't be any actual surgery this time, so that made everything much safer.

But Ser had been in so much pain! Just remembering those first couple of minutes, especially the scent of Ser's anguish that had fractured across Russell's senses, he couldn't help but stop on the road and howl.

Ducking his head, Russell shook himself, then resumed his lope back.

But then Bruin had been there! His boyfriend, who had been so confused at first, had used his tree-scented witchcraft and smoothed over the angry cracks of pain.

Russell firmly decided that he was going to give Bruin a great big hug when he returned.

Russell came up on the west side of the keep, entering through the gate and into the training yard to get to the central part of the castle as he normally did.

He could see dozens of guardians hard at work, and he slowed to a walk as he navigated around the yard, staying on the sheltered stone walkway that bordered the area.

His tail wagged in greeting as he saw two of the guardians approach, Dorian and Ivar. The veteran lifted a training axe in greeting as he saw him, panting hard as he bent down beside the bench to grab a bottle of water, then took a seat.

"I said break time is over," a dog shifter growled, following them. Her name was Bonnie, Russell had since learned, an English Setter with black and white fur. She seemed constantly short of temper, and smelled like a puffed up bird.

Ivar finished taking a long swallow, then turned to look at her. Wordlessly, he took another drink, remaining seated, though Dorian leapt back to his feet in a hurry.

"Old bones like mine need a bit longer to recover between exercises," he said.

Russell barked a laugh. What a silly statement! Ivar was years younger than Russell's da, and his da wasn't old.

Unfortunately, this immediately drew attention his way, and Bonnie leapt towards him, growling. Russell's claws scratched against the stone as he scrambled back, but she pursued, looming over him.

"Something funny, pup? Looks to me like you want to join in the training."

Tail between his legs and eyes averted, Russell managed a shake of his head.

"No? Then what the fuck do you think you're doing on my training grounds?"

Russell looked down at the ground, double-checking.

He was on the stone path. It was a covered walkway that acted as a border between the training yard and the parts of the castle where the guardians resided.

Staff like himself used it to go about their cleaning or repair duties, so that they wouldn't be bothering anyone using the field.

Yes, sometimes they'd sit on the benches just beyond it, watching the guardians, their friends, train, but…

"I'm on the path," he said.

Bonnie gestured broadly to the area.

"Are you within these four walls? Inside the gate? Then you're on the training ground, and I'm within my rights to conscript you for exercises."

Russell saw Ivar put his bottle down, then step up in front of Bonnie. His human form was the same height as her werebeast form, but merely half the mass. It didn't seem to deter him.

"Lay off him," he said, fingering his axe handle.

She growled, smelling pleased at his defiance. "Oh, now you have energy, huh? I'll gladly take you."

She seemed content to stand there, trying to assert dominance with her presence, but then Bonnie was hailed by another one of her pack. Slowly, maintaining eye-contact, she took a few steps back before breaking away.

Ivar sighed, then looked down at Russell.

"Best be on your way, Little Russ. She's only got as much authority as others give her, but she'll be a snarling beast as she tries to get her way."

Russell watched him rejoin Dorian, and the two adopted easy sparring stances. He looked over at Bonnie, seeing her speaking to the werecroc, Samson. The werecroc met his gaze, then adjusted his position so that he was blocking Bonnie's view of him.

Holding back a whine, he scampered back the way he'd come.

Traveling a longer path around the castle, he came to the rear where there was another entrance, not far from the kitchens. He'd managed to unruffle his fur by the time he entered, and he yipped a few greetings to staff that he passed.

Once he'd arrived in the east wing, he shifted into his human form so that he could more readily climb the stairs and went to Bruin's room. After listening carefully at the door, he let himself in.

Bruin's room smelled a lot like the anchor walks that they did, since he often collected plants during his travels.

Russell could smell the dirt of the immediate castle grounds, and with effort resisted the urge to adopt his wolf form with its stronger nose and press his muzzle around Bruin's shelves and investigate all of the things .

Stepping over discarded clothing, he made his way to Bruin's bed, where his boyfriend lay beneath the covers. His brown hair was pressed back, and his mouth hung open, snoring softly.

Bruin stirred as Russell sat on the edge of the bed, closing his mouth with a snort and licking his lips. His eyes blinked open, he smiled as he recognized him, and then he rolled himself over in bed, patting the empty spot behind his back and beckoning.

Taking the invitation, Russell climbed into bed behind him.

"Ma and Mrs. Steelhammer say hi," he said, dragging his boyfriend up against his chest.

"I hope you had a good time with them. Sorry if I slept in."