Page 36 of Hexes & Heartstrings (Shifters of Bastion Keep #2)

Carefully, he walked back into the Great Hall, hugging the walls.

His werewolf form was tall, giving him a good view.

Most importantly, he could see that Bruin and his da were doing okay, which loosened the steel binding around his chest. They and the other three witches were out of the reach of the tentacles, working together.

Bruin seemed to be aiding Rosemary in laying defensive charms made of light, while his da, Lux, and Arthur were focusing upon the now singular, massive rift that cut right through the middle of the room.

It was from this viewpoint that he saw Auguste take a blow to the head, falling senseless. Two guardians stepped up to shield him from flailing tentacles, while Auguste groped at the floor.

That was something he could do, he could play fetch. He had just done it, so he knew how, yes!

Swallowing thickly, Russell ran, staying at the outskirts and vaulting over tables to get to the fallen guardian. As he slung him over a shoulder like a hard sack of potatoes, he saw Lady Galina in her weredrake form leading a charge into the rift.

Leaving the room, Russell hurried down the hall to the large sitting room in front of the infirmary where Teresa was organizing a crew.

"He was hit in the head," Russell said, depositing him carefully on an indicated stretcher.

"Be gentle with it, then," she said rebukingly, which he knew was just her way of showing that she cared. "I know this one's got a head of stone, but all the same, he can't afford to lose too many more brain cells. Russell, if there's others like him, bring them here."

He nodded, then dashed back to the Great Hall. Yes, he could do what she'd asked. He had done it twice, now, so he knew he could do it a lot more times.

It turned out that he wasn't needed, though he still stood trembling by the entrance, alert and ready to dash out if anyone needed a strong arm.

It didn't even take five more minutes before the lashing tentacles in the room shuddered and fell still.

Their edges turned from pink to black, and dust began slowly drifting away.

There were cheers and howls as the guardians defending the Great Hall noticed this, which redoubled when Lady Galina Usenko returned from the other side of the rift, a large piece of shell held aloft in her draconic mouth.

The Lady of the Keep spat it out, then shattered it beneath a paw.

"I want a full headcount of every guardian before we close the rift," she declared over the sounds of cheering. "Heads of staff, that also includes all residents."

Her command sparked a flurry of activity as pack leaders called their members together, and others began calling phones to check on loved ones.

As the minutes passed, it seemed that almost everyone in the castle was finding their way into the Great Hall, to the point where it was very nearly standing room only, especially with the rift, now warded, taking up most of the center of the room.

Russell had eyes mainly for his da, and for Bruin. His da seemed to be working with the Hedge witch in preparing to close the rift down, once it was confirmed that no one had slipped through by accident, but he saw Bruin heading in his direction.

"Hey, big guy," his boyfriend said, breathing heavily.

He raised his head to look at him as he put his hands on his furry chest. In turn, Russell found that he couldn't keep his hands off of his little witch, and he kept squeezing his shoulders and touching his head, making sure he was here and okay.

"I'm going to go help Teresa with the injured.

But I wanted to see you first, and I wanted to tell you that you were amazing. "

Bruin's grin spread wide, his lips pulling back from his tusks, and he smelled so proud, to the point that Russell's knees buckled.

"Everything you did today, Russell. The endless running around.

The faith you had in me and Markos to keep you safe and away from Yi.

The way you were so brave in helping the children, and also Auguste.

Your dad and I were about to spend magic shielding him, but there you were, carrying the joker off before we could even act.

You were just so wonderful today, and I'm so proud of you, and I just wanted to say… I wanted to tell you…"

Bruin buried his face savagely into Russell's chest, turning his head so that his tusks didn't jab him. Instead of finishing his sentence, Russell's little witch seemed to settle for crushing him as tight as his arms could manage, then hurried away to the infirmary without looking back.

Watching his boyfriend as he departed, Russell realized that he was fortunate in having grown up where he had. He had a nice ma, and a nice da, and a nice stepmom, and a lot of very nice people who looked out for him, like Leona and Ser's parents.

As such, Russell very much knew what Bruin had meant to say, and it wasn't like he cared much about the words themselves, anyways.

He knew what love smelled like, and his tail wagged tiredly as he followed his boyfriend out of the room, looking for his own way to help.