Page 45 of The Witch’s Spell (Season of the Witch #4)

Faolan

TODAY IS THE WINTER SOLSTICE and the first day of Yule, and it’s snowing. I wanted to grumble when I saw the flakes drifting down from the gray sky, but Aurora was delighted, and it chased some of my gloom away.

After today, our days will start getting longer, one brief minute at a time. And it reminds me that this cold won’t last forever, that in a few short months the sun will warm the earth and spring flowers will start to grow, and I’ll get to see Aurora walking barefoot in her garden.

Probably with a child strapped to her back.

My eyes flick to her as she stirs a large pot over the low-burning flames in the kitchen hearth.

She’s been preparing food for days now. It’s been excruciating not being allowed to feast on the cookies and cakes and breads she’s been baking.

Even now, as I sit at the kitchen table, my eyes drift over the many assembled plates and platters filling the counter and every free space on Aurora’s shelves.

My mouth waters just thinking about stuffing myself later.

I want to eat until I pass out and then sleep through the rest of the winter.

Harrison is sitting on the table in front of me, watching Aurora as well.

Ever since I snagged him out of the air and kept him from blowing away in Thorne’s wild storm, he’s treated me differently—like he’s finally accepted me.

And even though I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, least of all him, his warming up to me makes this place feel even more like home.

He was the last step, the last sentry I felt I needed to be allowed past to truly get to Aurora.

Shifting my cup of cocoa to my other hand, I reach for Harrison, letting my fingers hover an inch or so away from him. He flicks his tail and sniffs my hand. Then he pushes his soft head into my palm, letting me scratch him behind the ears and under his chin.

Aurora tosses a glance over her shoulder at us, and though her lips rise into a small smile, she says nothing.

I take another sip of cocoa just before there’s a knock on the front door.

My stomach turns.

Aurora has a whole celebration planned, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to it.

I guess the knight’s family is in town, and Lydia and James will be coming over as well.

Thorne is still here—probably for good, though I don’t want to think about that right now—and the cottage is going to be bursting at the seams.

My plan is to steal a platter of cookies and slip away into the forest at the first opportunity.

It’ll be quiet out there, and I’ll be able to watch the stars without having to talk to anyone.

I’d much prefer that over having to smile and laugh and pretend I like socializing.

But I think Aurora will understand. Actually, I know she will.

Hell, she’ll probably even join me, at least for a short while.

The wooden floorboards creak, and Alden’s heavy footsteps pad from the parlor, where he was dozing in front of the fire, into the foyer. Unbothered, I continue scratching Harrison beneath the chin and sipping my cocoa.

Until his smell hits me.

If I were in my wolf form, my hackles would be rising.

“What’s he doing here?” I growl, pushing away from the table and shoving to my feet.

Aurora stands up straight and stretches her back. “No idea. I didn’t know they were even in the village anymore.”

The fog has been gone for days; there’s no reason for Cathal and Orla to still be hanging around here. Unless he still has unfinished business with me.

I would really rather not fight on a day Aurora has so been looking forward to, but if that’s what he wants, so be it.

Fingers already flexing into fists, I stalk into the foyer, where Alden’s broad frame is blocking the doorway. He glances over his shoulder at me, and our eyes meet.

The look on his face tells me to watch myself. I clench my teeth and give him a small nod. Then he steps aside.

Cathal and Orla are standing on the porch, still wearing the borrowed clothes, cloaks, and boots Aurora gave them. An angry red mark snakes up the side of Cathal’s neck, and a tingle of pride goes through me at the sight. Hopefully I hurt him just as badly as he hurt me .

“You shouldn’t be here,” I snap, easing through the door and pulling it closed behind me.

Aurora will be bothered by hearing us argue, and I’d rather not give her a reason to frown today.

She was so mad at me when I fought with Cathal here in the clearing.

I’m really going to at least try to control myself right now.

“I know,” Cathal says. “But I...” He crosses his arms and glances at Orla, who gives him a small nod. “I have some things to say to you before we go.”

The look they exchange makes me narrow my eyes. What the hell are they planning?

“If I talk to you, you’ll leave?” I ask.

Cathal nods once. “Yes.”

I chew the inside of my lip, remembering the taste of Cathal’s blood in my mouth. Then I give him a firm nod. “Fine. But not here. I don’t want you to upset Aurora.”

The door opens behind me, and Aurora’s soft smell wafts over us.

Too late.

My gaze slides down to her as she steps out of the cottage and onto the porch beside me. Her hand finds my arm, her body warm as she presses herself against me.

“What’s going on?” she asks. Her voice is already sharper than usual. Tension and concern drift through our bond.

“It’s okay,” I tell her. “He just wants to talk. We’re not going to fight.” I shoot Cathal a stern glare, and he gives me a small nod before stepping back and off the porch.

“You promise?” Aurora asks. But she’s not looking at me. She’s looking at my brother .

“I promise,” he says, voice low. “I won’t start anything. Just want to talk.”

A deep sigh flutters from Aurora’s lips. Then she nods. “Orla, would you like to come in? I have some things to say to you as well.”

Orla blinks her vivid yellow eyes, her brows rising toward her chestnut hairline. “I’d love that.”

“Come in, then. You want cocoa? Or tea?”

A smile flashes across Orla’s face just before she eases past me and into the cottage. “Cocoa would be great,” she says.

Then the door closes.

And it’s just me and him.

“Let’s walk,” Cathal says. He nods toward the forest line.

I think of going back inside to grab my boots, but I get so heated around my brother, it might be nice to feel the cold on my skin. Maybe it’ll keep me grounded, like Aurora always says.

So I step off the porch and into the snow.

We don’t speak as we walk toward the trees. The air smells crisp and fresh, like pine and mineral and frost. Our breath steams around our mouths.

With every step, every crunch of snow beneath my toes, I wonder what Cathal could possibly have to say to me. He’s never much been one for talking. More of a doer than a thinker. But I suppose I’m the same way.

The trees embrace us, feeling familiar and welcoming. I can’t wait to take Aurora on long runs through the woods again. Maybe her little one will come with us as well.

Maybe we’ll have a little one of our own someday .

The thought makes me pause abruptly.

Is that what I want? To have children with her? A family?

Deep inside, my wolf instincts flare to life, and there’s an undeniable knowing, an irrefutable yes .

Aurora is my mate. And I want her to be the mother of my children.

Suddenly, I don’t want to take another step away from the cottage, from our home.

“That’s far enough,” I tell Cathal, my arms crossing over my chest. “Out with it.”

My brother huffs out a long sigh. His steamy breath rises into the cold air before quickly dispersing in the diffuse gray light. Snowflakes still fall around us, silently coming to rest in a white blanket on the forest floor.

“I’m sorry, brother,” he says at long last.

A zap of surprise goes through my whole body, from my freezing toes up to the tips of my ears. I narrow my eyes at him. Is this a trick?

“For what?”

Cathal tears his blue-eyed gaze away from the trees and focuses it on me instead. It’s like looking into a mirror.

“For our fight. For all of our fights. And for exiling you from the pack.”

I’m so surprised that all my anger flees, leaving me feeling empty and confused. It takes a moment to get my wits about me enough to ask, “Then why’d you do it?”

Cathal digs a booted toe into the soft forest floor, revealing the rich brown soil beneath the layer of snow. “I was scared of you. ”

My eyes narrow further. I don’t yet speak.

“You’re better at this than me. Better at leading.

Caring for the pack.” The muscles in his jaw flex.

“It should’ve been you. I know it now, and I knew it then.

I was never supposed to be alpha. It was always you.

” He meets my eyes again. “And that’s why I sent you away.

Because I couldn’t face the pack’s constant disappointment.

I thought if you were gone, everything would be better.

” His sudden scoff is without humor. “I was an idiot. And Orla made sure I knew it.”

Finally, I find my words. “Did she send you to talk to me?”

“Kind of.” Cathal paces away and slumps back against a tree, his posture nonthreatening. “She realized what was going on and forced me to come. It was all her idea. At first, anyway.”

“And now?” I ask.

My brother isn’t looking at me. He sighs. “Now I see how badly I fucked up. It just took her opening my eyes.” He flicks his gaze to me.

And for the first time in a long time, I see the brother I used to know, the one who was my best friend, my other half. It punches me so hard in the gut that I have to clench my teeth to keep from drawing a gasping breath.

“I’m sorry, brother. For the fights. For being a dick and ruining what we had. For all of it.”

Part of me wants to be indignant, to shove his snout into all his mistakes and make him grovel for my forgiveness. But then I think of Aurora and of what she’d do, what she’d want me to do. It softens me, makes me let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t have as much shit to apologize for,” I say, “but for what it’s worth... I’m sorry too. ”

A brief smile flickers at the edge of Cathal’s mouth, then vanishes again. He chews his lip. Then he says, “I’ve missed you. The whole pack has. Would you...” He clears his throat and straightens up. “Would you consider coming home?”

Home.

At first, my mind is called back to the mountains, where I was born, where I grew up.

It’s where I shifted for the first time and learned how to hunt with the pack.

It’s where I discovered the stars and my love for running beneath the moon.

For many years, it was the only home I’d ever known, the only home I ever wanted to know.

But that’s not the case anymore.

Now I know what it’s like to sit before the fire in the parlor, with Aurora rocking in her rocking chair and humming while her knitting needles click pleasantly. I know what it’s like to hold her at night while rain pelts the windowpane, to taste her skin, to feel her heat burning through our bond.

Hell, even the others feel sort of like home now—Alden, Rowan, even Harrison.

I’m not sure about the fairy, and I’d probably be pretty pissy about it if not for everything else going on, but perhaps he’ll even find a place with us, crammed into Aurora’s magical little cottage, bumping shoulders while passing through the too-small kitchen and laughing while sharing tea and fresh bread on the porch in the mornings.

An overwhelming knowing comes over me. There’s no question left in my heart as to where I belong.

“My home is here,” I say slowly. “With Aurora.”

Cathal stares at me for a long moment, then averts his eyes with a sigh. “I know. Orla’s the same to me. I just... I couldn’t leave here without asking. It’s why I came all this way. ”

Finally, my brother speaks the truth. I just wish it hadn’t taken him all these fights and scars to spit it out.

But maybe that was his process. I haven’t always been good at wading through my feelings, much less communicating them to someone else.

But Aurora is helping me with that. She’s helping me with a lot of things.

Because of her, I’m a better man.

“But,” I say, a hopeful smile trying to pull on my lips, though I force it down, just in case, “I’d like to visit. To bring Aurora, show her where we grew up. If you’ll allow it.”

Despite the niceties, he’s still my alpha—well, next in line after Aurora, I suppose. And it’s up to him and Orla if I’ll be welcome around the pack.

I expect Cathal to give me one of his sharp smirks and sling a well-timed insult my way, but he surprises me when he just nods and meets my eyes, his gaze soft.

“I’d like that. You’re welcome anytime. Both of you.

” He reaches up to scratch his neck, then flinches when his fingers graze one of my bite marks.

“Speaking of Aurora... I think I owe her an apology.”

I huff out a laugh. “I think you owe her a number of apologies.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Cathal pushes off the tree and pads toward me.

My body tenses up, my instincts warning me of the potential incoming danger.

But Cathal just swings a broad arm around my shoulders, jostling me. He smells familiar, and it reminds me of our childhood .

“Think you could help me with that?” he asks as we start back toward the cottage. “Butter her up a bit for me?”

“Hell no.” I shove him away, smiling as he stumbles in the snow. “You’re on your own. I’ve already made amends. Now it’s all you.” As we step out of the tree line and Brookside comes into view, gray smoke puffing from its chimney, I feel a swelling of warmth in my chest.

The front door opens, and Aurora stands there, staring out at us, eyes curious and watchful. I smile at her and push the warmth I feel into our bond. In response, her tense shoulders relax, and her lips pull into a smile.

“Here’s your chance,” I tell Cathal as he walks alongside me. “But be careful. My witch has some bite.”