Page 94 of WitchBorn

Sixty-Four

WESLEY

Iwandered the woods with a golden dragon flying overhead. As I was in my Stag form in the dream, I knew it was a dream, and couldn’t call to him, but followed at a run from below, chasing, and begging him to come down. When he vanished into the distant tree tops, I wandered that way, slowing my pace as the dark rose up around me.

The shadows never touched me, though from time to time, the normal trees would morph into things with faces. A clear path of glowing mushrooms and spider webs glistening in the light trickling through the trees guided me through the darker sections. I expected to find the wolf pacing as he often did, or the glowing, but sleepy, eyes of something lingering at the mouth of a cave. This time it was a golden dragon, curled up nose to tail. The creature almost as big as a hillside, it snoozed, opening an amber colored eye to gaze my way.

I hesitated, fearing my Stag form would trigger a chase. Many times I’d chased the golden dragon, but never found him, until now. We both waited in breathless stillness, until he huffed and closed his eye and nestled his snout within the nest of his tail. Time ticked away slowly, feeling like days until I crept forward,fearing he’d snap, change, or even fly away. But I needed to sit with him. I missed him so much.

I tiptoed forward, finding a soft spot of grass near where his tail and neck met, laying across each other like a big cat. He radiated the heat of a warm fall afternoon, and I sank down beside him, feeling like I could rest for the first time in a while. He moved, and I stilled, fearing he’d attack or run, but his tail slipped around me, curling me in against him in a gentle embrace. I closed my eyes and laid my head down to bask in the rare moment of peace.

Ripped from the dream by my phone alarm, I cursed and nearly hurled the device at the wall. But I silenced it, reminding myself it was only a dream, and got up to get ready for work. Mundane life serving the Summer king, could have been worse than rising toworka mortal job. I hurried through my routine, threw on my shoes and headed for the door.

The intensifying of the cool mornings, and crumple of fallen leaves beneath my feet brought a wave of sadness to slow my step. The trip to town, usually a quiet time to reflect, made me clutch my jacket and wonder why I’d agreed to live in this small nowhere town where snow fell and everyone knew my name.

Okay, it wasn’t nowhere. It was growing. From a tiny blip on the map with a single road through town and no stoplights, to new housing developments, several greenhouse farms, orchards, and the most popular bakery in two hundred miles. I’d like to think the latter was all me and my brilliant marketing, but Sebastian and Liam’s baking did most of the work.

A black SUV slowed beside me, passenger window rolling down.

“Want a ride?” Sebastian asked.

I shook my head, though the brisk chill stung my cheeks. At any other court I would have been afraid to turn down the ruler. But Sebastian, as king, was an enigma. Approachable andcalm, gentle, yet firm, and rarely, though completely possible, terrifying. All the kings had an inner darkness. Out of all of them, Seb, with the help of his mate, Liam, controlled his best.

Spring never left his realm without his two paramours. They were anchors to keep him balanced. And if either lost their mates, disaster. I didn’t need to be a seer to know that. But the thought made me worry about Finn. He would always be Finn to me. Even if he and Xander, the werewolf king, were one and the same, two sides of a cursed coin.

“I’d like to walk until it snows.” Once the leaves finally fell from the trees, their vibrant colors fading to brown, then I’d give up hope for the year. For now, I clung to it, as if walking through the depths of fall could bring him back to me.

“I’ll have a cup of tea waiting for you,” Seb said and the window went back up.

The SUV drove a few blocks up to park behind the bakery and teashop duo. The parking lot out front was full with customers streaming in and out at the early hour as they made their way to work. The town carved a few more roads and a handful of small shops drew crowds. Wolves and fae, side by side with humans, like some supernatural utopia or some bullshit.

I sighed. Not my utopia.

A kitten wiggled his way up out of the collar of my coat tomerowin my face. I scratched his head understanding more than any other.

“You’re probably not cold, are you?” I asked. Whatever this little king’s darkness was, I had yet to encounter it.

He licked my chin, then ducked back inside the coat. Xiao would stay out of sight until I reached my office. The witchchild didn’t always accompany Sebastian and Liam to the bakery, but often enough that I was careful with my little guardian.

Winter had yet to fall, but no one had heard from her. Ari raged over her attacking Xiao when she’d slithered her way intoSebastian’s realm. But Xiao was fine. Ari struggled with their temper, a trait I was certain they inherited from Sebastian, which meant their power went a little wild. Seb and Liam scrambled to contain it, and teach Ari better control. But the tension in the pack house became unbearable, so when I’d left, Xiao had asked to stay with me.

I suspected the discomfort under Sebastian’s roof had been a careful ruse to get me to accept a companion to watch over me. Not that Xiao talked to me much. He was a fluffy white kitten who slept on the pillow beside my head and kept me from descending into broken hearted loneliness. I preferred the cool calm touch of the little Winter over the creepy puck watching Sebastian, any day.

Autumn stabilized. No one left the realm or had been allowed in. Nearly a year passed without a word. Sebastian and Kiran agreed the realm seemed solid to them, but neither knew what went on inside of it. Was Finn reliving the horrors of his past over and over? Had the monster taken control?

Oberon sat with me sometimes. At first it scared the fuck out of me. He had adon’t fuck with meaura like none I’d ever met. But he’d also moved my things to storage when I’d gone missing, and taken care of all my accounts, even the stash of funds I kept locked away for a rainy day, returning everything better off than when I left.

I didn’t thank him. Old rules were hard to break, and while he wasn’t fae, his power eclipsed a lot of the remaining fae. If anyone should have been a werewolf king, it was him, mostly because he has no interest in leading.

From time-to-time he’d tell me a story about Finn. Another lifetime and a glimpse more lighthearted than most of the memories I’d seen. The Finn Oberon knew, while a little too serious, was clumsy and curious. He was well liked, despite many fearing the dark side of him, and had adored all of hischildren and lovers over the years. The last part made Sebastian cry.

Would my Finn remember him? Would my Finn ever come home? Or would all that remain be Xander, the werewolf king, who kept everyone in line with brute strength, practicality, and doom?

I made my way into the shop, accepting the tea from Sebastian as I headed to my office trying to shrug off the lingering chill and the melancholy.

“Do you need help?” Liam asked.

“Can I bring you something to eat?” Seb added.