Page 97 of WitchBorn

“I keep myself safe.”

“Always prickly.”

I opened my mouth to berate him for the comment, but he said, “Love, I’m sorry. The darkness needed to be tamed. I needed to learn control and build a safe place for you.”

“What?” I asked.

“You said something about jewels and castles…”

I would have rather hadhimfor the last year than any amount of material wealth. How many times had I thought about shifting and taking off into the woods? I could run a long time. Maybe to the other side of the continent or until my heart gave out.

He sucked in a pained breath. “Could you outrun us?” Finn asked as he pressed his forehead to mine. My breath hitched at his touch. The bond between us flared to life with a jolt, and his emotions poured into me—regret, longing, love. The anxiety I’d felt was his at the thought of me walking away from him.

“I never wanted to leave you,” Finn whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “But I had to control the dark. It was eating me alive, and drained you nearly to death.”

My heart ached. The agony of the past year, overwhelming. I wanted to scream and push him away for the hurt he’d caused. But the warmth of his touch, the way his thumb gently brushed my cheek, melted the anger, leaving only the raw ache of how much I’d missed him. He looked uncertain and sad, but hope radiated off him.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t faster. The wolf and I had a lot to learn.”

Were they still at war with each other?

Finn’s eyes shifted, the wolf suddenly staring back at me, not with anger or even disdain, but affection. He leaned in close to nuzzle my cheek and whispered a guttural, “Mate.” Which mademe shiver with the need to be alone with him. “He likes you,” Finn said. “Even if he thinks you’re a bit of an asshole.”

“I think he’s an asshole, too,” I said.

His eyes returned to the pretty amber youthful gaze that I knew as Finn. “I am Finn,” he said. “I will always be Finn. Even when the wolf has control.”

“Won’t it be weird for everyone else for you not to be Xander?” I wondered.

“I’m still Xander,” Finn said. “Oberon reminded me that this is closer to how he remembers me from our early years together. It’s how I feel most natural, maybe because I spent the most recent years in this human skin?” His gaze searched mine. “Unless you want something else?”

“I just want you.”

Finn’s his fingers threading through my hair as he pulled me closer. “I’m here,” he said.

What if he left again? What if they needed him to be the king of wolves? I was just a Stag, a seer unable to see his future because I was too close.

“Wesley,” Finn said as he pressed our foreheads together again. “I’m not going anywhere. You are mine and I am yours.”

“Caveman bullshit,” I grumbled.

He chuckled, the sound sweet and light, touching something in my soul. “As long as you’re with me, I will be whatever you need.” The bond between us pulsed with renewed strength. “Please, Wes, give us a chance.” Finn closed the distance between us, his lips pressed to mine, and I sank into his touch. The loneliness, fear, desperate longing—crashed into me with the force of a tidal wave as I threw myself into his arms.

He caught me, wrapping my legs around his waist and pressing me against the side of the house. The box of pastry tumbled from my grasp and I didn’t care as I clutched his shirt, needing to feel every inch of him against me, and I opened forhim, letting his tongue slip inside and sucked on it. I moaned into the kiss, Finn swallowing the sound, his lips firm and demanding.

I wanted to stay lost in him, existing in a world where nothing else mattered but the two of us. But eventually, we had to come up for air, and Finn pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against mine once more.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “For everything. Every time grief took over in the past, I let the dark gain a stronger hold. Sometimes something awakes a memory and I just want to sink into the dark to cry. The wolf and I have been working on it, but Oberon has suggested I try human therapy, too.”

Tears slipped down my cheeks, and he brushed them away with his thumb, his touch as gentle as it was reverent. “Seems to be helping Sebastian,” I said.

Finn’s lips curved into a smile. “I’ve got a lot of relationships to mend,” he said. “But I need to start with you. Nothing works without you. Will you give us a chance?”

I nodded, unable to speak as the weight of his words settled over me. Even after all this mess, and knowing that I would always be the proverbial weak link in his armor, he still wanted me.

“I do,” he said. “But it has to be your choice.”

“Promise me,” I demanded, “Promise me you won’t leave again. That you won’t cast me away, or give me to someone. Promise that I am yours and yours alone.”