Page 38 of WitchCurse

“It’s more territorial than food related,” Toby said. “Not all that unlike the alpha himself. The kitsune sees you as a threat, but the omega sees you as someone to protect.”

“Foolish and self-destructive,” I said.

“A common trait among the kitsune,” Nick said. He pushed the cookies Toby’s way. “We all have memories we wish were left in the past,” he said when I wondered again about the cookies and how they disrupted his normal optimism. “Only you see it that way. Optimism,” he grumbled. “Perseverance. Is that not why we fit so well?” He waved a hand at Toby. “Your survival instinct matches my own?”

“You like the wolf,” I reminded him. The bond wouldn’t change that, would it?

“I’d have liked to court him the normal way,” Nick said.

“Court?” Toby frowned, his gaze finding Nick but seeming a bit distant, as though he were sorting through the confusion of thoughts that he now had access to. “Like Liam courts Sebastian?”

“Their connection is a bit extreme,” Nick said.

The bond of fate. Ours was not that.

“Aren’t we?” Toby asked. “Isn’t that what the seer said? We decide but have no choices? Isn’t that fate?” His gaze roamed over Nick, assessing but quiet. I didn’t try to reach for his thoughts as I didn’t want to be burned by his desire for my scion, pretty as they both might look together. The wolf’s blond hair and blue eyes, a stark contrast to Nick’s burgundy locks and bronze skin. There was no place for me in that picture, as desirable as it might be.

Toby’s focus snapped back to me. “Lots of lying to himself,” he muttered, and began clearing the empty plates. “We are to meet with the alpha once everyone is done eating.”

That sounded ominous. I sighed, wishing for more sleep, especially now that the camper echoed with the familiar strength of my kitsune. The centuries I spent dying in the sanctuary in Underhill, had faded this sensation. A home really, but there were small things lost over the years to my waning power that could never be replaced.

“I’ve recreated the library. It was the first thing I did. And have been adding texts from this world to it. We can’t bring back those we have lost, but we can retain the archive of memories.” Nick got up and found his shoes, slipping them on. “I can’t promise the alpha is not angry about all of this. He worries about Toby,” Nick looked at the wolf. “And your stability.”

I let out a long breath. “Did you tell Sebastian of what I will become?”

“I told him nothing. Do you think him blind?”

“Naïve,” I said.

Nick shook his head and grabbed his coat. “I think that actually makes you a little naïve. Let’s go.”

Toby waited near the door. I got up and pulled on the mortal things, including shoes and a coat, surprised that I still had energy to function. But the bond pulsed with strength in a way it never had before, from adding the wolf or the way he spun the magic?

Nick frowned and looked away, but waited beside Toby, arms folded over his chest. I followed them out, and across the field toward the house. From the outside, our little camper looked the same. Like the books of magical closets leading to a different world, the inside became something otherworldly. Nick had been fond of the mortal stories we’d found scattered in Underhill. Brought over by wary travelers long devoured by monsters. I’d spent decades searching for more, to provide him with some semblance of joy, only to lose it all when the world was ripped away.

“I can recreate them from memory, and others that Liam and Sebastian have gifted,” Nick said stiffly as we headed to the back of the house and in through the kitchen. There were no other wolves that I could sense beyond the alpha. Toby still tensed when we entered the house, as his wolf seemed on high alert.

Nick took us to the small study that Liam kept as his home office, where Sebastian sat on the edge of the desk beside his mate, and Liam in the chair. I expected anger or something on the alpha’s face, but he’d always been slow to rage. Dangerous when he finally reached that boiling point, but I’d only encountered it once when we battled over who would train Ari. Now, he looked resigned. Had he lost the battle with his mate? It was unwise to keep us close.

“Would you swear fealty to our realm?” Liam asked without hesitation.

I flinched, the mere idea of it bringing back memories of chains, and the abuse I refused to share even with my original scion.

“No,” Toby said.

Sebastian looked at him, hurt on his face.

“It’s not about you, not directly,” Toby said. “The wolf lets me breathe now that I’m not bound to the pack. He wouldn’t let me remember before, was constantly demanding control.” He hesitated and took a long breath, blowing it out slowly as though to steady himself. “Without the noise of the pack, and the constant demand to submit to you, he’s resting and we have a little balance.”

Liam sat forward and thought for a moment. I took the chair in the center, Nick and Toby pulling over others to bookend me. It felt strange having the two move in tandem, but comforting. How many times in my life had I experienced this sort of thing alone, waiting for the axe to fall?

“Your wolf sees me as a threat,” Liam asked.

“Yes,” Toby agreed, his gaze sliding to Seb. “To the omega, to me, to those I am bound.” He glanced our way. “He thinks you will control us…hurt us.”

“Liam isn’t a threat,” Sebastian said.

That was untrue, the alpha could be utterly ruthless if pushed. And if any wolf got out of control it was his job to put them down permanently, it was what it meant to be an alpha, protect everyone, not only one. It was why he provided food and support for the pack, but kept a close eye to remove all threats before they hurt any pack members.