“Shift,” I told him so we could talk like rational men.
The wolf shook his head, refusing the man through. Duncan was Harrowood’s mushroom farmer, and we had many late night debates and mead sessions that ended with laughter and slapped backs. He kept bird and butterfly feeders hanging off his back door. Yes, I crossed his territory to get to my den, but everyone in Harrowood took those types of things lightly. Or they used to.
“Duncan. Are you okay? This is not the time to bring up the five gold pieces I lost to your pup in the poker game last month.”
Is that a snack before you heed the call?he asked mentally, pointing his slavering jaws at my snake.
Does he mean me?my little snake squeaked.
She started shivering. I draped her around my neck, resting her tiny, diamond head on my heart, hoping the sound would reassure her.
“Are you hearing Veretis’ call as well?” I asked him. “You can’t go. What about your children, your mate?”
Duncan lowered himself into a stalk, jaws frothing. I knew the chaos churning inside him and I had a flash of fear that he would turn on Harrowood, his home, once he was done with us.
We must all heed the call, or die.
“I won’t fight you. My bear will tear you apart.” I dropped into a battle stance, ready to put him in the dirt, unconscious. I could do it, even in my human form.
You’re a vicious bastard, but you won’t get all of us, enemy,Duncan snarled.
That hurt more than it had a right to. I worked hard to make sure those in Harrowood saw me as their friendly neighborhood leader, despite my size.
Pup!My mate chirped.By all the Godds, that is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
I scanned the tall grass, finding five sets of glowing eyes staring back at me as Duncan’s youngest tumbled into the woods where we stood.
More cuties! Come here, little guys. We’ll keep you safe.
The small pup lunged at my ankle, tearing into flesh. My mate screamed in my head, wrapping so tight around my neck, she choked off my air. Duncan’s pack lurched forward, and I opened a channel and croaked the structure of a somniate spell as teeth snapped closer to us than I would have liked. Thankfully, the wolves quickly dropped to the ground, fast asleep, tiny snores coming from the pups. I staggered, woozy from the combination of mage magic, effort to fight the Goddess’ call and the lack of air.
“Mate, please,” I wheezed. She coiled with surprising strength for such a small thing.
I don’t want to pet them anymore. You’re as bad as all the stories. I’m begging you to let me go home.
I couldn’t agree more. I needed to get us to a safe place. Finding my mate was the most important thing I would ever do in my long life. Fate had handed me the keys to making my life complete. Protecting that and her was primary. I would even let my bear loose again if it meant I could defend her if more shifters tried for us.
My bear took over, my mate curled up in my fur. Paws gouging the ground, he pushed us up the mountain through the heather and gorse bush to the porch of the den. Wiggling through the entrance and the tunnel beyond, I circled in the main chamber before flopping down in my bed, panting from the run.
By human standards, it was little more than a dirt cave with roots, rocks, and a few forgotten items from my travel days. By bear standards, it was luxurious. A magically contained fire pit warmed a shelf with a few rotting books and blankets to supplement my thick fur on the coldest of nights.
I slid my mate onto the earth floor and she fell on her back, rocking side to side, curled in the smallest snake ball imaginable. Her dark scales gleamed oil-slick colors in what little light the den had.
Please pass out. Let me pass out. I really will make this my last birthday.
As soon as I wasn’t touching her, the fever came back, pounding at my mind. No wonder Duncan attacked. The call was worse than ever. Worse than the out-of-control feeling that reared its ugly head in the early days of my adventuring, when I was headstrong and invincible. I packed all of those mistakes away a long time ago. Hot, angry, wrath-filled, I stretched forward, ready to tear the whole den down around us. When I brushed against her, I could think more clearly again.
It allowed me enough sanity to pick up my mate, so she nestled against me, focusing on the joy she called forth in me, letting it soothe my frayed mind. The wild roar still echoed inside me, even with my heart filling with my mate. The thing between us wasn’t a bond yet, but her presence was a balm and it grew as we sat together. I slumped in wonder that I found her at last. If there was any upside to having a raging Goddess in your head urging you to fuck or fight, it was the fact that it helped me find my mate.
The calm forced my bear back, afraid he might harm her. Clutching her to my chest, I let the tentative mate bond latch hold again. She did wonders for my self control. When my head cleared, I focused on her erratic breathing.
“Mate. Are you okay? You can shift now.”
I’m just dreaming. Don’t move. A sexy, naked pectoral is a perfectly fine pillow in a dream. You can survive a shifter’s lust, girl, because that’s the only reason I smell honey and mead right now.
I was indeed naked, but keeping my lust in check, like the rest of my baser feelings. Shifters weren’t shy about nudity when their clothes disintegrated with every shift, but perhaps my mate came from an unconventional upbringing. I couldn’t say I had met many snake shifters, so they could have had completely different ideas on the subject. I opened a channel and whispered the structure of a linen spell to create a tunic to cover my most basic bits. One for her too, so she would be comfortable shifting. It pooled around her dainty form.
“I’m sorry if I scared you.” That was a far too common response. I chafed her scales, wondering at the texture of them—like soft, fine-grained sand.
