Wyatt
After Wyatt had carried Amelia back to her bedchamber, he had barely got her to lie down and pulled the thick fur pelt over her body before she passed out. He sat at her side, watching her sleep for the longest time. She was utterly beautiful. And she was his. He couldn’t believe he had gotten so lucky. She had been poisoned only a day ago and had barely any strength left in her body, but she’d still charged outside, determined to stop the execution. She was a force to be reckoned with—the best type of mate a dragon could hope for.
He passed a contented couple of hours watching over her sleep, then got to his feet. There were a few people that he needed to see, things he needed to say—things he’d waited fifty years to say and he didn’t want to wait any longer in case he lost his nerve.
Amelia’s mother was in the adjacent room and she rose when she saw Wyatt and went to him.
“How is she?” she asked.
He looked over his shoulder at his mate and a smile graced his lips. “Out cold. I have a few people I need to see. Can you sit with her until I get back?”
“Of course.”
Wyatt nodded then turned to leave, but she put her hand on his arm, halting his progress.
“I’m glad my daughter found you,” she said, surprising him. “It took courage to come back here knowing what was in store for you. That is exactly the type of man I always hoped my daughter would be lucky enough to find. No mother could ask for more.”
Wyatt cleared his throat before speaking. “I’m the lucky one,” he said. Then he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek before going on his way.
He wasn’t sure if the people he was about to see were even still alive, but they were younger than Wyatt’s parents so he saw no reason why they wouldn’t be. Despite the fact that he hadn’t set foot inside the cave for the past fifty years, he remembered every turn of the route he had taken a hundred times before until he found himself outside the rooms that Axel had shared with his family. Wyatt closed his eyes then pulled in a deep, calming breath.
“Are you going to stand out there all day or are you going to come in?” the familiar voice asked him.
A hint of a smile came to Wyatt’s lips. Nothing ever got by Everly. She sounded exactly as he remembered, her tone warm, but to the point. She was whip-smart and hadn’t let Wyatt and Axel get away with half the things that his own parents had allowed, but often, he had considered her even more of a mother than his own had been.
Wyatt pulled his shoulders back then walked inside the largest of their rooms—the family space. There was little difference between their space and every other family’s home inside the mountain, but Wyatt had always felt more comfortable there than anywhere else, probably because he spent so much time there playing with Axel when they were boys.
Inside the room, he took one look at the woman who had meant so much to him, and a lump rose in his throat, and tears filled his eyes.
“Stop that,” she snapped. “And come over here and give me a hug.”
Wyatt’s knees nearly buckled. He choked out a sob and lunged for her, pulling her tightly against his chest. They hugged for the longest time, neither one saying anything and when they finally pulled apart, they both scrubbed at their wet eyes.
“They called off the execution?” she rightly guessed.
Wyatt nodded. “I have my mate to thank for that.”
“I heard,” she said. “Mated to little Amelia Blunt. Who would have thought? She’s perfect for you.”
“Yes, she is.” He drew in a deep breath and steeled himself. “Everly, we never got a chance to talk before I left and I’ve thought about that a lot over the years. I…I wanted to say how sorry I am about—”
“Oh, shush,” she said. “I know you’re sorry, but Lanyon and I never once blamed you for what happened, not for anything other than being silly kids who liked testing our patience and getting into trouble. If you had been the one to die that night then Axel would have been just as sorry, but we would have told him the same thing I’m going to tell you now. It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.I’msorry if those fool elders ever made you think otherwise. And I’m sorry that I didn’t just lose one boy that night, I lost two.”
This time when a tear escaped Wyatt’s eye and slid down his cheek, he didn’t even bother to wipe it away.
“Where is Lanyon?” he asked after swallowing down the lump in his throat.
“He’s taken Missy out hunting.”
“Missy?” Wyatt questioned.
Everly nodded. “Our daughter. You’d like her. She’s the spitting image of Axel and about as wicked. Tries our patience every damn day. If you’re going to be sticking around for a few hours you can meet her.”
“How old is she?”
“Fifteen. And every bit the handful her brother was at that age. I think she’d want to meet you.”
“I’d really like that,” Wyatt said.
