She squeezed my hand, biting her bottom lip. Gods, I wanted her to feel confident in who she was, but rebuilding that part of Shan’s psyche would take time. All I could do was encourage her to be whatever she wanted.
“But what about you?”
Unable to deny that I needed to hold her again, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her forehead, revelling in the fact that she didn’t want to kick me in the balls for it or keep me at a distance with barbed vitriol. “I’m fine, Butterfly. I’ll have a drink at the tavern, then I have to do some….shopping for fresh meat.”
She pulled back and grinned. We both knew it was code for me to shift and hunt. Even here in this woodland village, I wouldn’t broadcast that I was a shifter.
“Okay, then.”
My smile grew as she grabbed my t-shirt and yanked me down for another quick and dirty kiss. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright when she pulled away. She turned to Edvina, her touch slowly falling away. “That would be great. Thanks, Edvina.”
“Oh, call me Vina, everyone does. And, as that big brute clearly doesn’t want me to call youButterfly…”She rolled her eyes at me. “I’m calling you Hunnie. Hunter doesn’t suit you at all. Seriously, Stone, couldn’t you come up with something better than that to call this beautiful woman?”
Shan laughed at my scowl.
“Hey!” I called as they walked away, and my fingers twitched to pull Shan back to my side. They both turned back. I allowed my magic to glow in my eyes and flick across my fingers. “Remember, I’m always close. If you need me, just yell. I’ll be with you in seconds.” I glared pointedly at Vina.
She paled a little but nodded. “She’ll be safe here.”
I nodded, a slight snarl baring my canines. “I’m sure you understand the consequences if she isn’t.” I had no reason to mistrust her, but my wolf was as unhappy as me at leaving our mate, even for a short while. Maybe this was a bad idea.
Shannon rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t pay attention to him. He’s just being overly protective. I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself if I need to.”
Vina looked from me to Shan. “But just what in Faery do you two think will happen in this sleepy little village? Literally,nothingexciting ever happens.”
My wolf rumbled as I forced him back. The shift was quick and painless, and thanks to the small amount of Connor’s power thathummed through my veins, I could reassemble my clothes and was fully dressed by the time I was back on two legs.
I swiped up the carcasses of two large rabbits. Normally, I wouldn’t stop my wolf from ripping into them after a hunt, but it pleased both of us to provide food for Shannon. I smirked at the satisfied rumble that echoed in my head.
Birds twittered, and the sun warmed my face as I headed back to the village. It was peaceful here in Faery, and part of me wanted to stay, but it was time I took Shannon back to Scotland. We’d avoided contact with my father or anyone outside this village, and I was grateful for that. Staying longer would put that luck to the test. Besides, Shannon was well enough to leave now. She’d not once seemed like she craved alcohol, and there’d been no further hallucinations. If anything, she was happier than I’d ever seen her. Her eyes shone, and she smiled and laughed a lot more. Her body was filling out again, and the heat in her gaze when she caught me staring never failed to make my stomach clench. The need to claim her was an itch on my soul, one I was finding hard to ignore, but I would never claim her without her consent.
Connor had tasked his brothers and warriors, the Shadow Sentinels, to eradicate the practice of forcibly claiming and bonding unmated shifters. Male or female, it didn’t matter if shifters were weaker than their attackers; once they were forced into a mating, there was no escape—unless one of the pair died. Slavery was rife in the shifter community, and one of our main goals was to eliminate it. The vampire war had escalated, which slowed our progress, but when it came to forced mating, Connor was relentless. Once the vampire war and the Blood Lust virus were under control, we’d continue our fight against the criminal packs who subjugated and used the less powerful members of shifter society.
I needed to return to Scotland and see my king and my brothers and their families. I hated the distance between us all, but Shannon came first, even if we did have a fucking war to fight. Count Balthazar Rossi would have to wait for my help, especially if Shannon wasn’t ready to deal with being back there. I wouldn’t do anything that might interfere with her healing. And, I needed to trust that, when we were apart, she wouldn’t give in to any urges to get lost in a haze of Rosewater. I doubted she could go back to being a Sentinel right away. She’d fucked up enough that I was pretty sure Connor would need her to prove herself before he’d even consider it. Besides, I didn’t even know if she wanted to be one any more.
I dragged a hand down my face. We should talk about it. The fact that we hadn’t was as much my fault as Shan’s. We both knew she’d put people at risk, and I didn’t want to upset her by bringing back the guilt she harboured over what had happened to her sister. She hadn’t asked about seeing Ava, going home to Scotland, the war, or any missions at all, not even after listening to my updates with Connor. It was like she didn’t want to acknowledge that part of her life existed any more.
Maybe a visit to Hope to see how Ava was doing was the best idea. While we were there maybe Shan could talk to Becca, the Canadian pack’s councillor.
There was a small beep as I switched on the communication device on my wrist to get an update on Ava. If she’d had the baby, I wanted to see them almost as much as Shannon did. Rawson had suffered through some life-altering shit, and I couldn’t be happier that he’d found his soul mate, even if finding her had put him through hell.
The communication device beeped, and Ventry’s deep voice greeted me.
“Stone. What do you need?”
I grinned, appreciating that he got straight to the point. “Do you have time for an extraction tomorrow?”
“Consider it done.” There was a pause. “Shannon’s doing well, then?”
“She is. There’s been no sign of withdrawal since we arrived. She’s…happy.”
“That’s good. Are you staying in Winter for a while?” There was a pause, but I waited patiently. He clearly hadn’t finished what he was saying. “When she wakes, I’m sure Blue would like to spend time with her.”
I glanced up at the moons. The glowing orbs were almost ready to meet. I hadn’t realised how much time had passed. I chuckled. “You sure you’re alright with that? They’re a force to be reckoned with when they’re together.”
Vent’s grunt made me chuckle. “They really fucking are. But, yeah, my human is a pain in the arse while she’s awake, but I’m not cruel enough to deny her seeing one of her own kind for a while.”
I didn’t call him out on the fact that I’d noticed he couldn’t deny her much at all. Their relationship wasn’t my business. He didn’t mistreat her, and she’d die if she wasn’t in Faery. Besides, technically, according to Faery law, she was his prisoner for her crimes against this land and his people.
