A few others around the fire looked back and forth between us, unsure of who to believe. I couldn’t blame them for seeing her point of view.
“It’s true,” I admitted. “I can’t prove it. Not until the baby’s born, anyway. But that doesn’t change the fact that it does belong to--at the very least--one of those three alphas. And if you’re determined to hold onto your belief, then think of it this way.” I let my hands trail to my belly. “There’s a one-in-three chance this is your grandchild, Lady Gabrielle.”
Her face instantly changed. The anger and animosity disappeared for a moment, replaced by a flicker of motherly love. She was silent. She didn’t know what to think anymore.
“That’s not a very high chance,” Gabrielle said weakly, like she didn’t believe her own words.
I shrugged. “But it’s not impossible.”
All the parents present exchanged glances as they considered my statement. Dan and Linda looked surprised but excited. Victor seemed a bit more curious than his mate. My parents, of course, were beaming with happiness no matter what.
“Then we gotta protect Matheson at all costs,” Dan announced. I smiled, noticing that he reminded me particularly of Ramsay in this moment.
Victor nodded solemnly. He, too, resembled Colton with his serious blue-eyed gaze.
That reminds me…
“Lord Victor, Lady Gabrielle,” I said. “Where is Colton? Isn’t he here?”
I braced myself to hear that he’d been left at home, or worse, banned from coming. But to my deep relief, Gabrielle sighed and called over her shoulder, “Colton? Come here.”
My heart picked up speed, tripping over itself in excitement. Then, from the thicket of trees on the other side of the island, two figures emerged. Noro and Colton came up to the fire, both looking hopeful. A book was clasped in Colton’s hand.
“Colton!” I called.
I felt no shame as I ran towards him, forgetting everything except the feeling of his arms around me. He smiled as bright as the sun as I slammed into him. He caught me, held me close and buried his face in my hair.
“Where the hell have you been?” I cried, feeling tears of exasperation and relief burn my eyes.
“Sorry,” he said softly, and the sound of his voice was like bells ringing in my ears. “I had to talk to Noro and I got distracted.”
I didn’t care. I soaked up the feeling of him--his scent, his voice, his warmth, and even the slight dampness of his clothes. I laughed breathlessly.
“I missed you so much,” I murmured. “Never leave me like that again.”
“I won’t,” he promised. “I’m sorry I had to leave at all. But look.”
Colton lowered the book in his hand and opened it to a marked page.
“Colton was showing me something I missed,” Noro said, and I realized that in my excitement to see my mate I’d completely forgotten to greet him. But he didn’t seem to mind. He was too busy pointing to a section of text with a curved talon. “Look here.”
I read the text but it all flew over my head. I was too overstimulated to understand its meaning.
“You’re gonna have to explain it to me,” I said.
Noro looked at me and said, “Matheson, I was wrong.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. “You were?”
Oh no,I thought.What the hell was he wrong about?
“I assumed there were only four elements,” Noro went on. “But that’s not true. There’s a fifth. A unifying element.”
“Oh. Is that all?” I said, filled with relief that it wasn’t something more important than that. Still, I bit back my reply ofoh, great, another element for me to fail at!
“I must admit, even as a Keeper, I don’t know all the information about magic,” Noro said. “So it came as a shock to me to find out. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you about it sooner. I would have, had I known.”
“I’d been thinking since that day you practiced with Noro,” Colton explained. “How it wasn’t working. Then I thought I remembered something from a book I read a long time ago. That’s why I decided to go with my mom when she made a big fuss.”
