I didn’t want to leave.
The meeting pressed at the back of my mind like a splinter. Obligations. Councils. Things that mattered far less than the woman watching me with quiet uncertainty.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, even though I already knew.
She hesitated, then lifted her chin. “I was going to see if you were busy. There’s a gathering at the coven today. I thought… it might be good to introduce you. So they know I didn’t make you up.”
Something warm and dangerous settled in my chest at the thought. Walking in at her side. Letting them see her with me. Calling her my wife without qualification.
For a fleeting moment, I considered cancelling the meeting entirely.
The only thing that stopped me was the faint, irritating whisper of consequence. Of how complicated things could become if my true mate ever appeared—how many lines would blur, how many promises I’d already broken.
And still, the truth was unsettlingly clear.
If my mate wasn’t Elowyn, then I didn’t care to meet her.
Elowyn swallowed under my silence, her eyes searching my face. I should have said yes. Should have gone with her and let the world adjust around us. The heavens would not be pleased if I started neglecting duty.
“I’ve got a meeting,” I said at last, the words tasting bitter.
Disappointment flickered across her face before she turned away too quickly.
“Right,” she said softly. “I know you’re busy.”
She forgave me immediately, and that somehow made it worse. I watched her shoulders sag and felt something sharp twist in my chest. I told myself distance was the only way to keep this from becoming something I couldn’t control, but the lie rang hollow even to me.
“Maybe next time,” I said, forcing a smile that felt thin.
She nodded, offering one in return. “Yeah. Maybe.”
She turned back into the room, and I almost followed. My feet shifted before I stopped myself. If I went after her, I wasn’t sure I’d leave again.
When she emerged a few minutes later, my resolve cracked anyway.
The purple dress clung to her like it had been made with me in mind, every curve a deliberate temptation. My pulse spiked hard and fast. Elowyn was beautiful without trying, but seeing her like this ignited something possessive and unwise in my blood.
Mine.
The thought came unbidden and unwelcome because I had no right to it.
“Do you mind dropping me off?” she asked, her tone light but uncertain. A tub of homemade cookies rested in her hands.
“I actually have something for you.”
Her brow furrowed as I reached for the amulet at my throat. My pulse thundered when I pulled it free and stepped closer, close enough to catch the faint sweetness of her perfume. She didn’t look away as I slipped the chain over her head, the metal brushing her collarbone.
She lifted the amulet, and it began to glow softly. Like it recognized her.
“It’s part of my magic,” I said quietly. “It will let you travel the way I do. Just tell it where you want to go.”
Her eyes widened, wonder lighting her face. “Really?”
“Yes.” I hesitated, then added, “I wanted you to have it.”
Not because it was practical.
Because it was mine and now, in some small way, it was hers. It was something we could share.
