Page 66 of Starting a New Life

I wanted to see where he’d been hiding. How he’d been living.

“Okay,” Rhett said. “Back to the barrier. How exactly does this whole ‘connecting a shifter to the barrier’ thing work? Could you do it now?”

Nix nodded as he stepped out of my arms and toward the barrier, a tentative smile on his face. “Yes. It’s not complicated. More like a tedious job than a demanding one. The question is, do you trust me to do it?”

Rhett pulled his brows into a frown. “Does it hurt?”

Nix quickly shook his head, extending his hand as he stopped about a foot away from the border. His fingers hit the invisible wall, and sparks flew. Literally. Purples and white, swirling, surrounding his fingertips as part of the barrier became visible.

“It doesn’t hurt per se. If you’re used to magic, you probably won’t really feel much of it, but seeing as you’re unaccustomed to magic, I guess you’ll feel a zing. I can’t really describe it because it’s part of me, and the wolves I’ve previously connected to their respective packs’ barriers would rather have chopped off their tongues than show weakness, but from what I gathered, it feels a bit like touching an electric fence.”

Rhett hesitated. Just a second, but long enough for my mate to notice. He didn’t comment on it, though, just nodded, face a carefully crafted blank mask, but his icy eyes were speaking volumes. At least to me.

“We have time,” he said, giving Rhett a quivering smile. “We don’t have to do it now.”

“I’ll go first,” I found myself saying, and stepped up without even thinking about it. Then again, I didn’t need to think about it. I was the Alpha. It was logical for me to be the first one connected to the barrier.

Nix cocked his head, eyes boring into me, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Okay.” He nodded, reaffirming his answer to himself. “Let’s get you more in touch with your barrier, Alpha.”

I didn’t need people to call me Alpha. Hell, I didn’t even really like it. But with Nix saying it… it wasn’t so bad. A special brand of honour.

Ours, my wolf said, eagerly perking up, almost giddy as he heard Nix acknowledge our position in the pack. Alpha mate.

He wasn’t yet, but he would be. One day. Whenever he was ready.

But the way he smiled at me made me hope that one day would be sooner than I imagined.

“Are you okay?” Nix asked for the tenth time since connecting me to the barrier. It’d been quite anticlimactic, so much so that Rhett had decided to go next. He was brimming with joy at having even more of a connection with the barrier—and a more personal one at that—but I was thoroughly distracted by the fact that I was going to see where Nix had been hiding for months, trying to prepare for all the emotions I might feel upon seeing his tent.

My wolf was already agitated, or maybe he was simply mirroring my emotions.

“Yes,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure if I was lying or not.

We’d parked the ATVs a minute ago and were now entering an empty clearing. It was nice, beautiful even, the afternoon sun hitting the untouched snow, making it sparkle like millions of tiny diamonds, the blue sky above setting a peaceful scene. I could just imagine Nix sitting at the edge of the clearing, leaning against one of the thick oaks, watching, revelling in the quiet calmness of nature.

Was that why he’d picked this spot?

“I can feel something,” Levi said, scrunching up his nose as he turned to Nix. “It hurts my brain. Something is telling me there’s something here, but there isn’t.”

Nix smiled, eyes kind as he nodded. “I haven’t bothered guarding the tent against other magic users. The witches weren’t after me personally, so wasting energy on that extra layer of protection seemed wasteful. Your magic is telling you there’s something here. Do you want to try finding it?”

“How would I go about that?” Levi wondered.

Nix grinned. “One way is to just walk around until you stumble upon it. Then again, that’s something your mate and Gray could do too. If you want to try using your magic, I can guide you.”

“That,” Levi said excitedly, grabbing Rhett’s hand as a wide smile split his face. “Option number two.”

Nix snorted a laugh and nodded. His nose and cheeks were red, his breath puffing out above the thick scarf I’d wrapped around his neck before we’d left. His eyes were sparkling, but the dark bags beneath them and the way he had to suppress a yawn let me know we needed to keep this lesson short.

“Okay. Uhm… Close your eyes and listen to that feeling that you’re missing something. I bet it’s your magic.”

“Okay…” Levi let go of Rhett and followed Nix’s instructions.

“Can you feel it?”

“Kinda?”