Page 30 of Wanderer

“You also have a life here. A job. You can’t ruin that, just in case—”

“Don’t say what you’re about to,” I cut his words off. “If you leave, I’m tracking you down.” Pressing a kiss to his head, I pulled him even closer. Inside my chest burned a desperate need to keep him with me. I felt it in my soul that Riley was supposed to stay here, with me, in Greyhaven.

“Fuck! We’re not bonded. We hardly know each other, Gareth. You can’t say that shit already!” He tried to pull away, but gave up with a sigh when I refused to relax my hold on him.

“I can. It’s how this works, Riley. As my fated mate, you are the one single soul meant to match mine. You are everything I could ever ask for in a mate, and you came at just the right time.”

“Did I?”

“Yeah. Before you arrived, I was so damn lonely. It was suffocating.”

“You were?”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t know this, but I’ve been on my own for the last decade. I thought I was fine, but I wasn’t, not really. My parents were decent growing up, though we weren’t particularly close. Still, I knew they were right behind me if I needed them. Once they got me through college early and started on my teacher training, they left Greyhaven. They never truly wanted to be parents. It was just something they ticked off. Dad’s parents expected at least one grandchild.” I gave a rueful laugh. “I’m making them sound awful. Honestly, I had a great childhood, it was just there was this distance between us that I didn’t see with other kids and their parents. Mine were too engrossed in themselves for me.”

“Are they fated?” Riley’s question came out muffled against my chest. I loved the way he had wrapped himself around me.

“No, I think they felt like they had to love each other harder because of it. They were obsessed. Still are. Neither of them gives me much thought. They’re traveling the world right now. Going to other havens and teaching all that they know, which is a lot, but it was a lonely time for me. I’ve gotten used to being on my own. This last week…”

“What is it?”

“I thought if I could just convince you to give me a chance, then I wouldn’t be alone anymore. Now you’re saying that you’ll leave me.”

“Gareth—” He sounded so goddamn sad.

“No. We’re fated. That means something to me—”

“And me. I tried fighting it.” He tightened his grip on me, the touch almost bruising.

“I mean it, Riley. Even if it takes years, I will follow you and make things right. Hell, I’ll track down Boyce,” I spat his name. “And I’ll end him.” Riley laughed. The sound was so genuine and pure, it made me smile. “I mean it. I know dragons. They’ll help.” Now I was teasing, but honestly, I was sure Tatsuya would want to help me.

“It might be too late for Mom, but if it would give her some peace…”

“Okay, it’s getting late. Let’s sleep, and we can work through what we want to do in the morning. Just know that we have a plan. If the curse isn’t broken, I’ll track you down and we’ll head to Boyce. Let’s see which of us is the more powerful warlock.”

When I woke, I was sure I was still dreaming. I pinched my arm just to assure myself that this was real. Nope, real. Riley was still cuddled up next to me, sleeping soundly, tiny snores escaping.

Minutes passed as I studied him. He had that shifter attractiveness, a sort of wildness they all had. His nose had clearly been broken and reset poorly, which was easily done with shifter healing. Instead of wanting to fix it for him—by getting Oscar to straighten it since I couldn’t—I relished that one imperfection. It made him feel real.

Then I noticed something I hadn’t seen the night before. All the times I’d been close to Riley were in low light. Under the bright light of the winter morning, I could see silver scars along his cheekbones, and one bisected his eyebrow at the corner and continued along his temple. Shifters shouldn’t have scars like that.

I wanted to ask him about them, though I knew it would open old wounds for him. Being patient wasn’t my forte, yet for Riley, I’d learn.

So much had changed since our chance meeting at the grocery store. I was going to enjoy this for as long as possible. Riley was dealing with some real trauma. I didn’t know even half of what he’d been through, so I was sure there were going to be blips in our future. He just had to know that I was committed to making this work. No matter what.

A fated mate was a gift that I wasn’t going to take for granted.

Finally, he stirred and opened one bleary eye. “Morning,” he croaked, his voice sleep roughened. It made a shiver work its way through my body. I longed for hundreds, no, thousands of mornings just like this. “What time is it?”

My phone was on the nightstand. As I reached for it, it vibrated with an incoming call. I hesitated, not wanting to break this slow, sleepy morning with my mate. The ringing stopped, then started again immediately. I looked at Riley, silently asking if he was okay with the interruption. He nodded. “Better answer, or they’ll just keep calling.”

“It’s Tatsuya. He’d just text if it wasn’t important.” I hit the button and put it on speaker, though Riley could probably hear the call without it. “Hello?”

“Gar? Where are you? You’re supposed to be helping set up the parade!” Tatsuya sounded worried, not mad.

“Fuck. What time is it?” I sat up and untangled myself from the blanket. Without Riley’s quick movements, I’d have fallen out of bed. Riley grinned and wrapped his arms around me, keeping me in place.

“A little after nine. We were supposed to meet at eight for breakfast, and you never showed.” Now Tatsuya sounded annoyed. “It’s not like you. Are you sick?”