Page 36 of Titan’s Mate

He didn’t need to. This was a private time, just for the two of them. A gift he could give them, to remember always.

To make the end less bitter, if it came.

He sat in the sunlight, soaking up the peace of her forest, giving them as long as he could. But humans could only spend so long with their spirits out of their bodies before it got dangerous.

He rose to a squat and put a hand on each of their shoulders. The bear turned awkwardly, and ended up tipping over and rolling on her back, making Mari smile.

The bear got up and came over to him, butting her head against him and licking his cheek in a bear kiss. He put his arms around her, stroking her thick fur.

Thank you, her bear said. Take care of her.

Always, he told her. Until the end.

The bear looked into his eyes. There is no end.

And then they were back in his studio, Mari in his arms, happy tears running down her face. She flung her arms around him.

“I’ll never forget this.”

He held her, but all he could hear was her bear’s voice in his mind. There is no end. What did she mean?

At that minute his phone buzzed with a text. A real one—not the damned message chain.

It was from Brock.

Tyr Greystone is here.

Chapter 15

Titan helped Mari on with her coat. This was it, he realized. If Tyr couldn’t help her, there was no hope.

And she knew it too. The glow in her face from seeing her bear had faded, and she looked apprehensive.

“You scared?” he asked, watching her carefully pull her hair out from under her coat collar, taking as long as possible.

She shook her head.

But she was, he realized. Scared to hope. And he wondered if he and Brock were really doing her any favors. Because she’d accepted her fate, and now they were tearing open those wounds all over again.

But it would be worse if there was something that could be done, and they didn’t do it.

He stood back to let her go ahead of him. She walked to the door, but just before she went outside, she stopped with her hand on the doorknob.

“Titan?”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe I am a little scared.”

She turned and he pulled her into his arms, holding her with her head on his chest. She wrapped her arms around him and just stood, and he breathed her in.

Finally she pulled away. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“I’ll be right there with you.”

As they came out of the woods and started down the hill, Titan looked up to see the dragon winging down from the cliff at the top of the territory, which was the only place Brandon would allow magical portals to open.

His cobalt-blue scales glistened in the sun—and Brock was riding on his back. “I guess Tyr didn’t feel like walking down from the portal,” he said.