Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
CARINA
Certain things can involve the use of magick but are better without.
Like apple picking.
A small orchid right here within the mountains is something I never would have expected.
Spanning about twenty trees worth, two rows of five, and growing McIntosh apples, they provide easy snacks throughout the winter.
They grow all summer, are picked in the fall, and are stored for use during the winter.
Standing on a wooden crate, I stretch my arm for an apple out of reach. My fingers brush it, my legs wobbling when I lift onto my toes. After three tries and one huff, magick detaches it from the stem and plops it into my hand.
“What,” a deep rumble cuts through the blissful silence of the small field, “are you doing?”
Apple in hand, I go to turn, only for my shoe to hook on the crate’s edge and stagger me sideways. Arms flinging to the side for balance proves pretty useless when I stumble, the ground rushing towards me.
Only, it never comes.
A burning warmth coats my neck—although that may also be my blush—as Ryder’s arms come around me and he drags me back to my feet. He doesn’t release me when I’m standing, and I get an eyeful of the chest I still fondly recall sleeping against.
“You have to stay alive long enough for Twilight Grove to make you useful.” It’s a teasing tone, followed by a deep chuckle vibrating against my hand.
My hand? Oh, right. It’s resting on his lower stomach, fingers digging into the grooves of his abs. It’s not much different from his; one hand spans my back, the other clasping my hip. Neither of us letting the other go.
“What are you doing way out here?”
“I was working with Leah, but she went to help with lunch. I offered to stay back and finish since we’re almost done.”
His eyes flick to the tree closest to us. “I see that. The pack’s chores aren’t yours. You don’t have to help.”
“I want to. Better than staying inside your cabin and going nuts until my untimely turning Dark.”
A shadow encompasses his face before he looks away entirely, towards the two full crates beside me. “Well…thanks.”
“I should be thanking you guys for letting me work. Better than waiting around all day for you.”
Did I just say that aloud? Based on his slow grin, I did.
“Said with a pout. Missed me?”
More than I care to admit.
His hold slowly loosens, as if he’s only now realizing I’m still in his arms. With reluctance, I step back, strangely missing his touch. It felt like…well, I won’t admit what it feels like because it’ll make me believe I’m insane.
With a few inches of space now between us, Ryder’s nostrils flare with his sharp but quiet inhale. “You smell good.” His voice does that rumbling thing that makes my insides mushy.
Call me an idiot.
“I smell like the outdoors.”
“Exactly.” His eyes are molten, creating a pool that’ll drown me.
“You smell like the dirt beneath our feet, the fire burning nightly, the wind on the trees, and the water in the streams. You smell like one of us, and it’s enticing, Carina.
You smell like my cabin, my nest…me. And that… that’s fuckin’ dangerous.”
My mouth is so dry, sucked clean by the intimate intensity of his words. My tongue slips out to wet it—which doesn’t help—when his sharp focus tracks the movement. “Why’s that?”
“Smelling like mine makes you mine, kamahki, and we both know that’ll never happen.”
What the fuck does that mean? “Why do your eyes flash silver sometimes?”
“Partial shift triggered by emotions and instincts…” His voice trails off at the end, like there’s more to say, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he steps back until he’s leaning against a crate and crosses his arms. The silver dries up for black, his tone flattening.
“Tonight, you’re coming with us to the meeting.
The other Alphas need to know about Twilight Grove and the Celestial war.
You being present will be further proof, if they need. ”
Dealing with one pack has been enlightening, but the prejudice between our kinds will always be present, and he’s about to walk me in the middle of many. Since no doesn’t feel like an option, I mutter, “Uh, alright. Will they try to kill me?”
“They won’t touch you. You’re an ally, which will be made known.” He straightens off the crate, hesitating, before shaking his head and walking away. “I’ll collect you when it’s time.”
There isn’t a need for Ryder to “collect me” because as the sun lowers, more and more people begin gathering within the centre of camp, most already as wolves. When Xander and Ryder appear at the edge, they all fall into some kind of formation.
Both men cross the camp towards Leah, me, the kids, and a few of the other shifters who aren’t joining. Leah mentioned only seconds ago she’s staying behind, so by the time Ryder and Xander approach, they receive the tail-end of my whine.
“I wish you’d come, so at least one shifter won’t join in on the witch sacrifice.”
She doesn’t go for my joke. “Sorry, I stopped going years ago.”
“Why?”
“A few reasons I won’t get into, but then there’s the obvious one too.”
“Which is?”
She blinks, looking from me to Ryder, who’s now beside me. “He didn’t mention I can’t shift? I never came into my wolf.”
Since meeting Leah, I’ve never seen her leave camp, never hunt or patrol, but I didn’t think much of it. A shifter unable to transform is nothing Mom’s ever mentioned being a possibility, probably because it’s not written in our history tomes.
Xander slips between me and Leah with a scowl. He wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her against him, but she shakes her head. “It’s fine, Xander. I’m used to people knowing and assumed she was told.”
“Regardless,” I start without really thinking of possible repercussions, “you’re still a member of the pack. You can come. If I, an outsider and witch, am going, you can too.”
Three sets of eyes snap towards me.
She smiles weakly, shaking her head. “You sound like these two. Maybe next time.”
The frown they share suggests they’ve heard her standard lie a few times before.
Ryder leads me away so Xander can finish saying goodbye to Leah. Over my shoulder, I watch him brush his forehead against hers, and she smiles at him like he’s the only person in the world.
A touch to the back of my hand pulls my attention from the couple and towards Ryder, who’s watching me watch them. “What you said to her was nice.”
“It’s the truth. I didn’t realize not all wolves become, well, wolfish.”
His eyes tighten in the corners as he looks from me to Leah. “It’s extremely rare. She’s the only one I know of.”
“Is there a reason?”
“Wish I knew, ’cause then I’d help her, but nothing we know of, no.”
Xander jogs up beside us and shoots me a small smile, murmuring things I don’t catch to Ryder. We eventually join a much larger gathering, a couple of whom carry bags strapped to their backs, which probably means the meetings happen in human form. At least I’ll blend.
Ryder and Xander walk away to shift and return quickly. Ryder stops in front of me and in a well-practiced move, he lowers. Once I’m seated, he lifts to full height, takes his place at the lead, and with a low howl that carries through the trees, runs off.