Conall
The summer sun shines down on the island.
In the distance, the wreckage from last night's battle mars the landscape.
Downed trees, boulders, and upturned dirt mark every skirmish.
Monsters are already working to set things right.
Colt, the kraken ferryman, uses his enormous tentacles to move branches and logs.
Several woodland sprites salvage the plants that haven't been totally destroyed. The centaur clan moves boulders.
Ivy steps out behind me, and since the wards were renewed under the new rules, I can feel the mating bond strong and insistent at my center.
Part of me is still bitter. There was a chance I'd have never found my mate.
I could have ruined it when I met her, all because I couldn't feel or sense that most basic of instincts.
How many on the island are mated pairs who simply missed it because the previous wards were too strong?
Ivy and I were already mated in the woods when I was in hound form, so the bond snapped into place immediately. Others may take more time.
"So, what's this one last thing you want to show me?
" she asks, looking around. The light touches her soft, freckled skin, and the sundress she chose flaps around her shins in the summer breeze.
Her smile is bright and true, and it's an expression I'll work to put on her face every day until I die.
I pull her around so her back presses to my front and tuck her head under my chin.
We watch as the monsters work at the top of the hill. A boulder being rolled by two centaurs starts to slip down the side. Killian and the other centaur lose control of it. It careens downward toward one of the houses.
Ivy gasps, and I smile into her hair.
Instead of destroying the house and potentially killing anyone inside, the dirt crust of the island rises up gently and brings the boulder to a stop. I look down to find Ivy's mouth fallen open. "How—how—"
"Hang on." The island's crust, dirt, root, and grass begin rolling the boulder back up the hill toward Killian.
"What is happening?" she gasps, hands on her cheeks.
"Oh, come on, you found out monsters were real a little over a month ago. This isn't that surprising," I tease.
"It's pretty damn surprising," she scoffs.
I wrap my arms around her, squeezing her back into me. "It's Ursula," I say.
She turns to look up at me. "My aunt?"
I smooth away some stray curls from her face. "I told you the old witch had an ulterior motive."
Her brow scrunches as she looks around. "She magicked the island?"
I shake my head. "She infused her consciousness into the island. Laz says she likely suspended her essence when she cast the renewal spell. Then, when you completed it, she literally became part of Moonfall."
Ivy's face goes through several expressions before landing on incensed.
"The ball of light," she murmurs. I nod. "So the island is essentially possessed by a meddlesome dead witch?"
"Yep."
She sighs. I lean down, catching the sigh with my mouth. Now that the mating bond is strong and unencumbered by suppression wards, every moment I'm not touching her feels like torture. Her lips are warm and soft, and when my hands slide around her waist, she arches into me.
Aware that the whole hill can see us and is likely watching, I regretfully pull back.
"I don't want to overwhelm you while you're still recovering," I start. She leans against my chest, snaking her arms around my neck.
"I'm fine, Conall. What's the “but”?"
My hands drift down, squeezing her soft ass. She wiggles in my arms with a smile.
"The council is meeting tonight about the new wards—" I start, but she's a smart woman.
"And about whether I can stay," she fills in.
My forehead presses to hers. "You are staying. We're just going to tell everyone that tonight." She nods, letting me hold her and trusting me. "I love you."
The corner of her mouth quirks up. "You said that."
"I'm going to say it as often as I can. I love you, my mate."