Chapter 74 – Carina
Seventy-Four
CARINA
He sniffs the air. “No one’s here.”
“She’s probably at work.” Which is perfect, as I grasp his hand and haul him away from the backyard and over the property line. “Given the barrier, you’ve never been inside town. Not to do anything but be threatened by my kind anyway.”
He shudders but doesn’t pull away. “The town sign was plenty. If that’s a fraction of the number of tourists you see each day, no thanks.”
“Too bad.”
For all his words, he’s joking because when as I point out homes of coven members, including the abandoned Sinclair house, he grows interested and intently scans the park I later point out, the streets I used to play on.
We leave the neighbourhood and enter the busier areas as cars pass us, all jamming into parking spots.
We pass the post office—a historic building—the library, town hall, and even the souvenir shop on the corner of what’s considered to be the main strip.
He scans over all the Canadian-themed mementoes with his nose scrunched.
“Junk.”
A few people glance over, and I elbow him in the side. “The owners are lovely. Business is good this time of year, and the outside werewolf can’t fuck it up for them.”
He bends until breath blows across my nape, beneath the thin jacket I slipped on after retrieving more clothing from home. Now that I plan on living with Ryder full-time, I need more than just the week’s worth I packed last time.
“Now who needs to lower her voice before mortals start calling pest control? Also, not a werewolf, which you very well know.”
“Did you just insult and defend yourself in one go?”
He laughs and lets me point out all the best restaurants and shops. We pass the BeaverTails shop I once brought Harlow to on her first day in town. “Ever eat one of these?”
He scans the red sign with the funky font. “We don’t eat beaver, no.”
“While relieving to know that much, that isn’t what they sell. It’s a dessert—stretched dough deep fried and slathered in flavour.”
He simply rolls his neck to look at me. “Sugar. Have you ever seen any of us consume something not killed or grown in the forest?”
“One dessert won’t hurt you. You’ll burn the calories off simply by breathing.”
“Why would I need fake food to do that for me when you’re my dessert?” He hauls me closer and buries his head in my hair, tongue flicking at his bite mark.
“Alright, you win. But one day, you will be trying one.”
For now, I lead him a few more stores down until reaching Mom’s shop.
Two customers keep her busy, but at our arrival, she grins.
Ryder scans the place as we stand off to the side and wait.
While he may be dressed the part of human, it’s clear from one look, he doesn’t fit in.
He seems too out of place, hands shoved into his pockets, and more skittish than I knew possible, shifting on his feet every few seconds.
“It smells like you in here,” he murmurs beneath his breath.
“It is where half my time is spent.”
His eyes flash with a possessiveness that reminds me of the day I told him goodbye.
“Is that something you’ll want? I won’t keep you from your coven, no matter if you’ve agreed to be with me.
For all my comments about chaining you to my side, you’re not a captive.
Protective instincts may need to be trained, but I trust you to keep me accountable.
I won’t handle you depressed or regretting our life. ”
Over the course of the month, I never considered what life would be like to return to him.
Outside of helping with pack life, at some point, I will miss Mom and our ceremonies, and perhaps the occasional dinner.
While I grumble about working here, perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to continue, if only for something to do.
“I’ll have to think about it, but I might. Maybe work on a part-time basis and split my time between here and the forest. If Leah wants, she could come too.” Big if because Ryder is an example of how the shifters don’t enjoy mixing with mortals.
Ryder turns to study outside, narrowing his eyes at a group of guys shoving into one another beside the door.
Not the best example of human behaviour.
“She might like that. She doesn’t really leave camp much, because she finds it pointless.
With you unable to shift, it may make her amenable to trying certain things. ”
“You’d let her?”
He snorts. “There’s not much I can’t demand Leah to do—Alpha or otherwise. But I trust you.” He turns his head as the humans stride past us and out the door, Mom following to flip the sign closed. “And her. This is your family, which makes them part of my pack too.”
Oh, Goddess, I think my heart just fractured into the floorboards.
Mom gives the door her back and disrupts us before my emotions can choke up into incomprehensible sentences. “An early lunch. Let’s go to the back so we’re out of customers’ view.
Mom leads the way to the storage and office area in the back. Shelves of more stock are against a wall, and store-related things on an adjacent one. Between them is her desk and computer, which she so rarely uses, preferring simple magick to whip up much of her paperwork.
Ryder lingers by the door, utterly out of place while Mom settles against the desk with her arms folded. I hop on a low stack of boxes. “Well,” she starts, glancing between us, but then settles on the bag strapped to my back. “You’ll be staying with him, I assume.”
“Highridge is still my home. I don’t want to be kicked out.”
Her brows draw together. “You’d think I’d do that? Despite everything, you’re still my daughter, Carina. You’re part of this coven until your death. Falling in love doesn’t change that. I told you that weeks ago.”
“You were also not particularly thrilled by the idea of us being together.”
Mom shrugs a shoulder with as much warmth as she warned Jasper away from Adalyn. “As a mom, I want the best for you. As a mom, I also want to believe that’d be here, not with the pack. But as a mom, I want you happy, which is with Ryder.”
“Backwards psychology, yet again,” Ryder mumbles from across the room.
“I’m not becoming High Priestess.”
“No, I figured as much based on last night’s ceremony that I took over. You never wanted it, so it’s not surprising. Took a while for you to speak up.”
“Who’ll it be then?”
“I’m still young and won’t be going anywhere for a while, so it’s nothing you need to worry about.”
But I do, because it should have been my role, and thus my responsibility to fill it. “Jasper makes the most sense.”
“Jasper has less interest than even you, and right now, he’s angry. Besides, it’s uncommon for a High Priest to take over. You know that.”
“Uncommon but not impossible.” Hecate’s covens were always designed to be female-driven, where warlocks are more or less just present. “What about giving it back to the Sinclairs? It was originally their coven.”
“Harlow.” Mom blinks, readjusting her arms to her side as she considers it with pursed lips.
“Her vampirism would make it tricky, but not impossible. The coven’s accepted her as is.
It’s an idea for the future certainly. If it’s something she’d want.
For now, I’m interested in your future and what it’ll look like. ”
Ryder gives me an encouraging nod, accepting whatever decision I make.
“I’ll live with him, but I’d like to return every full moon.
I’d like to still do circles with you when needed and come by for dinner occasionally.
I’d like to keep working here, part-time, to fill my days. I’ll have two homes instead of one.”
She pushes off the desk to embrace me. “Being mated to a wolf doesn’t make you any less of a member of Highridge, nor my daughter. I’m pleased you’ve chosen the path you feel most suited for.”
“Thanks, Mom. For everything.”
She releases me and crosses to Ryder, who straightens. A tension-filled moment passes before she offers him her hand. “Take care of her. It’s all I ask.”
“Always. Easiest promise I’ll ever make.”
“Come for dinner next week, both of you. I’d like us to have an actual conversation one of these days.”
His eyes flick over her head to me, and I bite the inside of my cheek from laughing over the absolute horror in his expression at the thought of her offer. It fades quickly for a cough as he pulls at the edge of his shirt.
“We will, thanks. Also, as Alpha, I’d like to nullify the treaty.
No more accords, no more annual deals. While we’d prefer each side stick to their respective territory as we’ve been doing, we will not attack any Highridge witch found on our lands.
The coven is safe from us from here on out.
Carina’s family is under my protection. This is the new agreement I make to you, High Priestess. ”
Hormones can affect any woman, witch or human, and oh Goddess, mine are whimpering with love for him, while also holding my breath for Mom’s response.
She reaches to shake his hand. “In turn, any wolf from Coldcrest is welcome within the town, provided they dress the part and can fit in with the mortals. We thank you, Ryder, and accept.”
I once believed not being torn apart when discovered on their territory was a miracle.
Turns out, this is the true miracle.