Page 20 of Bear Your Fate

“Dragon magic,” Carrick echoed. “You told my son that he’d soon understand how dragon magic was different from witch magic, but that was more than a year ago.”

“Soon is a relative term. To me, a year is barely any time at all.”

Damien’s reply was cryptic enough to be guaranteed to piss Carrick off, and I needed to prevent that from happening because we had more important things to worry about. “Do you know if the Council of Four’s meeting has adjourned yet?”

“Yes, it didn’t take them long since they didn’t have a jackass who insisted on wasting everyone’s time like we did,” Damien answered.

I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and called the Water magic representative. “There’s no need for concern,” she assured me in lieu of a greeting. “That petition wasn’t worth the paper upon which it was printed, and it was quickly discharged.”

“That’s such a relief,” I sighed.

I didn’t bother explaining what she’d told me because Carrick’s glare and Damien’s grin let me know that they’d overheard every word. It was going to take a little while to grow accustomed to little things like super-sonic hearing. But later. I had a new, important matter to deal with first.

13

Carrick

“I know the timing is bad, but this isn’t a summons I can refuse,” Audra explained. “Not without an excellent reason.”

“Our quick departure from home after the birth of our grandchildren due to a threat to them wouldn’t be considered an excellent reason?”

She ran her hand up and down my back as she shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. I was there for the birth, and the threat to the babies has been handled at least for the time being. As far as the council is concerned, there’s no reason I can’t be present when they make the announcement that they’re adding a Dragon magic placement and Damien has been appointed to represent the dragons on the newly named Council of Five.”

“Having Audra there will help the transition go more smoothly,” Damien added. “She has a solid reputation with the other covens, and they’ve already demonstrated that they’re willing to listen to her counsel on issues pertaining to witch-shifter relations.”

“Fine,” I huffed. “We’ll make a pit stop so you can attend this meeting and then we’ll head home to Bear Creek.”

Audra laced her fingers through mine and squeezed. “I’m not sure how long my business with the council will take.”

“No!” I barked out, shaking my head. “Don’t even suggest that you make this trip on your own, without me.”

“I have to because it makes the most sense. We might have gotten the petitions thrown out, but we still have no idea who submitted them. Our only real clue is that they have a connection of some kind to Bear Creek since they knew exactly when the babies were born. We can’t assume they won’t try something else once they find out the petitions didn’t accomplish anything, not when it’s Nixon and Nyssa at risk.”

“We put excellent measures in place to keep them safe,” I argued.

“But you still would never have left them if it hadn’t been necessary,” she pointed out. “Because you know as well as anyone else that one extra set of eyes could make all the difference, especially when they belong to the alpha.”

“Fuck,” I groaned, torn between my desire to return home to watch over the newest members of my clan and my need to keep Audra safe.

“You can count on me to protect her,” Damien offered. “By going, she’ll be making my transition with the witch council easier and for that I’ll owe her a debt of gratitude.”

I knew how seriously he took those debts, but it didn’t erase all of my worry. It didn’t matter that the dragon shifter was undoubtedly the better candidate to keep her safe in a crowd full of witches since he had magic and I didn’t. I loved her. And she loved me. Only this clusterfuck of a situation hadn’t let us enjoy the first time we voiced our feelings for each other. And now this damned witch meeting was only going to put it off longer.

“And I’m pretty impressive in my own right,” Audra added. “Not only have I been taking care of myself ever since I was a teenager, I’ve also led and trained a coven full of witches. Plus—”

She leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine before moving back less than an inch to whisper, “I’m the witch you called in when you had trouble with dark practitioners. Remember?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, knowing damn well when I was fighting a losing battle. “But everything was different back then.”

“And now I’ve got even more to live for than I did a year ago. There’s Nixon, Nyssa,”—she gave me another quick kiss—“and you.”

“Damn straight you’ve got me,” I growled. “And as soon as you get home, we’re going to set our family down and tell them about us.”

“After you talk to me about that mating business.”

I agreed, chuckling at the exaggerated wink Damien sent me way. I figured the dragon shifter knew as well as I did what would happen if we had that conversation first. We’d be mates before we told our family about us.

That’s what I held onto when I said goodbye to her at the private airstrip. She boarded Damien’s plane, and I flew home alone. I slept the entire way again, but it wasn’t nearly as restful without Audra at my side. When I landed in Bear Creek, I was in a heck of a mood. I decided to head over to Camden and Selene’s house since that’s where the babies were.

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