Page 46 of The Witch's Shifter
“Why’d you run off?” he asks, leaning his shoulder against the side of the cottage, cloak shifting around him.
With a grumble, I tear my eyes away from his. “I didn’trunoff,” I say, voice low. “If I’d run off, I’d be gone by now.” There’s a dry yellow aspen leaf beside my boot, and I pick it up, then crush it in my fist and watch the dried leaf matter blow away on the light breeze.
Alden doesn’t respond at first. I’ve learned this about him, that he’s not a talker likeRowan. Even with Aurora, he’s quiet sometimes. His silence isn’t off-putting to me, doesn’t make me raise my hackles. I’m used to nonverbal communication, to using body language instead of words. Often, that’s more comfortable to me than speaking is.
“Aurora was upset,” he finally says.
A bolt of guilt goes through me, but I try not to show it. “She had you and the knight and her family. Why would she be upset about me?”
Alden shakes his head in my peripherals, and I turn slightly to look up at him.
“You don’t get it,” he mumbles.
A growl vibrates in my chest. “Getwhat?”
He sighs and narrows his brown eyes at me. “I don’t know about this whole mate thing, but Aurora cares about you. She’s attentive to you. And she hasn’t seen her family since the spring. They’re important to her, and you weren’t there. How do youthinkshe feels?”
Instead of responding, I curl my hands into fists and glare toward the shadowed tree line.
It makes sense, I suppose, even if I don’t want to hear it.
“Thought you should know.” Alden pushes off the cottage, and his smell drifts around me—pine and woodsmoke. Then he heads back toward the front of the cottage, pausing briefly to pet one of the chickens on the head. Only when the front door has clicked closed behind him do I let out a long breath.
Fuck.
He’s right. And I hate being wrong.
I shift my stare to the road leading away from Brookside and into the village, and I picture Aurora when she looked back at me from the wagon, a bundle held in her arms, a soft smile upon her lips. I didn’t even smile back.
I drag a hand down my face and groan, causing the chickens to scatter, frightened by me even from a distance.
I can sure be an asshole when I want to be.
Now, with guilt swirling around inside me, joining all the other emotions I wish weren’t there, I know I need to get out of here. If I don’t blow off some steam, I might do something I regret, like tear a chunk of red hair from the knight’s pretty head.
But really, would that be so bad?
Aurora would think so.
I shove to my feet and stalk toward the tree line, shedding the clothes Aurora bought me as I go. She was so proud to provide them for me, and though I might not show it very well, I really do appreciate it. I don’t want to ruin them with a hasty transformation.
Now naked, with the autumn air cool against my hot skin, I pause at the shadowed tree line and glance back at the cottage.
I want to be there for Aurora, but as of yet, I don’t know how. Maybe I never will.
Teeth grinding together and frustration bubbling in my veins, I turn and sprint into the trees, losing myself to the wolf.
Chapter 25
Aurora
“WELL,” I SAY, STEPPING OUT in front of my family and Harrison and gesturing to Brookside with a flourish, “here it is!”
“Oh my goddess,” Selene whispers, lips parting as her dark blue eyes track across the cottage’s exterior. “It’s just as I remember it.”
She steps forward, her long black cloak dragging softly over the fallen leaves, Harrison padding alongside her. Behind them, my mother stands with her hands clasped before her, lips twisted into a scowl. Wyland stayed at the cottage with Fletcher, so it’s just us Silvermoon women tonight.
The sun is setting, and the golden rays of autumn light strike Brookside, turning its cheerful yellow paint an even warmer shade, like it’s reaching out its arms to wrap travelers in a comforting hug. I’m still so pleased with the color I chose for the exterior; looking at my mother, though, I imagine she’s probably underwhelmed.
