Page 81 of The Witch's Spell
With every step, every crunch of snow beneath my toes, I wonder what Cathal could possibly have to say to me. He’s never much been one for talking. More of a doer than a thinker. But I suppose I’m the same way.
The trees embrace us, feeling familiar and welcoming. I can’t wait to take Aurora on long runs through the woods again. Maybe her little one will come with us as well.
Maybe we’ll have a little one of our own someday.
The thought makes me pause abruptly.
Is that what I want? To have children with her? A family?
Deep inside, my wolf instincts flare to life, and there’s an undeniable knowing, an irrefutableyes.
Aurora is my mate. And I want her to be the mother of my children.
Suddenly, I don’t want to take another step away from the cottage, from our home.
“That’s far enough,” I tell Cathal, my arms crossing over my chest. “Out with it.”
My brother huffs out a long sigh. His steamy breath rises into the cold air before quickly dispersing in the diffuse gray light. Snowflakes still fall around us, silently coming to rest in a white blanket on the forest floor.
“I’m sorry, brother,” he says at long last.
A zap of surprise goes through my whole body, from my freezing toes up to the tips of my ears. I narrow my eyes at him. Is this a trick?
“For what?”
Cathal tears his blue-eyed gaze away from the trees and focuses it on me instead. It’s like looking into a mirror.
“For our fight. For all of our fights. And for exiling you from the pack.”
I’m so surprised that all my anger flees, leaving me feeling empty and confused. It takes a moment to get my wits about me enough to ask, “Then why’d you do it?”
Cathal digs a booted toe into the soft forest floor, revealing the rich brown soil beneath the layer of snow. “I was scared of you.”
My eyes narrow further. I don’t yet speak.
“You’re better at this than me. Better at leading. Caring for the pack.” The muscles in his jaw flex. “It should’ve been you. I know it now, and I knew it then. I was never supposed to be alpha. It was always you.” He meets my eyes again. “And that’s why I sent you away. Because I couldn’t face the pack’s constant disappointment. I thought if you were gone, everything would be better.” His sudden scoff is without humor. “I was an idiot. And Orla made sure I knew it.”
Finally, I find my words. “Did she send you to talk to me?”
“Kind of.” Cathal paces away and slumps back against a tree, his posture nonthreatening. “She realized what was going on and forced me to come. It was all her idea. At first, anyway.”
“And now?” I ask.
My brother isn’t looking at me. He sighs. “Now I see how badly I fucked up. It just took her opening my eyes.” He flicks his gaze to me.
And for the first time in a long time, I see the brother I used to know, the one who was my best friend, my other half. It punches me so hard in the gut that I have to clench my teeth to keep from drawing a gasping breath.
“I’m sorry, brother. For the fights. For being a dick and ruining what we had. For all of it.”
Part of me wants to be indignant, to shove his snout into all his mistakes and make him grovel for my forgiveness. But then I think of Aurora and of what she’d do, what she’d wantmeto do. It softens me, makes me let out a deep sigh.
“I don’t have as much shit to apologize for,” I say, “but for what it’s worth... I’m sorry too.”
A brief smile flickers at the edge of Cathal’s mouth, then vanishes again. He chews his lip. Then he says, “I’ve missed you. The whole pack has. Would you...” He clears his throat and straightens up. “Would you consider coming home?”
Home.
At first, my mind is called back to the mountains, where I was born, where I grew up. It’s where I shifted for the first time and learned how to hunt with the pack. It’s where I discovered the stars and my love for running beneath the moon. For many years, it was the only home I’d ever known, the only home I everwantedto know.
