Page 59 of The Wolf in My Tavern

My dear son never forgot about that damn sword, even though finding it was one of the rare occasions that I took the strap to his behind.

I carefully lay the note down on the table.

And then I sit.

A grin spreads across my face. I scratch at my brow as I let this settle in.

I am certain Gray is the bastard Callum refers to, and equally certain that the big shifter means Ada no harm.

Callum will prevail, but perhaps not in the way he expects.

A part of me is devastated that my son has gone; in my heart, I already know he will not be coming back. Yet, another part of me senses destiny is at play, and no man may interfere with that.

I should have had that talk with him. But this and that happened, and there was never any fucking time. Today, I sense the Goddess at work, forcing matters to a head.

There has been a pull between the three of them since the beginning: Gray, Ada, and Callum.

A chuckle escapes me. How my late mate would be proud.

When Callum was born, his mother hid her disappointment when he did not shift. She loved him as purely as any mother could love her son, yet there was no mistaking the wistfulness I caught in her expression from time to time. He bore her green eyes, the ones that signified him as royalty in the shifter world… and her red hair.

Gods, I loved her hair, how long and luscious it was, the way I would wrap my fingers around as I plowed—no, I will not linger on that memory today, for she has been gone seven years. One day, when the Goddess is willing, we might be reunited again.

Until then, there is a lot of life before me.

Only, my son is gone. I already feel how fate guides his path, just as I feel it acting upon me.

My thoughts center on my homeland and the place I have recalled with increasing frequency in my dreams. Callum was still a babe when we left, yet it is where his roots are, too. Eastern Hydornia: where the mountains climb toward the sky, and the forests are lush and thick. There is a village there where I grew up, apprenticing to the local blacksmith—my father—and where a pretty shifter lass used to sneak to when she wanted to get away from the harsh politics and dangers in her life.

I didn’t know that the shifter girl carried royal blood. She was just a lass with an eye for mischief. It was many years later when I learned about her status, but then we were both maturing, and I was fucking gone for her and only her.

Where human betas tend to form simpler pairings, shifters know no such bounds. Callum’s mother was a sensual creature and had many lovers before her taunting finally broke me; that’s what drove me, a beta, to claim her.

Some shifters continue such ways even after taking a mate, though many don’t… unless they are claiming another mate, which happens as frequently as not.

Callum’s mother and I never needed more, yet I understand shifters can be tenacious and unwavering when their inner wolf latches.

I had hoped Gray might move on, yet, deep down, I sensed his obsession and recognized the signs of imprinting, a point Anders confirmed privately to me once Callum had left.

I know my son as well as any man can know another, be they blood or not. I always suspected he had a wolf lurking underneath his gentle beta exterior.

My smile is broad. I foresee some clashes ahead that will be spectacular in nature.

As I carefully close the note, it feels like I am closing more than a piece of paper.

“It is time I moved on,” I say to myself. It will take a while to get my affairs in order, to find a buyer willing to take on the shop, although a few have approached me over the years, and I will put the word out.

I feel light, like a weight I have carried for too long has been lifted from my shoulders.

I feel free.

Bleakness is changing—the Blighten’s grip is slipping—and while my work here might never be done, I believe it is time.

A village is calling to me. A village where I grew up. Far away. A place I only now recognize as home. It will have changed. There will be different people there. Some of those I once knew will have passed over to the Goddess’ side. There will be new people, too, who I will meet and learn about.

My heart lifts as I consider the road ahead—the long journey—and the only sorrow at leaving Bleakness is related to the hold a certain lass has over me.

I don’t know what may come next. Only that a path is opening before me which cannot be denied.

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