Page 13 of Storm In The Sky

“Samuel has always said he didn’t want a shield, though.”

“I know.”

“And you’re his best friend.”

Winter’s stomach dropped. “That’s all I am to him, isn’t it?”

“He loves you like a brother, just like his siblings do.”

“And I kissed him.” Winter groaned. “I’m an idiot.”

Julienne chuckled. “A bit. What were you trying to obtain when you kissed him? Were you focused on being able to bond with him?”

“Yeah.”

“You do know you don’t have to be Samuel’s shield to be part of our family, right?” She took Winter’s hand. “You already are. You’ve been family for a long time, Winter.”

Winter swallowed. He wanted to believe her, but he wasn’t sure he could. “You accepted me because of Samuel. He’s the one who dragged me into your family.”

“Initially, sure. We didn’t know what to think when he found you in the forest and you didn’t have any memories of how you’d gotten there or who you were. We’ve gotten to know you over the years, though. Who you were before doesn’t matter. What does is who you are now, and you’re one of my children. That’s never going to change, no matter what happens between you and Samuel.”

“Even if he never wants to talk to me again?” Winter asked, his voice little more than a croak.

“Even then. He’s not going to do that to you, though. He’s probably in shock and confused, but he loves you. You’re his best friend.”

“And nothing more,” Winter murmured.

“I don’t think you actually want more with him. When you explained what had happened, you didn’t tell me that you kissed him because you were in love with him. You didn’t tell me that you wanted to bond with him because you want to be with him forever. You said it was because you want to be part of our family.”

That gave Winter pause. When had he fallen in love with Samuel?

He couldn’t remember. Samuel had always been there. He’d found Winter when Winter didn’t have a clue who he was andhad brought him home. They’d been best friends since then, and while Winter had convinced himself he was in love with Samuel, was that really what he felt? Or had he been trying to convince himself it was love to make himself more legitimate? Now that he and Samuel had found the mages, Winter was supposed to stay with them. It was where Alvin had belonged, so it would make sense for Winter to move there permanently and not return to the clan, but Winter didn’t think he could do that.

“I don’t know anything anymore,” he groaned.

Julienne squeezed his hand. “Well, you don’t have to know things right away, but I know you don’t want to lose Samuel, which means you’re going to have to talk to him. When you do, you need to be honest with him. You need to tell him how you really feel and why you kissed him.”

Winter might have been able to do that if not for the big problem that he had no idea how he felt about Samuel and why he kissed him. He’d told himself it was because they could finally be together now, and in a way, it was, but did he want to be with Samuel because he loved him or because he didn’t want to lose him and his family?

* * * *

Keylon was moping around. Thankfully, no one had tried interrupting him. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if anyone told him that everything would be all right.

No one had dared. Keylon was sure that Jarvis knew what had happened by now. Ansley and Penley would have told their dragons, who would have told the other dragons. Marlow knew how much Jarvis cared, so he’d have informed him of the upcoming bond breaking.

Keylon hated it.

Living all together like this meant there were no secrets. Even though Keylon needed the support of his family, right now, hewanted to be left alone so he could lick his wounds and ignore the problem that was looming over his head. It would still be there once he felt stronger.

But of course, when Keylon needed the most to be alone, he never was. He almost got to his feet and left the library when Samuel entered, but this was his home. He wouldn’t allow anyone to run him out of it, especially not Samuel.

“I wanted to apologize,” Samuel quickly said.

Keylon frowned. “For what?”

Keylon’s tone was harsh and seemed to take Samuel back. It wasn’t enough to make him leave, unfortunately. Maybe Keylon should snap at him a few more times. That was bound to work, right?

“Winter told me that you offered to break your bond with him.”

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