Page 53 of Hold my Reins

Lynck licked Rox’s cheek.

Shit, he was crying. He lifted his shoulder to dry his face of tears and kelpie spit, and the bridle, wrapped in the hoodie, came away in his hand.

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

Lynck lowered his head and melted as though made of liquid moonlight. When he stood, he was as Rox had always known him—like a man, but with hooves, tail, and ears, and covered in dappled white hair except for the fresh scar running across his nose and cheeks.

Lynck cupped Rox’s face and pressed a hard kiss to his lips. Rox lost his balance, and they both stumbled, falling to the wet sand.

“You broke it,” Lynck whispered.

“Did I? Or did Thursten kill Bothvar?”

“It was you. The spell trembled when you said you love me.” He kissed Rox again. “You are right; it is in the song. When you joined in?—”

“Then why didn’t it break when you played me the song? When I added to it?” But even as he said the words, Rox grasped the answer. Fear had been holding back both their hearts.

“We were too afraid to admit it,” Lynck confirmed. “It’s why Bothvar had me kill anyone I got close to.”

“Because if you fell in love and were loved in return, the bridle would break.”

“He can’t own my body when my heart belongs to someone else.” Lynck placed Rox’s hand over his chest.

“Your heart belongs to me?”

“It has from the moment I heard the first notes of our mating song, but I was holding it back, refusing to let it run.”

Rox nodded. He’d done the same, thinking that by wrapping his heart up and locking it away, he was protecting himself from ever getting hurt again. “It can run with mine.” They would be safe together. “Wait, if I broke the bridle, that means Thursten is still fighting.”

“And Bothvar will be expecting me.”

“What does that mean?”

“I need to shift and return.”

“Can you shift?”

Lynck smiled. “Yes. I’d ask you to stay away from the fight, but you won’t, so do you want a ride?”

“On your back?”

Lynck lifted his eyebrows as if that were obvious.

“I’ve never ridden.”

“You’ve ridden me.”

Rox’s cheeks heated. “That is different.”

“Not really. All you have to do is hold on and enjoy.” Lynck put his hands on the ground, and his body expanded. Static filled the air.

Then Rox was sitting between Lynck’s front hooves. He scrambled up, pulling on the hoodie and shoving the broken bridle in his pocket. Lynck walked over to the fallen tree and waited.

Rox understood what he was supposed to do without any words. He stepped onto the tree and, with all the grace of a man who had no idea what he was doing, swung his leg over and overbalanced, almost sliding off the other side. Lynck moved his body to recenter Rox.

“I told you it was different.”

Lynck made a sound as if he was laughing and took a couple of steps, giving Rox no choice but to hold on tight. He threwhis arms around Lynck’s neck, burying his face in his mane, and they walked into the woods.

---