Page 70 of Watch Me Burn

Nope. It was just a wolf shifter who wants toeatme… but that can wait until later.

Everything can wait.

Because this moment right now?

It’sours, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

EPILOGUE

SIX WEEKS LATER

The fireplace sold me.

Conall’s house didn’t have one before he met me. Despite the extreme Alaskan winters, he didn’t need one. Wolf shifters run hot, too, and if his human form gets a little chilly, he has a built-in fur coat he can slip into when he shifts to his wolf.

But then I lit his tail on fire, and he realized his fated mate was a rare fire witch. Poor guy. Regardless of being born into the supe world, the only witches he’s ever met before me were those who established Dyea, and none of them had magic like mine.

He figured he needed to get used to the heat. Believing that I had a fondness for flames, he built a masonry fireplace with his own two paws. It’s pretty impressive, especially since he mainly used materials he found in the woods surrounding our village, and he made it to show that he acceptedme.

Because even if I struggled with accepting that I was a fire witch, Conall never did.

Oh, no. My grumpy, former lone wolf mate just couldn’t believe that I would ever choosehim.

It’s been six weeks since I did. Since the fateful full moon when he claimed me, and when I faced off against the fanatical witch hunter who was willing to burn down the entire sanctuary in order to smoke me out. Six weeks since Conall took a silver knife to the side to protect me. Six weeks since I flamed Linda, then discovered that I’m not just a fire witch.

I’m anelementalwitch.

I don’t just control the fire. I can conjure rain and, with a wave of my hand, summon wind. With the right focus, the ground beneath my feet does just what I want. I thought it was cool how I found the fire opal after I shot fire at the cave walls. That’s nothing compared to how I’ve been able to use my powers to regrow the acres of fire that Linda’s arson had damaged.

It’s almost back to the way it was. No longer needing to explore the underground caves for fire opal, I’ve spent every day out in the woods fixing it. It’s my way of showing my fellow villagers that having a fire witch in Dyea isn’t a bad thing, now that there’s no hiding what I am anymore.

The witch hunters will come back. I don’t doubt it, but I’m not worried about it. I’ll protect Dyea—I’ll protect Elise and the other supes who live here—with every bit of magic I have.

And I can do that because I know that Conall will protectme.

I have his bite on my throat, claiming me as his forever mate. I have his ring on my finger, a nod to his understanding that, while I’m a witch, I spent the first twenty-nine years of my life convinced I was human.

Wolf shifters don’t do divorce. Once they form a mate bond with their chosen partner, that’s it for them. They’re loyal, possessive, and devoted. Especially when they’re a strong alpha like my Conall, a wolf shifter’s love for their mate is all-consuming, like his has been for me since the moment he first recognized that I was his.

They don’t do weddings, either, but for me, he’s willing to go ahead with the human ceremony. As soon as the stab wound on his side healed up enough for him to take a run out of Dyea and into Skagway, he found me a gold ring so that humans and supes alike will take one look at me and know that I couldn’t be more taken.

And that’s not all he bought from the local jeweler…

Silver is a no-no for supes. Like my engagement ring—that looks suspiciously like a wedding band—the chain I’m wearing around my neck is gold, with a shaped piece of fire opal hanging off of it so that I’m never without it.

All along, I thought that, if I found the crystal, it would be mystical enough to strip me of my powers. Turns out, I got that way wrong. When Celeste said that I wouldn’t have to worry about my magic controlling me, it didn’t mean I could get rid of it. It just meant that the fire opal made it so thatIwas in control.

I lift the smooth crystal, rubbing it between my thumb and pointer finger on my right hand. With my left, I waggle my other pointer finger at the fireplace.

It explodes into flames with awhoosh, and I grin.

Conall steps into my back, arms wrapping around my waist. He nuzzles the top of my hair with his chin.

“Impressive,” he rumbles.

“I know,” I say impishly. Releasing the fire opal, I reach up so that I can cup the edge of his stubbled jaw. “How was your run?”

Run. What my mate is really doing is shifting to his wolf so that he can patrol the entire border of our hidden sanctuary, keeping tabs on our villagers, and making sure that there aren’t any signs of witch hunters lurking around.

---