Page 228 of Flirting with Darkness

“And”—he pushed the hair back from my face—“even if you don’t wish to change, I will stay with you until the end of your time. And when that comes…” His voice grew thick. “I’ll go with you.”

I blinked, opened and closed my mouth, had to swallow past the blockage in my throat at what he’d just offered. “You’d…?”

He nodded. “I promised to protect you, Rose, and I will—in this life and the next.”

I leant into him and traced the edge of his jaw. “If I change… what will that mean?”

“No more iron blades.” His mouth twisted and he nipped at my finger. “You’ll get a bit temperamental around the full moon. Everything will smell different. As you learn to control your shift, you’ll be able to change individual parts of yourself.” He held up his hand and the claws grew.

“Control each part of yourself? Like…” My gaze flicked to his mouth, my own suddenly dry. “Like your tongue?” In front of the fire, I’d thought it felt longer inside me.

“Exactly like my tongue.” His grin was wolfish.

How hadn’t I realised what he was from the start? Except… I had known—deep down, I’d known that he was both beast and shield.

A shield could protect, yes, but it could also cave a person’s head in.

“You don’t need to decide now. We have time.” He kissed my brow, my cheeks, my lips, each touch binding me inextricably.

As much as I’d known he was a shield, I’d also known he was a danger to me. But I hadn’t realised the danger was to my heart and to my whole outlook on the world.

I wasn’t only made to help my parents raise my brothers and sisters. I wasn’t just here to help others with what they wanted. I had needs and wants of my own, including plenty that I hadn’t even discovered yet.

And now I’d unlocked that part of myself, I would discover every last one of them, with my beautiful beast at my side.

EPILOGUE

We didn’t rush. We stayed in the strange, nightly-changing city of Tenebris-Luminis for several months and visited my family many times. My parents and elder siblings stared at Faolán with all the surprise his size and fae features warranted. My youngest brothers and sisters treated him like a climbing frame and traced the points of his claws with fascination, asking all sorts of questions. Eventually I had to tell them “Because.”

The house and the bakery were managing fine. Although Ari had told me as much, it was only seeing them that let me finally exhale.

Truth be told, that was what let me decide at last.

So one quiet week when Bastian had no need of Faolán, we travelled deep into the wild forest outside the fae capital. The walk was easy, thanks to all the exercise. Apparently the fae had no stupid ideas about women not being capable, and I could apply to join the palace guard if I wanted or Faolán had suggested Bastian might find work for me. I kept up my training while I decided what I wanted to do.

It was a day’s trek to a tiny cabin with lupins and lavender by the gate and honeysuckle scrambling over the front door. A strong bar secured the door from within, though I wasn’t sure anyone would want to steal anything from the sparse room with a bed, a sink, a freestanding mirror, and large cushions scattered before the fire. Faolán showed me the separate shed out the back with a bathroom fed by hot springs.

That night he barred the door, lit the fae lights with a word, and touched the mantlepiece to start the pink-flamed fire. We sat on the thick rug, bathed in its glow. Despite the warmth, though, I shivered.

He ran a hand up and down my arm. “Are you sure?” His voice was soft as he held me in his gaze, the gold flecks of his eyes tinged copper by the magical fire.

“I am.” I gave a rueful smile. “Just a little nervous, too. It’s not every day you become a werewolf.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “I should hope not.”

Another almost joke from my husband. It was enough to make me snort and ease into him. “Come on, then. Let’s make our forever.”

He squeezed me close, as warming as the fire, and kissed my brow. “Until the bite, you can change your mind any time.”

I caught his cheek and his gaze and held them a long while. “I won’t. I meant it when I said I’d choose beast over beauty. I meant it when I said I wanted you, and these past months have only made that more true. And I’m greedy, so I want as much time with you as I can get.”

His grin was crooked and more than a little preening before he ducked his head and began the change to fur and fangs, to four legs instead of two—my wolf, instead of my fae. I loved him just as much.

He rested his head in my lap for as long as it took to get a scratch behind the ears, then he looked up at me, solemn.Are you ready?

“I am.” I held out my arm and drew a deep breath.

He opened his mouth, massive canines revealed. I didn’t flinch, but he still paused there and although he didn’t voice it in my mind, I knew what he was thinking.

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