Page 33 of Shared By the Werebears
Goldie lay draped between us, her golden hair spilling across my chest like sunlight. Her eyes fluttered, lips still parted from her last cry. I tightened my arm around her waist, needing to anchor her there. Needing her close.
Beside us, Ronan sat up slowly. His body was as still and silent as stone, but his eyes betrayed him. He stared at us—at me and Goldie—like he wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. Like he wasn’t sure if he’d done something right… or terribly wrong.
“You okay?” I asked him softly.
He didn’t answer at first. Just stared at Goldie’s bare back, hershoulders rising and falling with each sleepy breath. Then his gaze flicked to me—our eyes locked.
“I didn’t mean to feel so much,” he said, his voice low. “Didn’t mean towantso much. I shouldn’t want it…what we just did.”
Guilt curled at the edges of his words like smoke. I understood it—hell, I’d felt that way once, too. But not anymore.
“Doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” I said quietly. “She’s ours now. Whether the curse gets lifted or not—I’m staying with Goldie.”
Ronan looked away.
I didn’t push him. I just reached over and laced my fingers through Goldie’s. Her thumb twitched lazily against mine, and my chest ached with something warm and full. She waseverything. The center of us. Our anchor, our pleasure, our purpose.
A warm breeze stirred the leaves, and the air shimmered faintly—thick with the strange magic of the Clearing.
Thenshereturned.
Madam Locasta stepped from the shadows like mist coalescing into form. Her robes fluttered in an invisible wind, woven with moonlight and brambles, her silver-white hair cascading over her shoulders like water. Her glowing, lightning colored eyes swept over us—lingering a moment on our bare skin, our flushed faces.
“Well done,”she said simply, her voice like chimes over still water.“The debt is paid.”
I felt Goldie stir against me, her breath catching in a soft gasp as she sat up quickly.
“Thank you, demi-goddess,” she said, bowing her head low.
Locasta stepped forward, her gaze falling to the satchel of silver berries Ronan had gathered before. With a flick of her hand, it floated into the air, hovering between us.
“You may take them,”she said.“The bitter berries will aid you in your quest to break the curse… if your hearts remain aligned.”Her luminous eyes narrowed slightly. “But know this—there is no cure if you return. The Blighted Forest does not forgive a second trespass.”
“Understood,” I said, voice steady.
Beside me, Ronan nodded solemnly, and Goldie bowed her head once more.
“You are very kind, Madam Locasta,” she murmured.
Locasta’s form shimmered, already fading back into the trees.
“One last thing,”she said, her voice echoing through the trees even as her body vanished.“What you’ve shared here… was not just a performance. It was truth. Hold onto it. Or the forest will take more than your forms.”
And then she was gone.
The woods grew quiet again, except for the distant call of a bird and the rustling of leaves.
“Well…we did it.”
Goldie exhaled slowly and lay down again, curled against my side. I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and pressed a kiss to her temple.
Ronan remained quiet, still kneeling, staring at the spot where the demi-goddess had stood. But he didn’t leave.
He didn’t run away from me and Goldie. He stayed. Barely, though. I could feel him wanting to get away from what the three of us had done together.
I couldn’t let him do that.
“Come here,” I beckoned him to Goldie’s other side. “Help me keep her warm, will you?”
