Page 72 of Hunted By Wolves and Shadow
“Believe it.” I joined them, taking Emi’s hand in mine. I lifted it and pressed a kiss to the centre of her palm. “All thanks to this one.”
Juliet measured me with sharp blue eyes. “I’m guessing this is Wolf.”
“The man, the monster, the legend.” I winked at her and caught the big man’s muscles tense. Oho! It was likethat, was it?
Juliet was a beautiful woman, but he had nothing to worry about. I was a one-witch man.
That witch smiled at me and answered her friend by introducing us properly, then she asked again, “Why are you here, Jules?”
“It’s time for me to fix what I ran from. But I need your help. It’s time Crestborn fief got out from under my wicked stepfather’s control.”
Juliet was the rightful heir to Crestborn manor. Emi had told me as much.
“But I can’t stay,” Juliet finished. She glanced to her companion and when she spoke again, there was a tender note. “I’ll be returning to Zocere.”
“What do you need, Jules? You know I’ll help any way I can.” Emi led with kindness as always, and my heart swelled with love for her.
“I was hoping you’d say that. I keep tabs on Anterra. Locke brings me news and I have other sources, and when I heard about the curse breaking I knew it was you. I need someone I can trust to rebuild Crestborn fief and my family name. When you left, you felt similarly about the Brightbane name, and from what I’ve been hearing, you’re making great strides in restoring it. I hoped you’d help me do the same.”
Emi’s brows knitted together. “What are you asking?”
“The people need help, exactly the kind you could offer,” Juliet declared. “Be my Lady in Trust of Crestborn fief, Emi. With your helping magic and knowledge of the curse, you're the perfect person to set to right all the trouble it caused. Plus, I trust you.”
Emi’s mouth dropped open. She looked to me, but I controlled my reaction, thinking of our conversation the other night. If we were to leave this place, it had to be her decision. I wouldn't let her see how the thought of a fresh start somewhere excited me. Not just anywhere either. There would be farms to revive now that crops could grow once more, abandoned places to rebuildso families could live there again, and people who needed assistance. I could be useful.
It was everything I wished I could have done for my family here, though I only ever managed a shadow of it with the enclave. I practically craved the way my muscles would ache after a good day's work.
“We need to talk about it,” she told Juliet. The other woman nodded and took the arm of the man. He still hadn’t said a word.
Emi sent them into the cottage with instructions to help themselves to the tea she’d been setting out for us.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Emi stepped into the circle of my arms. She was smiling. “This could be it.”
“Is it something you’d want?”
“The people I've been helping are coming from farther and farther away now. I've done what I needed to here, and don't think I missed how your eyes lit up. I wasn't sure where we would go or what we were waiting for, but this sounds perfect, don't you think?”
“I think you’d be amazing at it.”
“We could help even more people there.” Emi already had that look of fierce determination.
“I love you.”
“I know. Because I'm great,” she said with an infectious enthusiasm that brought out my laugh.
We’d both come far. I couldn't imagine a future without Emi. I wanted to be hers forever.
Excitement thrummed through me at the thought of this new adventure with Emi at my side. I hadn’t been ready before, but my witchling had healed my heart more than I realized. I was ready to start a lifetime with her.
She caught me smiling later that night as I was packing some of our things. Coming up behind me, she wrapped her armsaround my waist. “It makes me happy to see you excited about something again.”
I turned in her arms so I could cup her face in my hands and give her a gentle kiss. “There are a lot of people out there who will need help, and it feels good to know we'll get to do something about it from a position where we can make real change.”
“You know, I think you'd make rather a dashing Lord.”
“Oh? Is that your way of asking to marry me, my Lady?” I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles. “Because I rather planned to ask you when the time is right.”
“You can ask, but you should know…” Emi winked at me. “I’m a sure thing.”
