Page 18 of Enchanting Her Mate

It becomes clear that there is no way to defeat this energy on my own. And I cannot protect Alu from it if it continues to move.

We must leave.

Today.

I race back to the cottage and burst through the front door.

“What is wrong?” Alu asks, leaping to her feet at the sight of me.

I told her I was going to meditate, but instead I am frantic, my clothes are dirt-stained, and my chest is heaving. “I-I think we should return to the clan,” I blurt out.

Alu tilts her head to the side but says nothing.

“I am ready to face the coven. To face Tibik.”

A smile tugs at the corners of her lips. “Truly?” she asks, coming toward me with arms outstretched.

I nod, relieved that she does not question my motives. “Yes, after my…my meditation, I feel ready to claim my role as Prime. I have hidden my power for far too long.”

She wraps me in a tight hug, rubbing a hand down my back. “I am so proud of you,” she whispers. When she pulls back to look at me, I see something new in her gaze. It is not merely admiration, as that I would recognize. It is not lust either, because I have seen that many times. It is both of those things, layered with something else. Though I suppose there is no time to analyze. We must leave before the cluster moves closer.

“Yes, well, it shall be a long flight back, so we should pack the necessities and begin our journey.”

Alu throws a few clothing items into a small bag and stands waiting by the door. “Ready!”

I look at her, then the bag. “That is all you wish to bring? What about Mek?”

“He can remain here,” she says. “I do not take him with me when I fly.”

“Oh,” I reply, my stomach sinking like a stone at the thought of Mek all alone here when the cluster surrounds the house. I still do not know the source of the energy, or what it seeks, but I know I cannot let it reach Mek. Alu would be devastated if anything were to happen to him. “I can carry him. He can sit on my shoulder inside your claw.”

She gives me a strange look, so I quickly add, “You do not know how long you will be gone. I might want you to stay…a while.”

Her gray eyes flash with longing. Shewantsthis. She wants to be with me at the village.

Tibik will not be pleased by Alu’s presence at the coven house, or Mek’s, but I no longer care what Tibik has to say about anything.

Alu whistles and Mek comes flying out of his room, letting out a hysterical squawk as he lands on my shoulder. “Oof,” I grunt when his claws sink into my skin.

“Shall we?” Alu asks, opening the front door for me.

“We shall.”

CHAPTER 11

ALU

We arrive just after dusk, the tall blades of grass in the open field just outside the village tickling my large claws. Jo stretches her limbs once I release her, and Mek does the same in his own way. He leaps into the air and flies in a tight circle above our heads before settling onto Jo’s shoulder.

I shift into my flightless form and feel the sudden urge to straighten my clothes. I am about to meet Jo’s coven. Perhaps I should have changed into a clean shirt before we left.

“What is it?” Jo asks when she sees me fiddling with the bottom hem of my top.

“I…I just wish to make a good impression,” I say with a sigh.

Jo laughs as she scrunches her nose. “You have met the clan before.”

“I know,” I reply, struggling to find the right words to explain what I am feeling. Eventually, I give up. “Mind me not. It is nothing.”

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