A Dawn with the Wolf Knight (Married to Magic, #5)

by Elise Kova

“I want you to help make it so that I do not think of Conri. I want to—need to be satisfied in a way that I have not been in years.” He searches my face. “Have you known many men?” “Not many. But enough that I assure you I will not be a disappointment.” I take a small step forward, our bodies nearly flush. “Enough to know what I’m doing and what I’m asking. I don’t go in blindly, or in haste.” Evander chuckles deeply. “Not in haste? How is moving on me to spite the man who you just learned is laying plans to kill you anything but haste?” He shakes his head and pulls away. The palm that was on his chest grabs the night air, icy after touching him. “I will not be a thing for you to use.” “You’re more than that,” I blurt. He stops, but doesn’t turn back to face me. I instantly regret this choice to try and persuade him. I should have let the matter drop. “Why?” I have to tell him. Not just for the sake of trying to convince him, but because he has a right to know what I’ve been doing. Especially if it is something that he would prefer I stop. Given how he’s acting, he might find the idea nauseating. “Because…” I gather all the courage I’d just found. Don’t leave me now, I silently beg that braver side of me. “Because you are the only thing that has allowed me to break free of him.” “Yes, and you can still do what you need here.” “That’s not what I mean. Evander, you—I think of you.” “What?” he whispers, finally turning to face me once more. Evander searches my expression. “Ev...

“Quiet now, no one can hear us,” he rasps against my lips, even as I am still trying to kiss him. “I don’t want there to be any suspicion. That way, I can take my time with you.”

“I warned you that my touch is like a mark of hardship.” He leans forward once more, brushing his lips with mine. “I can’t believe it,” I murmur. “No? Then why do you hesitate? Your body knows to fear me, even if your mind says otherwise.” Even as he warns me against him, his hand moves down my side, catching on my breast. Thumb flicking over its peak that has my back arching off the ground. “Perhaps it is the danger of me that excites your desire.” “You wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Are you sure you want to bed a man such as me?” I study him, searching those haunted eyes for an explanation I know I will not find. It’s too closely guarded. The facts have been muddled to obscure the picture. “You are what I want.” Even with all the unknowns that surround him, even with fear and doubt trying to cut through my resolve, those words ring true. “When you are near, thoughts of you eclipse all others. Only you can make the world melt away to nothingness. I want you to ravage my body until I can’t think. There will be nothing for Conri to claim if I allow you to destroy it.” His smirk turns into a grin. Satisfied and triumphant. I wonder if he is gloating to himself that he will take the woman Conri claimed. Let him, if it ends the talking. “Good. For I have dreamed of feeling you under me since the first moment I laid eyes on you.” He kisses me again and unfastens the clasp of my cape with a single hand. That hand moves from my collarbones to my chest, grazing over my breasts, to the bottom of my shirt, where it slips underneath the hem and reaches back up. He grabs my bare breast, gently, caressing and grazing over every sensitive spot. Then, firmer. Evander lets out a low growl into my ear. “But I should warn you, Faelyn. I might not be the monster that Conri is, but I cannot promise I am a gentle lover. If you tell me to ravage your body, then that is what I shall do.” “I don’t need you to be gentle.” I surprise even myself by saying so. But it’s true. I’v...

“Tell me what you want,” he growls against my mouth. “You,” I say instantly. “You know that’s not good enough. Be specific.” “I want to taste you.” My voice is not my own. It’s deep with desire and heavy with need. “I want to feel you against me. I want to have you fill me to the point that I can’t worry about anything else.” Make the world fade away. “I will give you all that and more.”

“May I hold you?” he asks. “Not for long…but I think we have time. I doubt Conri has even noticed your absence yet.” “You want to hold me?” A slight smile curls my tired lips. All the muscles in my face, so recently twisted in pleasure, in the pain of keeping in my moans, relax. “I didn’t think this was that type of relationship?” “If I am completely honest with you, Faelyn, the warmth of a woman next to me is more satisfaction than the act of having her,” Evander says. “But to answer you directly, yes, I want to hold you. I want to know a different kind of intimacy with you.”

For being a man who threatened to break my heart an hour ago, he is nothing but sincerity and tenderness now.

As long as I breathe, I will never let spirits be used for his ambitions, Aurora included.

“Look after her, Evander.” Aurora locks eyes with him. “She’s yours to care for.” “With my life,” he vows. The words still me. He means them. He’s always meant them. Beyond Aurora. Beyond Conri. He will keep me safe no matter what…I can feel it in my marrow. Part of me wants to write it off as last night clouding my judgment. But I feel like, if anything, I’m seeing clearer. Evander cares for me.

“So he knows about Brundil. What of it?” Evander looks over to me. “He can’t summon her without you. And I know you would never abuse her power on his behalf.” “You have so much faith in me.” I meet his gaze. “You’re someone it’s easy to have faith in.”

“He is cruel,” Evander says. “Every day, I cursed his name. I wasn’t sure why I allowed myself to be taken alive. There were nights I wished I would never wake from. Days I would push every boundary in the hope that Conri would just end it.” “Evander…” “But now…now I am grateful for every breath. Every gnarled scar on my flesh and heart is like a map that led me to here, now, with you. I wouldn’t change any second of pain because forsaking it would also mean forsaking the pleasure of your company, your smiles, your body.” He speaks every word so plainly. So earnestly. He’s so suddenly laid his soul bare before me and I’ve no idea what to do with it.

I thought I knew what love was…but now I know it was nothing more than a childhood infatuation. It was real, but as real as it could be for a young woman whose world was small and who knew so little. Real looks different when your perspective on the world changes with time and experience.

“Sometimes…getting lost for a while is the best way to be found.”

“Have me again,” I whisper against his mouth, raking my fingers through his silken tresses. “Not because of Conri’s charm. Or because of unfulfilled urges. Have me because you want me and I want you. Because you feel this draw as much as I do.”

“I could have you a thousand times, and only want you a thousand more.” “I welcome the challenge,” I breathe.

Evander kisses my shoulder and grumbles sleepily, “Good morning.” “It’s early yet,” I reply with a yawn. “We shouldn’t waste the day.” “We shouldn’t.” Yet, neither of us moves. We continue to relish in these sweet, uninterrupted moments of simplicity. Of pretending that our obligations are not as overbearing as they are. Finally, he pulls away. Our skin sticks from being pressed together for half the night, and him peeling away has cool air rushing in on my back. I groan softly, yanking at the blanket. Evander chuckles and leans over, kissing my temple lightly. “We must.” “It’s cold.” “It is not, you are merely a little stove.” He stands, collecting his clothes. I roll onto my back to watch him, resisting another groan when his trousers rise over the pert curve of his rear. Evander catches me staring and smirks. I don’t look away, smirking back. “You know, early lykin would often go without their clothes, preferring to be as ‘natural’ as possible. I could bring back that tradition.” I laugh and sit. If he’s getting ready then I should as well. “Do what makes you the most comfortable.” He wraps his arms around my waist when I stand, pulling me close. A low growl rises up the back of his throat. “Perhaps I would enjoy it if you embraced the tradition, too.” I snort and push him away. Evander releases me without a fight. “I would not be comfortable roaming naked.” “And here I thought witches danced in the woods in the nude.” He begins collecting the bedrolls. “Sometimes we do...

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I should have remembered.” I shake my head. “You don’t need to remember everything about me. I don’t blame you for forgetting.” “I want to remember everything about you.” He straps the bedrolls onto the bags with purpose, as if trying to also strap in the facts to his memories.

“Evander?” “I’m still right here.” I turn to face him, taking him in for a moment. The dark hair that falls into his eyes. The slowly growing shadow of stubble that lines his cheeks, the same color as the hair on his chest. He is every bit a woman’s fantasy and I take a moment to savor the fact that—at least for now—he is mine. “What?” Evander chuckles and crosses to me, hooking my chin. He pulls my face up, almost kissing me. “You see something you like?” “I do.” I grin and rise onto my toes to kiss him lightly and then withdraw. The light expression evaporates off my cheeks, fast enough that he takes notice.

“Do you want me there because you’re fond of me? Because you love me?”

“I’m not leaving you behind to face his wrath. If you truly do not want to journey with us, then escape and go off on your own, after. Find a cute cottage in the land of the elves. You deserve freedom, too.”

“If only you knew how deeply undeserving I am of your kindness.” “Quite the contrary.” I meet his eyes and hold his gaze. “You are worthy of all the goodness in the world; you are worthy of second chances at happiness, of paths forward you never expected.” I speak these words as much for myself as for him. “And I will prove it to you, Evander, however long it takes.”

“There’s so much she never taught me. I had a lifetime with her, and it wasn’t enough time.” “We could live two lifetimes with our elders and still feel there wasn’t time to gather their wisdom. By the time we have enough wisdom of our own to appreciate theirs, twilight has already settled upon them,” he says with a heavy tone. There’s a knowing sadness in those words.

“You are strong,” he whispers in my ear. “Grief is not a simple or fast process. Every loss hits us differently.” “But I have mourned her, I have said my goodbyes.” I press my eyes closed as my arms wrap tightly around his waist, locking by gripping my elbows. “Why does that shroud of death continue to haunt me?” “The pain manifests in ways we least expect, at times we least expect.” He kisses my temple gently.

“When…when Aurora is freed, she will be gone too. Everyone I’ve ever loved has left well before I was ready.” The words stumble over the tears I’m fighting. Evander flinches. My wits return at the sight. What am I thinking? He’s endured far worse than I. “Evander, I⁠—” His grip slackens, hands returning to my shoulders as he leans away. I expect to see an expression of disgust. Of anger that I could be so inconsiderate to him and his hurt. But that isn’t the expression he wears. Instead, Evander’s brows pinch with what almost looks like pain. As though he is somehow the cause of my pain. Anger would be easier than guilt. “I will be there,” he says before I can get a word of apology in for my careless disregard of his suffering. “What?” I whisper. “I will be there,” Evander says again, with emphasis. “I will be there when you bid Aurora goodbye. I will be there when you need to spin more threads, and dye them in your vats of turmeric and pine. When your fingertips are stained yellow and you reek of onion peels for two weeks.” He chuckles softly, almost sadly. “I will be there when you loop them after they’ve dried and I will be there when you need to start the process anew with spring’s fresh wool.” “Evander…” I can’t formulate a response. What he’s saying is barely comprehensible to me. I understand the words…but the meaning. What is he really implying? “As long as you wish for it, I will be there with you.” “Why are you saying all this?” I breathe, searching his silvery e...

“Faelyn, there’s so much I need to tell you. So much you should know,” he whispers huskily. “We’ll have time for you to tell me as you’re ready.” I raise a hand to cover his, holding it against my warm cheek. “You’re coming with me, remember?” “As long as you want me there,” he reiterates. “There isn’t any world I could imagine where I wouldn’t.” “When you learn all of who I am, what I’ve done…” “Things you had to,” I insist to him. “To survive Conri and this harsh world you were born into.” “If only that were the extent of it.” He sighs and releases me, going to move away. I don’t let him. Both hands on his face, I keep him in place, and kiss him firmly. Pulling away just enough to form words, I whisper, “Stop being so afraid.” “But—” “You’ve spent so much of your life afraid. Sacrificing joy. Chasing one fleeting happiness after the last. You don’t have to be afraid with me. I’m not leaving.”

“Woman.” The word is somewhere between a gasp and a growl as he frees his lips from mine, burying his face in the crook of my neck. His teeth sink into my skin, thumb moving relentlessly, working me to a fervor. “You make me mindless. You make me hasty and hot. You make me want like I have never wanted before—like I never thought I would ever want again.” He almost sounds angered by it. “It’s all right to want me,” I whisper reassuringly. “Because, Evander, I want you, too.”

“I’m sorry.” I can’t bring myself to turn back to Evander. My failure will not only risk us both, but also Aurora. Our whole plan… “I wasn’t enough.” “You are but a small witch,” another soft voice says, as whispering as water against rock. Evander’s eyes go wide and I follow his stare over my shoulder, back to the water and the source of the voice. “But you are more than enough.”

“What happened to your mate?” he says, forcing the question. I wonder if Evander is jealous of my lost love. Part of me hopes he is, because it would mean he cares. While another part of me wants to reassure him he has nothing to fear from a long, long ago flame. “In truth, I never could confirm if he was my soulmate or not.” I tilt my head and stare up at the puffy clouds that backdrop the swaying trees. “We could wait on human marriage and formal ceremonies, but I wanted to promise myself to him. I wanted to know that what I felt—and suspected—was real. So I invited him out one night into the woods. I planned to take him before the ancient redwood on a new moon and ask the spirits to give me clarity. If we were truly meant to be one, to bless and unite us. Give us a sign our union was meant to be.” I’m back in the thick that night. Back in the woods waiting…and waiting. Alone all night. Wet grasses soak my trousers as I trek down the hills and along the paths to the hunter’s home. The windows are dark. The door ajar. The scent of the morning’s dew is so clean and crisp that I can’t even pick up on the aroma of him. His bed is cold. “But I was wrong,” I finish softly, pulling myself from the memories. “He wasn’t my soulmate after all.” “You confirmed this?” “He never came.” I shrug, trying to play off the dull ache the memories still cause me. “A soulmate wouldn’t abandon their partner.” “Perhaps something prevented him from coming?” Evander offers. I close my eyes, huff,...

“Let’s stay here, at the edge of the forest, one more night,” I whisper, our faces still close. “Just you and me for a little bit longer. The world can wait, right?” He nods. “It can.” Evander tilts his head and leans forward to whisper in my ear. His breath moves my hair, sending shivers up and down my spine. “I will enjoy having you all to myself for one more night out here, where I can tremble the stars with your cries of passion.”

“Evander,” I whisper quickly as Bardulf is still composing himself. “He saw us.” “What?” Evander fixates solely on me. “He saw us,” I repeat, making sure to emphasize every word. “Together. He knows.” “She’s right.” Bardulf heard anyway, despite my efforts to be quiet and speak while he was distracted. “I saw everything.” He twists onto his other side to face us, slowly sitting. “I give you credit, Evander, I didn’t think you had it in you. Going against Conri like that when you’ve always been such a loyal cur on the outside. You think just because you are graced with some of the king’s charm as his knight, you can steal his bitch?” “Call her that one more time,” Evander threatens, hands balled into fists so tight the massive muscles in his arms bulge. “King’s charm…” I repeat softly, my brows knitting. It’s been so many days since I last felt myself slipping under Conri’s aura that I had almost forgotten about it. “Oh, you don’t know?” Bardulf’s attention lands solely on me. A smirk slides across his lips. “He didn’t tell you, did he? Of course he didn’t.” “Enough,” Evander snaps. “We knights make our oath to the wolf king and, sure, he takes our ability to have children. But for our loyalty, we don’t come up empty-handed. No…we might not be able to have children, but we’re not denied the pleasures of partners. In fact, it’s made easier. Our oaths make us an extension of the wolf king and so we gain part of his powers.” “I said enough!” Evander roars, charging toward Bard...

“How can I believe you when I already know you lied to me?” I ask Evander. “I never lied to you.” His tone has become pleading. He’s begging for me to understand. I don’t. I can’t. “A lie by omission is still a lie. You didn’t tell me the truth and I wouldn’t have known to ask. You had to have known that this was something I would’ve wanted to be made aware of. It’s not fair to me otherwise.” “Faelyn…” “If I were you, Evander, I wouldn’t say another word until you stand before Conri. Save your breath to defend yourself. I think you’re going to need it.” Bardulf approaches, focusing on me instead of him. “Faelyn, Conri sent me because he sensed you returning to the plains and asked me to come and ensure you were well and to escort you back. If you would care to leave, we can go without Evander.” “I would,” I say coldly. The only person I can trust is back with Conri—Aurora. She’s the only one I should have ever listened to in this brutal world. But, Aurora… She trusted Evander. Spoke well of him. She never mentioned the charm. Does that mean it’s not real? Or that Evander is speaking the truth about suppressing it around me? The only way to know for sure will be to ask her. Then, whatever Aurora says is what I’ll believe. The sooner I get back, the better.

“You can’t honestly trust him.” Evander steals my thoughts, giving them sound. “At least I know that with him,” I hiss back. “You…I don’t know what to think about you.”

“If you want or need me, all you need do is call. No distance will be too great, no power insurmountable. I’m not afraid of the cost, anymore, Faelyn…I will find you.” The sentiment would be sweet, were it not for the circumstances surrounding it. “I will not call.” I know the words will cause him pain—and they do—but I am wicked because I do not find it within me to care. The want to hurt him, as he has hurt me, is an ugly urge but an insatiable one.

These are the edges of Conri’s powers that he spoke of? This is the charm that the knights possess? Did Evander have some kind of greater mastery, or did he speak true and he never used it to lure me into his arms? There’s no way I could’ve missed this.

“Why did you come?” “You called.” Two words. So simple. Somehow better than every “I love you” that could’ve ever been said.

“Why, why did I fall for you so quickly?” I’m all but admitting it now—this passion that I have for him is more than carnal. The need isn’t just satisfaction, or trying to protect myself from the charm. It’s deeper than that. “You know why,” he whispers. His thumbs gently caress me. “You just closed your heart to it long ago.” “These feelings are not because of the charm?” Another knot is working its way into my throat. I’m regretting doing this. I don’t want to admit what’s right before my eyes. What’s been haunting me without my realizing for so long that it’s now upon me. “No.” “How can I be so sure?” “You know how.” He holds me in place with his stare. His grip has become comically loose, as if Evander is giving me the option to bolt should it be too much for me. And it nearly is. But there’s nowhere I can run from this. I love him. “It’s not possible,” I whisper. “It is.” He dips his chin slightly, leaning forward. Not close enough to kiss me, but close enough to look right into my eyes. “Because I love you, too.” “I can’t believe you.” I shake my head. “I can’t believe any of this.” “That’s the fear talking,” he says knowingly, with a glimmer of understanding in his eyes. “You know it’s true.” I keep shaking my head. As if I can keep blotting out the realization that’s creeping upon me like the dawn. I don’t fall in love that quickly. It’s been years since I even considered a man remotely in such a way. This can’t be… “Faelyn.” He whispers my name with sorrow and pai...

“I chose to serve him because of you.” I blink, startled. Evander continues before I can say anything. “If I had died, it would take a lifetime to meet you again in the Beyond. As long as I drew breath, it meant I had hope of our paths crossing. I would endure whatever pain that meant, just for the chance to see you one more time.” The vise that was put on my heart tightens, causing it to beat harder, shortening my breath. Everything he endured. Everything he went through. Was because of me. “My love,” he whispers. The two words are like honey in my ears and I shiver before his hand even cups my cheek. “There is no more need of tears anymore, not now that we’re together.” Evander brushes away a rogue rivulet with his thumb. “You went through so much.” “And I would go through it all again, ten times over, if it brought me back to this moment—to you.”

“There is no future for me but one by your side.” Disgusting.

“If they so much as lay a finger upon you…” “The three of us will leave before they get the chance,” I say optimistically. Allowing him to fantasize about hurting Conri too much could be dangerous; he might act on those impulses. “We knew this was a risk of our approach to the circumstances…just like we knew we had no other choice.” “I still hate it.” His words and tone are in direct contrast with his body language. Were someone to emerge from the caverns and lay eyes on us, Evander would look bored but attentive for possible threats against Aurora and me. “It’s probably the only thing I could hate more than seeing him touch you—his mouth on yours…” “I’m sorry.” “Don’t apologize,” Evander says firmly. “You’re keeping yourself safe—all of us safe. We have roles to play, still, unfortunately.” “Does keeping us all safe even matter if it breaks us in the process?” The words are faint and small. The question prompts movement from Evander. He drops to a knee beside the stone Aurora and I are on, tilting his head to meet my eyes. It briefly draws my focus from Aurora and the depth of his stare steals my breath. “Nothing, nothing will break us. Fate has tried, the wolf king has tried, but we continue coming back together despite it all. You are my mate, Faelyn. The other half of my soul. Not even the hands of the old gods can break that.” The furrow of my brow relaxes as a small smile curves my mouth. “Your optimism is infectious.” “It’s not optimism, just simple truth.” He retur...

“Did I ever really need to ‘relieve the tension’ to fight Conri’s charm? Or was that just a way of pushing Evander and me together?” I ask out of curiosity. “The charm is very real, as you both know. And relief did help fight it.” “But?” I prompt her, feeling somewhat guilty when it’s so obvious that she’s still recovering her strength. “But the connection of a soulmate bond, once accepted, is something that can prevent the charm altogether.” “How?” Evander and I say nearly in unison. “Think of the charm like a false mirror of a genuine soul-mate bond—it is trying to recreate the pull. If you do not have that connection already, you are potentially open to receiving it. But, if the bond is there, there is no need for more. Like a peg in a hole, there is no space for other magic,” Aurora explains.

“This will guide you through the woods. It will guide my heart to yours.” “That’s not the spell I wove.” I shake my head. “It’s not⁠—” “It’s the spell I wove when I tied it to your finger and wished, with all my might, that someday you would be my bride.” He leans forward to kiss me, daring the display of affection despite anyone being able to walk in. It’s foolish, but I savor the brief second his mouth is on mine. My breath hitches. Evander releases me after, the risk too great for us to dare anything more than what we already have. And we have already dared greatly. “I will find you, Faelyn. Nothing will tear us apart, so long as you wish for us to be together.”

“I’m going to keep you safe,” I vow. “And I’m going to take you to the sirens to have their old god restore your magic and free you of this halfway mortal coil. Nothing will stop me—not a wolf king, or spirit, or fate itself. I swear this to you.” Aurora squeezes my fingers and a surge of magic overtakes me, so much that the world briefly spins. Her brow relaxes and her head tilts slightly to the side. Her smile is one of relief. “I believe you, Faelyn. You and Evander are the first mortals in a long time that I believed would look after me,” she says softly. “Thank you.” “You have nothing to thank me for,” I say. “This is long overdue.” “You have my gratitude anyway.”

“So much of my life was spent with the love of my family—the love of a soulmate,” I whisper. “I never realized how good it felt to have the love of a friend.” It is a different balm to the loneliness I felt and feared. One I wish I’d had years sooner. “That is a lesson we both learned.” Aurora tilts her face to the sky. “As long as the moon shines, Faelyn, you will never be alone.”

I love him more than every spirit that walks the earth. I love him with all I am and all I could be. And it’s because I love him that I will respect his wish, even if doing so inflicts a wound on my heart worse than any I have ever known before.

“I do not wish to leave you. I will spend forever with you, whether forever is years, or one last night. If forever is free, or chained.”

“What have you brought before me, king of mortal wolves?” The words are a low grumble in the back of my mind. The great wolf spirit speaks without moving his giant maw. “It is time for me to take a wife.” Conri’s answer confirms my suspicion—they can understand this spirit. Perhaps because Ulfryk’s magic is within them. “A human?” The spirit’s ears twitch. Once more I sense his eyes on me. “A human with the power of the moon spirit within her.” “An interesting conundrum.” The notion of begging this spirit for help briefly flashes through my mind. Surely, when presented with a need to help his kind, this spirit wouldn’t turn his back, would he? I open my mouth, but close it promptly, remembering what Aurora said. She is still and silent. If she’s not making any movements toward seeking help then neither will I. Aurora might be his kin, but the lykin are his children. Ulfryk’s loyalties are clear. “I will make her my bride—in spirit, body, and blood,” Conri declares. “Here and now, as your descendant and spiritual heir, I ask you to preside over and bless our union and join our souls.” A low growl, almost like an amused hum, vibrates through the back of my mind. Ulfryk shifts just slightly, but it’s enough that I get the sense his gaze is solely on Aurora. Especially when she stands a little taller. “Is this your doing?” the great wolf asks. “I might be powerful, brother—perhaps even more powerful than you.” Aurora’s jab is met with a flash of amusement in the wolf’s eyes th...

Faelyn, someday, there might come a time where you must use your strength to take the life of another. The words were so gentle for their darkness. For the metallic taste they put in my mouth even though I was not the one speaking them. I know. I know, Grandma says that our strength is used only to help this world. But, someday, there could be a need for you to kill. Perhaps it is to save yourself. Perhaps for much needed sustenance to survive a long winter. Whenever this time comes, strike strong and true, my daughter. Do not hesitate. For worse than taking a life is causing suffering while doing so.

“Keeper of and bound to the moon spirit, we recognize you as our king.”

So tonight’s ceremony is not to mourn Conri, or coronate Evander…but to celebrate me.

“We leave these lands where power is earned with death.” “But you are their king.” “Faelyn, that is not the title that is important to me.” His thumb brushes over mine as our fingers intertwine. “The title that I wish to honor and uphold is that of your mate. I would give up a thousand thrones for you.” “I couldn’t ask you to.” “Good thing you’re not asking and I am offering.” He smiles slightly. The sun seems to shine brighter on his face than it has in weeks. The shadows under his eyes lift some, as if this realization is somehow easing the burden on him also. “But these are your people.” Evander slows to a stop. He looks back in the direction of Den. No, past it. If his gaze were to take wing and fly straight, it would soar over the misty plains of the lykin, across a narrow sea, through a dark Fade, and straight to a home that is no longer there for either of us. “No,” he says softly, the wind tangling with his hair. “I thought the humans were my people, and spent my childhood among them. But I never really belonged. Never fit right.” I know that feeling all too well. “My blood comes from these lands, but my true kin are long dead. The lykin that roam these plains are the ones who helped kill them. I can howl their hymns, but they are not my people, either.” He turns back to me and the world narrows with his attention. The trees blur as my focus rests solely on him. The wind pauses, as if even it is holding its breath for his next words. “You are the only one I have ev...