I didn’t know what to say. Explaining why he—or I—felt better today wasn’t my secret to tell. But I understood wanting to seize the moment while we had it.

  “Well, then, let’s eat,” I said with a smile.

  After the food had been demolished, the blanket did turn out to be useful. Both of us lay on our backs, sprawled like starfishes, as we stared up at the blue sky. The day had heated up. Summer was here and I couldn’t even remember when that had happened.

  Music from Kai’s phone drifted over, but I was lost to the playback of my mother. Again. I was pissed at her for so many things but mostly for not letting me enjoy this day with Kai.

  “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  I looked over and found Kai studying me.

  “Nothing,” I said.

  “Lie. Your face is sad. And mad. Tell me about it.”

  “My face?”

  “And your mood. You forget I can read both like a book.”

  I sighed. He hadn’t been doing much “reading” lately. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  I braced myself for an argument, but instead, he hopped to his feet and held out his hand.

  “Fine with me. Today is for being a normal couple. How about we move on to part two?”

  “There’s a part two?”

  “And three,” he said. “And if I’m very lucky, part four.” He winked.

  Smiling, I let him pull me to my feet, and we tossed the remaining containers back into the basket.

  “If part two involves food, I think I might have to tap out,” I said.

  “No food. Come on.” He led me around the tree, stopping long enough to stash the basket before continuing on.

  I hesitated when he turned away from the trail that I knew led to his house.

  “Wrong way,” I said.

  “Nope.”

  His grin was way too damn smug. But the anticipation of another surprise had me shaking my head and following him down the dirt path, away from his house.

  The sound of the waterfall grew louder.

  We rounded the bend, and I stopped in confusion. “What’s this?”

  Kai looked ready to come out of his skin with excitement. He pointed to wooden stakes that had been placed to form a rough sort of rectangle. Lines of string connected them with flags placed at regular intervals between them all.

  “This,” Kai said, spreading his arms wide, “is your new home. Or, well, it will be. Once we have it built.”

  “Built?”

  My stomach jumped as his words hit home. I looked closer at the stakes. The shape of them. The smaller areas set out against the larger ones.

  “This is for a house?”

  “I did a bunch of research,” Kai said, watching me with eyes glittering. “Crater actually helped, and I hired a builder, and we laid out the markers for a foundation. I was going to build the entire thing before surprising you, but then I realized that was a risky move. What if you hate my design?”

  I didn’t answer.

  All I could do was stare at the wooden stakes.

  Now that he’d explained, I could see where some areas had been laid out smaller than others. A bathroom maybe. And a living room.

  “When did you do this?” I asked, stunned.

  “When you go home at night, I come here.”

  “When did you sleep?”

  “Not often,” he admitted.

  “This is…”

  “The best present ever?” Kai said hopefully.

  I dragged my gaze back to his. “You’re giving me a house?”

  He stepped closer, blocking out my view of the layout. Now, all I saw was him. “Well, I’m kind of hoping you’ll let me live here too.”

  My lips curved, and I let out a happy shriek. Leaping toward him, I wound my arms around his neck, and he caught me easily around the waist.

  “I could be talked into a roommate,” I said when we were face to face.

  “Roommate, huh?” He leaned closer, his mouth only a whisper from my own. “I like the mate part. Well, and the room.

  “Which room?” I whispered.

  “Every room.” He leaned in, letting his lips brush mine. “But especially the bedroom.”

  He kissed me then, and I broke off long enough to throw my head back and laugh with the sheer happiness coursing through me. “I can’t believe you’re building us a house.”

  Then I kissed him again, tightening my arms around his neck and wrapping my legs around his hips. He caught me easily, twirling me around in the sunshine beside the wooden stakes marking my forever home.

  I couldn’t think of anything that would make me happier.

  “Kai,” I said when he finally let me go again.

  My feet slid to the ground, but still, I clung to him. “I don’t know how to thank you. This is so much more than I ever dreamed.”

  “You’re my dream, Ash. I’ll do anything for you.”

  My heart expanded and filled with the love rushing in.

  “You told me once you didn’t even know what home was,” he said. “And I want to change that. I want to be your home. I want to give you a safe space. And I think the only way to do that is to build it ourselves from the ground up.”

  “When do we start?” I asked, my eyes blurring with happy tears. This guy got me like no one else did.

  “Whenever you want. The plans, the designs, the deed—everything is in your name.”

  “What?”

  “I want you to feel like you have roots here. And if I’m being completely honest, mostly, I want to make sure you never have a reason to leave.”

  “Does this mean we’re not running?” I asked.

  His smile softened. “It means whatever you want it to mean, Ash. I’m sorry for how much of a mess I’ve been. But I’m here for you. Wherever you are, that’s home for me.”

  My heart melted just a little at that.

  His arms held me tight as he whispered, “I’m never letting you go again, Ashes.”

  “That sounds magical.”

  No one bothered us all day. It was magical—and not the hexerei kind where it took over my body and tried to kill people. Being alone with Kai, doing nothing but enjoying one another’s company, was magic in a way that spoiled me. It made it easier to dream about a life together where we’d put all this craziness and war behind us. Where we could just live like two people in love. Where the biggest problems we had involved which curtains to buy and whose turn it was to do the dishes.

  I wanted that life.

  I wanted it in a way I’d never known. Not until I’d seen the wooden stakes that would one day become a house.

  A home.

  Roots.

  And suddenly, the yearning became an ache in my chest.

  It wasn’t some far-off daydream like it had been back when I’d lived in a trailer and hidden cash in the freezer. It felt possible now. And that made me want it so much more.

  It made me willing to fight for it.

  Unfortunately, I knew what that meant.

  There was something I had to do.

  “I’m going to give the magic back,” I said.

  Kai sat up straighter from where he slouched against the driver’s seat. We’d put off returning to our lives as long as possible, opting to sit in the car on the side of the highway a little longer before driving back. Kai had been himself today. We both had—probably thanks to Silas’ little trick, though I couldn’t tell Kai that—but now, all of the worry we’d left behind this morning returned in a single glance.

  “Ash, you know what Cohen will do,” he said.

  “Yes, and that’s why I don’t intend to give it to him.”

  Kai’s brows knitted. “What do you mean?”

  “What if there’s a way to make it choose like it did with me?”

  He looked uncertain, but I went on, more and more hopeful as I thought it through. “When that necklace broke, the magic could have returned to Cohen right then. Or Kel. Or any of the other hexerei standing there. Instead, it chose only me. That means it can be directed. If it skipped over him once, it can do the same thing again. We just have to figure out how.”

  “Okay,” Kai said slowly. “But we have no way of knowing how to make that happen.”

  “We don’t,” I agreed. “But a hexerei might.”

  Kai’s eyes narrowed as my words registered. “Not worth it,” he said.

  I could already feel the darkness creeping back in around him.

  “She said something earlier,” I told him. “She asked if I’d merged it yet.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  I shrugged. “No idea. I didn’t get to that, what with all the ranting and storming out I did.”

  “You really think she can help you.”

  “She was the most powerful hexerei in her day. Even without magic, she knows how it works.”

  Kai studied me then shook his head. “You don’t have to do this, Ash. We can reach out to Kel. Find someone else.”

  “She owes me,” I said firmly. “And I know Kel’s an ally, but you heard her. She’s under Cohen’s thumb. We can’t risk it.”

  “I know,” he said. “I just hate to see you hurting.”

  I squeezed his hand. “I’m hurting either way,” I said quietly.

  “I know.” With his other hand, he cupped my cheek. “If it were anyone else…”

  I sighed. “But it’s not.”

  “No,” he said. “It’s not.”

  He let his hand fall away. A beat of silence passed.

  “We can do this,” I said. “Together.” He looked up at me and I could see the doubt in his eyes. “Remember Baron?” I asked. “Your wolf strengthens mine and that includes my magic. I think if we work together, we can make the magic go where we want it to. It worked once before.”

  He hesitated. I could see the worry in his eyes but in the end, he nodded.

  “Okay,” he said. “Will you speak to her tonight?”

  “Yes. Once I get home, I don’t think Oscar will let me leave again for at least a century.”

  “You know,” he said, starting the car, “You could just move in with me. Until the house is finished. Why wait?”

  His words were casual, but the tone was anything but.

  My heart thudded, which was stupid. I mean, we’d already mated. And professed our undying love. And fought wars together. But here I was, nervous at the idea of sharing a closet—and a shower—with the guy of my dreams.

  “Or not,” Kai said with a shrug that hurt my heart.

  “My answer is yes,” I said quickly.

  He’d started to hit the gas, but now, he stopped, and the car came to an abrupt halt. “Really?”

  He looked over at me uncertainly. But the hope in his eyes was the most romantic thing I’d ever seen.

  “Really,” I said, leaning over to kiss him. “But let’s go easy on Oscar when we tell him.”

  He grinned. “Why? He has Cherise to comfort him now.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The security detail guarding the cabin had dwindled to only three guards by the time I returned. I couldn’t blame them. My mother didn’t exactly pose a threat in her condition. Corbin came forward to meet me, exhaustion lining his features.

  “Where’s Kai?” Corbin asked.

  “He went hunting with Crater,” I said. “Blowing off some steam.”

  Corbin didn’t answer. We both knew that ‘steam’ was the darkness currently dragging his wolf toward hell.

  “How is she?” I asked.

  “She hasn’t gotten out of bed all day.” His eyes held the words he wouldn’t say.

  She was dying.

  I was killing her. Or my stupid oath, anyway.

  “Thank you,” I said quietly. “You can head out. Get some sleep.”

  “Nah.” He shrugged off my offer. “I’d rather stay.”

  I peered closely at him, my heart hurting. “She’s not Baron,” I said.

  “I’m not here for her,” he said pointedly, and I managed a small smile.

  “I won’t be long.” My gaze flicked to the cabin. “Has she eaten?”

  “No. I’ll find her something,” he said. “You go on.”

  He headed back toward Silas’ house, and I stepped up to the cabin door.

  They’d used a simple key and padlock, which shouldn’t have surprised me. Magicless and weak as she was, she probably would have been secure without a lock at all. But after so many years of being abandoned by her, some small part of me felt the need to secure her, if only to keep her from disappearing again.

  I might have grown up, even become a warrior in some people’s eyes, but when it came to my mother, I was still an abandoned twelve-year-old girl.

  It sucked.

  Inside, I waited a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkened space. My heightened senses helped, and within seconds, I spotted my mother’s small frame curled up on the narrow cot. A thick blanket had been draped over her slight shoulders, and her face was angled away so I couldn’t see her features clearly.

  There was no movement; not even a rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed.

  For a moment, panic clawed at me.

  I took a step forward, terrified she was already gone.

  Escaped once again, except this time, without her body.

  But then the floor creaked underneath my feet and that small sound stirred her. I exhaled as she rolled toward me.

  “Ash?” she said sleepily

  “It’s me.” My voice caught on a wave of unwanted emotion.

  I reached out and grabbed the single chair against the far wall, dragging it closer. Then I sat, careful to remain out of her reach. I didn’t for a second think she could hurt me. Not physically anyway. But I’d take a beating any day over the pain she could cause my heart.

  “You’re back,” she said.

  I watched as she struggled to reposition herself. Finally, she sat up with her back leaning against the wall and looked at me.

  I wondered how Corbin could think she was on the verge of death when her stare was still so sharp. It pierced me all the way through, and I fought against the sob that bubbled up in my throat.

  She didn’t get to look at me like that; like she really saw me.

  Not anymore.

  “I need to talk to you,” I said.

  “I would love that.”

  I ignored the prick of resentment her words caused.

  “Tell me about the curse.”

  “What would you like to know?”

  “Everything. How you cast it. Why. What made you decide to choose freedom over your own daughter?”

  “Is that how you see this? You think I chose myself over you? Oh, Ash.”

  I held up a hand, hating the sorrow that filled her expression. “You know what. Scratch that last part. Just tell me about the magic.”

  She sighed. “All right. Well, you have to understand that Cohen was always entitled and racist. He just didn’t have the power to do anything about it twenty years ago. He had plans, though. Always with the plans. And I knew that, someday, his determination would eclipse his limited abilities. His hate was that big, Ash. He would find a way.”

  “You were going to marry him.” I couldn’t keep the disgust from my voice as I said it.

  “No,” she said firmly. “The elders wanted that, but I could never— Even before I met your father, it was never going to be Cohen.”

  Something about the way she said it made me wonder if there’d been someone else. Before Dad. But I shook it off, determined to stay focused.

  “So, you cast the curse because you didn’t want to marry Cohen.”

  “I cast the curse because Cohen would have never let me go. He made it clear…” She faltered, and I could hear the pain and fear in her voice. “He would have killed me before he let me mate with a lupin. He would have killed the entire pack. In fact, the day of the treaty, he intended to massacre everyone in town. And by then, he’d collected enough magic to do it.”

  She shook her head. “The curse was supposed to be a last resort, but when we learned what he planned to do…” Tears shone in her eyes, and she smiled through them, adding, “When we learned I was pregnant with you, we knew we were out of time. So, we did the only thing we could with the hours we had left.”

  My stomach churned with my own feelings. I was caught up in the story. In how my parents must have felt, scrambling for a means to survive. I told myself it was empathy for my father. Not her.

  “And the counterbalance,” I said. “Did you know it would be me?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head emphatically. “I never imagined it, Ash. Please understand. The moment I realized it—”

  “You abandoned me.”

  She flinched like I’d slapped her. “Is that what you think?”

  “What else am I supposed to think?”

  She bit her lip. “When you turned twelve—when the mark showed up, I wanted to tell you everything. But your father insisted we wait a few more years. He didn’t want you to feel as if we’d ruined your childhood. I respected his decision since he’d be the one there with you while I came back.”

  “Came back? You came here—to Ridley Falls?”

  Surprise and then betrayal shot through me. She’d abandoned me and Dad to skulk around the Falls, my true home?

  “We had to find out if you’d be safe here. With the pack. If they could protect you.”

  “Dad knew where you went?”

  “Of course,” she said as if I should have known that all along. “But the pack was a mess,” she said, sounding a bit more miserable now. Regret etched her words.

  I was wrong to think I couldn’t get any angrier. “Whose fault was that?”

  She nodded. “Mine, of course. And Caleb’s.”

  “Don’t put this on him,” I hissed.

  “And why not?” she shot back, indignant. “It was just as much his idea as mine. He gave me his permission—no, his blessing—to curse his own pack. So if you’re going to blame me, you’ll have to blame him too.”

  “So, you want me to hate him now too? Is that what this is?”

  “I don’t want you to hate any of us,” she said. “But you’re a leader now. An alpha. You can at least be fair.”

  I didn’t answer.

  “The curse was meant to last a couple of years. Long enough to find a way to remove Cohen. But two years turned to five. Then ten. Without your father’s ability to shift properly and without my magic, we were limited. After I left, I searched for years for a hex willing to help me, but Cohen had gotten to them all. He’d painted me as some scorned woman. A villain.” She glanced at me.