AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not allergic,” I insist, resting my chin on my forearms. “Closer to too much dust in the air.”
“So is it just my magic dust or all magic dust?” she reiterates, rolling up her sleeves and then unzipping her boots, her phone tumbling out. Placing them beside her, she takes off her socks, tucks them into a ball, and stuffs it and her phone into one of her boots.
“Yours is more concentrated,” I answer, distracted by the view of her bare legs.
Callie gets to her feet and carefully tiptoes toward me. “That makes sense considering where my magic comes from.” She settles on the rock beside me, dipping her feet into the water, and sighs happily. “That feels nice. I can understand why you like this place so much.”
A nod is my only acknowledgement, my thoughts more focused on how easy it would be to situate myself between her thighs, her legs bent over my shoulders, and… The cold water no longer seems to be helping.
She leans back on her hands, making slow, gentle kicks with her feet, as she tips her head toward the sky. “Look at all those stars. It’s like a painting.”
Tearing my eyes from my mate, I briefly follow her gaze. It’s a view that I’ve started taking for granted, usually too focused on whatever is broken within me to appreciate it. Now, I try to see it through her wonder—the indigo velvet base of the night sprinkled with the glittering paint of an innumerable amount of stars. It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t pull at me the way she does. This place used to be my solace, everything seemingly small compared to the vastness of nature, but since Callie walked into my life, it’s been her. Callie’s touch, nearness, smile, and very presence brings me peace in a way nothing has before.
Still looking up at the stars, she adjusts her balance to one hand and lets the other drift toward mine. We loosely intertwine our fingers, and the simple touch feels like coming home. The way she centers me reminds me of Sam’s warning. This is the gift of a mate, but also a burden. Shifters understand when they choose to have this bond, it’s at the risk of their own sanity. Losing them means losing a part of yourself, and Callie has more of me than any mate bond has ever gifted before. Mi reina has other connections to ground her and keep her whole, but it would be devastating if she died before me. My wolf growls over the mere thought of losing our mate, a sound of pure rage that any would dare take her from us, even death itself.
Callie flexes her fingers, tightening her grip. “Your thoughts seem heavy.”
Sam gave me until the end of the summer to tell Callie this particular part of the mate bond, but I can’t do it tonight—not on what is supposed to be our first real date. Instead, I kiss the back of her hand and reply, “Thinking about how much you mean to me.”
Her eyes have a glossy sheen as she looks down at me. “You mean so much to me too. I know our start was rocky and everything is… complicated at times, but I… I don’t want to ever imagine my life without you.”
A sharp pain reverberates through the bond, and I know she’s thinking about how long she’s expected to live. A witch’s lifespan is tied to the depth of their magic, and Callie is one of the, if not the, most powerful witches on the planet. Best estimate, she’ll live to be around a thousand years old. It’s an unfair comfort to me, because it means if I do my job right, I’ll never have to live a day without her.
Releasing her hand, I cut through the water until I’m in front of her. She parts her knees, allowing me closer, and with my hands braced on the rock on either side of her, I hoist myself up so we’re eye level. “That’s hundreds of years away.” I brush my nose against hers, our lips a breath apart. “Be here with me tonight.”
She nods, her hands pressed against my damp chest, and kisses me. It’s soft and fleeting, but it’s followed by a sweet smile. “I have something for you.”
I watch curiously as she wiggles back to get something out of her front pocket, muttering her irritation over girl pockets. Her knees press into my hips hard, and her feet graze my bare thighs, making me far more aware of my own nudity than I usually am. It’s a very good thing my hands are busy holding me up.
Finally, she wrestles out a small, leather, drawstring bag. “It’s, um, well… I hope you like it. If you don’t, lie to me.” She releases a nervous laugh and fidgets with the strings. “I’m not an artist like you are, but I wanted to make you something just from me.”
“Open it,” I request with a smile.
“You do realize you’re supposed to open your birthday presents,” she teases.
“My hands are busy.” I illustrate by shifting my weight slightly back and forth, and then my smile turns into a grin. “Could get out of the water.”
Her gaze flits to where the dark pond hides everything from the waist down and then back to my face, her cheeks turning pink. “I can do it.”
Chewing on her bottom lip, she loosens the drawstring and pulls out a long necklace. As she holds it out for me to look at, she explains, “Don’t worry, the chain is titanium.” Before I can say anything, she starts to babble. “I know I was making bracelets before, but I thought… well, when you shift, this should still fit. The wolf tooth in the center is made out of onyx, which is supposed to be for courage and strength. The amber beads are to help with balanced decision-making, but mostly I chose it because it matches your eyes. The smaller black obsidian beads are for protection.”
I dip my head, and with shaking hands, she puts it on me, the center pendant resting in the middle of my chest. It’s warm against my skin and hums with an energy that marks it as more than simple metal and stones. I meet her gaze, asking with my eyes what she isn’t telling me about this necklace.
“Donovan has a magic sword that will literally kill anything, okay?” She huffs, reaching up to run her fingers along the stones. “Your life is just as much in danger as his is, and I can’t be there all the time. I want you to have something that will protect you too.” Her gaze hardens stubbornly. “It’s a mate’s right to protect.”
Unable to argue, I ask, “What does it do?”
She brightens when I don’t object. “Best offense is a good defense, or something like that. I don’t do sports. Anyway, I infused it with raw magic that has the sole objective of protecting you against those who wish you ill intent. It should do everything from warn you when there is danger to, uh, making sure anyone who tries to hurt you thoroughly regrets it.”
Thousands of different scenarios sweep through my mind of how much damage magic as powerful as Callie’s could do when given such an expansive direction. Shocked, my arms grow weak, and I fall back into the water. “This is too much,” I insist, treading water. “I can’t lead with fear.”
The hurt in her eyes is a sharp slice to my heart. “Then don’t tell anyone what it does.” Her voice develops that unworldly quality, and her magic blankets the clearing, a buzzing sensation that rides over my skin. “You have suffered too many years under the hands of others. I won’t let it happen again.”
Desperate to bring her back to herself, I quickly grab her around her waist and pull her into the pond. She shrieks as she falls in, dipping under the cold water for a moment before I pull her back to the surface. Sputtering and blinking, she shouts, “What was that for?”
“It’s a thoughtful gift,” I tell her, wrapping one arm around her and dragging her toward the shallower edge where my feet can touch the ground, “but you were the one who warned me about unchecked magic. Such a broad command is dangerous.”
“When it comes to your life, there is no such thing as too much,” she states, but she looks more like an annoyed girlfriend than an avenging goddess. With another huff, she relents, “Fine, I’ll dial it back.” With one arm wrapped around my neck to hold her steady, she places her other hand over the beads of the necklace, pressing them into my chest. Her brows furrow when she closes her eyes, and a comforting heat skirts down my body as her magic flows over me. She sighs when she’s done. “Now it’s a glorified warning device. It’ll tell you when there’s danger, if someone is lying to you, or if they mean you ill will. At least this way, you should know who you can and can’t trust.”
