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Opening his maws, teeth glinting in the sunlight, he lowers his head toward his brothers.
Markov presses himself to the ground before a hissing, “I forfeit,” strangles from his lips.
In the next moment, Cael names Ollie the victor, and Ollie’s Fenrir form dissolves into a man at my side. He curls his arm around my back and says, “So. Yeah. Hopefully that was quick enough for you.” Tilting a look at Zylus, he asks, “Want to help us land shop while we’re here? To keep us ‘safe’?”
Zylus the cat slips from Cael’s arms and stretches as he shifts. “Sure. Have you finished designing your house?”
“We have vague ideas. I’m thinking I’ll ask Willoughby if we can construct the floor plan using her Sims game.”
“Hey!” Markov shouts.
“I want to go land shopping.” Cael plants his hands on his hips. “I’ve just cleared the rest of my evening.” He pauses, glancing at the crushed trees in the distance behind us. “Well…I will have to speak to Aspen about fixing that. But that’s not pressing.”
“Doliver!” Markov roars.
Ollie sags. “What?”
“Don’t ignore me.”
A line forms between Ollie’s brows. He waits a moment, then says, “…okay?”
“Come back home.”
The four of us exchange a look, then Ollie laughs first—dimples on display. He doesn’t so much as justify that request with a response as we trot away, toward the faerie woods. Ollie offers me his hand, and I link our fingers.
“Wait.” I look at Cael. “Is this okay? Don’t you need to tell someone to escort them out of your kingdom or something?”
Hands clasped beneath his wings, Cael says, “Oh, don’t worry about that, little one.” His lips tip up in one corner. “I’ve been prepared for this moment for a very, very long time. My people know what to do with the riffraff.”
Ollie kisses the back of my hand. “Don’t let Cael’s sweet smile fool you. He’s more monstrous than I apparently am.”
“Monstrous. What an unkind word to use. I’ve never been the size of my castle before.”
“Because you haven’t tried,” Zylus notes, catching a petal that drifts in front of him between two fingers. “It is remarkable the things we find ourselves incapable of when we don’t try.”
Ollie meets my eyes, slowing after we’ve made it deep enough into the woods that the field behind us is out of view. “What?” he asks while Cael and Zylus continue ahead.
I smile. “I love you.”
Red tints his skin as he tugs me in closer. “I love you.”
“Do you think Zylus is right?”
“Usually. About what, though?”
I comb my fingers through his hair, watch the way sunlight dapples the strands. “We might be capable of anything?”
“Is that what he said?” Ollie tilts his face down. “I wasn’t paying attention. What do you want to be capable of?”
I chew my lip. “Building a home with you where you never have to question whether or not you’re good enough again.” My stomach clenches, and I drop my attention. “Building a home where…I never have to question whether or not I’m worthy of grand gestures and living a life that feels like the stories I write.”
Ollie sighs, leads me to a freshly-fallen log and sits me down before kneeling in the leaves at my feet. Softly, while meeting my eyes, he starts to sing. “You’re more than I thought you’d be. You’re all that I’ll ever need. This picture I know can’t hope to show just how much you mean to me.” Leaning forward, he lets his lips graze mine. “I’m yours. I’m yours. I’m yours…and it’s all good enough.” He kisses me, stealing my breath. Steadily, he says, “Want to know a secret?”
“I didn’t think we had any secrets left now that I know you’re dolivers_not_trending, and you know about my extremely well-punctuated fanfiction.”
His hand settles on my thigh, and sunlight kisses his dimples as his gold-flecked orbs stare lovingly up at me. Glittering.
“Okay,” I whisper. “What’s the secret?”
