I blinked in the bright light and allowed my eyes to adjust yet again. I’d gone from Frelsi, where magic kept the city warm, to the chilly depths of an underground nest to… I wasn’t sure where I was, but it was warm and there was water nearby and a small cabin. Trees rose around me, and I realized the water was more like a bayou.
That was the moment I knew someone was watching me.
The world went watery because Trent stood near the cabin. His beard had grown out and his hair was longer. He looked far more like the wolf he was than the soldier he’d presented to the world twelve years before.
I stood there, our gazes locked.
Twelve years. He’d taken in Fenrir because we were going to make a family together, and I’d left him alone. He’d had to raise not only Fen, but Lee and Rhys and Evan. He’d gone from single and free one day to raising a pack on the run, protecting and sheltering them.
From what I could tell the only person he’d been able to rely on had been Sasha Federov, a vampire. While Sasha had no doubt been an amazing general for their little army, he would also be dead at least half the day.
Years will pass. Your wolf will howl but he will remain steadfast.
Gray’s prophecy had told me that we would be standing here, Trent and I. We would be standing here with the years between us, my wolf’s steadfast faith still binding us.
I knew that because I could feel him. Even with yards between us, I could feel Trent’s love.
I had never seen my wolf cry, but there were tears rolling down that face I loved.
That was when my walls broke down. Trent was here, and we’d lost so much. We’d lost all that time, and he was still here with me. I recognized somewhere in the background that the old me would have wondered if he’d brought me out here so he could explain that he’d moved on.
But I’d meshed my soul with his, and I trusted and believed in him completely.
He was my mate.
The wall crumbled because he was here.
The world went watery, and I heard someone scream. Me. I let the pain out.
Twelve years. Twelve years. Myrddin had taken twelve fucking years. My son’s childhood. Twelve years of my marriage, of love between us. Gray was gone because I’d been trapped.
Olivia. He’d taken my best friend.
He’d killed people I knew, people who had lives and loves and should have had more of both. All gone because one wizard wanted power.
He’d scattered our families to the winds without a care for any of us.
I started to fall but Trent was there before I could hit the ground. His big arms went around me and through my wracking sobs, I could smell him. That woodsy, wolfy smell that felt safe, that brought me home, hit my soul, and I wrapped myself around him.
“I’m so sorry.” I was sorry I’d gone into that painting, sorry I’d spent the four days I’d been on the outer planes not thinking much about him. That was the worst. I’d practically viewed it as nothing more than a job. I’d felt inconvenienced, while his world had been turned upside down and he’d lost everything.
He squeezed me so tight. “I missed you. I missed you every second of every day for twelve years, Kelsey.”
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