I will take my leave of you, dear ones,Hecate said.Your trials are over for now. Go forward with my blessings.
She disappeared as quickly as she had come, leaving my heart light. Guilt clawed at me that I had ever considered the gods hated us. As the saying often went, the gods helped those who helped themselves, but in this case I think our strength lay in helping others, in helping one another. Even without the assurance that my shifting would be returned, I would have surrendered it again, knowing it made the difference between life and death, kept my pack alive and with me.
Pain wasn’t always easy to reason with, but that was the beauty of surrounding myself with people I loved and trusted. I would have healed in time, however difficult it might have been, because they would never abandon me.
I would sacrifice anything for them, but I still hoped the gods gave us a little break before thrusting us toward any more destiny for a while.
“You’re going to freeze out here.” Caden wrapped his arms around me, leaning my back to his chest. His ever-present love for me was bright in the bond as he laid a kiss on my cheek. The weather had been cold and rainy, but unlike the cat shifters in the polycule, I actually liked being out in the rain.
Tilly—our recently returned young squirrel shifter—popped out of my hair to greet Caden, catching him off guard withan adorable squeak. I’d missed her. Former residents had been returning to the nest bit by bit, settling back into their suites now that the threat was neutralized. I was relieved they still trusted us after all of the chaos.
“Hello there, little miss.” Caden ran his fingertip from her nose to the top of her head. “Do you mind if I borrow my mate?”
Tilly chirped and leapt from my head to the oak tree, sprinting up the bark to join her parents in the upper branches.
“What are we borrowing me for? Don’t we have to start soon?”
“Yes, but not quite yet. The last bit of your surprise is finished and I wanted you to see it before everyone is occupied by Shakti’s farewell party.”
The surprise wasn’treallya surprise. I knew what it was, but I hadn’t seen the complete version yet. As a favor, the Witches’ Council had turned my childhood home into a safe house for witches and shifters alike, as well as managed the transport of all my belongings to the Portland nest so I could move there permanently. Yelena and the others had been unwilling to let the small dirt-floored ward room remain in that state if I was going to make it a proper nest, so my pack had been busy setting up my fully renovated space in the basement since the arrival of my things.
“The reps for both Councils should be here soon too for the new facility opening.” Caden nudged me inside with a gentle hand on the small of my back. “Plus, I’m getting rained on.”
Seth trotted out to meet us, more tolerant of the rain than Caden was. I scooped him up, delighted at the rush of affection in the bond when he rubbed his cheek against mine.I’m not a decorator, but I think we did a good job.
“I’m sure it’s gorgeous.”
The witches had been invaluable with nest renovations and building the nearby facility to train the O’Clery witches who werelisted to be unbound by the council. They’d brought in others with certain specialties to assist with construction. Cecily had been teaching me levitation, but I didn’t think I would ever get to the level of control where I could put a building together with magic. Apparently highly controlled levitation meant you could be your own nail gun, and clearing land was a breeze when you could ask the trees to move or teleport them to a new area. Seeing complex magic at work still tripped me up, but I was slowly getting more comfortable with it, fully immersing myself in this world.
With Shakti departing, I was transitioning to a full Protector rather than a temporary one. Part of that meant leaving a lot of my old life behind. I quit my finance job in preparation to take over Shakti’s role, though honestly I was lucky they hadn’t fired me already. I suppose it was a testament to how good I was at my job when I actually did it between life-and-death events.
Kendrick met us as we stepped off the elevator, drawing me smoothly into a kiss that had my toes curling. “About time. V has been pacing.”
Seth let out amrpsound and Kendrick scratched under his chin, planting a kiss to his forehead.
Haru trotted over, slipping between my legs to stare up at me, the top of their head planted against my stomach.
“How am I supposed to walk with you right there?”
Carefully.
I laughed and stroked a hand down his fur. “Don’t make me trip.”
Their wolf form melted away, replaced by their gorgeously tattooed human self standing in front of me. They delivered another toe-curling kiss. At this rate I wasn’t even going to make it to the surprise. Haru collected Seth from me a second before Velda sprinted over, crashing against me with an excited squeak.
“You’re taking too fucking long. Let’s go.” She scooped me right off my feet, carting me giggling through the door Yelena held open and into my new nest. Velda spun so I could see the room properly and let me slide to my feet.
The last time I had looked at the space, it was empty. The witches had assisted with the remodel down here, opening up the entire basement, inserting magically reinforced columns to support the building without blocking the lines of sight. The center contained the artifacts, still ringed with earth, but now bright green moss grew happily instead of bare soil. Smooth white tiles extended from there, covered strategically with plush rugs in beautiful earth tones. At the far side was a massive bed designed to hold my entire pack with curtains hanging from the ceiling that could be drawn around it during my heats, though I wasn’t anticipating another one for several years. I couldn’t wait to dive into the new sheets.
It was all far brighter than the basement used to be, but then most of the nest had gotten some renovations. The Protectors’ floor was redesigned since my pack would no longer have claimants. Everyone had their own smaller room to escape to as needed, and our resident witches got their own rooms as well. Once Shakti had moved on, her room would become a meeting space. Calliope kept her suite since she had five beautiful babies living there with her now.
Down here closets, a full gorgeous bathroom, a seating area, and a kitchenette had been added as well to make my room meet every need we might have.
Yelena’s slight movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, my gaze catching on her beautiful smile before her hands directed me toward an alcove that had been added. The window above it was huge, set into a warded well so I could see straight to the sky. Beneath it was what had tears stinging in my eyes.
My altar.
I traced my fingertips over the carvings my father had done, and the wood-burned runes my mother had added. I sank to my knees, pressing my cheek to the smooth surface. Photos from my house hung on the wall: me as a child with my parents, my growing years with friends, me and my parents at my high school graduation, me with my first kitten fosters after my parents had passed. Among the beautifully framed images were wall hangings my mother had created.
