Epilogue

Kit

" I s that the last of it?"

Kit watched Lorin as he grabbed a box from his sister's hands, peeking into the large white van they'd rented to help them move to Oak's Hollow.

"Yup," Mara said, happily allowing Lorin to do her share of the work for her. Always one to slither away from any heavy lifting, Kit thought with a smile on his face. It felt good knowing the coven hadn't taken everything from them.

Even through all the abuse and all the vile things his family and the other shifters had endured, Kit could see they'd still kept the core of who they always were.

His mom was still as caring and nurturing as she'd always been. His dad was still a stoic but somewhat scatterbrained man, willing to lay down his life for his family. His brothers were as opposite from each other as two people could get, and yet they were still almost permanently glued to each other, thick as thieves even as they bickered constantly.

And his sister, the baby of the family, still had them all wrapped around her little finger.

He'd found out that the coven had only had them for just under a year—a little longer than Kit had been with them. They'd strayed too close to the witches' coven trying to search for Kit and that's when they had been taken. Kit tried not to feel complete guilt over that and was still working through it day by day.

The only relief he could feel was that the coven hadn't gotten through their ‘stock' of shifters to reach them yet to try and forcibly bond them.

There were others they had rescued who weren't so lucky, stuck in their shifts until a bond came along. The shifter pack that had formed to rescue them—Ellis's pack, those that had been warning them off in the town and who had fought by the elders' sides—were currently housing them. They were working with the elders to try and free all of them, and Ellis kept them updated.

Kit and his family had joined a handful of shifters who hadn't been trapped in their shifted forms and were willing to talk about their experiences in order to make sure something like that never happened again.

It was painful, reliving it all in front of strangers, elders from most of the largest witch communities. Kit's voice still sounded rougher than it used to, and every word served as a reminder of what he'd gone through. But having Lorin and his grandma there helped ease Kit's mind.

Lorin's grandma had looked exhausted and frail in the aftermath of the battle. The toll of magic was high, but her eyes were still sharp, and the staff she used to smack Kit over the head when he tried to help her get out of her car was just as intimidating as always.

She took the lead on filling the other elders in on everything they knew about the coven, and in the end, when everything was out in the open, it was agreed that their powers would stay bound forever. They were to be sent to a secure location where the spell placed upon them would be monitored and replenished if the need for it arose.

Lorin's grandma smirked at that and rolled her eyes at Lorin and Kit.

"As if my spells ever wear off," she had muttered to them, but she'd nodded sagely toward the other elders.

It still felt like a bad dream sometimes. Just because the coven was gone didn't mean their scars had disappeared. Kit often woke from nightmares that felt too real. Sometimes a simple, innocuous sound could send him shifting and running.

It was almost worse now.

While he was in it, it had been easier to push away the fear and panic to concentrate on the larger goal. Now that he had happiness in his hands, the fear of losing it again crept up insidiously.

Lorin and his family made all the difference.

No matter how hard it got, coming out of those dark places to such love and support was all he could ask for. With time, he hoped it would ease. Not forgotten, but healed.

Kit smiled to himself as he blinked the thoughts away, walking over to Mara and flicking her on the forehead. "Quit saddling my mate with your jobs."

She pulled a face and cupped her forehead. "It's what mates are for."

Lorin chuckled and Kit scowled. "Yeah, your own mate. So go find your own. This one's mine."

He wrapped his arm around Lorin's, slightly hanging off it just to prove that he could.

"Not the strongest of guys here, fox boy," Lorin said, groaning under the added weight. "Gonna drop the box and you right with it."

"You'd never drop me." Kit blinked up at him, fluttering his lashes as obnoxiously as he could. "You love me too much for that."

He watched with satisfaction as Lorin's entire face went soft at the words, his eyes dropping to Kit's lips, a smile painting his own like a sunrise.

"You're right," he said. "I do love you too much."

Kit beamed at him. "I love you too," he said softly, forgetting for a second that they weren't alone. Forgetting they had eyes and ears on them and that the words weren't just between them. Nothing else really mattered when Lorin looked at him the way he did.

"You're still too heavy," Lorin said, eclipsing the moment.

Mara cackled gleefully as Kit pouted and stopped hanging off him like a limpet.

"Less heart eyes and pouting, more carrying. The boxes won't move themselves in," she singsonged.

She made a shooing motion with her hands, and Lorin bent down to steal a quick kiss from Kit's lips before scurrying away with Mara's stuff. Kit spluttered before turning narrowed eyes on Mara. "Retribution incoming."

Mara grinned with all her teeth, completely vulpine.

Kit turned on his heel, already plotting all the ways he could outfox her. He followed Lorin's scent trail to the living room and propped himself up against the wall, watching Lorin unload the boxes and chat with his dad as they figured out what went where.

It was still surreal to Kit that he got to have his mate and his skulk back. All in one place. Because after visiting their old home and realizing too many bad memories lingered there, his family had decided to move to Oak's Hollow. To where Kit and Lorin lived.

The community had rallied around them, finding them a perfect little cabin right behind the one Glenn lived in. It was deeper in the woods than any other home, a little shabby, but nothing Kit's dad and brothers couldn't fix. Especially with the help of every handy witch in town that offered their time freely, like they were a part of the community and always had been.

Kit's heart was beyond full, and he felt nothing but completely whole, finally.

It was hard to comprehend sometimes, this meeting of worlds. Neither reality seemed real. It felt unfair that either one of them had to be. Where one contained his family and one contained Lorin. He felt cheated of so much time.

But he was happy with his present and did his best to stay in it and not get dragged down by the past.

"He's perfect for you," Kit's mother said as she walked into the room, coming to stand next to Kit and nudging him with her shoulder.

"I know, right?" Kit grinned at her.

"He's not what I imagined your mate would be, but at the same time he's everything I hoped you'd find." She smiled back.

"I think the universe wanted us to meet. So many things were against us, and yet…we found each other anyway."

"Must have been hard, with you stuck in your shift," she said, her smile dimming a little but never disappearing completely. She wouldn't let it. It was who she was.

"It was, but it wasn't just that," Kit said. "Lorin… Well, he almost didn't attend the bonding ceremony."

"How come?"

Kit shrugged. "It's not really my story to tell."

"Of course it is," Lorin said as he walked over, clearly having overheard their conversation. "Everything that happened to us is part of our story, so you can tell it if you want. I don't mind."

"You sure?" Kit asked.

Lorin nodded, looking at Kit's mom. "I had some…reservations about being a witch."

"Oh?" She looked surprised to hear it. "I wasn't aware…"

"Yeah, I don't think there's a lot of us who'd agree with me," he said. "Magic is a blessing for most people. I see it as such now too. But I didn't always."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kit's mom said.

"My parents were soulbonded," Lorin said. "My mom was a witch and my dad was a shifter. I watched them cherish that bond beyond everything else, and admired it until…"

Kit's mom grasped his bicep gently, offering some comfort as if she expected the next words.

"She got sick and died. My dad followed. And I grew up resentful. They never had a say. They had no choice. They embraced the magic and their bond, and in the end, it cost them their lives. I didn't want that. I didn't want my life to be predetermined for me, or taken away because of someone else. Or even worse…for someone else to die because of me. It all felt like too much."

"And now?" she asked.

Lorin turned to look at Kit, laser-focused on him like he always was. Like Kit was his entire universe condensed into one person.

"And now I know that it's not about having your choices taken away," Lorin said. "Because even if I had one, I'd make the exact same one."

"Lorin…" Kit whispered, and Lorin bent down to brush their noses together.

"I'd give my life for you without a second thought," he said. "I guess magic really does know better than we do."

"Sap," Kit teased, but he felt himself glow from the inside out at the words. Because he felt them too. He agreed.

He'd do anything and everything for Lorin. There was nobody who meant more. He leaned into Lorin, nuzzling his neck and hiding his face in the source of the most delicious scent of their soulbond.

A sudden insistent knocking on the front door broke them apart, and Kit's mom frowned. "I don't think we were expecting anyone."

They meandered toward the doorway as a unit and Kit was surprised to see Stella standing there in front of Mara. She spotted Lorin over her shoulder and her eyes lit up.

"Oh, there you are! Thank the stars!" she said, bypassing the rest of them and reaching inside the house to grab his hand and give it a tug. "I've spent the entire morning looking around for you."

"Is everything okay?" he asked, resisting her pull. Kit felt Lorin's grandma and his brothers join them at the door, standing behind them, protective despite there being no sign of a threat anywhere. Kit figured it would take some time for the walls to come down and the tension to lessen.

"I hope it will be once we get there," Stella said, glasses askew and hair flyaway. "But we have to go, now."

She pulled on his hand again and Lorin tugged back, a frown forming on his forehead. "Go where?"

Kit's thoughts exactly.

"The library," she said, as if it was obvious. "Word got out about you, pathfinder. We have a line formed in front of your room waiting for you to show up."

Kit saw Lorin's shoulders tense, then he took a step back.

"Line?" he asked.

"Yup! And the more we wait the longer it gets. So chop, chop!"

Lorin turned to face them all, his expression bewildered and confused. Kit shrugged at him, making Lorin look at his grandma.

"She's right," his grandma said, nodding to Stella. "The more you put it off, the more people will pile up."

"But what…?"

"This is your job, Lorin," his grandmother said. "People will be coming to you for answers."

"How can it be my job when I have no clue what I'm doing?" he asked incredulously.

"You'll figure it out along the way. We all did. You haven't been doing too badly thus far, have you?" She walked over and gave him a push out the door. "Now get going. Kit and I will make lunch and then he'll bring it to you."

"But—"

"Go," Kit said, draping his arms around Lorin's shoulders. "I'll see you later."

"What if I'm terrible at this?" Lorin asked quietly, so only Kit would hear. "What if I can't help anyone?"

Kit shook his head, raising his hands to cup Lorin's cheeks and bring his face closer to his own. "Don't talk about my amazing mate like that. He's capable, and smart, and resourceful. He helped me so much. He helped everyone here. He can do anything he sets his mind to."

"He sounds awesome," Lorin said, his voice a little choked.

"I have great taste," Kit said, hopping up on his toes to peck Lorin's lips. "Now go."

He pulled himself out of Lorin's arms and boldly pushed him out of the house. Lorin turned to Stella, finding her beaming at him.

"You'll do great," she said, leading him out.

Lorin threw one last glance back at Kit and Kit smiled, feeling their connection burning in his chest—familiar and soulbond.

Lorin was a pathfinder. His powers belonged to the witch community. Kit knew that.

But he was also Kit's mate. The core of him, his heart, belonged to Kit.

His witch.

His forever.

Lorin

"And this is gonna work?" the man asked for the millionth time, slightly bulbous eyes scrutinizing him. Lorin nodded, trying for patience and hoping he landed at least somewhere in the vicinity of it.

Some people just tested him.

Daily.

Most people did, in fact. Pathfinder or not, Lorin definitely preferred the company of just one particular person. His social battery ran low very quickly.

"Absolutely," he said, yet again. They'd already gone through it several times. In detail. With graphics. And fine, Lorin's drawing skills left a lot to be desired, but he didn't think he was THAT bad. "The ritual is quite simple but it requires a lot of power, so make sure to include either multiple people or someone you know who's very powerful."

"Okay," the man said finally, standing up.

Lorin jumped up after him eagerly, ushering him toward the door in a desperate attempt to wrap their meeting up before something else came to mind and he started asking more questions. The man was his last client of the day and he'd been in the pathfinder room with Lorin for at least two hours at this point. For an issue that wasn't even that serious, he might add.

Lorin had found an answer in the first fifteen minutes. The rest of the time had been spent reassuring the man over and over again that yes, he had understood what to do correctly, yes Lorin was sure it would work, and yes (please no) he absolutely could come back should anything end up going wrong. The fifteen minutes after that had been spent reassuring him that nothing would go wrong after all.

It was maddening and Lorin was quite pleased to see his back as he shambled away, thanking Lorin profusely and making him feel only a little bit guilty for thinking unkind things about him for a bit there.

But he had extended his stay at work for over an hour, and he had every reason to want to go home.

He pushed the door closed and leaned against it, his hands pale against the dark wood. He caught sight of his marks, smiling genuinely at the sight of them covering over half of the exposed skin on his fingers now.

Runes. Symbols. Letters from languages both dead and still thriving. They ranged in meaning from those first ones that spoke of courage, hope, and spiritual growth as Lorin had looked for who he really was and wanted to be, all the way to the fresh ones, speaking of elements, spells, and rituals he had performed and participated in.

He was a full-blown witch now.

He was good at what he did.

And contrary to everything he'd spent his life thinking, he felt himself thrive on it.

"I don't remember consenting to you being this late to dinner." Kit's voice came from behind him and Lorin whipped around, eyes wide as he looked at his familiar and mate sitting on his desk in the pathfinder room with a cheeky smile on his gorgeous face and angular amber eyes filled with mischief and love just for Lorin.

It wasn't what he'd thought his life would be.

It was so much better.

"When did you…" He walked closer, looking around himself. "And how?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want answers to," Kit said, hopping off the desk and walking closer.

He pushed up onto his tiptoes when he reached Lorin and threw his arms around his neck.

"Pretty sure I do want to know how you managed to find your way into a room you should not have access to without me." Lorin tilted his head and Kit smiled that infuriatingly vulpine smile at him.

"You have your ways, pathfinder," he said, voice haughty, "and I have mine."

"Do you now?" Lorin asked, wrapping his arms around Kit's waist and pulling him closer. He knocked the breath right out of him for a split second, diving in to steal a kiss from his lips.

He felt Kit melt against him as he walked him backward until they met the desk. Lorin bent down to pick Kit up by his thighs, placing him on the desk again and letting him wrap his legs around his hips as they kissed.

Nothing else mattered.

Not a day filled with clients coming from all over to ask the pathfinder for help.

Not the stuffy little room he had come to see as his own sanctuary despite spending years swearing he wanted nothing to do with his witch heritage.

Not the annoyance of his day running long or the soft thump in his temple that would usually drive him insane.

All he cared about was his mate, his familiar safe in his arms, kissing him back with reverence and so much love Lorin could drown in it.

"Missed you," he whispered to Kit between kisses.

On days when he didn't need his familiar to boost his power, he didn't have an excuse to drag Kit to work with him. Maybe that was also why he was so irritable.

"Missed you too," Kit said, breaking the kiss, much to Lorin's chagrin.

"Wait, no." Lorin chased after his lips with single-minded intent, pouting when Kit put his palm on his chest to keep him ever so slightly away from himself.

"We're late," Kit said.

Lorin frowned. "Yes, and I'm very sorry but…"

Kit shook his head, dodging his mouth gracefully and pushing him farther away. "Everyone is waiting for us."

Lorin's brain finally decided to engage fully. "OH! Dinner!"

"Yes, dinner." Kit looked amused.

They had a dinner planned with Lorin's grandma and Kit's entire family. It had been in the works for weeks, all of them too busy to find a time when they could all attend. Even with Kit's family moving to their community to keep the skulk together, it was a logistic nightmare to get everyone together at the same time.

They'd finally managed it tonight, and Lorin was not only late, but he had almost forgotten completely.

"Grandma is going to kill me," he groaned, head falling onto Kit's shoulder.

Kit snickered, zero empathy radiating from him. "Probably, yeah."

"You don't sound too concerned," Lorin muttered.

Kit shrugged, making Lorin's head bob.

"Not like I'd be staying behind for too long," he said, and Lorin pinched his side, still not used to the dark humor Kit preferred.

Yes, he'd accepted the soulbond, and yes, he knew very well what it could mean. He had lived through it with his parents. But Kit was worth the risk. Them together was worth everything.

"We should get going then," Lorin said. "You're way too pretty to die because your mate is a moron."

"You are right once again," Kit said. "Truly a wise man."

"Brat." Lorin shook his head, shooing Kit out of the pathfinder room and locking it behind them.

"Come on, pathfinder," he said, extending his marked hand toward Lorin and waiting for him to slip his fox outline over the marks. "It's time to go home."