12. Maeyve

Before I left Anevae"s cabin, I felt something I"d never felt before: I felt complete. The second I walked out the door, there was a tugging in my chest, as though one of my pieces existed only within her, and the further away I got, the less whole I felt. All I wanted was to feel her skin against mine for the rest of my life. Did she feel the same way? I hoped like hell she did.

My mind flashed with images of her skin on mine, followed by thoughts of that perfect body. It had been a long time since I"d been intimate with anyone, but no one could ever compare to her. If she would have let me, I would have worshiped her body all day and night. I shook my head, trying to clear it. If I kept this up, I would march right back up to her house and never leave again.

I wandered down to the end of the driveway so I could shift and look over the land more in my fox form. If I shifted too close to her home, I risked being seen. I was paranoid that she"d find me out when I wasn"t ready. I was afraid of her reaction and couldn"t bear the thought of not being near her if it went bad.

Reaching her mailbox, I undressed and stuffed my clothes into it. I wanted to keep them clean and dry in case it started raining. It was late spring, after all, and the weather tended to do weird things at a moment"s notice. After I undressed, I got on my hands and knees, took a few deep breaths, and shifted.

After I felt the last bone settle into place, I wandered back into the woods to approach the ward again. As I drew closer, the ward shimmered lightly in the distance. Still apprehensive about stepping over the boundary, I approached it and halted, taking a moment to compose myself before I continued. I was still concerned something would happen even though she had permitted me to be there; I had crossed the barrier multiple times that day without repercussions.

When my nerves finally calmed, I picked up a paw to cross the boundary. As it reached the ground on the other side of the ward, I slowly followed suit with the other. When both paws were securely on the ground and there were no problems, I shook off the fear and trotted on, heading straight for the area where I"d found the ward"s origin earlier in the day.

After Anevae invited me over, my biggest priority was investigating the ward. Then, I wanted to make sure nothing else had been tampered with on the property. As we walked through her property earlier in the day, we discussed the land and her plans for each garden plot. I enjoyed listening to her discuss her work; she was very passionate about it, and her dedication was evident in the thought she put into each of her experiments without even having started.

The first time I came to her property after she moved in, I spotted the origin of the ward on the eastern side of the cabin, which was magically inscribed into the ground and glamoured to the human eye. Anevae showed no indication that she could see it when we were out earlier; she didn"t even seem to notice the ward surrounding her home at all.

The magic connected to the ward was a power so intense that I had no doubt a faerie from the royal family was the one to create it. My question then was, why? Why would a fae from the royal family be protecting this woman—whatever kind of being she was?

The inscription was written in the ancient language of Caellaias. I had no personal experience with the language, but I knew the royals were fluent in it. No amount of staring at it would magically decipher it for me. When I tried to focus on the identity of the being that sealed the ward, I could determine it was a shifter. Other than that, the glamour used to hide the inscription also muted the potency of the shifter"s blood, at least to my senses; I couldn"t tell what type of shifter had helped seal the ward.

When I was certain I couldn"t glean any more information, I roamed the property to see if anything else was amiss. Grateful not to find anything else, I headed back to my clothes. I was tempted to return and accept Anevae"s invitation to spend the night with her. But that was a bad idea. I needed to keep my space for the time being. I was already obsessed with her and didn"t want to scare her off.

As I left her property, I was thankful for the ward. Being so close to the portal and not knowing anything about Caellaias, the ward protected her best. The portal wasn"t easy to find by any means, but I"d seen lost beings come through it in the past. With the ward surrounding Anevae"s home, she"d be more protected if a dangerous being came through. It made me feel more comfortable with her being alone.

Once I got to my cabin, I went inside and started getting ready for bed. The day had worn me out, and time couldn"t pass fast enough before I saw Anevae again. I knew she needed to go to town for groceries the next day, and I was sure she would meet her sister while she was there.

Climbing into bed, Anevae was the only thing on my mind; I fell asleep with the memory of her skin touching mine.