Chapter Sixteen: Mason

"You really think I might kill you?" Tamsin asked, having held her tongue just long enough for Mason to shut the door to the large living room. Somehow, the substantial room with its austere architecture had been made cozy. The squishy sofas with their brightly colored throws and scattered pillows practically begged to be sat on.

"When we first met, I had concerns," Mason said as diplomatically as possible.

"As revenge for trying to kill me?" Tamsin asked, her eyes blazing as she confronted him. Which did nothing for the desire that had been building inside him since the first time he had met her. He loved the passion she showed.

If only that passion was directed toward us in other ways. His wolf licked his lips.

And when Mason said, ‘since the first time he met her,' he meant the very first time. All those years ago, when he first set eyes on her and knew their love was forbidden.

He'd denied himself his mate for her sake and the sake of the peace between the coven and the pack. But now, with every moment they spent together, he questioned that choice.

And wished he'd made another.

But the risk had been too great. Not only because it would have painted a target on their backs, but also because she might never have forgiven him if she'd given up her coven for him.

Or she might have outright rejected us,his wolf reminded him.

Yes, there is that,Mason agreed. Is that why he'd held back? For fear of rejection? If so, he was a coward who did not deserve such a woman.

"Are you talking to yourself?" Tamsin asked sharply.

He cracked a smile and shook his head. "Sort of."

"You were talking to your wolf," she said with a nod.

"I was."

"And what does he have to say about this whole thing?" Tamsin asked.

"He wishes things had been different for us. That we would have been free to tell you who we are and what you mean to us when we first knew." His mouth quirked up in one corner. "We feel the same about that."

"Wow." She reeled back as if he had thrown a bucket of ice water over her. "You denied yourself the one thing you crave above all else. Why? Because you didn't want to disappoint Daddy?"

His mouth tugged up at the other corner. "You know why."

She let out a long breath. "Because you knew they would pin the prophecy on us. Fated mates from the DuskWood Pack and the DawnLight Coven would bring their downfall, after all." She nodded. "Ironic that I still got the finger pointed at me."

"I know, and I wish I could have done something more..." He shook his head. "That night in the forest... I was willing to admit everything and die to save you."

She let out a short, humorless laugh, but then her expression sobered. "You aren't joking."

"No, I would never joke about something like that." Mason sighed. "It seemed the only possible way out. My plan was to make sure you were safe and then return to the pack and admit that we were mates and fall on my sword. Either figuratively, or actually."

"But then Sophie showed up and magicked me away." Tamsin nodded and wrapped her arms over her body.

"Yes." He swallowed hard as he recalled the intense sense of pain and loss he'd experienced as she disappeared beneath the tall trees of the forest. Sophie must have cast a powerful spell to move her so far away. "I picked up the brooch and walked back to the pack lands. Even when I went to see my father, I reasoned I should still admit that we were mates and take myself out of the equation."

"But you didn't," she said. "Instead, you told him you had killed me. That you had fulfilled your duty as a pack member so you could get a pat on the head."

"You can push back at me all you want," Mason said gently. "But the truth is, I knew I had to stay alive in case you returned, and you needed me to save you again."

"Save me again?" She chuckled. "You still think you saved me?"

"You could massage my male ego just a little."

"I could. But aren't mates meant to be truthful with each other in all things?" Tamsin asked. "Look, I know you were doing what you thought best, but I wish you had been honest with me. We could have figured it out together and perhaps have avoided this whole mess."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"How long have you known?" Mason asked. "About us being mates?"

"I don't know." She trailed her hand across the arm of the sofa and then sat down heavily. "I recall the first time I saw you. It was a summer fayre. You were just standing there, staring at me. I suppose if I look back, it was then. But I dismissed it. I told myself that the look on your face was one of hatred. Because we were sworn enemies."

"There's a fine line between love and hate," Mason agreed.

"Do you think Guinevere and your father have crossed that fine line? That the lure of the forbidden has drawn them together?"

"I don't think my father would get romantically involved with another woman after losing my mother." Mason placed his hand over his heart. "Having lost you, I have an idea of how he must feel. I don't know what's going on between them, but I can't imagine it is love."

"Of course. That must have been hard for you both, having lost her when you were so young." Her jaw tensed.

"I perhaps should have had more compassion for him after I lost you. I should have realized that many of his actions were driven by the..." He put his fingers to his temples. "The only way I could stop myself from going insane was to put you out of my mind. To squash down all thoughts, all feelings, all memories of you. And to do that, I had to shut myself off, shut myself away."

"And that's why you are living in that apartment in town, rather than in your packlands," Tamsin said.

"Yes." He nodded. "Although I also couldn't bear to live there much longer. It's like my father's keeping the whole place stuck in the past."

"Perhaps because that is where your mother is," Tamsin said, with such insight, it took his breath away.

How had we not seen that?his wolf asked.

Because we never understood him until now,Mason said sadly.

And now it might be too late to make amends, his wolf said. Because now they know our betrayal. We will be cast out, banished.

"Does he know?" Tamsin asked. "Does your father know about us?"

"No," Mason said hoarsely. "I have never told a soul."

"But the Regulars guessed," Tamsin mused as she looked toward the door. "Which means others might have guessed, too."

"Which means I have put you in danger," Mason said.

"Hey." She stood up and faced him. "You did not do anything. Unless it was you who wrote the prophecy a couple of centuries ago."

"No." Mason shook his head. "If I had, I would have written it so that the future of the coven and the pack depend on us being together."

"Is that right?" Tamsin asked and reached out her hand to touch his cheek. "Tingles."

"Tingles." He leaned into her hand, wanting more than tingles. Wanting her.

"So, what do we do now?"

It was hard to think straight when her fingers trailed the line of his jaw. All he wanted to do right now was throw her down on those overly comfortable-looking sofas and claim her. All the pent-up frustration he'd felt for years hit him hard in the solar plexus, robbing him of breath.

"We still need to find Valaky," Mason replied as he forced himself to focus.

"I'm not sure he is our top priority right now," Tamsin said.

"Because of Maughna?" Mason asked.

Tamsin nodded. "And Morwenna. She's obviously not telling us everything. There's some important information that we don't have."

"She was searching for something when we left the tavern. Maybe some old text about the prophecy? But either way, she came here to talk to Maughna about it." He chewed his bottom lip. "And Valaky came here, too."

"Which means Maughna is in the middle of this." Her brows wrinkled together. "But how?"

"Does she ever talk sense?" Mason asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Tamsin asked. "The DawnLight Coven does not have much dealings with the vampires."

"But Merri is a witch. Don't witches...I don't know. Gossip about these things?" Mason asked.

"Gossip?" Tamsin laughed. "Is that what you think we do all day? Sit around drinking tea, eating cake, and gossiping?"

"Okay, share information," he said wryly.

"We do." Her expression darkened. "But I don't know Merri. At least, I have not seen her for years. She left Wishing Moon Bay for the World Beyond. I was shocked to see her here. I had no idea she had..." Tamsin looked around the room. "Domesticated Silas."

"Oh." His brows tugged together. "That was insensitive of me. I get that you missed a lot going on around here."

"So, our next move," Tamsin said and blew out her cheeks.

As if in answer, his stomach rumbled. "I need food. Proper food. I don't think well on an empty stomach and although the cake was delicious, it does nothing for my brain power."

"I didn't think wolf shifters had brain power," Tamsin teased. "So the witchy gossip mill says."

"Funny." He cracked a grin. "Let's go get something to eat. I think we deserve it."

"You do know that we are probably the most wanted people in Wishing Moon Bay right now?" Tamsin told him.

"I always did like the thrill of adventure." He held out his hand to her. "And I do believe that you are more powerful than Guinevere and the rest of your coven combined."

"You do?" Tamsin asked. "Or are you just saying that to impress me?"

"Do I need to impress you?" he asked. "Since we're mates, you are already mine."

"Is that a fact?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It is," he said and slipped his arm around her waist, taking a chance and drawing her close as he wished he had all those years ago when he had seen her at the summer fayre, with flowers in her hair.

"Does this mean we are no longer sworn enemies?" she murmured as she leaned into him.

"I prefer sworn lovers," he replied.

"Lovers, huh?" She cupped his face in her hands, and he lowered his head, capturing her lips.

The kiss was electric, a promise of the bond that had been written in the stars, and in a prophecy, long before either of them had taken their first breath. As their kiss deepened, he tightened his arms around her, never wanting to let her go again.

They had lost so much time. But he didn't want to allow bitterness to creep in and taint what they had.

"Sworn lovers," she whispered again when they parted.

"Yes," he said, his voice thick with the weight of the moment. "And sworn to protect and stand by each other against anything that comes our way."

Tamsin smiled softly. "Anything?"

"Anything," he affirmed, his eyes locking with hers in a silent vow.

"Even the wrath of an entire coven?" she asked, half-teasing, half-serious.

"And a wolf pack combined," Mason replied confidently. "We stand together."

Tamsin's smile widened. "You know, there would be a certain irony if the very actions they used to save themselves led us to this point."

"And so to their own demise," Mason said. "If that's even what the prophecy tells of. At this point, I'm not sure what to believe."

They stood for a moment in silence, wrapped up in their own thoughts and each other's arms.

"Come on, let's grab some food, and then plan our next move." Mason took her hand and led her toward the door. "Even if our next move is to take a ship to Cairnnor and wait it out until the conjunction or whatever has passed."

"And once it has passed, what then?" Tamsin asked. "Do you truly think they are going to let us live happily ever after?"

"I don't care what they think," Mason said. "We have sacrificed enough for some stupid prophecy. You heard what Colton said. It's of an unknown origin, which means anyone could have written it."

"You mean someone sat down and wrote it as a joke, and now our lives are in danger because of it?" Tamsin asked.

"If that is true," Mason replied. "It's a good thing it was written centuries ago, and they are already in their graves. Because if they weren't, I would put them there."

"You say the most romantic things," Tamsin said.

"It's a gift," Mason said with a smirk.

And so is our mate,his wolf said.

One we will treasure forever,Mason said.