Most shifters probably wouldn’t recognize it as magic. I didn’t know how much of it was all around me until Jade taught me how to see it.

Stripping down, I sigh in contentment as I enter at the edge of the spring. It’s always the perfect temperature year-round. I dive beneath the surface and swim a few laps, enjoying the faint tingle. It’s working. I feel wonderful when I stop to relax.

A splash from behind startles me.

Caden’s here. He jumped in the water, the buttons of his shirt half undone, only his shoes left behind on the bank of the spring.

“You’re here,” he says in wonder.

This is my secret spot. How did he find me?

He stares at me as if I’ve been plucked from his dreams. Moonlight illuminates his sharp jawline shadowed in stubble, his broad shoulders and carved muscles, the thick brown hair falling across his forehead. Reverence flares in the depths of his captivating eyes. The bond thrums with a warm glow, drawing me to him in the same inescapable pull.

“Did you track me here?”

He reaches for me with parted lips. “No. I came to—How are you here?”

“This is my best kept secret.” I slip my arms around his neck, biting my lip as my breasts press into the drenched fabric plastered to his hard chest. “I always come here. It’s much quieter than Silver Falls.”

An astounded huff of laughter leaves him.

“This is my secret spot. The place I come to think and unload the burden of being Alpha from my shoulders. The place I can be just Caden again for a minute.”

“You’ve always been just Caden to me.” I brush my lips over his between murmuring. “Being named heir apparent never made a difference. It doesn’t as Alpha, either. Your only title that matters to me is mate.”

He grins, deepening the kiss. I love how much he smiles lately. He’s always been handsome, but when he smiles it’s breathtaking every time.

“I can’t believe we’ve never met here. I should’ve scented you if you were here.”

“I bet it’s the magic.” I swirl my fingers in the water, chasing one of the sparkling orbs of light.

“What do you mean?”

“This spring, in fact the whole mountain, touches a ley line deep in the earth. It’s natural magic. The original magic of the land, from the time this region was full of druids and the old fae,” I explain. “It must hide the scents of anyone who comes in.”

“I can scent Liam when he’s wandering too close.”

“That’s because we’re downwind. It’s not here. I never scented you, either.”

He hums, stroking my back. “How do you know it’s magic?”

“Look. See the light?” I cup another orb beneath the water, bringing it closer to the surface without breaching it.

“The moonlight?”

“Look closer. Watch it move in my hand. You have to want to see it. Magic is always around you. Not just from the wards at the perimeter.”

“Not sure I like the sound of that. I should know everything going on in the pack. How could magic be under my nose the whole time?”

He squints with effort. I giggle. Did I look that obstinate when Jade first met me?

“It existed long before you or I did. Look for the shimmers. Magic is life. Balance. Nature at its purest form.”

He studies the water. The breeze shifts, sending a spray of the flowing cascade over us. Droplets bounce into the air from the splash. Each one is full of an ethereal glow, suspended momentarily before submerging in the water.

“There,” I whisper.

“I—yeah. I think I see it. That’s not a trick of the moonlight?”

“That’s magic.”

“No wonder witches flocked here when groups broke away from the Original Pack.”

“That’s not true. We were allies then.”

His head jerks. “Before they tried to put shifters under their control.”

I sigh. “They’re not all bad like we’re taught to believe. One helped me. Without her, I would’ve poisoned myself.”

“What?” His grip digs into me to fight an invisible threat.

“Jade. She’s part of a traveling coven and came across me when I was so desperate I went out scrounging.”

He rumbles unhappily, jerking me close as he listens. I hug his shoulders, resting my head against his chest.

“She was inside the perimeter?”

“She said the wards don’t dictate where she goes. I don’t know what it means for all witches, but she had no problem getting past them.”

“How long was she in the area? What if her coven is behind my mother’s disappearance? What if they took your mother, too?”

My gaze locks with his. “Jade’s coven isn’t like that. She helped me because she saw a desperate, starving girl. She taught me how to see magic and work with its natural occurrence from the land so I could feed my sisters. Why do any of that if she had underlying motives?”

His expression becomes conflicted. “If it wasn’t witches, then who could’ve been behind it? Who would’ve taken our mothers?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. Have the other packs reported missing packmates? Maybe you should bring it up at the summit.”

“We’ll do it together.”

My heart flutters whenever he says things like that. “Together?”

“I want you to come with me. You should be by my side. It’s where you belong.”

I kiss him. He cradles the back of my head.

“Your dad would be really proud of the alpha you’ve become.”

“I wish both of our fathers could be here to see us lead our pack,” he murmurs. “Yours would be so proud of you, too.”

My stomach tightens at the way he calls it our pack. It feels right. I want to be at his side with everything that entails.

“I still regret that I’ve hurt you,” he says gruffly. “That I rejected you and almost lost you. I was such a fool. You’ve suffered so much when you never should’ve, and I’ll never be able to give you back everything I had a part in taking from you.”

My throat closes. “I miss my father, but the challenge was his choice. That isn’t your fault.”

He nods stiffly. “I overheard one of their arguments at the time about your mom going missing. My dad wasn’t listening. He didn’t understand what this was like.” He lays a palm on my chest where the bond strains for him. “True Mates. He didn’t have this with my mom. He wouldn’t understand what it’s like to be willing to search to the ends of the earth to find your mate.”

I cover his hand with my own. “I heard them, too. Dad knew what would happen if he failed against the alpha. I think it’s why he told me about the view we should explore. To make sure neither of us had to see them fighting. Neither of us can take blame for it.”

“But I can bear it for everything that came after,” he mutters.

“You don’t have to. I forgive you.” My voice thickens with emotion. “It’s true I lost everything that day. My place in the pack, my father, our friendship. But you’ve given me back everything you could and more.”

His forehead rests against mine and he releases a ragged exhale, holding me close.

“Fate wasn’t wrong, Avery. I was. And I’ll spend every day—beyond an eternity if that’s what it takes—proving to you that you’re my mate.” He pauses to thread his fingers in my hair, eyes searching, intense and all-consuming. “The only one my heart has ever beat for.”

“The only one?” I breathe.

“Avery.” His words are gruff and he cradles my face. “This is always what we were meant to be. It’s not because of the bond. There’s never been anyone for me but you. I chose you before I knew you were my fate. When your laugh became the sound that made me happy. When you’d drag me out to explore the mountain, or the way you’d get this wicked smile that lit me up before daring me to jump the cliff with you only to push me off. Whenever I saw you, I always needed to follow you. Needed to be near you because it made me feel right. I’ve loved you before I understood what it meant.”

Tears well in my eyes and my chest expands with so much happiness that it steals my breath away. When we were friends, I was hopelessly in love with him. I begged the moon goddess to make him my fated mate so we’d never be parted. I never knew he felt the same.