Page 6 of Ancient Promises

“I’ll miss you too. You could come with me.”

“I’m too old to start over. But you can name your first child after me.”

“That’s not going to happen.” He let out a little snarl. As if he’d name a child Benatrice.

“My name’s nice,” she protested.

“It’s just a little old-fashioned for me, but it’s a perfect name for you,” he said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You’ve always been so kind to me. Honestly, I won’t ever take a mate, not as long as Zihndyr is in power. She’d be a target. You saw what he did to Clarins to secure Dhianna as his mate.”

“A male needs a female,” she said.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve got my treasure.”

She nodded and gave him a quick hug. He’d known her his whole life. She’d been his mother’s attendant and then a servant in his father’s household. When Zihndyr took over, he’d killed several house servants, believing them to be loyal to his father. Eivross had stepped in and saved their lives. He had no regrets about that, but he did regret that he’d been unable to stop his brother in the first place.

As he walked away, she said, “Have you ever heard of Cider Falls?”

He turned. “No.”

“It’s in Kentucky. The alpha’s name…starts with an R, but I don’t remember what it is. They’re exile friendly.”

“Thanks, Bennie. I’ll check it out.”

She smiled and walked away, and Eivross continued his walk to his room. He didn’t have a lot of things to pack, just clothes and toiletries. The only thing he cared about was his treasure, which his brother didn’t care about because it had no real monetary value. Well, some of the pieces did, but not enough to warrant Zihndyr taking a second look.

In a few hours he’d be marked for exile by a local witch with a magical brand and have seventy-two hours to register somewhere or start his own nest, or face imprisonment by the FSA. Hard pass on that.

Maybe Cider Falls was worth a look. If not, he’d start his own nest, somewhere his brother wouldn’t find him.

But he’d still never take a mate.

He never wanted to lose another person he loved again.

Chapter Three

Wednesday morning, Diem carried one of four boxes into the school library. It was her first morning volunteering, and she was thrilled that the books she’d ordered had shown up Tuesday evening. She set the box on one of the tables and went back for the others.

“Morning,” Isak said, stepping out of the office as she made her fourth pass with the last box.

“Morning,” she said. She put the box on her hip. “I’ve got new books for the kids, so this morning I’m going to add them to the catalog with barcodes and put them on a shelf by the door. The first class coming in is during second period, so I have some time.”

“You’ll stay through lunch?” he asked.

“Yep. I’ll leave around noon.”

“I’ll leave you to it. Call the office if you need anything.”

She tilted her head. “Isn’t there usually a secretary at that desk?”

“Yeah, it was Marcy, but she’s pregnant and her mate wanted her to stay home and rest since her last pregnancy was apparently a difficult one. So I’m answering the phones.”

“Will you keep the job open for her?”

“She won’t be back; she already told me that she’s going to stay home for a few years. I’ve got a job posting ready to go live this morning on a shifter school job website, but since we’re a hybrid-friendly school, it’s hard to say if anyone will apply.”

She recalled when the Cider Falls Garage put a job posting online for a receptionist and it brought a villain into their midst by the name of Vega, who’d almost killed her friend Cymbre before he was taken out by her mate and their people were imprisoned by the FSA.

“Good luck,” she said. “I’m off to get some work done in the library.”