by Lily Thomas
Releasing his hold on her neck, Rokki rose up behind her, placed a hand to the small of her back, and pressed down while reaching out and grabbing a fistful of her hair. Yanking back, he had her back arching, and she shattered.
“Rokki!”
“Yes, mate, come for me.” Rokki ground out.
Then she felt him come inside her. Hot and searing. The feeling set her off once again, and she trembled under him until they both collapsed onto the ground. Rokki wrapped his arms around her and drew her back into his chest, his cock still within her pulsing sheeth.
How could she ever think about leaving?
The day was pleasant, with a slight breeze that rattled the leaves above their heads. Andrea got the sense that the weather would change soon. The leaves were browning, and she could swear she smelled snow on the air.
“Are you warm enough?”
Glancing over to her side, she smiled over at Rokki, “I’m warm.” A little too warm. The moment the winds had come, he had bundled her up in as many furs as he could. Although she wasn’t about to protest his concerned attentions. It was cute to watch him fuss over her.
They broke out of the forest, and a rocky area greeted them. When Andrea glanced up a hillside, she saw the black opening of the cave where the seer lived. It seemed like just yesterday when she’d come to this cave with Rokki for the first time.
Nerves rocked through her as her hands trembled a bit. Soon, she would have a choice to make. Her steps slowed as she walked up the rocky trail that led up the hill, allowing Rokki to get ahead of her. Maybe she could spend the rest of the day walking up to the cave and have to make the decision tomorrow.
But that was her just being wishful. There was no time like the present to just get this over with. She had to be an adult and rip the bandage off for the sake of them both.
Trudging up the hill, Andrea’s moccasin booted feet kicked random rocks sending the grey rocks clattering around, some falling over the cliff edge and down to the ground below.
When she made it to the top and looked up, a flush to her cheeks after the bit of exercise, she found Rokki standing silently by the entrance, waiting for her. She hated to say his golden eyes looked angry, but there was a steel feel to them as they sliced over her. He definitely wasn’t pleased, and she didn’t blame him.
Andrea wanted this to be easier on them all, but he wasn’t the only one with emotions here. She had a lot rolling through her, and she didn’t like him acting like he was the only person affected by her decision.
“Should we go in?” Andrea asked as she peered into the darkness of the cave. “It doesn’t look like she is here.” She didn’t see any flickering of a fire down the rocky corridor.
“She is here,” Rokki said, his voice neutral, almost gruff.
Andrea frowned at his gruffness but ignored it. “How do you know?”
Without speaking, Rokki pointed a finger high into the sky, and when her gaze followed the direction, she saw the raven flying high above them. It was circling them, its little black head turning to watch them with its beady eyes.
“It’s never far from her?” Andrea guessed.
“The seer and the raven are like one. Unless he is helping her with a task, he is always by her side.”
Andrea had always been a bird person, but her lifestyle never allowed her any pets. It didn’t feel right to get a pet when she was barely home and always traveling for her job.
When she heard Rokki walking into the cave, she turned her attention away from the raven and back to the entrance. Rushing after him, she darted into the cave, and within a few seconds, she saw an orange light flickering further down the corridor. A few more seconds, and they stepped into the decent sized chamber where the seer lived.
“Hello.” The seer said without opening her eyes. She had sparkly gold and black paint smeared over her face and arms. She’d probably made them from minerals in the nearby ground and cave systems. “I finished your bracelet.” The seer opened a hand, and sitting on her palm was a wooden ring.
“Thank you.” Andrea stepped forward and took the bracelet with a couple of her fingers. “Do I… owe you something?” Andrea asked uncertain what she would give the woman, and not sure how trades went back in the ice age.
“I need nothing from you.” The seer said, her eyes still shut.
Andrea fiddled with the bracelet in her hands. The wood was cool, and it weighed heavier than she thought it would. It held the future of her life inside its wooden curves.
“What will you choose, Andrea?” The seer finally opened her eyes and speared Andrea with her all-knowing green eyes. “You don’t need the bracelet to be happy.”
The seer kept saying that to her. The first time they’d met, the seer had told her that she didn’t need the bracelet.
“I don’t understand,” Andrea admitted as she continued to fiddle with the bracelet.
“You are a witch, Andrea.” The seer’s gaze dropped to the bracelet. “One day, if you want, you can make your own magical bracelet to take you home.”
Or she could keep the one the seer had created for her.
Andrea bit her bottom lip, twisting and turning it with her teeth as she thought about what to do with the bracelet.
“I don’t know how to even use my magic.” And Andrea still wasn’t entirely sure she believed she was a witch. Ever since supposedly saving Rokki’s life, which she didn’t remember, she’d tried to use magic with no success.
“You will come here to learn from me.” The seer sent her a smile, her white teeth a sharp contrast against the gold and black paint all over her face.
“You will teach me what I need to know?” Andrea released her bottom lip, knowing it would be flushed red with all her chewing.
The seer nodded her head. “I will.”
“Then,” Andrea sucked in an unsteady breath and tossed the wooden bracelet into the fire, “I don’t need that.”
She trusted the seer. She didn’t know the woman, but there was something in those eyes that told her she could trust Elvira. If she learned how to use her magic, then she could always go back home to let her mom know she was good and happy.
“Are you sure about this?”
When she looked over at Rokki, she found him poised, ready to yank her bracelet out of the leaping flames if she said she wasn’t. “I’m sure.”
And the smile that spread across his face chased all doubts away. She’d made the right choice. Her mom would understand.
Epilogue
“Concentrate.”
Andrea closed her eyes and imagined a flame kindling into existence. She’d been training under the seer for a couple of weeks now, and so far, nothing had happened. Although she was impressed with the seer’s patience with her. Elvira still had faith in her abilities.
“There you go.” The seer whispered in a pleased voice.
“I did it?” Andrea popped her eyes wide as she glanced down at the fire pit. Her eyes grew in size as she watched the small flame grow as it licked hungrily at the twigs. “I did that?”
“Yes, you did.” Elvira patted her on the back. “Magic takes time, and since you weren’t raised as a child with magic, it might take some time, but never give up.”
“Never,” Andrea whispered in an awed voice. She could scarcely believe she’d been able to do it. “What next?”
The seer reached behind her back, and Andrea expected her to bring something out that she would practice her magic on, but instead, the seer brought forth an animal skin bag of water and dumped it on Andrea’s growing fire.
The fire went out with a hiss and a puff of smoke.
“I just started that!” Andrea complained as her shoulders slumped. Elvira had just undone her great feat.
“And now you will do it again and again until you can do it with a flick of your fingers… or even better, with a single thought.” Golden flecks danced in Elvira’s green eyes as she smiled encouragingly at Andrea.
Andrea let out a groan. The s
eer was stern when it came to lessons. Andrea wasn’t sure if she spent more time at the pack village or here in this cave.
After a couple more hours of working on her fire magic, she heard steps echo down the corridor of the cave, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Someone was coming, and she hoped it was Rokki come to save her from Elvira.
“Good evening, mate, how are you?”
Andrea spun on her butt and faced Rokki. “Tired.” She sighed.
“Come then. It is time for you to come back to the village,” he sent her a wink, “so we can warm the furs in our hut once more.”
Andrea blushed as she glanced over in the seer’s direction, but the woman was already doing something else. “Rokki.” She complained as she faced him again. “Not in front of people.”
Rokki chuckled. “Your people must be very shy.”
“They are private.” She agreed. “Now, are you going to just stand there, or will you help me up?” She raised a hand.
Rokki reached out and gripped it, yanking her up to her feet. She dusted off her leather pants and allowed Rokki to lead her out of the cave.
“Thanks for coming to my rescue. I was afraid she would never let me go.”
“She is persistent in you learning magic.” Rokki agreed. “How did today go for you?”
“Much better.” A smile pulled at the corner of her lips. “I started a fire.”
“I have no doubts you will make a great witch someday.” Rokki threaded his fingers with hers as he held her hand while they walked through the forest on their way back to the village.
And this was the reason she’d decided to stay. She would be hard pressed to find another man like him, and she couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with him.
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