The coven laughed, the sound easing the tension as the rooftop filled with shared warmth and new resolve.
Willow nodded.“That curse touched everything—our bloodlines, the mate bonds, even the magic that’s supposed to protect us.”
Hunter leaned forward.“So, when you say it effected the mate bonds, could that be why it seems that ours has stalled between?”
“It might be that same interference,” Ursula said.“Whatever’s left of the curse is tangled with fate itself.It’s like trying to connect two magnets when there’s a wall between them.”
Lennox frowned.“So, what does that mean for us?”
“That we’re bound,” Brielle said softly.“Just not fully connected.Yet.”
“Yet,” Hunter repeated, his smile small but certain.“I can live with ‘yet.’”
The others nodded in agreement.For the first time, there was no tension in Brielle’s chest.She looked around at all of them—her coven and her mates—and realized that somehow, impossibly, this was right.
They talked late into the night, the conversation shifting from curses and history to lighter things.Hunter asked questions about spell work, fascinated by the idea that energy could shape the world.Lennox tested her theory on protective wards, making her laugh when he poked at one and got a static shock.
“That’s for touching without asking,” she teased.
He rubbed his hand and grinned.“Lesson learned.”
Eventually, the talk drifted toward the future.Willow was leaning against the wall, her voice dreamy.“When all this is done, what do you want to do, Bri?”
Brielle hesitated, surprised by the question.“Honestly?I’ve been thinking about writing.Not spells or history—stories.Fiction.Maybe something with a little magic, a little heart.”
Saffie’s grin widened.“You’d be brilliant at that.”
Ursula nodded.“Finally, something that doesn’t involve nearly dying.”
Willow smiled, pride lighting her features.“A writer, huh?I like that.”
Lennox elbowed his brother lightly.“We’d better start building her an office.”
Brielle laughed, her cheeks warm.“You’re both insane.”
Hunter’s tone softened.“We believe in you, sweetheart.If writing’s what you want, then you’ll do it—and we’ll make sure nothing gets in your way.”
The sincerity in his voice caught her off guard.For the first time in a long while, Brielle felt seen—not as a weapon, not as a survivor, but as a woman with a future.
She smiled, the glow of the city lights catching the gold in her eyes.“Maybe this is it.Maybe I finally get to start over.”
Lennox raised his mug of coffee toward her in mock salute.“To new chapters.”
Brielle clinked her glass against his, her heart full.“To new chapters.”
And for the first time in forever, she believed in her own happy ending.
Brielle glanced around at her sisters—her coven—and the two men whose presence made her pulse thrum like wildfire beneath her skin.The laughter and soft hum of conversation faded to a warm silence, and she rose from the couch.“All right, that’s enough saving the world for one night,” she said with a teasing smile.“My mates and I are heading to my room.I’ll see you all in the morning.”
Saffie’s grin was nothing short of wicked.“You sure you’ll be getting any sleep?”
Willow giggled, and Ursula rolled her eyes fondly.“She deserves whatever she’s about to get.And so do they.”
Brielle felt heat rise to her cheeks, but the look Hunter and Lennox gave her—dark, reverent, and full of promise—made her breath catch.The bond might not have clicked into place yet, but the pull between them was undeniable.
Hunter rose first, offering his hand.“You ready, sweetheart?”
Lennox’s low rumble followed.“Because I’ve been ready since the moment we met you.”