Wild Magic Four: The Light Beyond Constellations- a M/M fantasy romance

Prologue: The Storm

It was embarrassing. I, a powerful brown bear shifter, trained since I could walk by great Akaran warriors, expert in hand-to-hand combat and able to shift at will into a bear three times the size of any grown man, taken down and injured near death by a bobcat. They're barely bigger than a house cat, especially this one, and I was bleeding heavily from the neck and belly because of his wee claws and vicious bite.

It had been a long time since I was this injured, bled this much, even during my time in the prison. Maybe since I was a child, back while I was still in training. I remembered a time I had lost my balance while training with my cousin Hak, and he hadn't realized it until he overshot his thrust.

He apologized for weeks, and I took far too much advantage of his guilt.

I grunted in annoyance when I heard the unmistakable sounds of men moving through the brush of the forest around me. They were the Emperor's men, or maybe the men from the nearby keep. Either way, I was fucked. There was no way they'd simply imprison me this time. Not like the Swabiri. Oh no, I'd been part of the troupe of men to attack their Emperor.

Mercy would not be forthcoming.

I leaned my head back against the scratchy underbrush beneath me, flinching as a pine cone dug into my lower back, and waited. I passed in and out of consciousness, praying to Ravin she would let me pass in peace, here on this barren forest floor.

I supposed the goddess had deserted me, for it wasn't long before the voices grew louder. And then there was a man standing above me. The sun shining behind him, haloing his curly brown hair and somehow lighting his light brown skin and the freckles that seemingly covered his entire body— at least what I could see of it. His eyes, nearly the same shade as his hair, were wide and bright beneath thick brown brows, and they watched me with no little surprise and wariness.

He was lean and wiry, maybe only an inch or so shorter than me, but he had a kind of delicacy that had me wanting to reach out and see how pliant his body beneath my hands would be. His lips were full and pouting, and his ears nearly comically stuck out on either side of his head, but in a way that was cute and endearing, rather than unattractive.

At the sight of the man, something inside of me flipped, my belly lurching and fluttering, but I grunted in annoyance at the sensation and glared up at him. Gods, he was beautiful. Like an angel, or a forbidden nephilim from myth.

And you're fucking pain-drunk, you idiot, I admonished myself with what little sense I had left.

Mate, my bear mumbled from somewhere deep inside me. He was just as pain-blurry as I was, so I knew his words were nonsense.

Mate, he repeated sternly.

You'll never find a mate, idiot bear, I chided. Wild mage mates were felt with every sense, with body and soul and heart, but the primary, deciding sense at first meeting was smell. And that was something I'd not had for years. Without smell, I was sure I'd not know my mate, even if they stood mere feet from me.

"Fucking hell," I growled, making the man take a step back, his frown deepening.

And then I was out, the darkness that had been creeping at the edges of my vision finally taking over.

I give my soul into your hands, Ravin.

RIVER—

"This, now, is a time of great change."

The woman's voice was soft but deep, husky almost, and had a pacified breath slipping from my lips as I glanced up at her.

"Don't you think so, young human?"