BUTTERED BISCUITS

 

Valkhara

The smell of something warm and buttery dragged me out of sleep.

For a second, I panicked, body tense, breath caught in my throat, waiting for one of their voices to crash through the silence. But nothing came. The bond was silent. My thoughts were finally my own.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

Sunlight streamed in through the crooked window. The bed was too soft. The air smelled like cinnamon, woodsmoke, and Nyra’s aggressively opinionated herb cabinet.

And from the kitchen?

“Get your ass up, Bond Queen,” Nyra called. “I made you biscuits. And if you don’t eat it, I’m giving it to the cat.”

Groaning, I sat up, the blanket falling off my bare legs. I was still wearing the shirt she’d lent me long enough to cover the important parts, but short enough that if I bent over too fast, she’d be cursed.

I staggered into the tiny kitchen like I’d been through war. Which, to be fair, I had. Just… the sexy kind.

Nyra glanced at me over her shoulder. “Damn, you look like you lost a fight with a love triangle and a forest floor.”

I dropped into the seat across from her. “That’s exactly what happened.”

She slid a plate in front of me. biscuits. Eggs. Jam. A cup of steaming tea that smelled vaguely like magic and sleep deprivation.

I took a bite and nearly moaned. “Okay, what the hell is this?”

“ Flavor. You’ve heard of it.”

“Are you feeding me witch shit?”

She winked. “Witch-tested. Trauma-approved. "Besides, I was cackling to my self this morning as I buttered those biscuits.. because you damn sure got YOUR biscuits buttered yesterday.." she said cackling again.

"You are absolutely insufferable and lucky I just accidentally signed a blood oath to not harm you" I grumbled....

Nyra burst out laughing this time, not little cackles.

I ate in silence for a minute, my body slowly thawing out. The food helped. The quiet helped more. Her cottage felt like the first place I’d been in weeks that wasn’t soaked in power, pheromones, and testosterone.

Nyra sat across from me, legs crossed, sipping her tea like she wasn’t the only reason I hadn’t set something on fire yet.

Then her eyes got serious.

“You felt it too, didn’t you?” she asked quietly.

My hand stilled on my mug. “What?”

“The forest. Last night. After you made that blood vow.”

I nodded slowly. “It… shifted. Like the trees moved.”

“They did.”

I looked at her. She didn’t smile.

“This forest isn’t just enchanted,” she said. “It’s alive. And I don’t mean in a metaphorical ‘oh nature is sacred’ way. I mean it listens. It watches. And when it chooses to respond… it does so with finality.”

Goosebumps rolled down my arms.

“You’re scaring me,” I admitted.

“Good.” Nyra set her mug down gently. “Because this forest? It’s the oldest thing on this continent. Older than the Courts. Older than the Trials. Some say it was here before magic had a name.”

I stared at her.

She leaned forward. “And you bled into it. While carrying the marks of two bonded males. You don’t think that stirred something?”

My stomach twisted. “What does that mean for me?”

Nyra exhaled, tapping her fingers on the edge of the table. “It means… you need to be careful. This forest doesn’t just echo power it remembers it. And once it remembers you, it doesn’t forget.”

“You’re telling me I might’ve accidentally bound myself to ancient magic that predates the Vampire Courts… just by bleeding in the dirt?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Fuck.”

“You said it.”

I pushed my plate away, suddenly queasy. “Should I leave? I mean, if I’m marked if the forest knows me now maybe staying near it is a mistake.”

Nyra shook her head slowly. “It’s not that simple. If the forest noticed you? It’s already too late. It won’t matter where you go.”

I stood abruptly, pacing the floor. “So what, I’m just what? Claimed? Cursed? Claimed again? By trees now?”

Nyra snorted. “Don’t worry. The forest doesn’t want to fuck you, at least.”

“Small mercies.”

She got up and poured more tea into my cup, this time mixing in something from a violet jar.

“What is that?”

“Something that keeps your emotions grounded so you don’t accidentally burn my roof off.”

“Is it legal?”

Nyra grinned. “Girl, nothing in my cottage is legal.”

I stared at the tea, then downed it anyway. “So if I’m tied to the forest now… does it do anything?”

“Not yet,” she said. “It’s patient. But trust me, it saw you. It saw everything. And if it thinks you’re part of what’s coming… it’ll act when it’s ready.”

I didn’t ask what “it” meant. I didn’t want to know.

Instead, I wandered to the doorway. Opened it slowly. Let the morning air kiss my skin.

And the second I stepped onto the grass—

The wind shifted.

Subtle. Cold. Not quite natural.

The leaves rustled, even though no breeze moved them. The trees tilted ever so slightly toward me, as if listening.

I froze.

Nyra stood behind me. “See what I mean?”

I could feel it magic beneath the earth. Old. Breathing.

Something in the forest knew me now. Not just my name. Not just my magic.

It knew my blood.

And it wasn’t done with me yet.