MasukTHEODOSA.The first thing I registered was that I couldn't breathe.My chest was compressed and there was heat everywhere, pressing me into the ground from above, and my lungs were working against it absentmindedly.My mouth was dry.The back of my neck was damp. And the smell hit me before anything else did… It was dark, earthy, warm and familiar in a way that made my heart rate pick up before I was even fully awake.I lay there in confusion for a moment, trying to place myself.There was grass under me, and the cold morning air on my legs.And then my heart slammed with one hard lurch, straight up my throat as I remembered last night.I blinked my eyes open fast.The black curls were the first thing I saw.A full, thick mop of them, right there, buried in the center of my chest. I stared down at them without moving. The weight compressing my ribcage resolved itself into a broad back, tattoos I recognized without wanting to, muscles I could count from here. Xahen’s arms were wrap
THEODOSA.My brain was still trying to catch up to what had just happened. It had understood me…It had actually understood me and proven it, and now it was sitting at my window looking at me like it was waiting to see what I did next.The question came out before I could stop it, as I shook my head in wonder, "How different are you from him?"The wolf snorted.I drew back from the glass in surprise. It had heard me. And from the sound it made, it had thoughts about what I'd asked.I stared at it.It stared right back.Slowly, I glanced over my shoulder at my bedroom door.Nala was right there. Twenty feet away. She would know what to do with this. She always knew what to do.A soft whine reached my ears and I snapped my head back to the window fast.The wolf had its paw on the glass. It wasn't pounding this time. It was just pressing there, slow and steady against the surface.It felt like it was reaching for me.I stood there and tried to think clearly about this.The last time I'd
THEODOSA.I was still working the towel through my wet hair when I stepped out of my bedroom.The shirt Nala had given me hit mid-thigh and my feet were bare and I was in the middle of trying to detangle a section of curls at the back of my neck when something settled on my chest like something had reached in and grabbed it.I went still.My blood was pulsing in a way that had nothing to do with my heartbeat, and my hackles rose before I'd fully registered what I was feeling. My eyes went straight to the door.Xahen was close.A sound at my window made me turn my head.The gasp came before I could stop it.A single golden eye blinked through the glass of my window. It blinked at me again, focusing on me more with every second that passed.My heart stopped completely.I stood there. That was Xahen's wolf outside my window. I couldn't work out what in the realm he was doing there and my hands were already shaking when the towel hit the floor.The wolf's face disappeared from the glass.
XAHEN.My sedatives rattled in their tin as I turned it over in my hands.Nala had dropped it off and left without a word, which was how she handled things when she didn't want a conversation. She came here now because she wasn't about to find me anywhere near her cabin.I ran my tongue over my teeth and told myself not to think about why.That lasted about as long as it always lasted.I hadn't stopped thinking about Theodosa since she'd grabbed my cock and made use of me like I was there for her convenience.I still couldn't fully work out what to do with that. Theodosa moved around me like she was scared of me half the time, and then she did what she did in that bedroom and I didn't know what to make of her anymore. A woman who was genuinely frightened of a man didn't close her eyes and take what she wanted from him without asking.I pressed a hand to my mouth.I was pacing my cabin again, thinking about that fucking bitch.Every day since she'd stood in my bathroom doorway. Every
XAHEN.The small one who'd been sitting in the corner with her mouth open had recovered first.An hour in, and she was currently hanging off my left arm with both hands, her feet off the ground, swinging herself back and forth with the absolute confidence of someone who had never once considered that this might not be safe.Two boys were chasing each other in circles around me, which meant my shadows had to keep adjusting to avoid knocking them over… which they found hilarious of course. A girl with two lopsided braids had planted herself directly in front of me and was telling me something very important about a bird she'd seen that morning, and she had no intention of stopping until I acknowledged every detail."It had four eyes," she said, holding up four fingers."They all do," I said.She looked at me like I'd just ruined something for her. “No they don’t! Some have three!”“Those are rare.” I whispered nicely.The door opened.Hale stepped inside and stopped.Irritation sparked
XAHEN. The meeting had run long. Draven wanted to revisit the border patrol issue. Hale had negative thoughts about it. Base had jokes about Hale's thoughts. The whole thing went forty minutes longer than it needed to. I spent the second half somewhere else entirely mentally. Specifically, the courtyard in the Eastern Realm. The dragon's body would still be there. I wanted to go see it. Nobody in the Eastern Realm was moving something that size without a very good reason, and very good reasons weren't something the Eastern Realm produced in abundance. It would be right where it fell. That was one thing on my mind. The other thing was Kane. From what Nala told me, Kane had known about the dragon fight. Which meant he'd been there. Which meant at some point during the part where I was losing significant amounts of blood on Eastern Realm cobblestones, my brother had been standing nearby watching it happen. I wasn't bothered that he hadn't helped. I didn't need he
THEODOSA. I refused to flinch. He wanted me to cower. To stammer and blush and prove that I wasn’t serious about this. That I was just some desperate girl who’d crumble the moment he pushed back. I wasn’t going to give him that. “I want my brother released,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “Se
THEODOSA.Five hours had passed and I still couldn't think about anything else.Damnation or salvation.Those were the only two options Nala's vision had given.I was either going to save Xahen or destroy him and there was no way to know which one until it happened.And now he knew.I'd been pacing
THEODOSA.Obsidian in the daytime was a different beast entirely.The streets that had felt like a death trap my first night here were now just streets. Busy ones filled with people who looked like they had places to be and things to do. Stall vendors shouted over each other trying to attract custo
THEODOSA. I found myself staring at Xahen's sleeping face when the back door creaked open. My entire body jerked at the sound. Nala's harsh whisper cut through the cottage. "Theo!" I looked over and found her crouched by the kitchen with Afnie behind her. Afnie's eyes were so wide I could see t







