Se connecterTHEODOSA.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 looked at her and didn't say a word for a long moment as my words settled in the air.She held my gaze. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking or feeling. Then she said, "Go ahead.""What?" I breathed."Go ahead." It came out the same way she'd said it the first time, like it cost her nothing. "Tell him."I couldn't find a single word to put in front of her."I've known Xahen for a long time,” she said. "If you think a threat about Kane is going to make me stand back and watch you suffer through a full heat alone then you don't know me at all." She held my gaze. "And after everything we've been through in this cabin, I'd like to think you know me a little."I felt the threat come apart in my hands before I could stop it. I'd thrown it out fast because it was the only thing I had, and now it was just sitting there doing nothing."I mean it," I tried again."I know you do." Her voice stayed even. "You're scared. You don't want him knowing your body is doing something you di
THEODOSA.The bathwater scalded, but I stayed put.I sat with my knees pulled up, watching steam curl toward the ceiling while Nala worked her fingers through my hair. The gentleness of it, the careful way she untangled each knot, was the only thing keeping me anchored. Everything else had gone fuz
THEODOSA. What? The words hit with jarring force, but my eyes immediately darted to Binny. He froze for a second, jaw tightening. His hands curled into fists at his sides. I wanted to reach for him, to tell him to calm down, but I wasn’t even sure if I could stop him if he decided to act.I just
THEODOSA.Binny worked the lock picks with the kind of focused intensity I'd seen him use maybe three times in his entire life—usually right before he did something spectacularly stupid that somehow worked out anyway.The lock clicked.The cell door swung open.I didn't move. Just stood there stari
THEODOSA.His words kept echoing in my head, over and over, like they'd carved themselves into my skull and decided to make a permanent home there.I was sitting with my back against the wall, knees pulled to my chest, staring at nothing. The cellar was dark except for the thin streams of moonlight







