DON'T HIDE

ERYX

If I weren't fighting every instinct inside me, I would have torn the guy apart for getting that close to my mate.

Rose and Aveline stand behind me, both wearing the same horrified expressions. Whether the concern is genuine or performed, I don't have time to care.

“Get out.” My voice is low, but the command leaves no room for argument.

The guy looks at me nervously. He doesn't move at first, frozen beneath the weight of my stare. I take one deliberate step toward him. That's all it takes. He bolts out of the room.

Magnus is pacing furiously inside me now, snarling, demanding that I go after him. I force him down with everything I have, jaw locked, muscles tight. I cannot let anyone know she’s my mate. Not yet. Not here.

I turn back to Velora. She’s barely conscious, her breathing uneven, skin flushed with heat. Something twists hard and painful in my chest at the sight of her like this — soft, vulnerable, and suffering. I move closer and carefully pull the blanket higher around her shoulders, wanting her covered.

Then I stop cold.

“Fuck.”

I swallow hard when I see she’s only in her underwear beneath the blanket. The scent of her heat hits me fuller now that I’m this close — the same wild honey and aloe vera thick and sweet and impossible to ignore. Magnus surges again, violent and insistent. I grip the edge of the mattress and force myself to breathe through it, locking every muscle until the worst of the urge passes. Only then do I turn toward the others.

“I want to be alone with her.”

Rose and Aveline exchange confused glances.

“What?” Aveline steps forward. “Eryx, Velora is my sister. You can't just—”

“Don't make me repeat myself.” My gaze shifts to Rose, flat and cold. “Now.”

Neither of them moves. My patience snaps. “Leave.”

The single word drops into the room like a command that will not be questioned a second time.

The second the door shuts behind them and their scents disappear, I turn back to Velora, I cup her face carefully. She’s burning. The heat radiates from her skin in steady waves. Now I know for certain, she has awakened her wolf. It explains everything: the sudden strength of her scent, the strange warmth that has been crawling beneath my skin since earlier, the pull I'd been unable to understand. Her wolf has been calling to me. And I’ve been too damn blind to realize she’s been mine all along. I hate myself for that.

“Hey.” My thumb brushes over her heated cheek. Her skin is impossibly soft beneath my touch, and her face flushed from whatever the heat is causing her, breath still uneven. Every instinct is telling me to strip the blanket away, pin her down, and claim what already belongs to me. I lock the thought down before it can fully form. My eyes fall on her lips. The urge to close the distance and take her mouth rises hard and fast. I want to kiss her. God, I want to do more than that. But I'm not sure I can trust myself if I let the instincts take over. I would claim her right here if I gave in even a little.

*She's ours, Eryx. Mark her.* Magnus's growl echoes through my head, low and demanding.

“Shut the hell up,” I mutter under my breath. “Stop pushing me.”

He doesn't answer, but I can still feel him prowling beneath my skin, restless and hungry. I wrap an arm around Velora, holding her close, letting my warmth reach her without pressing further.

“Please, stay with me,” I murmur. I press a soft kiss against her hair and breathe in her scent. Sweet aloe and wild honey. It fills my lungs and sends another heavy wave of heat through me, thick, intoxicating, almost impossible to think through. 

“Fuck.” The word leaves me as a rough exhale.

Her fingers suddenly move. I freeze. She reaches for my hand, gripping it tightly as though she's afraid I'll disappear.

“Velora, I'm here.” I ease her gently against me so I can see her face. “How do you feel?”

My voice comes out softer than I intended. She shifts closer, resting against my chest with a soft sound.

“You're warm,” she murmurs, her eyes still closed.

A small, involuntary smile touches my lips. “You made me this way, little trouble.”

I run my fingers gently through her red hair, then down her arm. Gradually the worst of the tension leaves her body. I watch her for a moment, almost forgetting everything outside this room.

Then her lashes flutter. Her eyes open. The moment they meet mine, she goes completely still. Recognition first flashes across her face. Then… confusion, shock, before something deeper and more vulnerable as the truth settles.

“Eryx?”

I stare back at her. And for the first time, she knows exactly who is holding her. This time… I don't hide from it.