The acrid scent of burning skin marred the air around us, and a tear drops from my eyes to the bloodied, yet healing skin.
“You love him,” the rogue says behind me, stoking the fire. “Father says love is weakness. You are not weak.”
My fingers tremble as I push the burning branch into Kier’s skin again, and he groans, trashing. All that pain, and his eyes won’t open. I feel the burn in my heart, my soul, and it hurts me to hurt him. “Is that a question or a statement?” I ask, surprised to find my voice steady and unnervingly cold.
“Why did you help me?” she asks, changing the topic entirely. Great, because I have no interest in conversing about my love or life with a rogue. “I was due the death sentence. Two years, I’ve been in that dungeon, waiting to die. I’d hoped for an execution. A quick one. I dreamt of it every night, you know. I didn’t expect to be used for sport by your stupid—”
“Keep talking and I will gut you,” I tell her without looking back, and I mean it. At least, I sound like I do.
She stays quiet for all of five seconds before she blurts, “You’re one of us. You do not belong here. You follow me home, my king will reward you.”
I don’t respond. She talks some more and I tune her out, focusing solely on burning out the blackened skin. I prod as gently as I can, but it doesn’t stop Alpha Kier’s viselike grip from nearly ripping off my arm. He’s holding me, and I barely even register the heat of his hands or the pain they inflict. All I feel is the burn, and I’ll give anything to make it stop.
When the last of the poison burns off, the wound starts to knit itself closed. It is slow; even slower than mine when healing a slight graze, but it’ll get better, I hope. I walk over to the fire, and pick up the straps of his shirt that I shredded to create a makeshift bandage. I cast a glance in the rogue’s direction. She’s turning game over the fire, looking far too comfortable for my comfort. “You do know that when the Beta and Gamma arrive, you’ll be taken back to the dungeons.”
She shrugs and points at Alpha Kier. “Then I’ll take him hostage. He’s too pretty to be King anyway.”
“You touch one hair on his head—”
“Yes, yes,” she responds dryly and mimics me in her accent that sounds absolutely ridiculous. “You’ll gut me and feed me my entrails? You’ll put my head on a spike? You’ll drown me?” She eyes me with an exasperated expression, eyes darting between me and the moon outside. “You women of Neredia are no fun. Can’t take a bloody joke. I’ll leave when my clothes are dried. It’s cold outside.”
Her eyes beseech me, and I return to Alpha Kier’s side, wrapping the straps of clothes around his torso, until there’s little else but a blood stain. He shivers and murmurs something incoherent, and another tear slides down my cheek as I pull up his jacket and drop it around him like a blanket.
Another violent shiver wracks his body and fear tightens my heart. I sit beside him, leaning my back against the wall, and tentatively, I let my thumb caress his forehead, down to his cheek. His lips part in response and he sort of…leans into my touch in his sleep. My cheeks burn and I snatch my hand back, keeping it by my side.
It’s late. Very late, and no one has come for Alpha Kier. Did something happen? And that man, who was he? Was the selection sabotaged? Why was he looking for me?
I take out the dagger from my left boot and place it beside me. “That man, he was from Dawn?”
The rogue shakes her head. “He looks like us, but he smells like them,” she nods towards Alpha Kier’s sleeping form. Her blue eyes find mine again and they drift to the throbbing side of my head. “You should get that looked at. You might have a concussion.”
“Why were you captured?” I ask, seeking to distract myself from the pulsing pain spreading down my shoulder.
The woman tosses another log into the fire, and I watch the sparking embers reflect in her glassy eyes. “I killed two men.”
“Isn’t that all you rogues do? Kill people?”
Her eyes snap to mine. “I’m not a rogue. I came here in search of someone. Got into an inn, didn’t want any trouble so I hid my face and paid for the room. Didn’t know the men I asked for directions on the streets followed me. They somehow got into my room and tried to touch me.” Silence stretches and I watch her, trying to read her eyes and gestures. People lie. She might be trying to get me to let my guard down, just so she can kill me later. I haven’t forgotten the way she looked at me the first time.
I haven’t forgotten the hate in her eyes.
“So you killed them and then what?” I say, massaging my neck with my thumb.
“The innkeeper took one look at my hair and skin and declared that I was a rogue. The people here are very racist, you know.”
Hard to be racist when we’re all one race, I don’t tell her. “Who were you looking for?”
She smiles and the blue in her eyes brighten. “My sister.”
My brows arch and I catch myself wanting to ask her to tell me more. I mentally shake my head. Rogues lie all the time to save their skin. I’d be stupid to believe that half the things she’s said are true. I fold my arms and stare into the fire. “Nathan Hunter,” I start. “Was there ever a warrior with a name like that? He’s dead now, I’m sure, but he was a great warrior, I heard.”
She drops a branch and her eyes are blank. “No, never heard of him.”
My hand drifts to my necklace. My mother wasn’t mad, and my father is real. Was. Is. I don’t know. My head hurts and my mind feeling like it’s on the brink of breaking. I grip the dagger and throw it at her feet. “Do me a favor and cut me a lock from your hair.”
She smiles a little. “Sure. I will never forget what you did for me. If you ever change your mind and visit Dawn, know that you have a place you can call home.”
My eyes sting and I lower myself to the ground, turning my back to her.
Home, she said. I’ve never had one.
****************
“Jessamine.”
I jolt awake, sitting up so fast, stars explode in the back of my head. I squint through the darkness in the cave. The fire has died out, but moonlight filters in, illuminating the cave a little. The rogue is gone, and so are my bow, my daggers, and Alpha Kier’s tailored jacket.
Alpha Kier is awake, his head leaning against the wall and his elbow rests on his knee. Tears of relief spring to my eyes and I raise my gaze to the hollow ceiling to keep them from falling. “How do you feel?”
“Dead,” he breathes. After a moment of awkward silence, he adds, “Thank you.”
“There’s no need to. I take care of those I consider mine.”
He snorts. “You’re delusional. I belong only to me.”
I smile a little and say the silliest thing I used to say to my mother as a child. “You are me, I am you.”
“What?”
My grin widens. “You’ll understand on the night we consummate our marriage.”
I get a blank look in response and my grin falters. Not funny, point taken. “You came here for me. Why?”
He is silent for a moment, gazing outside and I watch his hair ruffle when a cold wind wafts in. “I halted the selection. There was a rogue attack and you were alone here. They’d have killed you.”
“They? It was only one man.”
“Not one, Lady Everhart. Countless. A coordinated attack like that, pulled off today of all days…” His voice trails off and I finish his thought. “You think someone from the castle is working with them?”
“I don’t think it. I know it,” he responds in a half growl.
Why then, would the rogues be looking for me? Nobody outside the castle knows me, except the people my mother made friends with when she was still alive, and they’ve mostly forgotten that I even exist. My life isn’t an extravagant affair. It’s rather simple. Kitchen, stable, room, stalking the Alpha. Markets on rare occasions, but that’s about it. How could rogues possibly know and be searching for me?
Apparently, I’ve gone quiet for longer than normal because Alpha Kier asks, “What is it?”
“Nothing,” I lie, and lay back down, facing the wall. I feel him settle behind me and my temperature spikes when I feel his breath on my neck. We aren’t touching, but we’re close enough that I can feel the heat seeping from his body. “Will they come soon?” I ask, trying to distract myself from the urge to scoot closer to him.
“Not until they’re done ensuring everyone’s safe and the forest has been reclaimed.”
“That could take days,” I murmur and close my eyes, envisioning his arms wrapping around my middle and pulling me closer. Like that will ever happen.
“We’ll leave at first light.” He goes quiet for a long time and I am left alone with my pounding heart, trying and failing to get it calm. I almost yelp when he says, “You’re shivering.”
“You too,” I whisper, biting my thumb nervously.
“Believe me, this is the last thing I want to do,” he says and my vision becomes a reality when his strong arm encircles my waist and he pulls me into him gently until my back is against his chest.
I died and went to the After, and I have returned and have no more brains. I don’t remember what mother said to do in a situation like this one, and I sure as hell don’t know how to get my body to stop trembling.
“I won’t bite you, Jessamine.”
“That’s all wolves know how to do. I’m not scared. I have teeth too. I’ll bite you right back.”
He chuckles softly and I feel his breath on my hair. “You’re all bark and no bite, witch. For someone who makes the most endearing statements, all you do is tease and flee. I thought I’d been mistaken when I sniffed it off you before, but…you’re as pure and naïve as they come. Even more so.”
A blow to my ego, and a slap to my mother’s intense training sessions. I’m naïve?
I turn around to look at him. His eyes search mine and mine search his. “If I’m naïve, then you’re a coward,” I whisper and lean in, catching his bottom lip between my teeth swiftly before he can respond.
And then I bite down, hard, until I can taste blood.
He groans deep in his throat and I expect him to push me away. Instead, I feel his arms go around me, and I’m suddenly pinned under him, his lips moving against mine fiercely and his hips grinding into mine. I moan, more surprised than aroused. That easy?
My palms glide over his chest and my legs wrap around his torso tightly. Not to keep him caged, of course. Not today.
I push myself with my elbows, and use his weight to my advantage, and I flip him over releasing my legs just as his back hits the floor softly. His eyes widen with surprise and the dirty look he cuts me sets my insides on fire.
“How…” His words disappear when I trail my fingers up his chest and circle it around his neck possessively. I wish for a split second that I had a wolf. Claws would be great right now, but my long nails will be fine too. I let them dig into his skin as I part his lips with mine slowly, kissing his bottom lips, moving up to caress the upper lips, and I plunge my tongue into his mouth roughly, sucking hard on his tongue.
He responds immediately and grabs my waist, pulling me atop his erection. He squeezes my back side tightly and I feel his claws bite into my hip. It hurts, but pain is pleasure.
Soft and gentle kisses are for the timid. If you wish to claim a man, you must understand the power of a fierce, possessive kiss. It’s a declaration of dominance and a demand for surrender. With every flick of your tongue, you’re marking your territory, leaving your mark on his very soul. Hold nothing back. Be wild, fearless, unbound. Ignite the primal hunger in him. Then, you must pull back. Never lose yourself or you’ll lose.
I pull back reluctantly, ignoring the ache between my thighs. His lips are swollen and bleeding. I smirk at the dazed look in his eyes as he says, “No.”
I arch a brow. “No what?”
“Don’t stop. Stop fucking with me, Jessamine.” His voice is raw and I hear the desperation under the anger.
I push off him, careful not to touch his wound, and I lie on my side, facing the wall once more. “Still think I’m naïve?”
He turns to the other side and doesn’t speak to me for the rest of the night. I press my hand to my fluttering stomach and swallow my laughter.