Aviva
Ryan turns away as I strip out of my dress in a pocket of trees toward the very back of the village. I hang it on a tree branch before shifting into my wolf form, feeling naked despite my thick fur. I’m used to having my knife belt and bow slung across my back even in wolf form, but now I’m in my skin, and I’m not giving Ryan the same courtesy as he strips off his clothes. I do turn my head to avoid watching him take off his boxers, however. I’m not that desperate.
He clutches the camera in his mouth, protected by a little leather bag, and leads me through a network of wolf trails that weave through a rather dense forest that hugs the back of the village.
We follow the creek at one point, which weaves through the forest. It’s the only sound other than the rustling of the leaves overhead.
It’s beautiful here, I have to admit. The forest is thick as we start gaining in elevation toward the very back of the valley where the mountains Silverhide is nestled between finally join. A small lake glistens in the moonlight as he leads me out of the forest, and we follow a trail along its shore.
A small building rests along the rocks on stilts. It’s dark inside as we pass, but I pick up several different scents. It’s likely his pack members come to the lake to fish and swim, so I’m not nervous, nor surprised by the different, foreign smells.
But we don’t stop at the lake. I follow him along the trail in silence as it feeds back into another wooden area with less wolf trails than the first. Time ticks by, and soon, the entire area is drenched in moonlight, signaling the late hour.
The trail becomes more rocky and hard to navigate. He eventually leads me off the main trail, dipping into a shadowed cove of thick, old growth trees.
I don’t sense that there’s others nearby, friend or foe. We’re totally alone out here, but I find it hard to relax. He hasn’t spoken to me through the mind-link, and I haven’t spoken to him. In all honesty, I’m just enjoying being in my wolf form and getting some exercise.
He looks back at me from time to time to make sure I haven’t wandered off, but that’s it.
Eventually he leads me toward a group of large rock formations in the depths of the forest, and when we pass them, the forest ceases to exist, revealing a second valley overlooking the first.
If I could gasp as a wolf, I would.
I look down at the valley below, at the little village twinkling in the moonlight in the distance. Ryan makes a noise in his throat that tears my attention back to him, and he tilts his head, motioning me for me to keep following.
There’s still trees up here, though nothing compared to the forest below, but when he leads me toward the left of the valley, where a small waterfall laps down the side of the mountain, I see the place he captured with his camera and somehow memorialized on that weird, shiny paper.
The hot springs.
The waterfall feeds into the largest bath, sending steam billowing toward the starlit sky. Smaller baths send wisps of steam across the rocky ground beneath us as I follow me around it and climb up onto the strange, flat rocks. He comes to a stop near the largest bath, a pond, really. I’m not sure how deep it is, but I tip my paw into it, expecting the water to be scalding hot, but it’s actually comfortable enough to swim in.
But then Ryan is in his human form pulling a pair of sweatpants on. He tosses a leather bag toward me, which hits the ground and spills over with random clothing. Did he really come all this way with no intentions of jumping in?
“This is the place from the picture,” he says, but my splash as I shift and jump into the pool of warm water overwhelms his voice.
It is a little deep, but nothing too scary. I swim to the surface and suck in a breath, laughing as I smooth my hair away from my face.
Ryan is gaping at me. “Are you insane?”
“What?” I laugh as the warmth of the water works its way into every muscle. “You’ve never swam in it before?”
“It’s going to cook you alive!”
I tread water and point to the small waterfall. “It’s fed by snowmelt. It’s barely even hot. It’s like a bath after waiting for twenty minutes for the water to cool down.”
Ryan doesn’t look convinced. So, I splash him, soaking his sweatpants. “Hey!” But he’s not glaring at me for once. In fact, that ice between us that’s been festering for days melts in the steam rising from the hot spring.
I realize with a start what our problem is. Ryan and I have only ever bonded in the wild–outside of the constraints of village life. He brought me to his home and has barely spoken to me since, barely looked in my direction, but now his eyes are on mine and he’s… smiling.
“Close your eyes.”
“Why?” I ask as he sets his camera bag down several feet away and slides his thumbs into his waistband. “I’m your wife, aren’t I? Shouldn’t I have seen you naked by now?”
He stares at me with that unflinching, unwavering gaze that rocks me to my core. I’d thought once that this man has never been prey in his life, and I’m right. This look–the look that makes me feel things I can’t explain–is the look of a predator debating their next move to make a swift kill.
But then I think of the women he’s used this look on in the past and crack, lowering my gaze to water and turning around, my toes barely brushing the bottom of the pool.
Ryan jumps in with a splash that sends waves rushing toward me and spilling over the rocky edge of the pool. He pops up a few feet away, wincing a bit at the hot bite of the water, and blows out a surprised breath. He can stand, but the water is up to his neck. His hair is wet and slicked back, and he looks… relaxed. Relaxed for the first time in days, I realize.
We look at each other for a moment. I’m not sure what to say, but I know we have a lot to talk about, so I tread water, enjoying the slight burn of exertion in my muscles.
“You’re pretty short, huh? Can’t touch the bottom?” The corners of his mouth twitch into a taunting smile.
I suck in a breath and sink down until my feet are flat on the sandy ground then shoot up again. He’s still smiling as I smooth my hair away from my face. “Nope, can’t. What’s the view like from all the way up there?” I tease, and he gives me that cocky grin again as I swim a little closer.
I feel better than I have in days. Maybe it’s the warmth of the water, the exercise, being away from everyone else and in the sanctuary of the wilderness, but I feel… good. Unburdened. Myself.
He must see that flash of relief behind my eyes because he says, “I haven’t been avoiding you, you know. I’ve been busy since I got back. Especially with… Shoshannah’s situation.”
“I understand–”
“I didn’t know I’d be bringing home a wife,” he cuts in, his eyes holding on mine. He licks his lips and leans his back against the edge of the pool. “I don’t really know what to do with you, honestly.”
“Are you asking me? Because I don’t know what I’m supposed to do either.”
He rolls his eyes to the sky, to the stars burning bright above us. “I’ve never been married before.”
“Neither have I.”
“I know,” he says pointedly. “I just… what exactly do you need from me?”
“I don’t really understand what you mean by that.” I start swimming toward him, resting my arm along the rocky edge of the pool to give my legs a break. “I’m just a wife–”
“Just a wife,” he says sardonically under his breath, closing his eyes.
“Yeah… I’m meant to… make you food and have your babies, or whatever.”
“Well, you already mentioned you don’t cook.”
“And you won’t even touch me.” The words slip out before I can stop them. He opens his eyes and looks right at me, and I… edge away, putting a few feet of distance between us. Stupidly, my dumb, big mouth continues, “It’s fine if you think I’m ugly, but don’t you want to carry on your bloodline?”
He gapes at me for a minute, shocked. Truly shocked.
I shrug, unable to backpedal. “I can put a pillow over my head so you don’t have to look at me–”
“Aviva, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“We haven’t…you know.”
“Had sex?”
“Yeah, that.”
“We’ve known each other for a week.” He looks a little shocked, but now I’m confused and feeling the effects of bottling my conflicting emotions for days.
I think of Natalie and every other woman he’s probably, theoretically, been with. “You sleep with women you’re not married to all the time.”
His eyes narrow. “What?”
I nod. “Like… Natalie?”
“Natalie?” His eyes are mere slits as he slowly edges toward me.
“She came to talk to me today, during dinner. So, is it true? She looked like she was ready to scratch my eyes out.”
He laughs–low and angry. “That’s none of your business.”
“I feel like it is, seeing as you married me and won’t touch me, but you’ll touch practically every other woman.”
“You’re not every other woman.” He’s closing in on me with every passing second. “I didn’t realize you wanted that so badly.”
“I–I don’t,” I stammer.
I roll my lower lip between my teeth as he cages me in against the edge of the pool. I’d have to duck under him to move, and he’s just as naked as I am. So far, he’s had the decency to keep his eyes on my face and not my breasts, but with this little distance between us, it’s hard to ignore the fact there’s nothing separating us but water.
“Why haven’t you done your husbandly duties?” I ask, tilting my chin up to look him in the eyes, but my voice shakes.
He hums, biting down on his lower lip, and I feel… too hot all of the sudden. “Is the anticipation killing you, Aviva? Do you think I’ll corner you one day and force you into bed? Taking what I want, when I want it? Is that really what you think of me?”
My heart is racing as his gaze drops to my lips. He moves closer, and my arm drops from the edge. I start to slip into the water, but he snakes an arm around my naked waist and pulls me close until my breasts are flush with his chest. The sensation is immediate and mind-boggling. My nipples harden, heat rushing to my core. He splays his hand wide across my lower back and leans in, whispering against the top of my ear, “I’m not your mate. I’m not the one who’s supposed to touch you, to take you to bed.”
I shove him away. He retreats, but his eyes are locked on mine, swimming with stars.
“I don’t have a mate.”
“You do. You just haven’t met him yet.”
I shake my head. “How do you know you’re not my mate?”
That breaks something in him, and I instantly regret it. He swims toward me again, caging me back in, but instead of the heated tone he’d used when he whispered against my ear only moments before, he growls, “You called me cursed once. I’m not entirely convinced you were wrong. Whatever bond you think is between us, it’s because our hands were sliced open and pressed together when we married. That’s it. Imprinting, I believe, is what your people call it?”
I shiver at his tone, which drips with malice.
The tip of his nose brushes over my cheek as he says, “I don’t get a second chance at having a mate, Aviva. Your mate is still out there. You might be my wife, but you do not belong to me.” His hands grip my waist, and I whimper as his thumbs drag over my hip bones. He hisses like touching me is painful, but he doesn’t let go. “I can’t stand being around you,” he whispers, closing his eyes and groaning as his hands drift further back, traveling down over my ass. My eyes nearly roll back in my head despite his harsh words. “I can’t even look at you,” he says, guiding me closer, his mouth hovering over mine. “Anything you feel for me is just your body reacting.”
His lips barely touch mine. Just barely. My heart cracks into pieces. This rejection… stings. More than stings. It hurts physically, like the water is suddenly too hot, burning my skin. It shouldn’t bother me. The only reason I want him, want him to take me to bed, is because that’s what I’ve told I’m supposed to do… right? Ryan goes very still, opening his eyes and looking over the top of my head.
I search for something to say. Something mean, something dry and cutting, but come up short.
He pushes away and says roughly, his voice like gravel, “We need to go back, now.” He gets out of the water and stands–totally naked–looking down at the clothing cache. I watch as his hand hovers over the camera bag before he shifts in a muted blur of light. I climb out of the pool, my body numb and my heart in shambles, and shift as well, confused, hurt, and unable to process what just happened between us.
It doesn’t matter, though, because he says, ‘There’s a situation in Silverhide. We need to get there as soon as possible.’