Posey
Aris moves like a wolf even in his human form. Every step is calculated and sure-footed. I follow him down a wolf trail just above the rocky beach. He keeps his eyes trained on the forest, turning his head ever so slightly to every sound, but he hasn’t said a word to me in over two miles.
I can’t say I mind the silence, the walk itself. The hike. This is exactly the kind of activity I enjoy. It’s a beautiful day, and after this morning, my mind was in a tangle. Now, it's quiet. The overstimulation I felt back at the house is nothing more than a gentle hum of noise in the back of my mind while I focus on everything and nothing at all.
Gem Lake as a whole is a melting pot of environments, and here, in the Ruby district, the beaches tend to be rocky and steep, and the trees, mostly magnolia, silverbell, and dogwood, grow thick, giving much needed shade. Further south along the Gem Lake system, like the cove we visited, the beaches thin, the sand growing soft and pale, and the water is nearly translucent to the very bottom.
But here, wherever we are, as the trees give way to marshes, and as the wolf trail begins to blend with our surroundings, the path lost to nature entirely, I feel like I’m somewhere untouched and unseen, like my eyes are the first to discover it.
Aris, however, holds claim to this place. It’s obvious. He knows where he’s going and has likely been here several times before. I follow him like a loyal dog, watching herons lift from the marsh while he picks our path forward. The sun is relentless, drumming down on the top of my head, but the heat washes away any lingering nerves that had been plaguing me, and now it’s just… perfect. Perfectly still. Perfectly quiet. Like I’m utterly, blissfully alone–with him.
We eventually duck back into the forest again, and the landscape shifts from sun to shade and shadow. Magnolia blossoms are scattered across the forest floor. Aris leads me further and further away from his property. I’m sure we’ve walked close to three miles, spent an hour in silence, when he finally comes to a stop and steps aside to allow me to move forward and see the view.
“Woah,” I whisper, praying my voice isn’t loud enough to break the spell. Six feet below, the path drops off, revealing an entirely private and protected area of the lake–another cove but much smaller than the one we visited. A rocky beach dappled with fallen, washed up logs is surrounded by the forest, covered in deliciously cool shade, and the water here is so calm I can see to the bottom of the deepest point of the water, where the rocks and logs below shine the richest blue against the cerulean water lapping the shore.
“Careful.” Aris takes my hand and leads me down to the beach, steadying us both. I slip and slide down the embankment. My lips part in awe when I look up at the massive trees and their interconnected canopy keeping the cove shaded from the sun. It’s likely ten degrees cooler here, and it’s a welcome relief. “You like it?”
I look up at him, seeing his face in full for the first time in an hour. His eyes gleam with boyish excitement, but his mouth remains neutral, a hopeful smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “How long have you known about this place?”
“A few weeks. I don’t know who owns this section of Ruby, but no one has stopped me from coming here yet.” He shrugs a shoulder. “I haven’t shown anyone this cove. Just you.”
“I like it.” I glance around, his fingers falling from mine as I step closer to the water.
“Why are you whispering?”
“It feels rather mystical here. I don’t want to disturb it.”
I sink onto a fallen log, resting my tired legs. I’ve barely touched the to-go cup of coffee Aris made, but I pop the lid and drink deeply, and all the while, he watches me. I meet his eyes, arching a brow, fighting the urge to curl into myself when the memory of our kiss sprints through the forefront of my mind, but I quickly banish it.
We’re definitely not here to talk about that. I guarantee it.
“So, about that kiss.”
I cringe, gritting my teeth as he paces a few yards away before sitting down on another log. The distance between us feels safe enough, at least. “What about it?”
“Is it what you expected?”
“Well, I didn’t expect you to stick your tongue down my throat and ravish me, if that’s what you’re asking, so yes, I suppose it went exactly like I thought it would.”
He arches one blond brow and chuckles low. “What kind of movies have you been watching?”
“What are you actually trying to ask, Aris?”
“Did it check anything off your list?”
I look into my coffee cup to refrain from meeting his gaze. “Yes. I’ve kissed someone. I can now go into a life of celibacy without any regrets.”
“You’re a stronger person than I am. I can’t imagine.” He sips his coffee, and I look up, peeking at him through my lashes. He’s no longer looking at me, but I have a full view of him, his handsome, chiseled features, the way his chest rises and falls with a steady breath. “Is that all you wanted to experience?”
I should say no. I should ignore his bait and the obvious offer on the metaphorical table between us. He doesn’t look at me when he says it, and maybe I’m reading too deeply between the lines, because this is Aris, someone I’ve known my entire life. He’s in my earliest memories. A friend.
“No, but… I can’t really think about it now. I can’t stop thinking about Willow and everything that happened this morning.”
He rises like he’s being called into action. “Roman and Willow are mates.”
“What?” I gasp, the word falling from my tongue before I can stop it.
He doesn’t look at me but shrugs, shaking his head. “That’s really all there is to it. They slept together.” Now, he’s looking right at me, pained, like this knowledge is going to undo my friendship with Willow.
“I was aware she’d set her sights on him, if you’re wondering. I don’t care in the slightest.” But if the roles were reversed, and it was Roman standing here and Aris admitting to kissing me? The conversation wouldn’t be nearly as calm, and there would be a whole lot of blood involved for certain. “But they can’t actually be mates. That’s insane.”
“Is it really that hard to believe? The mate bond can happen at any time.”
“But she was so certain her mate would be back in Crescent Falls waiting for her. She had everything planned out. She was going to finish her grand tour of Eastonia and go home, start her job, and…” It clicks. I hang my head. “Oh, Willow. This changes everything for her.”
“Not necessarily.” Aris is suddenly seated beside me, resting his to-go cup between his knees.
“Of course it does. They’re mates! That’s the endgame for them. She’ll have to move to Sapphire Ridge. Roman will be Alpha one day and–”
“She made it perfectly clear to him that she has no intention of doing that.”
I look up, startled. “What?”
“And Roman made it clear to her that… he will require someone else for the job,” he continues, caustically, rolling the words over his tongue before gritting his teeth. “They may have rejected each other.”
I’m blindsided. Thoroughly shaken to speechlessness. “No, they didn’t.”
“It explains Willow’s state and Roman’s violent behavior. I’m not sure if it actually happened. I couldn’t get it out of Roman, but I will.”
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Being rejected? Yes. My sister–Brie and Logan rejected each other when they first found out. Obviously, it didn’t last long, and now they’re mates again and married with two kids. Brie told me what it felt like, even though it was a mutual rejection. It’s like… falling into pieces and not being able to put yourself back together again. It can drive people to madness, which we saw this morning.”
“Willow wouldn’t have rejected him. She’s obsessed with the idea of finding her mate. It’s a huge deal to her!”
“Then, maybe Roman did the rejecting, but again, he was beyond being able to talk about it. I was able to get enough out of him to know for a fact they slept together and felt the bond. But I couldn’t beat the idea that he’s allowed to have a mate, even someone not magically aligned, into him.”
His words are a crushing blow to my psyche. I press my knees to my chest, hugging my legs tightly. “He’s a Sapphire, Aris. Of course, something like that matters to him.”
“And yet, here you are, throwing your life away to join a convent while being a Sapphire as well.”
“This has nothing to do with me!”
“In my humble opinion, it does. I look at Roman, my best friend, a man I’ve known my entire life, and I barely recognize him anymore. He didn’t use to be like this, especially toward you. So high and fucking mighty about his bloodline and the idea of passing his alchemy down to the next generation.”
“Aris, please.”
“And you, ostracized by your own family for not having a wolf.” He sucks his teeth, his calmness melting into sudden, utter fury. “I plan on giving your father a piece of my mind about it. I outrank him as prince, you know. It wouldn’t be out of line.”
“Aris.”
“And your lack of alchemy skills? This is all because of marriage and bloodlines to you, Roman, and your family. It shouldn’t matter that you don’t have alchemy, and Willow shouldn’t have to suffer either–”
“I do have alchemy gifts.”
The forest around us stills like it can feel the sudden burst of tension in the air as the words hang between us.
I press my legs to my chest, refusing to look at him.
“You do?”
“Yeah.” It’s a quick, nearly silent reply while internally I’m berating myself for even opening my mouth. How could I be so stupid?
“You told me yourself that lacking a wolf meant your alchemy skills never surfaced. Can you shift, Posey?”
I exhale deeply, finally finding the nerve to meet his eyes. “I’m not a wolf, Aris. That hasn’t changed.”
“Does Roman know?”
“No, and don’t tell him.”
“Why not? If it stops you from having to join the temple–”
“I am joining by my own free will. It’s what I want!” I rise, my temper, which is normally easily controlled, flaring. I ignore the shadows weaving between his fingers as I slowly face him, the space between us only inches while I point a finger into the center of his chest. “You have no authority over me. How often do I need to remind you of that? I cannot practice alchemy in the open without drawing questions about why I can’t shift. That’s the meat of it, Aris. Me joining a convent… it’s an easier thing for my parents to explain. They can say I’m just so virtuous, so humble, and that I was called to a life of worship, and they’ll be able to get away with that. Roman can carry on our bloodline. There are no other options for me. I don’t have a choice!”
“You do have a choice!”
“And I’ll ruin my family forever! I know you don’t get it. I know your family can just breed with anyone without having to worry about your powers, but mine can’t. Alchemy is already so rare. You know that! Your family keeps us a secret because of it! I doubt most of them know what we can do!”
He swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“Look at me and tell me I’m wrong,” I grind out, teeth bared. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me my other options are… marrying a distant relative, perhaps, with enough alchemy skills to pass on to the next generation and hope and pray that’s enough to make up for what I lack–”
He grabs me. It’s not a tender touch and the kiss that follows… is aggressive. Overwhelming. Life altering.
I gasp, my lips parting with a sound I’ve never heard leaving my tongue, and then his arms are around me, pulling me so close my chest is flush with his. He parts my lips further with his tongue, and I… fold. Melt into a puddle. My eyelids flutter closed, my body relaxing into a heap of heat and delusion. For several seconds, it’s nothing but bliss. A much needed distraction.
He pulls away breathless, panting as he grips the back of my neck to keep me fixed in place. “You’re wrong.”
“I’m not wrong.”
Another kiss, just as bruising as the first, steals my words away. Heat blooms through my body. I’m acutely aware of his hands, one pressed to my lower back and the other tangling in my hair. My body feels both featherlight and overwhelmingly sensitive–like one new touch to an aching part of my body I often ignore will send me over the edge, and I… want that.
I want to know what it feels like to be touched that way–by him.
But I’m the one who shoves him away this time.
He just looks down at me, shaking his head, his expression dripping in disappointment, and not about the kiss or my heated reaction–the fact that I gave in. He’s disappointed in me in general, and I can practically taste it.
“Your secret is safe with me,” he says, biting back the edge to his voice as he wipes his mouth on the back of his hand. “But you’re not a waste of space. I’m sick of hearing you talk like that. I’ll kiss you again if you do. In front of Roman, if I must.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a fucking promise.”
“Why did you kiss me again in the first place?” I’m chilled to the bone without his body pressed to mine despite the thick, humid heat of midday. I can’t let this ridiculous sensation of want get into my head. I have a plan. A goal. An out. I can’t let him get in the way of what I must do, even if Willow’s carnal explorations have awakened mine, and now Aris is lighting the match that’s going to undo everything.
I want to know how far this feeling can stretch before it bursts.
I need to know before I take the vows and put this life, this identity, behind me.
Aris scans my face, looking so deeply into my eyes I wonder if he can see the thoughts, the desires, I’m trying to banish.
“I wanted to kiss you again,” he says without an ounce of reservation, his voice like gravel. Then, he turns, snatching both of our cups off the ground. “Tate and Miles aren’t far off. I can smell them. We need to go.”