“It needs a little something,” Aurelia murmured, only halfway through hers by the time Hadriel and I had finished. “Well, I mean, it needs a bunch of stuff, but I missed the mark on spices.”
“Rubbish.” Hadriel shook his head. “It’s delicious. I want more.”
So did a lot of people. Before Sylvester would serve them, though, he looked at me.
“Do you want seconds, Alpha?”
“No.” I held up my hand. “I’ve had plenty. Give it to them.”
Aurelia glanced over at me, gingerly taking a bite of meat. A little juice caught on her lower lip before her tongue swiped across, licking it away.
“I tried the stew in your cottage,” I blurted like a dummy. “I brought the spices because I figured to have that sort of talent, you must love cooking. I figured you’d want your tools, at least those we could provide.”
She finished chewing, studying me. Her eyes were calculating, as though working things out.
Another wave of nervousness stole through me. She knew about her magic, she must. She was naïve, but she was not stupid. She’d be able to put two-and-two together.
How terrible would things be now if she knew I was keeping such an enormous truth from her? Knowing I was intentionally keeping her suppressed.
Guilt ate at me and I cursed my wolf his carelessness.
“Thank you,” she said slowly, “though I don’t really understand the point in bringing my spices if this is my death march.”
Neither did I. I didn’t much understand the point of any of it, anymore. My duty, this task, this horrible situation.
I turned away from her assessing stare.
“Fucking delicious, my dear,” Hadriel said, taking her bowl and standing to return them. “I am raving.”
“I’m glad you liked it. It was a little watery because there were a lot of people to feed.”
“It was perfect. Everyone would tell you so if the big alpha wasn’t scaring them away.”
That was probably true.
I glanced back at the small tent she and I would share, the only one standing. I should probably retire and let the pack wind down. I had reading to do, anyway. Today was lost to the sensation of her body resting against me; I’d had no inclination to read her journals over her shoulder. I’d been somewhat callous about them, but even I had limits. Hadriel would be fine to watch her, and the sentries knew not to let her escape if she were to sneak away.
She took that moment to sway, though, the wine affecting her balance. Her shoulder bumped against mine and sent a thrill of delight through my body. She smiled at me, having felt it, and that smile made me lean back a little. I rested my hand behindher, leaning toward her, my positioning an obvious declaration she was mine.
If bad decisions were gold coins, my behavior toward her would buy the world.
Aurelia
The relaxant washed away mostof my tension and worries, a hefty task. The issues just seemed to keep piling up. This most recent was a real fucking doozy. The lava I’d often felt when in Weston’s proximity had turned into... something else. It had almost felt like something had stretched into my skin with me.
And that something had talked.
“Help me the rest of the way. I’m almost there. Don’t let that alpha call the shots and stuff me back. I can tell he’s thinking about it.”
What . . .? I’d frozen.
Was I going crazy? Because with that voice had come a rush of power. My sense of smell had increased until I was picking out complex weavings of the things around us. The light from my lantern? Distracting. I’d nearly been able to see details in the dark. Oh, and yeah, Hadriel’s wolf had called to me. I couldn’t even describe how, just that I felt his joy, his pull, his desire to fall in line and go for a run through the trees. Not as I was, but as I could be if I’d just let that entity continue expanding until it filled me entirely. Until I gave in to it.
I knew how all those things lined up. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew what they all had to mean. But if they did?
I swayed, bumping up against Weston and letting him stabilize me.
Weston always seemed to create the feeling. He created the lava, and this time, he brought out what was attached to it.
