I paused. Three almost-familiar faces were blurry in my mind. One with dark hair and serious dark eyes; one with shining green eyes and tan skin beneath shaggy auburn hair; and one with white-blond hair and kind eyes like ice.
My hand stopped. The pulse of pain in my head grew more intense and I hissed.
What was wrong with me? Why was I thinking about wolf shifters right now? I lived among the gryphons--Iwasa member of the gryphon pride!
I shook my head and tried again, chalking up my confusion to my exhaustion. As my hand worked I thought this time of gryphons instead. The picture in my mind solidified clearly as Blaze, my king.
A small smile found my lips before it faded a moment later.
Something wasn’t quite right. I hesitated, not wanting to stroke myself while thinking about Blaze.
I groaned and tried to think about something else. Maybe focusing on pleasure itself would work.
Soon my cock throbbed and my balls felt full. I’d brought myself closer to the edge faster than normal, and the pleasure vibrating inside my body was powerful. I was about to cum, Iwantedto cum so badly, but then--
Someone else’s face flashed in my mind. Noro.
I stopped.
Noro had said something to me about this, hadn’t he?
As his words slowly came back to me, my hand fell away from my cock. We’d talked about this just the other night. How he was edging me. At the time I’d teased him that I could jack off whenever I wanted, but I wasn’t serious about it. I didn’treallywant to go against his wishes.
Suddenly feeling guilty, I lifted myself from the water to avoid further temptation and let my cock go flaccid on its own as I toweled my body dry. I felt exhausted in both mind and body, and the bed beckoned to me intensely.
I tossed the towels on the floor carelessly and slumped on the bed. Moonlight spilled in through the windows. I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten.
Didn’t Noro say something about a certain number of nights until our escape?
My head continued to throb. Whatever mysterious headache I was experiencing, I wished it would just go away. I sandwiched my head between two pillows and angrily shut my eyes, wishing sleep would hurry and claim me.
Chapter 12
Noro was furious.
But more than that, he was terrified.
Adrenaline made his heart race, but he had no direction to fuel it in. What could he do about this?
He knew he wasn’t supposed to leave Matheson’s side--a direct order from Blaze himself, after the king had learned of the omega’s magic ability--but this couldn’t wait. Noro needed to know the truth.
He continuously glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one followed. He’d left Bastian with Matheson, at least. If there was anyone he trusted in the entire pride to make sure he was safe, it was his younger brother. But Noro knew Bastian wasn’t aware ofwhatwas going on. Only Noro could truly keep Matheson safe.
As he marched through the halls, he was so focused on reaching his destination that he didn’t notice the ragged grey wolf on his heels until Neil’s voice called out, “Going somewhere, magic Keeper?”
Noro stopped. His lion’s hackles rose slightly, and he forced them down. He didn't want anyone to know he was agitated--especially not Neil. He turned around and put on a mask of nonchalance.
“Is there a problem, wolf?” he asked, sounding as neutral as possible.
Neil’s tail was stiff behind him. He narrowed his eyes. “I thought you were supposed to be guarding the omega.”
“How do you know that?” Noro asked. Neil hadn’t been there when he and Blaze had that conversation. Had he eavesdropped? Or had Blaze told the rest of the pride without Noro’s knowledge?
“Doesn’t matter,” Neil muttered. “All I know is, you’re not where you’re supposed to be. Blaze isn’t in his room. And you’re here. So who's watching Matheson?”
“Bastian is,” Noro replied confidently. “Or do you have a problem with a gryphon watching the omega? Do you think awolfcould do a better job?”
Neil ignored him. He lowered his voice. “I can tell them, you know.”
