Aerin looks at Malice, who is already looking at her, worry on his face. A sick feeling swirls in Aerin’s gut. She can tell Malice is already contemplating how Aerin will be able to find and hide asecondWolf. But Aerin knows her half-blood Pack magic isn’t following the same kind of rules. It’s already picked a third. Aerin’s magic has already picked Malice.
45
MALICE
Three cups of tea and a plate full of pastries later, Malice and Aerin bid Soren farewell on the porch of the small cabin. They have a long walk back and Malice has a headache, brought on by his intense worry for Aerin. Worried what reaction he will receive when they’ve ventured far enough away from prying ears, worried because he has no idea how Aerin Tolvare truly responds to bad news. She can be vengeful and spiteful and selfish. She sometimes reacts emotionally, with a cold, brutal type of vengeance if provoked.
Now she is a half-blooded Fae Princess with Pack magic and an unestablished pack. Her own Fae magic is powerful and unusual in a way that seems unnatural. She is Paramyr to a Fae Prince and holds secrets over him. She’s in bed with the Vipers of Valtara, to what end Malice has no idea. Reikan is obsessed with her. Not to mention the precarious blood-bond that holds them both on a short leash.
Malice rubs his face, his head spinning with the sick feeling that even after these months of being with her nearly all hours of the day he doesn’t actuallyknowher. He thinks, maybe, no onetruly does. Thinks that each bit of information is a piece of the puzzle, only he can’t see the full picture yet.
Aerin hugs Soren.
“Thank you again, for the information,” she says warmly. She’s being friendly with him; Malice almost believes her warmth.
“You take good care of that Wolf,” Soren says, “though he might be crazy if he’s agreed to stay with you,” the Alpha jokes.
Aerin laughs. “It’s an easy choice once you bed me, Soren.” She squeezes his hand, and the Wolf laughs loudly. Malice stiffens. “Ask Malice, he knows.” Aerin smirks over her shoulder at him. Malice clenches his jaw at the now well-perpetuated lie but steps into the place she left, hugging his old friend.
“I hope to see you again soon, Soren,” Aerin calls, making her way across the meadow.
Soren pulls back, “I am surprised you did not ask of her,” Soren murmurs lowly, the shifting Wolves in the background making noises loud enough to hide their Alpha’s words from Aerin.
“I cannot,” Malice warns, grasping his friend’s shoulder firmly. He searches those green eyes for information he is both desperate to know and terrified to learn.
“She knows you are near,” he warns.
“And she knows why I cannot get away,” Malice grumbles, pulling his hand from the Wolf. He glances over his shoulder. Aerin is almost to the wall of trees, hardly paying them any mind. Malice is sure her thoughts are focused upon something else entirely.
“She is well, Malice. I will keep her from here, from the city.” Soren steps away.
Malice nods in thanks. “Just for the weekend,” he assures the Wolf. Soren smiles, pity in his eyes. He grasps Malice’s hand briefly one more time before shifting. It only takes a few lopesfor him to cross the clearing to his pack where they disappear into the forest. Malice hesitates momentarily before he turns on his heel and follows after Aerin.
When Malice catches up,Aerin is lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes are downcast on the barely-there trail. Malice doesn’t know where to begin… With his worries? With the things they know for certain now? With the things they will have to deal with once they return to the Royal Village?
Luckily, he doesn’t have to decide, because Aerin starts their conversation for him.
“No one else can know. Not even Emrys, not right now,” Aerin says, shocking the hell out of him.
“Princess…” Malice replies, warning in his voice. Aerin stops walking, turning her head to look at him. Her golden eyes swim with many emotions, but the strongest among them is pain.
“It would be a betrayal,” she says carefully, “for you to divulge this secret to anyone. Do you understand?” The blood-bond snaps against Malice’s bones, an unwelcome reminder of their tie.
“Thank you, Malice,” Aerin seems to sigh, relief washing through her body. She continues down the trail, and Malice wants to throttle her, grasp her by the shoulders and shake sense into her.
Selfish. Vapid. Reckless. If only he still believed those words.
Instead, Malice says something he knows will hurt her the same way she hurts him with this stupid blood-bond and these secrets. “And to think only a few hours ago, you questioned my hesitancy.”
Aerin’s whole body stiffens before she whirls on him, enough anger and pain in her eyes Malice swallows hard.
“Can you not understand the precariousness of my position?” She says the words evenly but underneath lies a thinly veiled threat.
Malice feels himself tightening: his fists, his wings. But there is no control around Aerin, not anymore.
“Luckily, I don’t need to try to understand, as you will simplybidme into obeying either way!”
“That is not what I was doing!” Aerin screams, louder than he’s ever heard her. More out of control than he’s ever seen her.
