Jaxor’an stood, unfurling his body, standing to his full height. They were of equal size, though Cruxan’s strength was more refined from hours and hours of warrior training every single span.
Behind him, the females were quiet, but Cruxan felt their presence, sensed that they’d drawn closer to one another.
He frowned, urgency threading through him. He needed to get his female away from this place, needed her against him so he could provide protection, so she wouldn’t have to fear for her safety ever again.
“You know nothing of theMevirax’smadness,” Jaxor’an retorted, his jaw clenched.
Cruxan’s gaze narrowed. Something in his tone prompted him to ask, “You have no affiliation with them? Every Luxirian knows you sought them out when you left the Golden City.”
“I did not say that,” Jaxor’an replied, his eyes sliding into the darkness of the forest around them.
It hit Cruxan then.
“You are waiting for them,” he growled, his fist tightening on the hilt of the dagger. “They are coming here?”
For the first time, Cruxan glanced over his shoulder at the females.
His gut clenched when he looked directly into the eyes of hisluxivafor the first time.
Beautiful.
Her eyes were pools of green, though they shimmered with fear and uncertainty. He didn’t need to be an expert on human emotion to know she was afraid.
The rightness of looking at her, but the wrongness of the situation, made his Instinct roar. He felt his muscles shift and grow slightly.
He heard Jaxor’an move. Cruxan flipped his gaze back over to the male, but strangely enough, he didn’t move towards Cruxan. He movedaroundhim, just a little, towards the females. Towards Cruxan’s female.
“I will be taking them now,” Cruxan repeated, his voice edging on a growl, losing patience.
Jaxor’an was watching him, his gaze cold, somewhat detached, but he sensed the madness underneath.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
“You’ve been awakened,” Jaxor’an said, his voice soft. “I see it.”
“You see nothing.”
“I do not need your senses to know what is obvious.” Jaxor’an’s gaze cut to the females, but his eyes lingered on the brunette. Did Jaxor’an thinkshewas the one to awaken Cruxan?
“Be still,” Cruxan growled when Jaxor’an continued towards the females. “Jaxor’an.”
“Would you give her up?” the male asked next. “Would you give her up if it meant achieving the only thing you’ve wanted for a long time?”
Cruxan’s brows furrowed.
Jaxor’an had truly gone mad. The knowledge weighed heavy. Partly because Cruxan would need to break the news to Vaxa’an. Partly because Cruxan had been friends with Jaxor’an. Seeing him this way, seeing him as an unpredictable enemy, it didn’t feel good.
“Never,” Cruxan growled, stepping in Jaxor’an’s path, though it brought the males close together. “I will never give her up. And anyone who tries to take her, or harm her, will enter the blackworld swiftly by my own hand.”
Jaxor’an’s eyes, so like Vaxa’an’s, stared back at him. “I have been wondering the same.”
Cruxan’s lips downturned even more. He watched as Jaxor’an’s gaze flickered around him, back towards the brunette.
Fates.
A jolt hit him, straight in the chest. For the first time, he looked at Jaxor’an.Reallylooked at him. What he saw was straightened horns, darkened eyes, bunched muscles.
Jaxor’an knew Cruxan was awakened…because he’d been awakened himself.
