Wolves believe that mating is fated, so they all spend their whole lives waiting to find someone while at the same time dreading the moment when they do. We can’t form bonds for the same reason we can’t leave the camps or have lives outside of the army. That’s why there are so many couples who aren’t in defined partnerships—like Kai and Inga who have seven children but haven’t claimed each other.
Aurelia shifts on my lap again, and I take the opportunity to turn away from Luka. The irony isn’t lost on me that I was using him to distract me from Aurelia, and now I’m using her to avoid him. This entire fucking situation is a minefield.
Aurelia stretches her arm out to reach for a tankard on the ground by my feet. She must have been drinking from it before I arrived, but now that she’s sitting on my lap she can’t reach. I bend down to grab it for her, but stop just before handing it over. I suck in a breath, my nose wrinkling at the burning scent of alcohol.
Instead of placing the tankard in Aurelia’s outstretched hand, I bring it to my mouth and take a tentative sip and it burns the back of my throat all the way down.
“Hey!” Aurelia snaps, trying to reach for the drink. “That’s mine.”
Holding it out of her reach I scowl. “Have you been drinking this all evening?”
“Sort of. Why?”
“How are you still talking?”
She rolls her eyes. “Because I haven’t had that much. Now give it to me.”
I shake my head. Shifters burn off toxins far faster than Fae do, so our drinks have to be much stronger. Even if she hasn’t had much, that’s more than enough. Too much could kill her.
It won’t kill me though, so I take another sip.
Aurelia looks even more indignant. “That’s mine.”
“You’ve had enough.”
“I’ve barely had any,” she protests.
“Good.”
Aurelia looks livid, and for some reason that makes the urge to drag her back to the tent even stronger. My fingers dig into her thighs, my jaw clenching so hard I can hear my own teeth grinding. The firelight catches the sheen of sweat at her collarbone. Every breath she takes shifts her weight against me, and I have to suppress a groan.
Aurelia leans closer. “Spit it out.”
I raise her drink and look her dead in the eye as I take a sip. “The only way you’re getting any more of this is if I spit it in your mouth.”
Her eyes widen, then turn unexpectedly hot. She raises an eyebrow. “That’s not much of a threat, honestly.”
Fuck.
I hold her gaze and she stares back in clear challenge, neither one of us wanting to be the first to blink.
This is a bad idea, but I can’t seem to look away from her. I can hear my pulse pounding in my ears as I lift the tankard to my lips and take another sip, holding the burning liquid against my tongue.
My hand slides up to cradle the back of her neck, my thumb pressing into the soft hollow beneath her jaw. Her lips part on a gasp and her eyes turn molten as I pull her face close enough to feel her breath against my lips. She opens her mouth wider, and the burning alcohol passes from my mouth to hers, her wide eyes never leaving mine as she swallows.
“Thank you,” she says, licking her bottom lip.
My vision narrows to a pinpoint, the firelight and voices fading away until there’s only her. She’s so fucking beautiful it’s painful, and if that was all I liked about her then maybe this could work. Unfortunately, I know that starting this again will bethe worst fucking decision of my life…and I can’t seem to make myself stop.
One moment I’m sitting, the next I’ve surged to my feet, my hands finding her waist. She gasps as I lift her, her body folding over my shoulder, her hair cascading down my back. She makes a squawk of indignation, but I ignore her, already striding back toward our tent as I’ve been wanting to do since the moment I saw her.
“They’re all going to think we’re going back to the tent to fuck,” Aurelia complains, her voice muffled against my back.
“Aren’t we?”
She pauses for a long moment as if really giving the matter some thought. “...yes, I suppose we are.”
“Thank the fucking Gods.”
