Later, after she started coming to my room, it got easier. We could train all day and then she’d come to my room at night and relieve all the tension.
But now? Now I’m back to drowning in all that tension with no relief in sight. And somehow, knowing exactly what I’m missing makes the ache that much worse.
Like she can feel me watching her, Aurelia suddenly pivots and glances over at me before she swings her sword around and catches her opponent in the stomach. The woman grunts and puts up a hand to signal that she needs a break. Aurelia beams and reaches out her hand toward the other woman.
As she bends to help her opponent up, Aurelia’s hair falls forward and I can see the pale bite mark on her throat.
My stomach rises with excitement, then plummets again as a wave of guilt hits me.
The mark is fading. I didn’t know many mated shifters growing up, but I saw the marks on some of the older wolves and somehow I assumed that they were done once and that was it. Ididn’t realize that they would fade, and were being placed on the skin over and over again.
Only a few days ago, Aurelia’s mark was a deeper shade of pink, but now it’s turning light brown. Soon it will be gone completely.
I need to tell her we have to redo it, but I’m honestly not sure if my self-control is good enough right now to have my mouth anywhere on her, especially when she keeps giving me that wide-eyed look again, and now I know exactly what it means.
Frustrated with my inability to focus, Luka runs off to find another partner. I don’t care, as now I’m occupied by watching Aurelia sparring with a new partner. This time, she’s fighting a tall male wolf, and even though I know I’m being irrational, I have to bite back a growl every time he gets anywhere near her.
Aurelia probably isn’t aware of it, but her opponent definitely is. He’s a mid-level dominant wolf, and my constant growling is getting to him.
Over the top of Aurelia’s head, my gaze catches on another familiar figure at the edge of the training field. It’s Gunnar, the skinny teenager who fired too early against the wyvern and nearly got Kai killed.
I wave him over to me and he startles, then jogs around Aurelia and her sparring partner to reach me.“M-morning.”
“How are you holding up?”
Gunnar’s shoulders tense, but he forces a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.“Fine.”
I frown.“Why aren’t you training?”
“No reason. I just wanted to watch.”
Bullshit. Probably the others are giving him a hard time because everyone has heard now that it’s his fault Kai got burned. Kai made a full recovery and is even out on the field today, so it’s time for the others to get the fuck over it. At the very least, his family should be bringing him back into the fold.
“Who are your parents?”I ask.
“Uh, I don’t think you would have known them. They both died a few years ago.”
“Do you have siblings?”
He shakes his head.“I had three brothers, but…”he trails off.“And I have a sister, but her hunting party was supposed to come back a month ago, so…”
Fuck. Dead parents, three dead brothers, and a sister we both know is also long dead. If I didn’t already feel bad for this kid, I would now. Fuck, at one point, Iwasthis kid. The only difference between me at fourteen and Gunnar, is I’d realized I was going to have to train hard if I didn’t want to die too. For some reason, he hasn’t grasped that yet.
I gesture toward the practice swords.“Want to spar?”
Gunnar’s shoulders straighten, and I watch his face light up.“Really? With you?”
I almost say yes, but then I have a better idea.“Not with me. With her.”I point to Aurelia, whose back is turned to us as she cleans her sword. The male she was fighting seems to have gotten frustrated and stormed off. Good.
Gunnar’s eyes widen, and he looks, if possible, even more nervous than before.“You want me to practice with her?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t she your mate?”
“Yes.”
It’s the best idea I’ve had all week. Aurelia wants to participate, but I can’t seem to keep myself from panicking every time she faces off against anyone. It’s irrational—I know how well trained she is because I trained her myself—but the wolves are better fighters than the soldiers back in Vernallis, and I can’t deal with the idea of her getting hurt. Gunnar is perfect, though. He’s not going to hurt her, and the sparring will actually help him.
