She was lost and fragile, and so beautiful, even then. The kind of child that can attract the wrong sort of attention. From the first moment I saw her, I assigned myself as her protector.
Although, of course, I failed her in the end.
Noemi sits down next to me, the firelight flickering against her pale skin and creating deep shadows. Worry lines crease her face.
“When’s the last time you saw them?” I ask, and I see a reflected flash of annoyance—I can read her just as easily as she can read me; she’s always hated that.
Her gaze goes pensive as she plucks the rabbit from the fire, slicing off some meat for each of us and then sitting back down.
“Probably…” She worries at her bottom lip, a bad habit she’s mostly broken over the years. “Bonded graduation ceremony, it must be. I mean, I’ve basically been at the front ever since.”
Her expression shutters then, and I wish I could execute every last member of the House of Eisenfall, Meryn’s campaign of noble support be damned.
“I’ll be right there the whole time,” I say, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. “Nobody’s going to do anything to you.”
Noemi looks up and meets my eyes, a rare moment of vulnerability for her. Then a log in the fire pops, and we both turn to look into the flames.
The shutter comes back down over her gaze. “I’m not that little girl anymore, Valstark. I can protect myself.”
“I know you can. But you’re not facing it alone. Just remember that.”
“Give me five minutes with any of them if they try something,” Cratos growls in my mind.“I beg you.”
I laugh darkly and relay his message to Noemi, who gives a weak chuckle.
“They’d probably taste rotten, Cratos,” she says to him.
I finish my meal, then lie back, propping myself up on my elbow, looking at the sky. It’s a cloudy night, and I can’t see a single star.
“Go get your aggression out on a deer or something,” I say to Cratos, speaking aloud for Noemi’s benefit. “Bring back a snack for Ephyse while you’re at it.”
“I’ll make it extra bloody,” comes his sardonic reply.
I hear Noemi shift and then feel her warmth as she settles down next to me. She takes my hand and squeezes it, but there’s no heat there, only friendship.
“Thank you,” she says, sounding more like herself. We sit in comfortable silence for another few minutes, until she sighs and stands, stretching, hands on her lower back.
“I’m going to sleep,” she says. “Cleanup’s on you; I cooked.”
“Please, Ephyse did all the work,” I say, poking fun more out of habit than anything else. I stand to gather up our things, and the familiar, welcome movements of cleaning calm me down until I almost—almost—no longer want to murder every member of Noemi’s family.
When I finally set out my bedroll, my mind continues to drift to a certain hazel-eyed queen and what might have happened last night if both of us had decided to think a little bit less.
It’s deeply fucking annoying that my mind keeps returning to her, over and over, like a hawk returning to its master’s hand.
There’s only one clear explanation.
“Stop that,” I snap at Cratos, who is still out in the forest.
“Stop what?” he replies.“Hunting? I thought the point was to get some aggression out.”
I let out a hiss of irritation.“You know what I’m talking about. Put your fucking shields back up on your mate bond. I know you hate being away from Anassa, but we’ve been over this a thousand damned times—I don’t want to feel it.”
“Shields are as strong as ever, mighty Alpha.”I can imagine his lupine grin.“Thinking about her, huh?”
Shutting out his amusement, I try to refocus on falling asleep. Clearing my mind. Breathing in the cold air.
Anything other than this frustrating tightness in my chest and the frustrating woman who is apparently the cause.
