I don’t say the words out loud, but I can see them in his eyes. How much he wants this.
How much he wantsme.
Taking a step back, I shake my head. “I can’t. You know I can’t.”
A flicker of pain fills his eyes before he blinks it away. He runs a hand through his hair and pulls the dark strands backfrom his forehead, the silver streak running through the middle giving away his age more than his body does. Revyn has always been stacked with muscle, but what stands out tonight are his scars.
Dozens of them, bite marks from other wolves, scratches from thorns as thick as my thumbs, gouges from where I had to pick rubble from his flesh after we took a nasty tumble down a cliff in a thunderstorm. His body is a map of survival—one I know intimately.
And now everyone else is getting a glimpse of what’s mine.
Not mine.
I take a few steps back and tear my gaze away. “Have fun.”
A muscle in his jaw tics as he takes confident strides toward me, swallowing the distance between us in mere heartbeats. “Sienna—” His voice rakes down my back like claws, and a shiver of desire burns through my body when he grabs my waist and hauls me against his chest. Without waiting for permission—or for me to refuse him—he slams his mouth over mine and growls deep in his chest, the vibration rumbling through my ribcage.
My world collapses into the insistence of his lips, plucking mine with an urgency that sets my heart ablaze. His tongue strokes mine, and his grip tightens when I kiss him back, unable to resist when his body’s feverishly warm and pliant and?—
Mine.
I pull back and gasp for air before that word slips free.
Revyn chases my lips, eagerly tasting the word that neither of us dares say. “Sienna,” he rasps, pressing our foreheads together. “I only want you.”
My heart soars only to come crashing down a moment later, splintering into a million sharp pieces that I’ve already attempted to patch back together once. I can’t go through that again.
“I know,” I whisper, smiling despite the ache inside my chest. I curl my fingers around his and pull them off my waist. “I’ll cheer you on, okay? You better win that race.”
The melancholy in his eyes doesn’t fully disappear, but it’s enough for him to fake a smile. “Kiss me at the finish line?”
I give into the moment just a little—just enough to allow us a rare moment of pretend. We can be happy, just for tonight. “How about you sleep in my bed tonight,” I laugh, shaking my head, “ifyou win.”
His eyes flash silver as a grin spreads across his lips. “Oh, baby. Say more.”
“Sayless.”
Chuckling, he shakes his head. “No, say more. I want to know exactly what you plan to do to me tonight.”
For this one, brief moment, we’re back to normal. The stars shine brightly in his eyes, and I’m tempted to strip down and push him onto his back just so that I can crawl into his lap and feel his body beneath mine. The heat of our union is always hotter than any fire; even this one, burning brighter than any I’ve ever seen before. It can’t compare to how Revyn makes me feel.
Like I’mmadeoffire.
But the moment shatters as someone steps in, their growl deeper than all the others combined. I tremble as Alistair Dire’s glowing eyes meet mine, then cut to Revyn’s with a look so vicious that my heart stops.
This might be a game to Revyn—a fun way to slip back inside my heart—but to everyone else, it’s a matter of life or death. Shifters don’t come to Heartsflame because they’re looking to party or blow off steam. They’re running from the jaws of death, every second spent without a mate bringing them one step closer to it.
And we’re mocking their traditions right in front of them.
Alistair looks between me and Revyn, his gaze lingering long enough that Revyn wraps an arm around my waist to stake his claim, as though it isn’t abundantly clear by now. I quickly pry his fingers off my hip and take a step away from both men. We don’t want to piss off the entire first-year class on our first night.
“You two are mates?” Alistsair asks, his voice as hard as the mountain range he hails from. His eyes narrow as he spots the scar on my neck.
“Not mates,” I reply, shaking my head. “Just . . . familiar.”
“Intimatelyfamiliar,” Revyn drawls, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Alistair. “Walk away, Dire.”
Ignoring Revyn, Alistair turns his body toward mine. My breath catches from the intensity of his gaze, more intimate now than when we were in the courtyard surrounded by strangers. Firelight flickers in his gaze as though looking for something to ignite. “Do you claim him?”
