“Alistair,” Neel calls out, grabbing my shoulder and forcing me to stop. “You can’t go charging in there. It could be a trap.”
“A trap,” I laugh, feeling every ounce of my frustration rattle inside the box I’ve buried it in. “Everything about her is a goddamn trap.” Her velvet laughter against my skin, the way her hair smells like rain when she leaves it damp in the morning, that little pinch between her eyebrows when she’s nose-deep in a fucking textbook. All of it—every single little annoying thing about her is a rope around my neck, growing tighter and tighter with every second I’m away from her.
I need distance. No, I need tocreatedistance. A thin wall between us isn’t enough. I need ample space to detox and get her out of my fucking head.
She doesn’t want me. Not in the way that matters—the way that a fated mateshould. It breaks my fucking heart.
I quickly come to the decision to force Sienna out of the arena. I can’t focus with her here—and the longer she’s in play, the worse my father’s temper will become. Every councilmember is watching the Games tonight. If I don’t perform, I’ll never hear the end of it.
A crackle of energy vibrates beneath my skin, urging me to shift, but I ignore its pull in favor of another—the one leading me directly to my true mate. A shockwave of power ripples from her vicinity as the damper disconnecting us disappears, and I curse under my breath. Everyone in the arena would have felt that power surge and changed course as their bloodlust, vanity, and greed demands.
Sienna is strong, but she’s notthatstrong. Whoever else is near her isn’t bothering to hide their power.
It better not be fucking Revyn.
I break into a run despite Neel’s protests. I don’t care if it’s a trap; I need to get to my mate. As soon as I crest over a small hill and she comes into view, my chest tightens.
She may be a trap—a poison—a goddamn nuisance—butmy godsis she beautiful.
Midnight hair sways across her shoulders as she jabs her claws into a bear shifter’s thick hide over and over and over again, spraying blood through the air like mist with every push and pull of her arm. The shifter keens and drops, a magical barrier repelling Sienna into the air as it appears, shielding her victim from further damage as he shifts back to human form. Sienna lands gracefully, her heels sliding through the snow as she skids to a halt, her smile wide as she launches herself at another.
“Holy shit,” Neel breathes, coming to a stop beside me. “Is that her?”
She barrels into a cougar next, recklessly body slamming into its side as Revyn takes it on from the front. His eyes are wild as he slams his boot onto the beast’s neck, cutting off its airway as Sienna holds it down. It struggles but quickly falls limp, and the pair practically howl with glee as they rush into eachother, drunk off the adrenaline. He cups her face and kisses her breathless, neither of them caring for the blood on their hands or the sparring taking place around them. They behave like animals, fighting one second and nearly fucking the next.
I’d choke on jealousy if I wasn’t burning with rage.
Fighting without shifting isthe most recklessshit I’ve ever fucking seen, and I. Am. Livid.
I don’t care that she’s a hybrid. Who knows her secret won’t matter if she’s dead. There are too many enemies for her to fight at half strength, and that fucking vampire clinging to her can easily use an illusion to alter her appearance to be more wolfish. The fact that none of them have bothered to come up with a coherent battle plan and are happy to let Sienna and Revyn roam free like a pair of wild dogs is fucking insane.
She was safe in her room where no one could touch her. If she dies tonight, her ex-boyfriend and vampiric leech are to blame.
Neel whistles like we’re watching a sporting event instead of a death match. “I’ve never seen a wild wolf fight before. Shit.”
I grind my teeth to keep from speaking my mind.
There’s another word I’d use to describe the carnage in front of me, and it’s not one I dare say aloud. But it’s not my mate that concerns me—her actions, although violent, are a product of who trained her to fight, not because of her nature. It’s the wolf by her side that raises every alarm in my body.
Because Revyn’s fighting goes beyond wild—it’sferal.
And there’s nothing that can save a feral wolf from death.
Not magic.
Not prayer.
Not even a mating bond with the woman he loves.
Chapter 22
Revyn
The unsteady thrumof my heartbeat is drowned out by the steady beat of hers, so solid beneath my fingertips that I can finally take a full breath for the first time in weeks. The moment I capture it, however, I let it go for the promise of Sienna’s lips beneath mine.
For that single, blissful moment, all our problems fade. There’s just me, my mate, and the insatiable need to spend the rest of our lives together.
It’s selfish to want her—I’ve known that since the moment I first set eyes on her. She has decades and decades of life yet to live, and I...
