Jagged and long, slashing across his stomach.
For a second, I swear it glows gold in the fractured light. I blink, convinced I’m imagining things, but the breeze shifts, throwing shadows across his body before I can be sure.
Alder tilts his head, watching me with mild amusement. His grip is still firm around the branch, but it looks like he’s barely exerting effort.
“Is this how I am to be greeted?” His voice is too casual for someone who just got attacked with a stick. His blue eyes gleam, familiar and yet…not. “With a branch to the head? Or were you aiming somewhere else?”
Heat floods my face, and I yank the stick back with a scowl. I retreat a step, trying to ignore the way my pulse spikes and my gaze stubbornly refuses to stay above his shoulders—but something is off.
I can’t put my finger on it.
I know Alder. I’ve spent years knowing Alder—every smirk, every look, every ridge of that body like a Greek god come to life.
And yet, something about him feels…different.
“You can’t just—” I sputter, waving a hand at him. “For heaven’s sake, why are you naked?”
His grin widens, disarming and boyish, and not quite right. “I’d apologize, but I feel like this says more about your aim than my wardrobe.”
I scowl harder. “That’s not an answer, Alder.”
There’s a second—barely long enough to notice—but his expression shifts. His brows knit together for the briefest moment, a flicker of confusion in his gaze. But then it’s gone.
His smile returns, effortless. “Right. Of course.”
The knot in my stomach tightens.
“As for the, uh, lack of clothing…” He gestures vaguely to himself. “I went for a swim to rinse off. The current swept me down the river a bit, and now I’m a little…lost.”
“A swim?” My voice cracks, and I grip the stick tighter. “You decided now, of all times, was the perfect moment fora swim?”
He shrugs, wet strands of golden hair falling into his eyes as a sheepish smile tugs at his lips. “Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” Embarrassment colors his cheeks, and he clears his throat and takes a deliberate step back, disappearing behind a massive fern.
Something inside me twists. I don’t know why. I should just let it go. But my gut—it’s screaming at me.
“So, let me get this straight.” I force my voice to steady, desperate to ground myself. “You wandered off for a swim, and I’m just supposed to…what? Pretend that’s normal?”
His brows knit together again. There it is—that flicker of hesitation. Barely there. Gone before I can fully process it.
“I wasn’t—”
“Doesn’t matter,” I say quickly, needing this conversation to be over. Needing space from him, from this place, from the twisting wrongness curling inside me. I shake my head, stepping back. “Just…go find somepants.”
He laughs, a low, easy chuckle, and rubs a hand over his jaw like I’ve just said something ridiculous, like we’re sharing some inside joke. Then he flashes me that lopsided grin that makes my stomach flip.
And for the first time since stepping into this forest, I feel real fear.
Not because of where we are. Not because of what’s happened. But because I don’t fully recognize the man in front of me.
His laugh is too easy. Too natural. Too much like Alder…but at the same time, not.
I inhale sharply, forcing logic to override instinct. Of course he’s acting differently—we woke up in some unknown place. He’s rattled. I am too. Who wouldn’t be? And what, I’m suddenly suspicious because he smiled at me and decided to go for a swim to clean his body after a night of drinking and sex?
I need to get a grip.
I turn away before I can talk myself in circles. “I’m taking another minute.”
“Wait!” he calls after me, but I don’t stop.
