Page 53 of Wolf Trial

“That’s the Lainsz in you,” he said with a smirk, kissing my temple as if it was a completely ordinary thing to do, and then moving back. Touch starved as I was, I swayed after him and desperately hoped he didn’t see it.

As if he’d summoned the prick by speaking his name, the cottage door flew open, bringing with it a gust of wind and slicing rain. Great, it was pissing it down outside.

“Is she healed?” he barked at Verne, which was honestly no way to talk to anyone, let alone your pack’s leader.

“She is,” Verne confirmed, his voice as serene as a summer’s day. Lainsz was the thunderstorm that came to ruin the good weather; I gave him an unimpressed look, and when that wasn’t enough, followed up with my middle finger.

“I’ll walk you back,” Lainsz said in a grunt.

“Aw, that’s so kind of you,” I said, pressing a hand to my heart. “You know, you’re really sweet when you want to be, Lainsz. Escorting me back to the academy so no danger can befall me—”

“So you can’t befall any of us,” he muttered. “Call me sweet again; see what happens.”

Energy coursed through me, and I was ready to do just that, to provoke him even though my common sense was howling at me again, but then Leander leaned his head around the open door.

“I’ll take you, Starlight. These two have had time with you today; I’m wasting away, heartbroken here. Take pity on a poor, tragic creature and let me walk you back.”

“A poor, tragic creature,” I repeated, fighting a smile as I rose to my feet, casting around for my coat.

Verne didn’t just retrieve it from the kitchen; he held it out for me to slide my arms into the sleeves. A lump pressed into the thin skin of my throat, the back of my eyes burning.

God, my standards were low. All he’d done was helped me put on a coat.

“Leander can take me,” I said, clearing my throat and looking over my shoulder. “Thank you for healing me. You’re certain I’m not going to keel over from poison now, right?”

“Positive,” Verne confirmed, and skimmed the edge of my jaw with a knuckle before stepping back.

Right. Yep. I needed to clear my throat again, but I refused to show how much that affected me. My head was a mess, full of so many conflicting thoughts that I didn’t know where to begin sorting through them.

“Alianazara,” Verne rushed out when I reached the threshold. “Are you sure we can’t convince you to stay?”

I wanted to. But I was nowhere near ready to commit to this relationship yet, and that was what moving in here would be—commitment.

“It’s my choice,” I said, the words coming out soft.

He could have forced the issue. The three of them could have overpowered me, locked me in one of their bedrooms ‘for my own safety.’ It would have been easy for them; I’d had a grand total of four training sessions, and while I could probably deflect one hand coming at my body, I wouldn’t stand a chance against six. Plus, something told me these three were used to fighting; these were not the bodies of idle men.

Verne didn’t like me walking out of the cottage, but he didn’t push me to stay, didn’t say anything beyond that plea. He accepted me at my word, and it planted the seed that maybe he told the truth. Maybe they weren’t after an obedient wife to pop out kids like shelling peas; maybe it was more about wanting me.

More thoughts piled up in my head, until they began to hammer at my skull. With a muted goodbye, I followed Leander back into the forest.

CHAPTER 29

SADIE

Ididn’t talk much on the return journey, but Leander filled every bit of silence, chattering away as he told me about his parents, his current workout regime, the book he’d finished reading that morning, the pumpkin cake he attempted to make—it almost burned the cottage down—the mug he dropped this morning while making his coffee, and how devastated he was to lose his favourite mug.

He had no filter, I learned, as we walked through the tight winding pathways of the forest back to the academy. I was a veritable stranger to him, but Leander told me his entire life story as we walked, as bubbly and ebullient as a golden retriever puppy. My fear began to break apart, even if I knew the thoughts would return the moment I was alone. It was quite nice not to have to think, to have no pressure on replying because Leander would speak, whether I replied or not.

“Look at this,” he said with a grin, and jumped up to catch the nearest branch, doing a pull-up with no effort whatsoever

“How are you doing that so easily,” I demanded. “You’re just showing off now.”

“Showing off for my beautiful mate? Why yes, I am.”

I waved my hand in dismissal, but my eyes never stayed from the place where his shirt rode up as he did three more pullups, and then jumped down.

“I can teach you,” he offered, green eyes bright.