Chapter 16
Tenebrys stood on his balcony and glared at the rising moon. It was sacred to both shifters and fae, and it sent all of them into blacked-out rage spirals if they weren't careful.
The gateways were the easiest to pass through without assistance from a stronger fae, so there was a sentry posted at every one of them. Felix and Tenebrys usually patrolled between them all in case they needed backup.
Seven shifters for five gateways. They couldn't last against the fae in the long term, especially if the number of raiders trying to get through kept multiplying.
Tenebrys should have been out in the woods, but knowing the fae were looking for Delphi made it impossible to leave her alone. His knot throbbed incessantly, and he couldn't risk being around her either. Not like this.
He hadn't been able to stand being in the same room as her, and that was before the moon rose.
Delphi had been upset when he had arrived, and his short fuse only made it worse. She was just so beautiful and stubborn. He didn't know whether to shake her or kiss her in sheer frustration.
It was physically impossible for him to hurt his mate, but he had used his temper as a weapon for so long, he didn't know how to be gentle anymore.
He should have told her what that blasted fae had said about looking for her. Maybe then she would have understood why threatening to leave had made him feel so unhinged.
"Dark goddess Rosemerta, why did it have to be her that you chose as my mate?" he asked the sky. He wanted to hate Delphi so much, but the mating bond and seeing how different she was from her parents was making it impossible.
You never should have brought her here. The thought sent a sharp stabbing pain in his gut. He wasn't capable of hating her or sending her away. It felt like the goddess really did hate him.
Or Rosemerta is trying to teach you something, his mother's voice echoed in the back of his mind.
She would always tell him that whenever things didn't go his way.
Maela was devoted to the Lady of Life and Death and had always tried to drill into him that everything in life had a cycle of both light and dark.
Maybe Delphi wasn't going to be another curse, but a blessing, if he let himself dare to think of it that way.
Tenebrys sighed. He needed to go and talk to her, apologize for snapping at her and explain how the full moon made shifters crazier than normal.
Tenebrys was about to turn away from the balcony when something flickered in the corner of his eye. Someone was in the old gardens, creeping along the path and moving toward the main road where the old perimeter wards used to be.
His claws unsheathed, a low growl breaking free from his throat. The figure turned, and Tenebrys saw the unmistakable outline of Delphi's face.
Fury turned to fear, igniting Tenebrys's veins. She reached the main road and stared at the woods. She was leaving him.
"No," he snarled and leaped off the side of the balcony.
Tenebrys landed in the overgrown garden and tore his way through it. He stopped for the barest second when he smelled Delphi's blood. His senses flared, his night vision growing brighter.
Crimson drops still clung to a bramble with a small blood trail. A scream of panic cut through the night.
"Delphi..." Tenebrys ran, his claws tearing up clumps of earth as he raced toward the sound. In moments, he hit the remains of the paved road, and the putrid, sweet stench of fae mingled with Delphi's blood and fear.
He ran faster, and the only thing that stopped him from going berserk was that they were heading in the opposite direction from the gateway. If they got through it, he would never see Delphi again.
Tenebrys could smell fae blood and heard a voice, high-pitched and taunting, through the trees.
"You'll pay for this," one fae said, looking at his wounded arm.
Delphi held a bloody dagger in front of her with a dangerous look in her eye. "Touch me again and you'll fucking regret it."
Another fae laughed gleefully. "How fun! Looks like our master's new kitten has claws."
"She's not your master's kitten," Tenebrys snarled low from the shadows. The laughing fae turned only to have Tenebrys's claws tear the smile off his face.
Berserker blackness narrowed his vision, and he attacked the fae raiders with all the rage and fear pulsing through him. One was fast enough to race behind Delphi, grabbing her around the throat in the confusion.
"Don't come any closer, or I'll—" it began.
Delphi's foot came down on its knee, shattering it with one blow. It screamed and released her. Delphi didn't give it a chance to grab her again. She turned and ran into the trees.
Tenebrys roared, cutting down the two fae he had been fighting. He closed in on the one crawling away, its wounded leg hanging behind it.
"Wait! I have information! I can bargain," he said as Tenebrys closed in on him.
"You touched my mate. There is no bargaining," Tenebrys said and tore its head from its shoulders.
He tossed it aside and focused on the forest, searching for the direction Delphi had gone. She was running the wrong way, and he hurried to catch up to her. There were a lot more than raiders in the forest that could hurt her.
Tenebrys caught sight of her trying to get around a fallen tree. He could smell her sweat and adrenaline.
Prey, his animal mind said.
Tenebrys landed on the trunk of the tree, making Delphi scream before he pounced on her, pinning her to the ground.
"Oh, gods, Tenebrys. Fuck, they were trying to kill me," she panted.
"You were running away," he growled, and her eyes widened.
"I promise I wasn't going to leave the grounds! I was going back when they ambushed me, and I had no choice but to run into the woods."
Tenebrys couldn't form any more words, couldn't think straight. He was mad and relieved that he got to her in time. The fae could have taken her away from him forever. The full moon madness swept over him again.
Tenebrys smelled blood and started to pat her down.
"I'm not hurt," she whispered.
He lifted the skirt of her dress and stared at the red lines of broken skin from the thorns and from running through the woods. Tenebrys made a distressed sound before leaning down and licking the blood on her calf.
Delphi whimpered. "T-Ten...you don't need to do that... I'm okay."
She tried to move her leg, but his fingers fastened around it in an iron grip. He growled low and deep in warning. She stopped trying to move.
"Okay. Okay," she whispered. "I won't move."
Clever prey. Tenebrys licked at her wounds again, the magic in her blood fizzing against his tongue.
Delphi didn't try to stop him from cleaning the blood off one leg up to her knee. He licked behind it, his eyes fixed on hers. She bit her lip, smothering a little moan.
Hurt? his beast mind asked.
No. She wasn't afraid of him. He would have been able to smell it. Curious, he brushed his tongue behind her knee again. Something sweet and mouthwatering filled his senses, and it took him a moment to realize what it was. Arousal.
Delphi was aroused by him licking her. Surprise had the beast in him pulling back for a moment, long enough for Tenebrys to look at her clearly. Her pupils were dilated, her lips open and panting softly. He carefully put her leg back down.
Delphi didn't move, didn't say stop as he held his palm out toward her, waiting. If she tried to move away or said no, he would respect that despite the desire burning in his blood and the moon fucking with his head.
Delphi stared at him, bit her full lip, and then lifted her other leg and placed it in his outstretched palm.