Chapter 16 Nova
NOVA
Shifting against the cool, magicked sheets, I hissed out a breath.
The temper-charmed spell woven into the fabric of my comforter was always perfectly chilled against my naturally warm body, but right now, nothing was cooling me down.
That Hellfire booze had been a mistake. Sure, it was great because of the lack of hangover, but tingling pinpricks crawled up my spine like a hundred restless fire ants.
It would ease after a couple hours, but although it wasn't painful, it was annoying to wake up to.
I stretched, hoping to shake it off, and my foot nudged something solid behind me… warm, alive. A sleepy groan rolled across the mattress.
“Mmm… warm. Cozy,” Zeth mumbled, his voice dragging with a husky edge.
I froze. My chest went tight. Last night flashed behind my eyes in fractured, heated fragments: his mouth, his hands, his voice growling my name. My teeth caught the inside of my cheek hard enough to sting, anything to keep the sound rising in my throat from escaping.
What the hell did I do? I’d sworn I’d let him go. Let him be free of me and our fucked-up situation. And instead… instead I’d taken him, again and again, until neither of us could move anymore.
A full quiver of sharpened thoughts pierced my soul. What if this wrecked everything we’d built? The friendship and camaraderie? What if he thought he could… treat me the way he did last night in front of the Syndicate? Oh, no! That would not fly.
And what about Lucy? Hell, I didn’t even know where they stood! Had I just let myself become the other woman? Every muscle in my body clenched at the thought. What did he want from me now? What could he possibly have been thinking?!
Even if this was just a fuck, this wasn’t my usual pattern. No clean break. No names forgotten as I left. No spending the night next to him. No neat compartment to shove it in. With him, there were threads, questions, and a thrum in my chest that wouldn’t go quiet.
I dragged my hands over my face and bit back a groan. That's it! No more Hellfire booze. Ever. I was forever off the sauce because, apparently, it turned me into someone reckless enough to chuck every boundary I’d built straight out the damn window.
He stirred again, and I went still, every muscle tense, every sound putting me on edge.
Peeking over my shoulder, my focus softened as I watched him sleep.
Hair a tousled mess, breath even and slow, lips curved faintly, something peaceful and content.
It was the picture of a man who’d fed every appetite to complete satisfaction.
Against my better judgment, a smile tugged my lips.
Even through the chaos in my head, one truth pulsed beneath it… Zeth knew how to fuck. Not just well, devastatingly well. Addictingly well. Dangerously well. I hadn’t felt this wrung-out, this satisfied, in longer than I wanted to admit, if ever.
Who knew he had it in him?
His face scrunched, nose twitching as loose strands of hair brushed his face.
The urge to sweep it back rose before I could stop it.
What harm could it do? Just a touch. Just to keep him asleep.
I needed him to stay asleep while I processed everything.
Plus, he’d worked so hard last night; he deserved the rest.
I slid my fingers into his hair, combing it back in gentle strokes. Silken strands slipped over my skin until something sharp kissed my fingertip. I hissed and drew my hand back, but his soft, sleepy moan caught me. “Nova. Oh… Nova.”
I froze. Heat flushed up my throat as I realized he was still asleep. Was he… dreaming about me? Even after last night's extensive activities? What a little sex beast he was. Maybe it was the demon genes?
Something poked out through his hair. My heart gave a heavy kick, and I leaned closer, pulse hammering in my ears. He moved again, burrowing his face into my pillow and taking a nice big sniff before settling down. The thing rose another half-inch, smooth and wickedly pointed.
No. It can’t be.
I blinked, but the vision didn’t fade. Two deep metallic black stubs, one on each side of his head, poked through his locks. Smooth, tapered to a needlepoint sharp enough to break skin.
Horns. Demon horns.
My whole brain went offline. There were no thoughts—only the desperate need to go.
Trying to be as careful and slow as possible, I slipped from the bed like it was rigged with explosives, heart pounding, every nerve ending screaming for distance. Those were fucking horns… horns that grew when he said my name and smelled my scent!
Snagging a sports bra and leggings from the floor, I practically ran from my room and down the stairs. I quickly scrawled a note for form’s sake and left it on the fridge before I bolted for the back patio.
Dropping the clothes onto the table for when I came back, I took off into the forest naked, knowing that I wasn't going to spend a lot of time in human form. I needed to run. I didn't know where or why, but the act itself would make me calmer.
The moment my bare feet hit the earth, I took off, going zero to sixty in mere seconds. The mountain air cut at my skin, each lungful sharp enough to hurt. Fucking horns.
Demon horns only emerged for their mates.
Did he know? How long had he hidden this from me? Did he know when I confessed to him six years ago? Did he know when he came back? Was it me, my power, my position, that made him hold back? Did he want me and my body, but not the bond?
The questions tangled tighter and tighter until they became a noose. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over. My whole world had been thrown into chaos, but a Rossey didn't cry. No. We pushed through with our strength, got mad, and made the world bend to our will… but I had no idea what that will was.
That familiar heat flared up at my wrist, confusing me even more, but I refused to look at it. To acknowledge it. No. I was going to let all of this fade into the back of my mind. I was going to let her take over and save me from embarrassing myself any further.
My bones cracked and reshaped mid-stride, fur bursting over my skin as my wolf took me, slamming the human voice into silence.
Four paws hit the ground, claws digging into soil, and the world became pure and clean.
Pine and damp earth filled my lungs, the rush of wind in my ears, the pulse of the forest around me.
No Zeth. No horns. No questions. Just the wild, the run, and the single primal beat in my veins.
I didn’t know how long I’d been running, how far I’d gone. I just let my wolf take the reins and do with us what she wanted, letting the peace of not being in control settle my troubled soul.
The fur along my spine prickled.
A presence pressed in at my back, not close enough to hear, not careless enough to snap a twig. Just weight. Attention. It moved when I moved, slipping through brush and hollows with stealth.
I let my stride settle, then veered off the trail without warning. Leaves crunched under my paws as I cut downhill, angling toward the creek. There was nowhere to hide in open water, nowhere to watch without being seen.
If they wanted to keep me in their sights, they’d have to step into the light.
The creek broke through the trees in a flash of blue silver. I tore down the bank and skidded to a stop at the water’s edge, breath burning, heart slamming hard enough to rattle my ribs.
I lowered my muzzle to the stream, letting the cold bite my tongue, letting the surface ripple as if I were nothing more than a thirsty animal.
Beneath the chill of the water, the air thrummed tight and alert. A breeze brushed my ears and lingered.
Then I caught it.
A heartbeat. Steady. Close.
Maybe it was a lost human. Too blind or too arrogant to heed the warnings nailed to the tree line. Maybe it was someone foolish enough to believe four legs and fangs were something they could handle.
My wolf rolled beneath my skin, a pleased rumble vibrating through my chest. Let them try.
I let my shoulders loosen and my stance soften, all the tension bleeding out of me on purpose. Beneath the calm, I reached inward and brushed a thought against my other half. Circle wide. Let’s catch our little shadow.
She moved without hesitation, slipping into the brush behind a jagged boulder that resembled a broken cliff face. We went still.
A muted crunch. A ripple through the air. The fur along my spine lifted, one slow prickle at a time.
Before I could move, the wind turned, and the scent found me.
White musk, warm and living, threaded with heat and wildness. It didn’t just fill my lungs; it sank past bone and blood, straight into the place where my wolf resided. My instincts surged, sharp and aching, tugged forward by an undeniable call.
It pulled at my core, a low summons that bypassed thought and reason alike. Not temptation… more like recognition. As if some part of my soul had lifted its head and gone still, listening.
My breath hitched. My pulse stuttered then roared beneath my skin.
A shadow stepped forward. Black fur caught the sunlight, each ripple of muscle beneath it sleek and fluid. Then I saw the wolf's eyes. Deep, molten brown locked on mine, whispers of forever and secrets traveling between us.
The forest fell away like magic.
The world dissolved into stillness and heartbeats, mine tripping over his. Time didn’t matter, only the distance between us, charged and fragile. My wolf spoke one word in the back of my mind, her tone reverent.
Mate.
The word loosed a shiver that ran down my spine, curling low in my gut. I felt it in my bones, in my breath, in the space between each heartbeat.
Without thinking, I moved toward him. The second my paw pressed into the dirt, he jolted, then ran off in the opposite direction.
That was all the invitation my wolf needed.