THORN
My footsteps thud dully across the worn temple floor as I pace beneath the moonlight flooding through the open ceiling of the temple.
The priest’s voice drones on about rules and boundaries, something about the sacred power of touch and how that sense reveals what words cannot.
I’ve heard it all before, nine years in a row, every damn season.
But tonight isn’t just another trial. Tonight might actually mean something.
My jaw clenches as he lists off the types of objects laid out at the far end: feathers, floggers, oils, and ropes. The young ones gawk and giggle. Let them re-enact their fantasies. I’m not here for the games. I’m here for her.
The priest finally gives the command. “Blindfolds on. Find your mate. Touch your mate.”
I put the silk blindfold over my eyes, inhaling deep, attempting to calm the thrum of energy coursing through me.
Jasmine and cedarwood. That’s what I’m hunting for. That scent, burned into my memory like a brand.
The temple erupts with movement. The couples waste no time. Bare skin slaps bare skin. Moans and groans, soft giggles, guttural growls. The air grows thick with arousal and musk. I ignore it all.
I move slow, and deliberate. One lap around the room. I extend my hand, fingertips grazing arms, shoulders, chests — not hers. None of them are her.
Two laps. My heart starts to pick up speed. I sniff again, deeper this time. Still nothing. Maybe the scent’s hidden in all the noise. Maybe she’s waiting, testing me, or is she playing coy?
Three laps and still nothing.
A knot tightens in my stomach. Where is she?
My stride lengthens. My control thins. I do the one thing we’re not supposed to do, I break the sacred rule and partially shift within the temple.
Just my snout. Just enough for my senses to sharpen.
I’m desperate now, willing to risk punishment if it means finding her, my mysterious jasmine-scented mate.
And there, faint, like smoke on the edge of a dying fire, I smell her.
I follow it toward the edge of the room, weaving between bodies lost in their own rituals. My hand brushes the stone wolf head at the temple’s threshold. Her scent grows stronger, driving me farther out of the temple. My heart falls. She’s not here in the temple.
My snout shifts back as despair crashes over me like a winter tide. My chest hollows out. I’m ridiculous. What a fool. I actually believed in this; I wanted this too much.
Did she find someone else?
Did I misread everything? Was it the scent that tricked me? Or maybe ... maybe she doesn’t believe in this, doesn’t believe in me.
I spin, trying to regain my footing in this spinning room, darkness still clouding my vision behind the blindfold. I need to get out of here.
But then, a warm body collides into my chest. The scent of sweet jasmine tickles my nostrils. Her.
She lets out a breathy gasp, “Oh my … I’m sorry—”
“You’re late.” It comes out rougher than I mean it to. A growl beneath my breath. I’ve waited for her all night and now that she’s before me, I’m scolding her.
She takes a slow breath, her voice shaky. “I know. I—I got … delayed.”
The wolf inside me wants to demand to know why. Why risk missing it? Didn’t this mean something to her too? But I don’t get the chance.
The priest behind us announces the end of the trial. “This concludes the trial of Touch. Return to your quarters, be sure to visit the bath house before tomorrow’s trial — Taste.”
My stomach sinks. Interrupted again. It’s over.
“Shit,” she whispers, “I missed the whole thing.”
I should pull away. I should leave her here and let her feel what I felt just minutes ago. Abandonment. Doubt.
But I can’t.
Instead, I lean into her warmth, slipping down to her neck. Her body molds into mine like we were made for this. My nose finds the crook of her neck and I inhale her scent. Home.
My anger dissolves into want.
She shivers in my arms.
“You’re lucky,” I murmur against her skin. “Rest up. Because tomorrow…” I let my lips graze the shell of her ear, “I get to Taste.”
A deeper quiver racks through her, and something primal inside me howls in satisfaction.
But I pull back. I have to. Because if I stay another second, I’ll take her right here against the temple doors while the priest watches.
I force my hands to drop away from her skin, steel myself from her warmth, and walk around her. With each step, I tell myself I’ll see her again. This time, I guarantee she’ll be waiting for me.