THORN
The bath feels colder now that she’s gone. The thick steam that once cloaked the room in mystery seems to dissipate, leaving only awkward boners and silence and the faint scent of lemon and eucalyptus. The warmth she carries with her, the weight of her gaze, it’s all gone.
Steele exhales through his nose as the glass doors click shut behind her. “She’s hot.”
I glance over, jaw tightening. “She has a name.”
“I love that she even trims her bush,” he says with an infuriating grin. “No one even bothers to do that anymore. It’s bush central up in here.”
“Don’t tell me you’re another one of those obsessed with having a virgin,” I mutter, disgust coiling in my gut. No matter how many times I push the legitimacy of the trials, these males never change.
“Oh no,” he grins wider. “It’s that tight ass. I wouldn’t mind mating that for a season or two. Longer, if she’ll let me.”
“I just threw up in my mouth,” I deadpan.
“She doesn’t intrigue you? I saw the googly eyes you were making at her.”
“I do not make googly eyes.” Gods, was that what I was doing? Something passed between us just now …
“If you say so.” Steele shrugs.
“I’m not going to pretend that she’s not beautiful. But I have a true mate. I’d rather have a true mate than a dozen meaningless flings.”
He snorts. “You find a mate? I’ll believe it when I see it.”
I rise from the water, shaking the droplets off my skin. “We’ll just have to see what the Chase has in store.”
“Indeed,” Steele says, leaning back against the water with a shark-like grin. “But let’s not kid ourselves. Ember’s going to be the prize of the season.”
“She’ll be someone’s prize, but definitely not yours.” Then I leave my packmate to think on that by himself.
The tension that had electrified the steam dissipates into hollow silence. I’m ascending the stairs, still chewing on Steele’s words.
His comments don’t sit right with me.
Everyone is out for Ember because of her looks, or her virginity.
Because she’s rare. A conquest. No one is paying attention to what really matters.
Like the way, she’s smart-mouthed, or how she pauses before each staircase like she dreads them.
Then there’s the fact that she’s fiercely protective of her brother.
It’s those things they should be looking for.
Not at her ass that will droop in a few years.
These trials are supposed to find mates, not trophies. It’s not about looking for a warm body until the next season. It’s wrong, females are not a prize to be won.
A sudden snarl tears through the corridor.
“You. Bitch.”
The venomous words catch my attention, and I sprint up the stairs, instincts crackling to life.
At the top, a storm is breaking loose. Ember is mid-lunge, claws extending toward a small, silver-haired female whose eyes are wide with terror.
No bloodshed in the temple is one of the most sacred rules.
Alpha instincts kicking in, I grab hold of Ember mid-air, wrapping my arms tight around her torso before she can shred the female to ribbons. She kicks and snarls in my arms.
The Great Lakes pack female looks like she might cry when she looks at me with her wide blue eyes. “Oh, Alpha Thorn, thank you for saving me.” The female peers up at me through her silver lashes.
“She’s gone absolutely feral.” A tall female with dark hair nods beside her, placing a comforting arm on her shoulder. “Thank you for saving us, Alpha Thorn.”
“Go,” I order, holding a feral Ember tight to my chest, ushering the crowd of girls down the steps. They scatter fast, footsteps clamoring down the stone steps.
Ember continues to twist and writhe against me, “Put me down,” she growls.
“Only if you promise to behave,” I chide.
“I’ll tear you to shreds in that bitch’s place.”
“I know tempers run high during the trials, but you have to keep a level head.”
Her claws rake down my abs. Surprised, my grip loosens just enough for her to stomp hard on my foot, twist, and elbow me in the ribs. I grunt, stagger back, and she breaks free. This tiny female actually got one over on me.
“I said put me down,” she growls again, voice trembling with fury and something else.
She falls to the floor, grabbing her shell that’s now in two pieces and holds them close to her chest. Without another word, she runs up the steps.
Automatically, my eyes follow her. That’s when I notice her hair is no longer swishing from side to side as she ascends, it’s sheared off at her shoulders.
I glance down to find the tendrils of her auburn hair on the floor.
Gods. I thought I was stopping a fight. But maybe… just maybe, I had the scene all wrong.
Could the girls have been the instigators of this interaction? This is the second time I’ve encountered Ember in a face-to-face brawl with someone. There’s one common denominator, and it has to be her. Right?
Gods, why am I still thinking about Ember? Trying to figure her out? I obviously already have a mate. It’s just that something is very different this trial and I have to forget about Ember and find my mate again because tonight…
Tonight, I get to taste her.