Chapter 30
Forever storms and angry seas,
A winter’s kiss, a chilling breeze.
The nights are long, the days are short,
And magic struggles to be taught.
As new dawn breaks, and time resets,
Those that are gone we must forget.
NURSERY RHYME, 2034 P.O.
Drayven was waiting for me by the arch to the gardens that evening as promised.
He was dressed in loose cotton pants and a cream tunic that clung to his solid frame with every gust of wind that hit him.
It was chilly, but it didn’t look like that bothered him.
In fact, there was a soft mist rising off his body, just like it had on the training ground, as his heat fought the cold night air.
His throat bobbed as I approached. “I’m sorry I didn’t come and see you sooner,” he said. “I wanted to say that earlier, but—”
“It’s fine.” I shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t even notice your absence.” I smiled to let him know I was joking—and hide how much his absence had actually bothered me.
“There was a reason,” Drayven said. “I needed the scent mark to fade just in case I was tempted to mark you again.”
“I do bathe, you know.”
His eyes lit up with amusement. “Scent marks don’t vanish when you wash.
My pheromones sank into your skin. Into your blood.
They became a part of you for a while. Another barghest would also be able to smell the mark.
It would warn him away from you, but to me…
it would be a beacon to get closer and…” He shook his head.
“The temptation to reapply the mark might have been too much.”
“You could have just explained that.”
He looked sheepish. “It’s been busy outside the borders of late. The hunt has been out almost every night.”
Excuses, excuses. I knew enough to understand that if a guy wanted to speak to you, then he’d find a way to do so, despite how busy he might be. But I smiled and nodded and let him lie to me because he didn’t owe me a damn thing.
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me. You don’t owe me anything. In fact, I owe you. You’ve saved my ass a couple of times now.”
“Still, I should have sent a raven.”
Fucksake. “Then why didn’t you?”
He flinched and his shoulders dropped. “Ravens won’t carry a lie.”
“Wait…what? So your whole explanation to me just now was a lie? Wow. Okay.” I turned to leave.
“Ana, wait.” He grabbed my arm, his grip firm but gentle.
“It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth, and a raven would have picked up on that, so sending a message would have been…
difficult. The wording of it all...” He released me but didn’t step away.
“The truth is, scent marks don’t just simply happen.
I was able to use it because my primal half wants you.
” My pulse spiked. He wanted me? “And that is something that cannot happen,” he continued. “I can’t permit it to happen.”
Permission… He taught an advanced combat class, so he was technically a teacher. My heart sank, but I forced my lips to smile. “I get it. I know about the Coterie rule against teacher-student relationships.”
He blinked sharply. “Right. That’s good. Good that you already know.” He cleared his throat. “But I can help you with the grading. I want to.”
I wasn’t here for romance, so a relationship with Drayven had never been on the table. But there was no denying the hollow space that opened inside me at having the option taken away.
“Will you let me help you, Ana? Please.”
Only an idiot would turn down this quality of help. It had nothing to do with wanting to spend one-on-one time with him. “Fine.” I rolled my eyes, injecting a little levity into the moment. “You can help me.”
The tension left his shoulders. “Good.”
He led me through the gardens and into the woodland beyond, saturated with starlight and the floral scent of night blooms. Wildrun Forest was a popular Thrope haunt—or so I’d been told—but it gathered silent and watchful around us tonight, and my instincts told me we were alone.
He stopped a little way in and unbuttoned the top buttons of his tunic.
My gaze dropped to the smooth expanse of silken skin being exposed, and my mouth went dry. “What are you doing?”
“Stripping,” he said. “I’m going to shift and chase you.”
The pulse in my throat throbbed. “Um…okay.” I turned my back on him, face heating because he was getting naked, and I desperately wanted to see.
“You can look if you like,” Drayven said. “Thropes are not ashamed of their bodies. If you make it onto my hunt, you’ll often be surrounded by nakedness.”
Sounded like bliss. I took a breath and faced him, exhaling sharply at the glorious sight before me. He was somehow even larger outside the cage of clothing, his skin a moonlit, silken landscape of muscle and sinew, hard planes and shadowy dips.
Don’t look down. Don’t look down.
Dark skies, I wanted to look down so badly it hurt, but kept my eyes on his face by sheer force of will.
He smiled knowingly. “Come here.”
The rumbly command sent a bolt of heat straight to my core.
“What?” The word came out as a squeak.
A glint of amusement danced in his eyes. “I need to take in your scent.”
“Oh…of course.” I forced my feet forward, stepping into his warmth and breathing in his crisp pine scent. Lickable came to mind.
He leaned in a fraction, inhaling deeply, chest vibrating with a purr. “Mmm, vanilla and…berries and…there you are.”
I swallowed to moisten my mouth. “Is that what I really smell like?” The words slipped out, barley a whisper.
“It’s hard to describe what pheromones smell like. But yours have a sweet undertone.” He pulled back a little, and I froze as his pupils dilated, elongated, then dilated again.
He blinked and took a step away from me, and once again, it took every ounce of willpower not to let my gaze drop to the spot below his Adonis belt.
He cleared his throat. “For the grading, they’ll employ an offensive Horror, so most likely one that will want to hunt you. They may have already provided their constructs with your scent.”
“Wait, how would they do that?”
“Domestic probably took a small item of your clothing, something you sent to laundry.”
I was missing a sock, but didn’t socks always go missing?
“Echoes and wood weavers are both fast on land,” Drayven continued. “The Echo you will see coming. The wood weavers you won’t. You’re fast, but so am I. Outrun me, and you might have a chance to outrun the Horror and Echoes.”
“Don’t I have to fight them?”
“Without access to the Weave, you can’t wield a rift blade like the others. It won’t channel the power you need, so your only option is to survive. Your only defense will be evasion.”
And Sterling knew this. He fucking knew and was probably already celebrating my potential humiliation and all the nasty injuries I’d come back with. I couldn’t control what happened during the grading, but I could damn well make sure I walked out of it on my own two feet.
“Okay. Let’s do this. Do I get a head start?”
“As long as it takes me to shift. Elude me and make it back here to this log”—he pointed to where his clothes were neatly piled on a fallen tree—“and consider it a win.”
His body rippled as he began to shift.
I turned and ran.
* * *
There was nothing quite like the freedom of running, but not so much while being chased, although, knowing that it was Drayven doing the chasing excited me. Minutes blurred together as I wove through the trees, putting distance between us.
His growls, the heavy thud of his paws against the earth behind me, and the rasp of his breath sent tingles through me.
This was new.
Exhilarating.
I wanted him to catch me. To pin me to the fragrant earth and—
My boot caught on a root. I stumbled and hit the ground, but managed to scramble up and dash—just in time to avoid being pinned by his bulk as he pounced onto the spot I’d been just a moment ago.
My pulse spiked, and his laughter rang out behind me. “That was close.”
“Close isn’t good enough!”
I dropped my chin and pushed harder. The sound of rushing water reached my ears.
There was a river nearby. If I crossed it, then I’d throw him off my scent.
I headed toward the sound and spotted the gleaming body of water through a break in the trees a moment later.
It didn’t look too wide, and hopefully wouldn’t be too deep either.
I burst from the tree line and splashed straight into the river. Water climbed up my calves, but I was out before the icy temperature could make too much of an impact on my skin. I dashed into the trees ahead, veering left to circle back upriver.
The sounds of pursuit faded, and by the time I crossed upriver, they’d stopped altogether.
Ha, he’d totally lost my scent.
I dropped from a sprint to a jog the closer I got to the edge of the woods, the garden coming into view. The log with Drayven’s clothes piled on it sat ahead, and triumph bloomed in my chest—if I could outrun a barghest, then—
A large, shadowy form pounced at me from the right.
Drayven!
I froze for a fraction too long—just enough time for him to sweep me off my feet and roll with me in his arms.
His arms…
He’d shifted mid-air.
I landed hard on my back with him on top of me, his thick thigh between mine, his body caging me. Our breath mingled, hot and heavy as our gazes tangled—melting, molding. I wanted to taste his mouth. To devour it.
I reached up to touch him before I could stop myself, my fingers tracing the firm shape of his parted mouth, pressing down on his bottom lip until he exhaled a soft hiss. His tongue flicked over my finger, and a lash of heat licked at my core.
I pulled my hand away, breathing hard past the sudden constriction in my chest and the powerful urge to offer him my mouth.