Chapter 2
Sienna
I run as fast as my legs will carry me, fighting the primal urge to shift with every ragged breath in my lungs.
Reuniting with Revyn is the worst possible scenario.
If we both pass the trials and gain admittance to the academy, we’ll be placed in the same first-year classes.
Hell, the same dorms. A wave of heat rolls down my spine as I imagine him throwing his body at me, insistent that we’re made for each other and convinced that he can prove it with a confident smirk, a sharp flash of fangs, and a cock that’s so fucking thick—
Groaning, I slam my fists against the rough bark of a dead tree and fight the warmth pooling between my thighs. No. I’m not going there with him. Not again. Not ever.
He doesn’t fucking deserve any part of me after everything he did.
I swallow hard, rethinking that statement as I drag my body past the tree line and nearly stumble into the lake that edges the forest. My reflection glares back at me from the water’s smooth surface, my jaw tense and my hair little more than a dark tangle of knots.
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I take a deep breath and amend my previous thought.
No shifter alive deserves me, but especially not Revyn.
An annoying voice in my head argues against it, citing the fact that he did travel the realm and follow me into the academy’s entrance trials despite its perils.
I grit my teeth and kick gravel into the lake with the toe of my boot, shattering my reflection.
It doesn’t matter what he does that tips the scales in his favor.
He could serenade me by moonlight and kiss me until dawn, but none of it would make a difference.
Neither of us can give each other what we truly want without sacrificing our own desires, and wild wolves are notoriously selfish.
In the end, one of us will always lose.
Gentle waves lap the shoreline as I walk the water’s edge, careful to stay on the dirt path as I tune out the nagging voice in my head.
I don’t sense anyone or anything nearby, but that doesn’t mean something isn’t masking its presence.
A hundred or so candidates entered the trials, and after such a short time within them, there have to be a few dozen remaining at least. But how large is the arena?
I squint up at the orb of light in the sky, noticing its dimming hue as the seconds tick by. What began as a slow, inconsequential crawl ramps up as the seconds turn to minutes, and the orb dims at an accelerated rate.
Shit. They’re toying with time, too. If I’m going to prove myself to the judges, I have to act fast before time runs out and I’m back where I started: wandering the wilds with an obsessed alpha wolf riding my ass and making promises he can’t keep.
A shriek pierces the air and echoes across the lake.
I snap my head up to witness a very naked, very human Veronica jabbing a half-man, half-fish with a sharp stick.
He snaps the stick in half and pulls her into the murky water, a second of his kind appearing by his side to grab Veronica’s arms and pull her into the deep.
Serves the bitch right for abandoning her friends.
There’s a struggle as she thrashes, a wolf’s paw breaking through the water’s surface and one of the creatures braying with pain. I watch from a safe distance before a nagging thought in the back of my mind forces its way to the front.
If I save her, whichever shifter on the council pities her might favor me.
Fuck.
Sprinting to the other side of the lake, I force my aching fingertips to shift back into claws and leap for the closest fish man.
My claws bounce off his rubbery skin and he snaps his wide jaw, two rows of sharp teeth coming dangerously close to my face.
I shout as I plunge my fist into his guts, targeting the softest part of his belly.
Mud squelches around us as we slam into the ground, and I twist my wrist to shred his insides.
“Ha!” Adrenaline warms my blood. The thrill of the fight quickly motivates me to swing harder—strike faster—and tear through his body until his flesh shreds between my fingers.
His lifeless eyes and slack jaw are the only reason I move on, pulling my hands from the hole in his chest and mentally preparing myself for a swim.
Thankfully, there’s no need.
Bone snaps mere feet away, and the wolf fighting for its life resurfaces from the lake with a pale blue arm clenched in its jaw.
Veronica drops the limb and splashes through the water, yelping as she prances to the shore.
Once freed from the water’s clutches, she slides through the mud until she’s back on dry land.
She shifts back in seconds, her voice shrill as she cries out.
“Ew, ew, ew!” Spitting, she wipes green blood from her mouth and dances in place like she’s stomping cockroaches beneath her feet. “That’s disgusting!”
I rinse my hands in the water as best I can, but I have to agree with her.
Everything about this area smells like rot.
A putrid stench wafts from the muddy shores.
Crinkling my nose, I hold my breath as I wade out of the water.
“We should keep moving. There could be more of them.” I’m not keen on meeting the fish men’s leader.
Veronica’s head snaps up like she’s only just noticed that I exist. “Who the hell are you?” Her nostrils flare as she scents me.
With a warning growl, she backpedals away.
Dirty strands of hair cling to her body, the mud streaking her torso hiding a few lingering scratches that have yet to heal.
“Get the fuck away from me, wild bitch!”
My jaw clenches. I keep my claws out. “I helped you kill those things.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you did.” She bares her teeth at me, looking half a second away from shifting into her wolf form and tearing me limb from limb.
“Go drown your fucking self.” Rather than turn her back to me, she backsteps away and runs for the trees, disappearing into the woods within a few heartbeats.
I glare at her retreating figure as it weaves through the trees and blurs in the distance. “Fuck you too, then.” Turning my face to the sky, I glare at the ball of light next. “You see that?” I toss my hand toward the woods. “You gonna let her into the academy?”
The light dims as if to mock me.
I should have left Veronica to die.
Grumbling under my breath, I carefully unstick my feet from the muck and follow the shoreline to a creek up the bend.
River rocks smoothed over time are soft under my feet as I plunge into the cool waters and scrub my body, using coarse sand to remove as much of the blood and bog stank as possible.
The glowing orb overhead dims even more, magically turning the bright morning into late afternoon.
I chuff at the unfairness of the academy’s tricks.
At this rate, less than half of the entrants for this year will pass .
. . unless that’s by design. It’s possible that spots have already been filled with legacies and highest bidding families, leaving the rest of us to fight for what few coveted seats remain.
If I’m lucky, I’ll claim the last one and leave Revyn outside the academy’s wards.
With enough time, he might finally grow bored of me and move on to other prospects—not that there are many for wild wolves.
There’s a reason there are so few of us, and it has less to do with the dangers of the wilds and more to do with the fact that few shifters would ever leave their pack to mate with one.
Wild wolves aren’t known for having long life spans.
I stare at a strip of sunlight flickering on the water.
If alphas like Thaddeus Dire didn’t hunt us and the wilds weren’t riddled with dangers, we’d live long, happy lives like everyone else.
Instead, we’re hunted by anyone brave enough—or foolish enough—to venture from pack lands in search of glory, or whatever it is they’re seeking.
Closing my eyes, I take a breath and wonder what it’s like to be on the other side. I lost my pack before I could appreciate it, and now I crave one more than anything.
Will it be everything that I’ve hoped for, or will I long to run back into the wilds and escape?
A low whistle carries on the wind, bringing Revyn’s scent with it. “If I’d known how good you look wet, Sienna—” I spin around to find him tucked beneath the shade of a nearby tree, his onyx eyes glittering as his gaze travels the length of my body. “Hey, gorgeous. You still mad at me?”
My breath catches as my gaze rakes down his naked torso.
Heat blossoms beneath my skin as his eyes flare, and a slow, sinful curve falls across his lips.
He knows how easily he can get under my skin.
Damn him. The eight-inch scar on his thigh has healed well, and the twitching appendage hanging between his legs looks exactly as I remember it: dangerously tempting—which is precisely why I tried to cut the damn thing off.
His cock swells from the attention, proudly showing off the vein that runs from root to tip beneath the head, and a distant memory of Revyn’s heartbeat on my tongue makes my pulse jump.
The last thing I need is for him to think I’ve missed him—or his dick.
I tear my gaze away but land mere inches above, eyeing the dark trail leading to his navel, then surveying his scarred abs before I finally shut my eyes to block him out.
That only lasts a second because he’ll take advantage of any opportunity to catch me off guard, and I’m not about to give him one.
I stare at his arrogant mouth and avoid all other parts of him.
“If you killed the vampire, you could have at least taken his clothes,” I hiss, blowing out a breath.
The vampire had a leaner build, so there’s no way Revyn could have buttoned anything even if he had put on the other man’s clothes, but walking around the trials butt naked is a fucking choice.
His grin turns wolfish. “And deny you the pleasure of scenting me?”
I flip him off and walk the other way. The low rumble under his breath sends a wave of heat through my body.
I block him out as best I can and continue moving, but he keeps pace with me easily, studying me instead of our surroundings.
If there were any nearby threats, his presence alone likely scared them off.
At this rate, we might both fail the trial.
Revyn scratches the facial hair along his jaw and stretches bronzed arms over his head like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
His hair has gotten longer since I last saw him, the lone silver streak brushed back from his forehead while the rest curls long past his ears.
Were he in a pack, he would have mated decades ago and sired multiple heirs by now.
As it stands, he’s walking a dangerous path of solitude that should have gotten him killed before we ever met.
Yet he persists, stubbornly clinging to the life he’s been given and making the most of it.
I envy his self-assuredness, though I would never admit it.
The worst part might be that he genuinely doesn’t care about the admittance trials to Heartsflame; if he did, he would have secured his seat before coming to find me.
The fact that he’s in my hair instead of watching from the boundary line speaks volumes for his intentions.
He isn’t here for the academy; he’s here for me.
His voice echoes in my head—I’m not going anywhere, Sienna—and my traitorous heart stumbles. It’s not romantic; it’s obsessive.
At least, that’s what I try convincing myself.
I stop in my tracks and take a shallow breath, ignoring the way my chest tightens at his scent.
In human form, I can handle the taste of summer sun and salted earth wafting off him without falling into submission, but it’s near impossible in wolf form.
If I’m going to survive these trials and secure my entry into Heartsflame, neither of us can shift or I’m fucked.
Which means that he’s going to be naked the entire time.
Great.
“Something wrong?” His fingertips trail my forearm as we come to a stop. “If you want to go after the vampire, he’s not far. I left him at a crossing a few miles that way.” He nods to our left. “Killing him would earn us both spots.”
“He’s strong?” I lift my brow. “How can you tell?”
Revyn’s smile is dirtier than it has any right to be. “Kiss me, and I’ll tell you.” My heart skips a beat, and Revyn fucking smirks as his eyes flick to my lips.
“Fuck off,” I growl, shoving him away from me. “You have no right to any part of me, asshole.” I stomp through the mud and pretend he isn’t following me, but that only lasts as long as it takes him to catch up. Five point three seconds, which means that he gave me a head start.
“Sienna—”
“Don’t.”
“You never let me explain.”
“I’m not interested in excuses.”
His bare feet sink in the mud as he stalls and watches me walk away.
I don’t need to catch his reflection in the water’s edge to see the pinch of his full lips or the flush on his cheeks; I’ve seen it all before when I caught him in the lie in the first place.
My heart aches anew with each heavy beat, the ringing in my ears turning shrill as my mind wanders back to that day.
I never used to be this blistering inferno of resentment, but as much as the pack Alphas are to blame for my misery, so is Revyn.
Where they wronged me by rejection, he wronged me by omission, and losing my trust is what got us into this mess.
If he’d been honest with me from the start, we might still be together.
A spark of longing stirs inside my chest, but I stamp it out as quickly as possible.
Becoming anyone’s mate is out of the question.
I won’t be someone’s accessory to get into a pack; I need to earn it.
Taking Revyn as a mate is even worse; we’ll both be rejected from any pack we approach.
All I get for mating Revyn is . . . the man himself.
In another life, that would be enough.
All we’re doing now is breaking each other’s hearts.
I look at the man I once loved and harden my heart.
He might not be whispering sweet promises in my ear like he used to, but it’s only a matter of time before he starts up again.
If crossing the realm didn’t put enough distance between us for a breakup, then fine.
Fine. If he wants a confrontation, he’s getting one.
Stopping in my tracks, I scan the area for threats one more time before turning to face him. I can’t sense anything nearby. We may as well be alone, like always, exactly how he likes it.
Just the two of us on a crash course to damnation.
Surprise flickers across his features for a split second before he masks it. “What’s u—”
I smash my fist into his roguishly handsome face.