Chapter 8 #2
In an effort to put distance between me and Revyn, I wander too close to a group of women not bothering to hide their displeasure.
Among them is a familiar face. “Don’t tell me that you actually think someone will mate with you?
” Veronica asks, her nose crinkled with disgust. “What more can you offer than a warm hole to fill?” She flicks sun-soaked hair over her shoulder.
“But please, go ahead and try. Whore yourself out tonight. I’d love to know if the rumors are true. ”
I grit my teeth and take the bait. “What rumors?”
Delighted, Veronica smiles. “That your cunt is as rotten as your soul, wild bitch.”
It takes every ounce of my restraint not to kill her.
Her vital points come into focus with ease, my mind already tracking which spots are vulnerable.
Nearly every inch of her skin is on display, meaning that I have clear access to all of her vital organs, should I wish to.
I match her icy smile with my own. “I’m told wild cunt is sweet as honey.
You can have first taste since you’re so curious. ”
Veronica’s face flushes with anger, but her friends gasp.
I’m surprised she has any left after that stunt she pulled in the trials.
I open my mouth to let them know how shitty their taste in friends is when one of them clutches the other and moans like a bitch in heat.
“Oh, gods. He’s coming this way.” She pulls her shirt lower to show more cleavage and smiles prettily, her pupils dilating.
I roll my eyes. Who in the hells would get that kind of reaction—
An intimately familiar scent washes over me, and I turn to find none other than Revyn sauntering our way.
The roaring bonfire glows behind him, illuminating his physique in a way that’s criminal.
I drag in a breath. The man’s stripped down to show off his body—or drive me insane.
A delicate brush of hair beneath his collarbone trails down his chest and disappears into his waistband.
I drink him in as greedily as the women behind me, unable to help myself, and he grins, the wicked curve of his lips promising every dirty little thought running through my head.
Damn him.
He’s still smiling as he comes to a stop directly in front of me.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
Firelight dances across his skin as he tugs on the string keeping his pants firmly attached to his hips.
Rather than answer, he holds my gaze and continues stripping.
He tosses his shirt at me and kicks off his boots, sighing happily as he stretches his arms over his head and cracks his neck.
Then he winks at me and drops his pants.
Someone whistles. I blush, as furious with him as I am with myself.
Revyn is fucking hot.
His cock swings heavily between his thighs, turning more than a few heads as murmurs erupt in the crowd. A handful of giggles float through the air alongside a few growls that I know are coming from the men.
The double standards for tolerance of wild wolves might be the death of me.
“Seriously?” I throw his clothes to the ground. “Here? Now?” I sweep my arm out to gesture to the many pairs of eyes staring at us. “You’re going to get naked now?”
Holding out his hand, Revyn beams at me, and my heart beats violently at how beautiful he is . . . and how he used to be mine. “Come with me, Sienna.” The dimple in his left cheek makes me want to scream. “Fuck everyone else. Let’s go for a run. You and me.”
Like old times.
I don’t say the words out loud, but I can see them in his eyes. How much he wants this.
How much he wants me.
Taking a step back, I shake my head. “I can’t. You know I can’t.”
A flicker of pain fills his eyes before he blinks it away.
He runs a hand through his hair and pulls the dark strands back from his forehead, the silver streak running through the middle giving away his age more than his body does.
Revyn has always been stacked with muscle, but what stands out tonight are his scars.
Dozens of them, bite marks from other wolves, scratches from thorns as thick as my thumbs, gouges from where I had to pick rubble from his flesh after we took a nasty tumble down a cliff in a thunderstorm. His body is a map of survival—one I know intimately.
And now everyone else is getting a glimpse of what’s mine.
Not mine.
I take a few steps back and tear my gaze away. “Have fun.”
A muscle in his jaw tics as he takes confident strides toward me, swallowing the distance between us in mere heartbeats.
“Sienna—” His voice rakes down my back like claws, and a shiver of desire burns through my body when he grabs my waist and hauls me against his chest. Without waiting for permission—or for me to refuse him—he slams his mouth over mine and growls deep in his chest, the vibration rumbling through my ribcage.
My world collapses into the insistence of his lips, plucking mine with an urgency that sets my heart ablaze. His tongue strokes mine, and his grip tightens when I kiss him back, unable to resist when his body’s feverishly warm and pliant and—
Mine.
I pull back and gasp for air before that word slips free.
Revyn chases my lips, eagerly tasting the word that neither of us dares say. “Sienna,” he rasps, pressing our foreheads together. “I only want you.”
My heart soars only to come crashing down a moment later, splintering into a million sharp pieces that I’ve already attempted to patch back together once. I can’t go through that again.
“I know,” I whisper, smiling despite the ache inside my chest. I curl my fingers around his and pull them off my waist. “I’ll cheer you on, okay? You better win that race.”
The melancholy in his eyes doesn’t fully disappear, but it’s enough for him to fake a smile. “Kiss me at the finish line?”
I give into the moment just a little—just enough to allow us a rare moment of pretend. We can be happy, just for tonight. “How about you sleep in my bed tonight,” I laugh, shaking my head, “if you win.”
His eyes flash silver as a grin spreads across his lips. “Oh, baby. Say more.”
“Say less.”
Chuckling, he shakes his head. “No, say more. I want to know exactly what you plan to do to me tonight.”
For this one, brief moment, we’re back to normal.
The stars shine brightly in his eyes, and I’m tempted to strip down and push him onto his back just so that I can crawl into his lap and feel his body beneath mine.
The heat of our union is always hotter than any fire; even this one, burning brighter than any I’ve ever seen before.
It can’t compare to how Revyn makes me feel.
Like I’m made of fire.
But the moment shatters as someone steps in, their growl deeper than all the others combined. I tremble as Alistair Dire’s glowing eyes meet mine, then cut to Revyn’s with a look so vicious that my heart stops.
This might be a game to Revyn—a fun way to slip back inside my heart—but to everyone else, it’s a matter of life or death.
Shifters don’t come to Heartsflame because they’re looking to party or blow off steam.
They’re running from the jaws of death, every second spent without a mate bringing them one step closer to it.
And we’re mocking their traditions right in front of them.
Alistair looks between me and Revyn, his gaze lingering long enough that Revyn wraps an arm around my waist to stake his claim, as though it isn’t abundantly clear by now.
I quickly pry his fingers off my hip and take a step away from both men.
We don’t want to piss off the entire first-year class on our first night.
“You two are mates?” Alistsair asks, his voice as hard as the mountain range he hails from. His eyes narrow as he spots the scar on my neck.
“Not mates,” I reply, shaking my head. “Just . . . familiar.”
“Intimately familiar,” Revyn drawls, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Alistair. “Walk away, Dire.”
Ignoring Revyn, Alistair turns his body toward mine. My breath catches from the intensity of his gaze, more intimate now than when we were in the courtyard surrounded by strangers. Firelight flickers in his gaze as though looking for something to ignite. “Do you claim him?”
My heart races. Now that I’m enrolled in Heartsflame, Revyn’s presence doesn’t pose as much of a threat as it did during the trials.
We could study side-by-side and watch each other’s backs, the same way we’ve always done.
But he’ll spend every waking moment trying to change my mind about our relationship.
What starts as familiarity will quickly turn into more.
That’s just how it is with us. We can’t toe the friendship line without crossing it.
And I can’t let him stop me from leaving the wilds behind for good.
“No,” I answer. “I don’t claim him.”
Alistair nods, seemingly satisfied. “Then you’ll join us on the run.
” He walks away to address the crowd. “First one to the mountaintop shrine before the moon crests its peak wins the Right of First Choice,” Alistair announces, his voice echoing across the field.
Ripples of power reverberate off each syllable, pulsing against my skin as they try to settle into an alpha command but fall short.
“Whoever comes in last—” A cutting smile curves on his lips.
“—will bed alone during their next heat.”
Tension threads through the crowd as people start stripping in earnest, people forgoing their differences to help each other. Within minutes, everyone is naked except for me and Alistair.
He lifts an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?” My blood heats as his gaze travels down my body. “Afraid that someone will outrun your wild wolf and claim you during your next heat?”
I frown. “They’ll be disappointed if they do.” Before common sense stops me, the truth comes tumbling out. “I don’t go into heat.”