Chapter 23 Hunter’s Moon #4
"Of course he's jealous," Aeolus said with a knowing smile before Lucas could answer.
He leaned forward, his silver-white hair falling forward to frame his face.
"Just as I feel territorial about what we've shared.
The difference is that I find the jealousy itself.
.. intriguing." His stormy eyes studied Lucas with newfound interest. "It adds spice to the connection. "
Lucas's lips curved in a half-smile that showed just a hint of sharpened canine.
"Oh, I'm jealous," he admitted. "The wolf in me wants to claim you completely, to mark you as mine alone.
" His fingers traced the curve of my hip with possessive intent.
"But he also understands that you're not a wolf shifter yourself.
You're an elemental, too complex to be bound by ordinary constraints. "
I studied his face in the moonlight, appreciating his honesty and the depth of understanding behind it. Most men, human or supernatural, would struggle with the concept of sharing someone they desired. Yet Lucas approached it with pragmatism.
"And if I told you that what I feel for Aeolus is different but equally powerful?" I asked, testing his limits.
"I'd be disappointed if it weren't," Aeolus interjected, his fingers creating small whirlwinds of air that danced across my skin like caresses.
"We aren't interchangeable parts, Phoenix.
What you find in me—" he gestured elegantly at himself, "—is quite different from what our wolf offers. As it should be."
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, but his eyes remained steady on mine. "I'd say that I expected as much. The connection you formed at the spring. It's visible to those of us attuned to such things. Like seeing heat shimmer in the air between you."
Lucas traced a pattern on my skin, following the curve of my flame-script.
"But I'd also say that wolves are territorial by nature.
We don't share easily, but I can learn." His fingers paused at my collarbone.
"Your heart is large enough for many connections, each serving a different purpose.
I don't need to be your only. Just your anchor when the storm comes. "
The sincerity in his voice touched something deep within me, a place that had been lonely for longer than I could remember. In my countless lives, I'd had lovers, companions, even those who claimed to worship me, but few who simply accepted me as I was, with all my complexities and contradictions.
"And what about Ryu and Taranis?" I asked, partly teasing but also genuinely curious about the boundaries of his acceptance. "They are also my guardians, so I'm linked to them by fate, even if nothing else ever develops."
Lucas snorted, a surprisingly wolf-like sound.
"Dragons hoard what they desire, and Ryu desires you.
That much is obvious. He'd keep you locked in his volcanic lair if he could.
" His fingers continued their idle tracing of my flame-script.
"As for Taranis... he's too controlled, too analytical to admit what he feels.
But I've seen how he watches you when he thinks no one notices. "
"The dragon will be the most difficult to manage," Aeolus agreed, resting his chin on my shoulder to join the conversation.
"Ryu's possessiveness runs deep, and he lacks our.
.. adaptability." His lips quirked in amusement.
"Taranis, however, is more complex than he appears.
Beneath all that scholarly control lies passion rarely tapped.
When it emerges..." he made a gesture like an explosion with his fingers, "quite spectacular, I imagine. "
I laughed softly at their assessment. "You've both been paying close attention."
"A wolf always knows the dynamics of his pack," he replied simply. "Even when it's not technically his pack."
We lay in comfortable silence for a moment, my head resting against Lucas's chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart.
The golden patterns on his skin had faded, returning to their source beneath my own.
Outside our secluded alcove, the night air carried distant sounds of the corrupted villagers moving through the forest, a reminder of the confrontation that awaited us.
"They'll know," Aeolus said softly from behind me, his own skin still faintly marked with traces of my flame-script. "Ryu will smell us on you."
"Does that bother you?" I asked, genuinely curious.
Aeolus smiled, a flash of mischief in his storm-gray eyes.
"This fae understands complicated relationships better than most. Different connections serve different purposes.
" He stretched like a contented cat, his lithe body catching the moonlight.
"Besides, the dragon's reaction might be worth witnessing simply for the entertainment value. "
"And Desmond?" I couldn't help asking, thinking of the gentle bear shifter who'd already formed such a profound bond with me.
"Bears are surprisingly adaptable creatures," Aeolus replied with a knowing smile. "More so than wolves, I'd wager."
Lucas growled playfully at the jab. "Watch yourself, fae."
"Or what?" Aeolus challenged with a raised eyebrow, his fingers trailing up Lucas's arm where my flame-script had left its temporary mark.
"You'll huff and puff and blow my house down?
Wrong fairy tale, Wolf." Despite the teasing words, there was no real antagonism in his tone, just the playful banter of rivals who had found unexpected common ground.
"Oh, please," I rolled my eyes, looking between them. "If you two start marking territory, I'm leaving you both here."
Aeolus's lips quirked into that maddening half-smile. "I don't mark territory, Phoenix. I simply... influence it."
"Is that what you call it?" Lucas muttered, but there was a reluctant amusement in his voice.
"Better than howling at the moon," Aeolus countered, flicking an invisible speck from his arm.
I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me. "By the eternal flame, you're worse than hatchlings."
"He started it," they said in unison, then glared at each other.
"And I'm finishing it," I declared, standing up and looking around for my clothing. "We have a world to save, remember?"
"Such a shame," Aeolus sighed, summoning his clothes back into existence. "Just when things were getting interesting." He shot Lucas a look that contained equal parts challenge and invitation. "Perhaps we'll have opportunity to... explore these dynamics further between bouts of saving the world."
I leaned over to kiss each of them, a gentle press of lips that contrasted sharply with our earlier passions. When I pulled back, Lucas's eyes had darkened again, the wolf stirring just beneath the surface.
Lucas's hand lingered on my skin as if reluctant to break contact.
As he helped me gather my scattered clothing, his hands lingered on each piece before passing it to me, as if reluctant to see the barriers return between us.
The moonlight silvered his muscled form, highlighting the golden patterns that still faintly shimmered across his skin—echoes of my flame-script that had transferred during our passion.
"Territorial wolf," I teased, but there was affection in my voice.
Lucas stepped closer, fully dressed now but somehow still radiating that primal energy that had captivated me. His fingers traced the curve of my jaw with surprising gentleness. "Only about things that matter."
"Some things are worth being territorial about," Aeolus agreed, now fully dressed beside us, though I hadn't seen him complete the process.
He reached out to brush a strand of hair from my face, his touch sending a different but equally powerful sensation through me.
"Though sharing such treasures can multiply their value rather than diminish it. "
The sincerity in his voice caught me off guard. In my countless lives, I'd known passion and desire, but rarely had it been coupled with such straightforward honesty. No games, no manipulation—just the pure, unfiltered truth of what he wanted.
"We should get back to the group," I said, though I made no move to step away from his touch.
Lucas nodded, his hand falling reluctantly from my face. "The others will be finalizing the plan for tonight. And Taranis probably wants to brief you on those ritual objects. He's been fussing over them with that staff of his since Grandmother Eliza handed them over."
"Indeed," Aeolus confirmed, creating a small breeze that helped straighten my disheveled hair.
"Our scholarly mage has been muttering incantations and tracing runes for the past hour.
Most entertaining to watch, actually." His expression grew more serious.
"The corruption is gathering strength for tonight.
I can feel it in the air currents, a wrongness that wasn't there before. "
From below, we could hear occasional sounds as the rest of our group prepared for tonight's confrontation.
The soft clink of metal on stone, murmured conversations, the occasional flare of magical energy that sent ripples through my flame-script.
Taranis would be studying the ancient artifacts, his focus making the air crackle with scholarly concentration.
Desmond was likely helping organize the villagers' defenses, his earth magic reinforcing vulnerable points in the temple's structure.
Ryu had mentioned scouting the edges of the forest earlier, his draconic senses more attuned to the corruption's movements than any of ours.
He could taste changes in the air that we couldn't even perceive, the tension in his powerful frame betraying his unease even as he maintained his stoic expression.
Eldrin would be comparing his research notes with what we'd learned, searching for patterns in the corruption's spread that might give us an advantage, his mage perception detecting connections invisible to others.
"Come on," I said, finally forcing myself to move toward the stairs that would take us back to the others. "We have a corrupted tree to face, and it won't cleanse itself. Though wouldn't that be convenient?" I added with a wry smile. "Maybe next time we can find a self-cleaning ancient evil."
"I'll put that on the shopping list," Lucas said dryly. "Right after 'curse-proof clothing' and 'corruption repellent.'"
"Don't forget 'dragon muzzles,'" Aeolus chimed in, gliding down the stairs ahead of us with that supernatural grace that made even the simplest movements seem like dance. He glanced back with mischief dancing in his eyes.
"And 'fae silencing charms,'" Lucas countered.
"I'd settle for a 'guardian translator,'" I muttered. "To decode all the posturing and territorial nonsense."
Lucas's laughter followed me down the stairs, a warm sound that somehow made the approaching battle seem less daunting. Whatever came next, I wasn't facing it alone, and that, perhaps, was the greatest gift of all.