Chapter 13 #2
My jaw gaped. “Are you fucking serious right now? Do you really want to get into it? Here? In the forest?”
“Yes. Why the fuck not? You’re refusing to abandon our quest to the COL, so let’s fucking get into it, Rozi. I told you why I rejected you.”
“Because you have daddy issues!” I shouted. “But guess what? I do too. But years ago, that didn’t stop me from wanting to accept your mate claim.” I laughed, but it held no humor.
I continued. “Standing in that savanna when you said that I was your mate, I thought, finally, I found someone who will accept me as I am, raw edges and all. And when you rejected me, it cut me to the core.”
I pounded on my chest. “You ripped my damn heart out and left me in the savanna, emotionally bleeding. And now you expect me to accept your excuse for rejecting me and open my heart again? No. Fuck that shit! You are unworthy of me, my heart, and the mate claim. So if you think there’s going to be a happily-ever-after in our story, think again. ”
The words shot from my throat like jagged glass, designed to wound as deeply as I’d been wounded.
My chest heaved with the effort of forcing them out, old scars splitting open beneath the pressure.
I’d spent years building walls around the hollow space his rejection had carved inside me, years of learning to survive without the mate bond that should have sustained us both.
Each brick laid with tears and determination.
I’d die before I’d let him dismantle them now with gentle touches and pretty words.
I turned my face away. Despite my anger, I couldn’t deny my body’s reactions to him, and that only heightened my frustration.
He guided my face back toward him. Emotionally spent, I didn’t bother resisting.
“I see you. I did the first time we met, and I do now. You are a worthy mate. My equal. I admire your strength and compassion. You are beautiful, a warrior, selfless and fearless. But it’s on me to show you with actions, not words, that I am worthy of you.
Either way, I will have you when you give me your mating bite, claiming me as yours. Then my bite will claim you too.”
What the fuck? He thinks I’m going to claim him? Well, that shit is not going to happen.
He lowered his hand. “Keep alert, and let’s go.” He strode in the direction of the forest, and I kept pace.
Exhaling heavily, I stayed silent and focused on the path ahead. This journey was dangerous, not just from creatures lurking in the dark, but from Brody trying to convince me to give him another shot.
I glanced over at him. “This conversation is far from over.”
To my annoyance, he simply nodded, his confidence grating against my already frayed nerves. He’d just decided that I was going to claim him, and that was supposed to be it? Fucking shifter.
The path narrowed as we climbed higher, forcing us to walk single file. I found my gaze drawn repeatedly to Brody’s form ahead of me, the broad expanse of his shoulders, the confident set of his stance, the way his Henley clung to muscles that shifted with every movement.
“Stop,” he said suddenly, arm extending backward in a gesture that brooked no argument.
I froze, eyes following his gaze to the path ahead. Nothing seemed amiss, just more forest, more dappled sunlight, more endless green.
“What is it?” I whispered, every sense suddenly on high alert.
“We’ve reached the boundary to the COL,” he murmured, picking up a stone and tossing it onto the path ahead of us.
As the stone sailed through what appeared to be ordinary air, a ripple of iridescent light flashed where it passed, resembling oil on water or a soap bubble stretched thin. The stone vanished on the other side, no sound of impact, no evidence it had ever existed at all.
“How is this possible?” I murmured, curiosity eclipsing caution as I moved forward for a better view.
Brody’s hand shot out, fingers closing around my wrist. The contact sent a shock wave of heat up my arm, the mate bond flaring to life between us with such intensity I nearly gasped aloud.
“Careful,” he said, his voice rougher than before, pupils dilating as he, too, felt the surge between us. “Only the Bane pack and those we vouch for can cross safely.”
I watched as the air shimmered slightly, occasional flickers of rainbow light becoming visible as the sunlight hit the barrier at just the right angle.
“So how do I get through?” I asked, acutely aware of his fingers still around my wrist, his thumb unconsciously stroking my skin.
“You’ll need to hold on to me,” he explained. “The boundary recognizes me as Bane pack. As long as we maintain contact, you’ll pass through safely.”
He slid his fingers from my wrist to intertwine with mine, palm against palm, the increased contact making my breath catch.
“You’ll feel strange sensations when we cross,” he warned. “Just hold on to me and keep moving forward.”
I nodded, both dreading and craving the continued contact. “Let’s do it.”
As we stepped forward together, the rainbow shimmer enveloped us. The barrier felt like walking through warm water that somehow didn’t wet our skin. Colors exploded around us, vivid purples and blues that shouldn’t exist in nature.
“Don’t let go,” Brody murmured, his grip tightening.
The world tilted strangely, my inner ear protesting that up was now sideways.
But most overwhelming was the way the barrier affected our connection.
I could feel Brody’s heartbeat as clearly as my own, his breathing synchronizing with mine.
For a breathtaking moment, I sensed his emotions, his determination, his protectiveness, and underneath it all, a yearning so profound it made my chest ache.
My cheetah stirred within me, suddenly vocal and demanding. We need to seal the mate bond by claiming him. Give him the mating bite, and just like he promised, he will claim us in return with his bite.
The primal urgency of the thought startled me, sending heat cascading through my body. The image of sinking my teeth into the junction of his neck and shoulder while his own teeth marked me in return was so vivid I could almost taste his skin.
As we emerged on the other side, the sensation gradually faded but didn’t disappear entirely. Some new awareness of him remained, humming quietly between us even as our hands reluctantly separated.
“That was…” I started, struggling to find words that wouldn’t reveal too much.
“Intense,” he finished, his eyes never leaving mine. “The boundary sometimes… enhances what’s already there.”
The boundary hadn’t created anything; it had simply stripped away our ability to deny it.
I cleared my throat. “Fascinating reaction.” And I wondered what caused it. “Anyway… we should keep moving,” I said finally, trying to ignore my cheetah’s continued insistence about mating bites and claiming. “Daylight won’t last forever.”
“You’re right,” he agreed.
As we continued along the path, I noticed the forest had indeed changed. Flowers that shouldn’t exist in this climate bloomed in vibrant bursts of color. The very air seemed to shimmer with subtle magic. And everywhere, a blue-tinted moss grew thicker, pulsing with gentle luminescence.
But most distracting was the new awareness of Brody that persisted even without physical contact and my cheetah’s relentless whispers about completing what we’d started years ago with a claiming bite that would seal our bond forever.
The path grew steeper, narrowing until it became little more than a ledge hugging the mountainside. Far below, a river cut through the valley, its waters the same luminescent blue as the moss that guided our way.
“That’s the lifeblood of the Ridge,” Brody explained, noting my interest. “The river that feeds the hot springs, which in turn feeds the COL. Most residents have no idea it exists. It’s hidden by the same Fae magic that conceals the true nature of this place.”
I paused to catch my breath, using the moment to admire the impossible vista before us. From this height, I could see how the forest spread outward from the river like arteries from the heart, patterns too perfect to be random chance.
“It’s like the entire Ridge is one massive organism,” I said, the realization striking me with such force I spoke the thought aloud.
Brody turned back, that same surprised warmth in his eyes.
His gaze drifted to my lips for a heartbeat before returning to my eyes, and the naked hunger I glimpsed there made my breath catch.
“Boris Bane believed the same thing—that the Ridge was alive, conscious in ways we’re only beginning to understand.
That’s why the Bane family has guarded it so jealously since purchasing it from the Fae. ”
Something shifted between us in that moment, a recognition, perhaps, that despite everything that had happened, despite years of separation and hurt, we shared a fundamental understanding of this place that transcended our complicated history.
As the sun began its descent toward the horizon, casting long shadows across the forest floor, Brody led us off the main path and down a barely visible trail that wound between trees.
Their trunks were massive, larger than any I’d seen outside of redwood forests, with bark that shimmered slightly in the fading light.
“This is where we’ll spend the night,” Brody said, his voice dropping to that low register that sent shivers racing down my spine. He stopped in a small clearing where the fading sunlight dappled the ground. “One of the Fae cabins I mentioned is nearby.”
I narrowed my eyes, studying our surroundings. Despite his description over breakfast about the fully stocked Fae vacation homes scattered throughout the COL territory, I saw nothing but endless forest. My mind rebelled at the idea of invisible architecture.
“You said they have whisper generators and modern amenities,” I reminded him, crossing my arms. “Yet I see nothing but trees and moss.”
His eyes gleamed with something between amusement and challenge. “You’re looking with the wrong eyes, Rozi.”
Before I could form a suitably scathing response, he stepped behind me, so close his breath warmed the sensitive skin below my ear, and his hands settled on my shoulders.
“Close your eyes,” he murmured, his lips nearly brushing my earlobe.
“Thornbern…”
“Trust me. Just for a moment.”
Something in his voice, not command but invitation, made me relent. I let my eyelids fall closed, aware of his body heat at my back, his scent, sandalwood and male, wrapping around me like a physical caress.
“Now open them,” he whispered.
When I did, the world had transformed. Through a stand of impossibly tall trees with silver-blue leaves, now clearly visible, was another small clearing, and what stood in its center stole my breath.
Built into the side of a massive tree was what could only be described as a hobbit house.
Round windows glowed with soft amber light, a curved wooden door nestled perfectly into the tree’s natural contours, and a stone chimney rose from what appeared to be a living roof covered in wildflowers and ferns.
I stumbled to a halt, my analytical framework crumbling like a sandcastle against tsunami waves of impossibility.
My mouth opened and closed wordlessly, brain frantically trying to categorize what my eyes were seeing, and failing spectacularly.
The logical part of me cataloged exterior dimensions and architectural impossibilities while something deeper, something I rarely acknowledged, sparked with childlike wonder.
“That’s…” My voice emerged as a breathless whisper, fingers itching to touch, to verify through tactile confirmation what sight alone couldn’t reconcile.
“A Fae vacation home,” Brody finished, clearly enjoying my reaction. “One of several scattered throughout the forest. The Bane pack has maintained them as safe houses and way stations for pack members on patrol ever since Boris Bane purchased the land from the Fae centuries ago.”
I watched the door swing open to reveal a cozy interior that somehow looked larger than the exterior dimensions should have allowed.
Brody’s laugh echoed in the clearing. “Doctor, I think it’s time to expand your definition of possible.” He held out his hand to me, an invitation rather than a demand. “Welcome to the more magical side of the Ridge.”
After a moment’s hesitation, I placed my hand in his. The contact sent a jolt of electricity up my arm, but this time I didn’t pull away. Instead, I let him guide me through the doorway, into a world where science and magic blurred into something new and dangerously appealing.