Chapter 24 Felicity
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
felicity
It’s over so quickly, an eerie silence settling over us as Selena’s lifeblood pours out onto the grass, soaking into the dirt.
The tawny wolf drops her body to the ground carelessly, his fur matted and discolored with the remnants of the fight.
I can’t tell what’s her blood and what’s his, and worry beats at me…
But underneath that, there’s a thread of pleasure, making me wonder if I should be concerned with just how much I enjoyed that.
I can’t say I’ve ever watched someone die before, especially so savagely, but that’s not what I enjoyed. It was knowing that Connor did it for me, to protect me. The fact has a strange warmth trickling through my veins, leaving me almost giddy.
No one has ever protected me before.
I was the surprise child after a drunken one-night stand, a physical reminder of where my mother’s life had gone wrong—something she has never let me forget.
My grandfather saw me as a pawn, an accessory he paraded out in front of his acquaintances and colleagues, determined to increase his own standing by throwing me to the wolves… Quite literally, as it turned out.
But I’m not a pawn to Connor and Vaelor.
I’m not some bargaining chip to them. And as I stare at the large wolf standing over the body of another shifter, his bloody tongue hanging from his jaws and eyes fixed on me, I’m beginning to trust that.
“Is he going to get in trouble?” I whisper, unable to look away from the wolf. “For killing her.”
Vaelor glances at me. “No. Shifter law supersedes any university rule. He might need to go before the council to justify the kill, especially considering the small amount of power her family does have. But she knowingly interfered in a fated mating, and then challenged him by going after you.” He shakes his head, completely unconcerned. “And in front of witnesses.”
“I provoked her, though,” I remind him, just as the wolf steps away from the dead female, padding toward us. He’s massive, his head reaching my waist. As he reaches me, he presses his weight against my legs, almost making my knees buckle.
Any other time—or any other shifter—and I might’ve felt nervous, having such a deadly animal so close to me. Especially one still covered in blood. But I only feel grateful as I stroke a hand over the thick fur covering his head.
“Are you okay?” I whisper, and he looks up, glowing eyes locking with mine. Even as a wolf, his irises are a bright green and all Connor. “Are you hurt?”
If a wolf can scoff, that’s what he does, his annoyance filtering into my chest so sharply that I gasp, pressing a hand to my sternum. “What the fuck?”
Vaelor chuckles, a satisfied sound that tugs at something deep in my belly. “You opened the bond between us.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
There’s a burst of air, hot and crackling with electricity, and then Connor’s towering over me—completely naked and covered in blood, his clothing lying in scraps on the ground where he first shifted. I can’t stop the low noise that escapes, hands fluttering over him, but not quite touching.
“I’m fine,” Connor reassures me quickly. “She got in a few lucky hits, but they’re already healing.”
I scrunch my face up. “I shouldn’t have…I didn’t think…”
Vaelor steps up next to Connor, his expression stern. “This isn’t something you feel guilty about, Princess.”
My eyes slide to Selena’s body, but Connor sidesteps, blocking my view. I look up, locking eyes with him. “Don’t think for one second that she’d be feeling anything but glee if it were you lying in the dirt right now. She had it coming. Alright?”
“Alright,” I whisper. I’m rewarded with a quick stroke of ice over my head and down my spine, the touch comforting. “What happens now?”
Vaelor shrugs, nodding his head at the other shifters, who have all made a run for it. “They’ll be informing people as we speak, but we should probably let Connor’s family know before they find out from somebody else.”
Connor rubs a hand over the back of his neck. I desperately try to keep my eyes above shoulder height, knowing that lusting after him when he’s just killed someone and is still covered in their blood is so far beyond inappropriate.
Still, heat swirls through my body, heading straight down between my legs, where my pulse throbs and wetness coats my sex.
Green eyes flare with interest, teeth flashing in a grisly smile. “You need something, Starling?”
I look away, unable to hold the knowing look in his eyes. “No,” I protest hotly. “I’m just”—my eyes bounce between the two of them, knowing Selena’s death doesn’t automatically fix things for us—“concerned.”
Vaelor arches a brow. “Your body’s singing a different tune.” There’s a mocking smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, and my pulse flutters rapidly.
I point at the dead body. “This doesn’t solve everything,” I snap, annoyed as a swell of heat flashes through me, fighting it back.
They’re standing almost shoulder to shoulder, their eyes fixed on me, and it feels like they’re ganging up on me.
If I do accept them—forgive them—is that the way it’s always going to be, the two of them deciding everything for me?
I cross my arms over my chest, knowing I’m reacting defensively, but unable to stop myself.
There’s a low tug in my chest, like a leash being yanked. I frown, unsure, but then the tug comes again, harder this time, pulling me forward several steps.
“What the f—”
Vaelor steals the words from my mouth, swallowing them down as his tongue slides sensually against mine.
I melt against him, but then I’m being yanked away and into Connor.
He doesn’t kiss me, but buries his face against my throat, nipping and licking while his hands cup my ass.
He lifts me up, urging my legs around waist, the move putting his hard length firmly against my pussy.
A breathy gasp escapes as he grinds against me, the only thing between us the fabric of Vaelor’s sweats.
Another body presses against my back, fingers dragging my shirt down my shoulder, pressing hot kisses against my skin.
I should be furious at the way they’re bulldozing me, using the bond’s effect on my body against me. But the way they surround me on every side, filling my lungs with their scent, grounds me in a way that’s becoming both familiar and addictive.
Connor pulls back, his eyes hooded and dark, like shadowed moss. “You don’t need to worry about anything else,” he murmurs. “We’ve got you now, Starling. We’ll take care of everything.”
I stare up at him, wanting to believe him so badly, but knowing better. The world doesn’t work like that.
“Have you forgotten? My grandfather disowned me. I have no money, no family. There’s no way your family will accept a penniless human.” I shake my head. “You haven’t thought this through.”
There’s a harsh bark of laughter behind me before Vaelor lands a sharp bite right where my shoulder and neck meet.
I yelp, and he soothes the hurt away with his tongue before telling me, “We’ve done nothing but think about this for two years, and if I have to get another Mireveil to make you comply, I will. ”
I turn, and he’s right there, golden eyes glittering at me. Vaelor flicks his tongue over his bottom lip, his voice filled with heat as he says, “I quite liked how helpless you were, how much you needed us. In fact, I wonder how much of your reaction was the heat, and how much of it was just you.”
“An experiment I can get on board with,” Connor laughs. I let out a cry of frustration, ignoring the way my body is softening for them, desire pooling between my legs. But there’s no hiding from a shifter—something Connor proves when his nostrils flare and his cheeks fill with a slash of color.
“You can’t just pretend everything’s going to be okay,” I carry on determinedly. “I have nothing. I have to leave the school. And what the hell do you think happens then?”
Vaelor scoffs. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I throw him a disbelieving stare. “I’ve got no money!” Agitation beats at me. “You do remember my meeting in the dean’s office, right?”
“You don’t need money. You have us,” he shrugs, as if that’s all he needs to say.
Connor digs his fingers into my ass cheeks with bruising force, and I swing around to shoot him a glare. “You aren’t listening to us, Starling,” he tells me, his tone gentle. “My family might have a problem, but it won’t be with you.”
“The Thierras will be lucky to get through this unscathed after what their bitch daughter did comes out,” Vaelor agrees, sounding way too gleeful about it.
“And my family won’t look too kindly on the way your grandfather handled this, either,” Connor agrees. “But that’s all beside the point. It doesn’t matter what my family thinks.”
My brows furrow, uncertainty beating at me. “It doesn’t?”
Vaelor laughs in my ear, sending shivers running through me. “You should know better by now, Princess,” he purrs. “When the fuck have we ever cared about what anyone else thinks?”