Chapter 3
Elodie
Our cottage door shut with a soft click behind us, and Galyna spun on me with the speed of the warrior she was.
“What the fuck is going on between you and the second?”
I froze, a rabbit caught in a trap. Any move might tighten the noose around my neck.
“What?” I asked, buying myself a few seconds to think.
My partner and best friend crossed her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing in my direction. She studied me closely, as if the answer might be hidden in the stitching along my tunic’s edge. “Don’t bother being coy. You and I both know what it looks like.”
“Apparently not. What does it look like to you?” I lifted my chin defiantly, resisting the deep-seated urge to fidget under scrutiny. I wouldn’t lie to her, but… I couldn’t tell her.
I just couldn’t bear it.
“He’s acting an awful lot like a possessive alpha male. And you… You’re not putting him in his place. You’re avoiding him like you’ve got something to hide. Did you two sleep together or something?”
“No.” I grimaced, unable to even imagine it.
Okay, that wasn’t quite accurate. Boy howdy, could I imagine it. Valens was a powerful man. Big, thick muscles, and the way he’d so confidently grabbed my hand on my sword, well… I had no doubts he’d take charge in the bedroom.
That shouldn’t sound as good as it does.
My wolf rumbled her approval in my chest, and my heart sank.
She had stayed silent when he called me his mate. And I was clinging to that by my fingertips. Just because he thought I was his mate didn’t make it gospel.
My wolf had to accept his wolf.
I shook my head, needing to deal with the situation in front of me.
My partner, who absolutely could not know about this potential entanglement.
She’d be duty bound to report it to the head priestess immediately, and I could get pulled from this detail and called back to the enclave.
I thought of what was to come, the impending war, and vowed I’d do whatever it took to protect this pack.
Even keep secrets from my partner. I shoved aside the twinge of guilt brought on by the thought. It was the best thing for everyone.
“Uh-huh.” Her lips twisted with obvious suspicion. “You know I don’t care. The chastity laws are basically a thing of the past at this point, and even if they weren’t, I’m no snitch. Your secret’s safe with me.”
Galyna companionably slapped me on the shoulder, yawning as she walked past me. “I’m going to hit the showers. It’s been a long-ass night, and an even longer morning.”
“That it has.” My words were just lip service, simple gratitude that she’d written the strangeness off as a one-night stand gone awkward. But how long would that last if he kept hovering, kept pushing?
I needed to get him alone, where we could have a conversation about exactly what was—and, more importantly, wasn’t—going to happen between us.
The shower spray turned on in the back of the cabin, and I slipped out the front door. Galyna was a sound sleeper, and nothing sent her under faster than a long, hot shower. As long as I got back before she woke up, she’d never even notice I was gone.
Valens was in the last place I expected to find him, hidden among teetering stacks of books and papers, sneezing from the dust.
And pissed off, if the tight hunch of his shoulders was any indication.
I cleared my throat, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy startling him. He jerked at the sudden noise in the quiet space, turquoise eyes softening slightly at the corners when he spotted me.
“Well, this task just got a hell of a lot better.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not staying. We just need to have a conversation.”
“I agree, mate. Like why you were so ready to run from me earlier, perhaps?” The half smirk he was rocking with the question was dangerous. Damn, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to slap it off his lips or kiss them. Maybe both.
“I didn’t run, I was summoned by the high alpha.”
He leaned back in the too-small wooden chair, crossing his arms over his chest and making those biceps of his pop distractingly.
“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck—”
I flipped him the bird, and the fucker laughed.
“We’re going to get along so well.”
“No, we’re not. That’s what we need to talk about.
” I stood firm, ignoring the way butterflies took wing in my belly as he pushed his massive, imposing frame effortlessly out of the little chair.
The way I could feel the impact of his steps as he crossed the small room, coming to tower over me.
I swallowed hard, tearing my eyes from his chest to stare indignantly up at him as he braced one hand on the doorframe over my head, leaning down into my personal space as if he belonged there.
He did not belong there.
“Do you mind?” I gestured for him to back up a step.
“Not at all.” He leaned in closer with a wicked grin. “What did you want to talk about, Firecracker?”
I blinked, processing the fact that he’d just given me a nickname. I absolutely refused to feel warm and fuzzy about that. I wasn’t warm and fuzzy; I was a warrior.
“Firecracker?”
His thumb trailed over my bottom lip, and my wolf’s earlier rumble picked back up. She seemed disconcertingly pleased with the contact.
I jerked my head back, swatting his hand away. “Keep your paws to yourself, Brute.”
“I’ll keep my paws to myself when you’re honest with me, Firecracker.”
I blew a breath out through my nose, resisting the urge to snap. He didn’t get to be under my skin. No, I had more control than that. And whatever this attraction was between us, I was here to shut it down.
“This has to stop. I’m a warrior maiden on an official enclave assignment. We take a vow of chastity, and we’re dedicated only to serving our cause. There is nothing between us, and there will be nothing between us.”
He blinked slowly, staring at my face as I spoke, giving the impression he hadn’t heard a single word I’d said.
“Are you even listening?”
“I’m pretty sure you just told me you’re a virgin, which I have to say is surprising. You’re fiery. I don’t picture you as the sitting-around-chaste-and-bored type.”
My mouth fell open. Was he serious right now? “That’s what you took from what I just said? Seriously? I’m not a virgin, but I’m still not touching you.”
He shrugged unapologetically. “You can deny it all you want, but the attraction between us isn’t going anywhere, because you’re mine.
I don’t have to argue and push you away.
” He looped his hand gently around the back of my neck, drawing me in like a bee to honey.
“One kiss is all it would take. One kiss, and your wolf would show you the truth.” The barest hint of a connection was a shivery iridescence on my skin, too tempting for my own good.
He hovered, waiting patiently for me to close the short distance between us, the heartbeat of space left between his lips and mine.
I didn’t want to push him away. And that was the most dangerous thing of all.
My career, my life’s purpose, my goals… Gone. If I gave in, it was all gone. Flushed away and leaving me with… what?
What would I do with myself if I weren’t a maiden? Who would I be if I weren’t Galyna’s partner, a defender of innocents, the last line of defense for the defenseless?
No one.
I would be no one.
I jerked out of his grip, spinning so my back was to him. My chest heaved at the effort, and I hung my head.
“This isn’t happening. That’s all I needed to tell you.”
I walked away, and I didn’t look back.
It wasn’t until I stood alone outside my cottage door that I crumbled, let myself grieve the loss of what could have been.