Chapter 14 Valens
Valens
Iwas climbing the Goddess-damned walls. Even Savvy had gotten sick of my surly attitude and was no longer sucking up to make up for her mistake.
Now, she was just angry.
Luckily for me, I was too restless to sit around and let her tell me about it.
I wiped the sweat from my brow, dropped my hammer, and turned over the piece of steel in my gloved hand.
The shape was coming in nicely, even though I didn’t have a specific end goal in mind. My hands were working while my brain was offline.
It was the only way to stay sane as long as Elodie was avoiding me.
A knock on my workshop door interrupted my happily numb state. I dropped the cherry-red piece of metal on the anvil and turned to see who was brave enough to interrupt a man with a scalding-hot forge and a literal burning brand in hand.
It was Lucien.
Fuck.
“Alpha. You’re out and about early. Everything okay?”
He arched one eyebrow like a sarcastic fucker. “You tell me. You were beating the shit out of that metal like it owed you money. No, like it snuck out your sister’s bedroom window.”
I lifted my lip in a low growl. “That only happened once, and she was fifteen at the time. Plus, he wasn’t sneaking out of her window. He was twenty-five, human, and creeping outside her window. We now have a mutual, unspoken agreement to pretend neither of us knows who or what the other is doing.”
He snorted. “Be that as it may, you don’t have that agreement with me.”
Balls.
“Elodie’s avoiding me. And while I know I should be focused on where Sandrine is and what the pixies have to do with the mess we’re in and who sent the assassins—” I exhaled hard, all the fight leaving me in a rush as my shoulders slumped. “I can’t focus for shit when I don’t know if she’s okay.”
“Damn.” He ran a hand through his not-yet-styled hair. “Galyna’s still freezing you out, huh?”
“The ice queen is guarding her tower with as much ferocity as a fire-breathing dragon.”
Lucien leaned against the doorframe. “Can dragons not breathe ice?”
I just glared at him. That was not the damn point.
He laughed, the bastard. “Well, then, you may find it interesting to know that I just saw Galyna running through town like demons were snapping at her heels. In a training uniform. Alone.”
I shoved past him out the door so quickly that the asshole laughed again when his back bounced off the wall.
“It’s normal to be distracted when you have a new, unbonded mate!” he shouted after me.
I’d knocked twice on the cottage door, and no one answered.
A third time was a little stalkery.
But walking away was not in me after as long as I’d been waiting to see her, touch her, make sure she was in one piece and okay. I lifted my fist for a third round of knocking, right as the heavy wooden door swung wide.
A sleep-disheveled Elodie stood on the other side, looking hearty and hale.
All I could do was stare.
She was so damn beautiful, even without her usual lipstick.
She seemed softer, somehow. Her dark hair was mussed, making me want to smooth it back from her face.
She was a bit pale from the few days inside, and it only further brought out the sweet blush on her cheeks as she looked up at me.
There was the barest hint of a smile, as if she was happy to see me too, but hesitant to admit it.
She was simply perfect, and the sight of her calmed my wolf immediately.
“Valens,” she said coolly. “You’re up early.”
“Usually,” I blurted, then immediately kicked myself. My brain and tongue had fully disconnected. “My pack duties start early,” I added, trying to sound less like a geriatric wolf who puttered around uselessly in the morning.
Even if that feels accurate some days.
She frowned, glancing down at my chest. “What the hell kind of pack duties do you have before daylight that require wearing a leather apron?”
“Today was… a personal project.” I whipped my forging apron off over my head, gripping it in my fist instead.
“Yeah, it’s too early for that too. Do you want some coffee? Galyna made a whole pot before she ran off.” She snorted as if it were hilarious.
Hope soared in my chest at the casual way she invited me in.
“Plus, we should probably talk.”
It crashed and burned just as quickly. I steeled myself for whatever she might say, but I wasn’t giving up on her without a fight.
The guest cottage they occupied was small, quaint, but comfortably furnished.
Chosen for its proximity to Olivia and Fiona’s own guest lodgings.
It looked like they hadn’t added any personal touches besides their own personal items, which seemed reasonable given they had only been here a few weeks, and they didn’t seem to get any real breaks from guard duty.
Nonetheless, Elodie seemed comfortable in the space.
Her footsteps were light as she crossed the wooden floors, gesturing me to a barstool at the dated kitchen island.
I sat, eyes trailing her every move as she pulled an ugly eggplant-hued mug from the cabinet, and poured me a cup of coffee.
She hesitated after putting the pot back in place. “Do you take cream or sugar?”
“Cream.” It was just one word, but her breath hitched and her gaze lingered on my lips.
She hid it quickly, though, nodding that she’d heard me and turning to the ancient, robin’s-egg-blue refrigerator.
Our pack was too poor to update guesthouses that no one stayed in.
If this became their permanent residence, though, updates would have to move up the list. I wasn’t even sure when that fridge had been put in. The seventies?
She gave me a generous pour of cream, then slid the coffee across the cracked linoleum countertop and into my waiting hands.
Her fingertips brushed my knuckles, but instead of yanking them away as she would have before, she froze, staring at the single point of contact as if she couldn’t look away.
I turned my hand over, palm up, an obvious invitation.
That snapped her out of it, and she yanked her hand away, wrapping it around her own mug, where it was safe.
Elodie cleared her throat awkwardly as I took my first sip. In my chest, my wolf rumbled his glee that our mate had prepared us something.
Not quite food, but wolves were simple creatures. It still counted in his book.
“This is awkward, and normally, I would never bring it up, but…” She hesitated, drumming her fingers on the side of her cup before she caught herself and stopped. “I’m just gonna rip off the Band-Aid, if that’s okay with you?”
“Of course.” Tension spiraled in my gut, but I did my best not to show it. Awkward could mean anything.
She’s leaving. She’s not leaving, but she doesn’t want me. She saw my sister naked. She—
“I’m going into heat. Soon. Brielle can tell with her omega power, apparently.”
It took every ounce of willpower I possessed and a few I had to beg, borrow, and steal to keep my mouth from flopping open like a fish. The vision that filled my mind of Elodie, mindless with lust and begging me to knot her, was so fucking hot that I immediately popped a boner. Fuck.
Elodie watched me like a hawk, scoping out any reaction.
Or, perhaps, just waiting for me to respond like a normal person.
“Okay.”
She blinked a few times, setting her mug down on the counter and bracing her hands on the other side of the linoleum. “Okay? We’re on the brink of war, we’re basically strangers, I’m about to go into heat at the worst possible time, and all you have to say is okay?”
I cleared my throat, the room suddenly feeling too close. Overheated. “Those things are all true. I’m not sure… I don’t know what to say in this situation.”
Her eyebrows shot up, as if she’d expected something from me and I’d completely missed the mark.
Missed something.
Oh.
Oh.
“Do you want to spend your heat with me?”
She bit her bottom lip between her teeth and looked away, a slight flush tinting her cheeks an intoxicating pink.
“I don’t know, but it would be better to have help than to suffer through it alone.”
Holy shit.
Ho. Ly. Shit.
She was seriously considering spending her heat with me.
“I definitely don’t want you to suffer, but you’re right. We don’t know each other well, and it might be uncomfortable to go from zero to a hundred that fast.” My mind spun, and I grasped for any way to make it easier on her. “What if we went on a date? Got to know each other?”
“Yeah, here’s the thing. The head priestess and Brielle both basically told me that the longer I’m with you, the worse it’s going to get.
Not just the bond, but the heat. Because proximity triggers both.
So… I can’t say yes to a date with you unless you’re willing to help me.
If you’re not, I need to know so I can get back to the enclave. ”
I couldn’t quite put my finger on what she was feeling, but it looked like she was withdrawing. She’d said her piece, and now she was ready to run for the damn hills.
Almost as if she expected me to reject her. There was no chance in hell.
I shoved back from the counter, alpha instincts taking over as my wolf sensed her uncertainty, her fear.
As I closed the distance between us, she backed away until her lower back hit the immovable counter. But I didn’t stop coming until I’d hemmed her in, our bodies mere inches apart as I pressed my hands into the counter on either side of her hips so she couldn’t run away.
She shuddered as I stared into her eyes, and my wolf rumbled his approval of the closeness, her obvious physical pull to me, even if her mind hadn’t fully caught up to it.
Mate her. Now, he demanded in my head.
You shut up. I mentally flipped him off, focusing instead on her as I pushed my wolf back in the mental bond.
Moving slowly so she could stop me any time she wanted, I lifted my hand to her jaw, cupping the side of her face, everything about her so small and delicate compared to my giant self.
For the first time, she leaned into the touch, accepting the comfort.
Emotion welled in my chest. Such a small gesture, but it was huge progress for the two of us.
“If you need me, I’ll be here for you. Always.”