Chapter 54
Lumi POV-
Sunlight filters through the trees in long, slanted beams. It’s not the harsh glare of morning, but the soft, amber glow of late afternoon. I blink against the light, feeling a strange sense of displacement. How long have we been asleep? Days? Lifetimes?
Andrik is wrapped around me, his chest pressed to my back, one massive arm draped protectively over my waist. His breath is slow and even, a cool puff of air tickling the nape of my neck with every exhale.
The heat is still there, humming beneath my skin, but it’s different today. The clawing, desperate edge has dulled, cooling like embers after a long fire.
I try to wiggle from his grip, but his arm only tightens.
“Sael?n?” His voice is a low rumble, thick with sleep.
“I’m here.”
He doesn’t open his eyes. Instead, his nose traces a path along my neck, inhaling as if he’s memorizing my scent one more time. “Your heat—”
“It’s fading,” I whisper, a strange mix of relief and sadness blooming in my chest. “I can feel it. I think today is the last of it.”
He presses his face into my hair, snuggling me closer. We made it. Nine days of relentless, burning need—of intimacy so intense, I thought my soul might actually shatter. But we survived. Together.
“How do you feel?” Andrik murmurs. His hand slides up, resting over my heart. I can hear him counting every beat under his breath.
“Exhausted,” I admit. “Sore in places I didn’t know I had. But good. Really good, actually. ”
“You’re incredible.” He trails a line of agonizingly slow kisses down my spine. “You endured nine days of something your body wasn't designed to survive for a minute.”
I lift my hand, settling my palm over the mating mark on his chest.
The Godfire has burned down to ash, and the clearing is serene. No more shadows or divine interference.
“What happens now?” I ask.
“Now?”Andrik’s fingers trace lazy, possessive patterns down my side. “Now we live, Lumi. We build a life. We love each other until the stars go out. We make up for every single day the gods stole from us.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.” He smiles. “Unless you have other plans?”
I pull away slightly, performing a dramatic, theatrical stretch.
“Yeah...I was thinking... it’s probably time for me to go back to my apartment now.”
His hand stills on my back, and his mouth twitches.
“Back to your... apartment,” he repeats the last word as if it’s foreign.
His hand slides down to my hip, his claws tracing the line of my bone.
“You can try,” he purrs, his voice dipping into that predatory register that makes my toes curl. “But you won’t get far.” He pauses, his mouth curving against the sensitive skin of my throat. “Besides... you left your heart here. I checked. It belongs to the forest now.”
I snort, trying to mask my expression. “I don’t know. I’m pretty fast when I wanna be. Remember when I snuck out of your bathroom window?”
He lets out a devious laugh against my temple, but there’s a new glint of hunger in his eyes.
“If you know what’s good for you, little mortal, you won’t remind me.” He nips at my jaw, his teeth grazing my skin.“Go ahead. Run.”
He pulls back, his pupils expanding so large there’s only a sliver of color left.
“I have the urge to hunt anyway.”
I study his face, heart already hammering in my chest. He’s serious. Well, not serious as in he wants to hunt and eat me, but serious as in he wants to hunt and eat me.
“You wouldn’t,” I breathe.
“Try me.” His smile sharpens, showing just a hint of fang. “I’ll even give you a head start.”
My pulse jumps. He’s watching me like I’m the only thing in the world worth catching. Like he’s starving for the chase.
Gods, that shouldn’t be as hot as it is.
Do I want to get chased through the woods and ravaged in the snow by a monster?
Fuck. Yes.
“How much of a head start?” I ask, already shifting toward the edge of the furs, my skin prickling with anticipation.
His grin widens. “Thirty seconds, Lumi. Make them count.”
“That’s not long—”
“Twenty-nine.”
I scramble to my feet, grabbing the oversized tunic he gave me days ago, pulling it on as I back toward the tree line. My legs feel like jelly, but adrenaline is already flooding my system.
“Andrik wait—”
“Twenty-six.”
Shit.
I sprint.
The forest is a blur of white flurries and swaying branches. My heart is pounding from pure, unadulterated excitement Behind me, I can hear him counting down, his voice carries through the trees.
“Twenty-five. Twenty-four.”
Then I hear the familiar, sickening sound of bones cracking.
I risk a glance over my shoulder, and my steps stutter. His silhouette, visible through the skeletal birch trees, is hunched over. His limbs are lengthening, rearranging into something much better at catching me.
Oh, shit. He’s shifting.
“Nineteen,” his voice is deeper now, shaking the floor of the forest. “Eighteen.”
I run harder, weaving between the trees, and leaping over frozen roots, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.
Veyr’nes kaelor vel’mie, vira’s?n... ael’kar. His voice fills my head. (Your heart beats so loud for me, little doe... I can hear it.)
“Help a girl out, hmm?” I whisper to the forest, and I swear I hear the wind chuckle back in response. A low, ravenous howl splits the air. Rh?ven. He’s fully shifted... and the chase is on.
Vel’rin vaelkar... sael’tharn (Run faster... it makes the hunt sweeter.)
The only sweet thing about this is the fact that you’re going to lose, I think back at him, pushing my lungs to the limit.
His laughter fills my head.
Eleven. Ten, he purrs.
I look over my shoulder again, but he’s gone. There’s nothing but the thick shadows of trees and falling snow.
Sael’kar nes’tharn, he taunts. (The forest hunts with me.)
The forest goes silent.
So much for the help, I flip the bird at the forest.
My breath comes in short gasps, and my legs are already burning. Damn, I have to get back in the gym.
Eight.
I push harder until I spot a massive oak tree with roots like tangled limbs. I duck behind it, pressing my back to the rough bark, and close my eyes. I try to catch my breath.
Ael’nes valerin... His voice ghosts through my mind. (I know exactly where you hide...)
I wait three heartbeats, then bolt again—deeper into the heart of the forest, toward the jagged line of the frozen stream.
A shadow flits to my left. I freeze, my eyes darting back and forth... nothing. Just the trees swaying in the wind. I start running again, but something massive rushes past me—a blur of obsidian so fast I feel the icy expulsion of air against my cheek.
I yelp, skidding in the snow, and scurry the other direction.
Thrae’nes kaelor, he chuckles, the vibration of it rattling my teeth. (Almost caught you.)
Three.
I spot a hollow between two fallen logs, partially hidden by a snow drift. I dive for it, curling up into the smallest ball I can manage, praying he looks right over me.
Oh, my sweet little bunny.
I hold my breath and squeeze my eyes shut. That works with monsters, right? If I can’t see them... they can’t see me?
Two.
Where is he? I don’t hear anything but the sound of my own blood rushing in my ears.
One and a half.
“Fuck!” I whisper under my breath.
One.
Every sound in the forest stops. The wind dies. The birds go silent. I cover my mouth with both hands, trying to stifle the sound of my panting.
Seconds tick by, but nothing happens. A small, hysterical spark of hope spreads through my chest—maybe I actually outran him. Maybe he wasn’t as close as I thought—
Something huge wraps around my ankle. Before I can even scream, I’m yanked backward from the hollow, my body sliding over the slick, frozen ground. Snow fills my mouth before I’m flipped like a rag doll.
I gasp, blinking the slush from my lashes.
Rh?ven looms over me, a mountain of black fur and rippling muscle. His eyes are blazing, locked onto mine with terrifying focus. His fangs are bared in a feral grin, and his paws are planted deep in the snow on either side of my head, boxing me in.
That’s when I notice the new streak of pure white fur running down the center of his chest. It’s the perfect inverse of the black mating mark on his other form, stark and beautiful, like frost painted over midnight.
Kaelor’nes... his voice rumbles through my mind. (Caught you.)
I’m still breathless, my heart racing in my chest, the cold snow melting against my flushed skin. A slow, wicked smirk spreads across my face.
Took you long enough.
His eyes narrow. Long enough? I gave you thirty seconds, thal’morin.
And I still almost got away.
A low growl shakes his chest, vibrating through my own. Almost?
I wasn’t even really trying very hard, I lie.
Weren’t you? One of his paws lifts from the snow and settles impossibly lightly over my heart.
Your pulse says otherwise, he purrs in my mind.
Fine. You caught me. I reach up, sinking my fingers into the coarse fur at his neck. But you had to go full beast mode to do it... What’s the matter, Andrik? Feeling insecure.
The laugh that fills my head is one of absolute, dark delight. It would terrify me if it didn’t turn me on so much.
Oh, bunny. His weight settles over me fully, pinning me to the soft drift of snow. The white fur inches from my face, smelling of cinnamon and winter.
You really want to keep pushing me right now?
I look up into those burning blue eyes, my fingers tightening in his fur. I tug him closer until his muzzle is flush against the tip of my nose. Maybe I do.
His tail winds around my throat.
Careful, vira’s?n, he warns, his teeth grazing my jaw. If you keep calling to the beast, eventually he’s going to stop listening to the man.
What are you going to do about it?
I’m going to spread you open right here in the snow, he growls. I’m going to taste you until you’re shaking, and then—
His tail gives a gentle squeeze.
I’m going to fuck you so deep into the ground, you’ll be nothing more than another little snowdrop in my forest.
Big talk for someone who—