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I know that Ryland is pissed, and I can’t blame him. I didn’t want to have that conversation over the bond, but he kept pushing. Now, he’ll be ready to fight about it as soon as I walk through the door. I deserve it, and I won’t do much to defend myself, but I couldn’t risk missing Garnet by looking in the wrong place. It doesn’t matter now, since I didn’t find her. And I’m still stuck in this tree, waiting for the witches to get bored and leave.
It’s been an hour, and I know that Ryland isn’t going to hold off too much longer before he sends out a rescue team. I should jump down and surprise them. That would give me an advantage and I’d be able to shift and run away. Before I can make that move, something explodes a few yards away.
“Run! Forget the wolf. We have to get out of here,” one of the witches yells. I lean over and peer through the leaves in time to watch them run away. I have no idea if it’s safe for me to move, but I decide to take the chance.
I drop from the tree, landing face-to-face with Ryland. “Will you at least wait to kill me until we get home?” I ask before baring my neck in submission.
He growls at me, ever the big, bad wolf. A shiver runs down my spine and my alpha fully submits to his. We may have been competitors in the past, but he is my alpha now. There is no question about it. “Only if you get back there before I catch you.” The words are spoken quietly, but the fury in them is unmistakable. He will rip me apart if I don’t escape.
I’m not sure that I blame him. I went against a direct order, and nearly got myself captured in the process. It would serve me right for him to punish me in any way he sees fit. My survival instinct takes over and I dash away from him. Behind me, the cracking of bone and stretching of skeleton alert me to his shift. I leap into the air and shift myself, racing away before he can tackle me.
As guilty as I feel for disobeying, I’m not ready to let Ryland take me down. I know that if I can make it back home, he’ll give me a chance to fully explain myself. But if he catches me, I’m screwed. Either way, I’ll have to suffer through a punishment. I, Ryland’s second in command, will be the example that teaches the rest of the community what happens when they disobey our alpha. It’s not the role I wanted to play in our community, but I brought it on myself.
I’ll take whatever punishment he gives me with the reverence and respect that the territory alpha is due. Part of me wonders what Garnet will think about the situation, once we find her.
GARNET
Knowing that James won’t let anything physical happen between us is supposed to be motivation for me to get this training handled. Instead, it’s a major distraction. I’m not sure what his reasons are, and he doesn’t want to talk about it. We’ve been here for a few days now, and I feel like I’m not getting anywhere with this magic.
Trevan is pushing me harder than Amber did when she wanted to unlock my witch magic. I’m tired and sore. More than anything, I want to go home. I miss my other mates, and if I’m being honest, Trevan has been annoying me.
I think he’s doing it on purpose in an attempt at making me work harder to defeat him with my Fae powers. Unfortunately for me, it’s having the opposite effect. As much as I want to punch him in the face, I can’t seem to get my Fae magic to cooperate enough to hit him with anything. I’m cranky and on edge. Of course, orgasms would ease some of that, but I can’t get James to budge on his decision.
So, I’m lying in the garden, staring at the sky. I wish I could figure out how to be good enough. I just can’t do it. Gunnar was right about me. I’m not worthy of four mates, or the confidence the Moon Goddess seems to have in me. I should be training. Trevan gave me exercises to do while he takes care of some Fae business or other. And I want to learn this, I really do. But the moment he walked away, I flopped down here and started watching the clouds pass.
I know I’m being a petulant child about this whole thing. Throwing a fit isn’t going to get me anywhere. Yet, here I am, doing it anyway. I could kick myself for it, but that would involve moving. And I’ve decided that I’m not doing that right now. I’m going to lie here and wallow in my self-pity for a while longer, then I’ll get up and start training. Maybe.
If I believe everything Gunnar said about me, I should just give up. I should let Amber kill me and take my power. But if I do that, everyone I love will suffer. And I can’t allow that. I just can’t. The thought of my friends and family suffering urges me to leave the comfort of my self-pity.
I jump to my feet and stretch. From the corner of my eye, I see James sneaking up on my left side. I won’t do anything to hurt him, but I do need to practice hitting a target. And splitting my focus. I carefully toss a shield in front of him before I shoot pink sparks directly at him. James cries out as he tries to dodge the magic blast, falling to his knees when it hits the shield.
I rush over to make sure he’s okay. “I’m so sorry. Did that actually hurt you?” I ask as I pull him to his feet.
“I expected it to, but it didn’t even hit me. I was more startled that it missed,” he answers.
“It didn’t miss. I shielded you,” I smirk. “I saw you sneaking over and decided to do some target practice in a way that wouldn’t hurt you.”
“Well, it was very effective. What’s that pink spark, anyway? I haven’t seen that before.” To be honest, I haven’t seen it either, but I don’t want to admit that to him.
“One of my Fae powers. I’m not really sure what any of them do. Trevan isn’t exactly forthcoming about these things, you know.” And the annoyance of my father is back. I’d almost forgotten that I’m so upset with him.
“I didn’t mean to remind you that he exists. You seem happier when you can meditate and forget him for a bit,” James admits with a laugh.
“I know he means well, but I am upset with him. And I’m sure I will be for a long time. It doesn’t matter if he understands my reasons or not. I have every right to my feelings, and I won’t apologize for them.” Again, petulant child, here, and I know it. Don’t judge me. Or do, whatever.
“I’m not saying you have to forgive him. Just don’t shove him away so much that he can’t train you. I, for one, am counting on you learning how all this works so you can go back home and save my ass,” James says, pulling me into his arms and kissing me hard.
The contact makes my skin buzz with desire. I want James more than I can express. My core aches, and my panties are damp with need. I’m certain he can smell what I’m feeling, even though he isn’t a shifter, but he doesn’t react. I have no idea how he’s able to control himself this way. I’m itching to rip his clothes off and mount him.
Sadly, I agreed that I wouldn’t. And it wouldn’t be fair to rape my mate, no matter how orgasm-deprived I am. I begrudgingly drag myself away from him, relishing the tiny whimper he gives me to show that he’s upset. Good. You deserve to suffer a little.
My only comfort is that this will all be over soon. One way or another, I will go back home and face Amber. I’ll either defeat her, or she’ll kill me. I can’t predict the ending, but I know that I will fight like hell to be the last woman standing.
I take a deep breath and turn toward the targets my father had set up at the other end of the garden. “Let’s figure out what these do, then, shall we?” I exchange a glance with James, then focus on the targets again.
One by one, I shoot different colors of Fae magic at them. With this experiment, I learn that each stream of color does something different.
