In the end, I don’t find any signs of fae other than the single trail the sisters followed. It should be a relief, but I can’t help but think we’re missing something. I wish Aurora were here to point out all the signs of the fae like she did yesterday.
Despite myself, I need her, and I hate that for both of us.
We return to the rest of the pack in the afternoon, having found nothing of note. It’s a struggle to shift again. My wolf is unhappy with me when I stuff him back inside and rejoin the pack, pushing my emotions aside to report back what we found.
“So basically, nothing,” Aurora says, her eyes narrowed—one blue, one amber—each breathtakingly beautiful. “We didn’t get much either. I confirmed with Gage that Monroe made a lovestruck bargain, but from what I can tell he messed up the wording.”
“We’ll have to go to the next pack to find out more,” I tell her. “Tomorrow, first thing. If there are any supplies you need for the road, get them now.”
Aurora bristles at my cold tone, but I can’t concentrate on soothing her feelings. My wolf is being an absolute asshole right now, pushing up against my skin, snarling and snapping. The sooner we get all of this over with, the better.
“There’s one thing I need that I could use your help with,” she admits to me, her tone resentful and begrudging. “Monroe received something in the fae bargain. Some kind of object or token, but I don’t know what. I need your nose to sort through his stuff and figure out what it was.”
That I can do, especially since my wolf is eager to please Aurora. She leads me to a table set up in the back of the clinic, which is still functioning as the pack’s headquarters for now. Strewn across the table are various mementos: a pack of playing cards, a large glass orb, a wreath of dried flowers and herbs, and a wool scarf.
“It’s one of these, I think,” she says, her long, delicate fingers skipping across the objects. “We found them in Monroe’s apartment, and they stink of magic. But I don’t know which, if any, havefaemagic on them.”
Her head is bent as she observes the objects, the long and delicate column of her neck exposed. There’s a subtle tan line on her shoulder, speaking of long summers spent outside in the sun. My gaze catches on the base of her neck, just under her high ponytail, where the ends of her blonde hair skim her skin.
Fuck, she’s beautiful.
Jerking my gaze away, I reach for each of the objects and inhale them one at a time. My nose also catches a thick, heady amount of Aurora’s scent. This close, it isn’t just lilac and honey, but other floral and sweet scents as well. Layered and delicate, they fold over each other, somehow feminine and strong at the same time.
“It’s this,” I tell her, unwinding the scarf in my hands. “It smells like Carissa too, so I’m going to bet that it was something of hers before the fae gave it to Monroe.”
“That makes sense for a lovestruck bargain.” She meets my eyes, the sincerity of her two-colored gaze boring into me as shesays with gratitude, “Thank you, Kieran. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
My wolf growls at the sound of my name on her lips, which are full and soft.
I turn away from her and try to ignore her eyes on the back of my head as I retreat. The rest of the afternoon is spent helping the pack out with various tasks that need to be done, cementing our allyship and earning Waylon’s thanks. But we’ll have to go first thing in the morning, since I have no doubt there’s more to discover, and we’ve done all we can here.
As I pack up my things for the evening, I spot Aurora lingering near the doorway. Jogging to catch up to her, I open my mouth to tell her that I’ll be turning in early—only for her to jerk at the sound of someone’s voice, bump her toe on the clinic’s front steps, and fall.
Instinctively, I reach for her.
My right hand grasps her elbow, and my left snags her waist. Winding my arm around her, I pull her against my chest, her feet lifted into the air for a moment. Her breath leaves her lungs, and her scent fills my nostrils as her hair swings in my face.
Shockwaves shoot through me, electric and alive. Based on the way Aurora jerks in my grip she can feel them too. A yearning so strong it’s overwhelming fills me, whiting out my mind, possessing me from head to toe.
As I carefully set her down, she looks over her shoulder at me, and the sight of her split-colored gaze makes everything in me come alive.
I’m no longer Kieran, the alpha’s son, future leader of Pack Jade. Instead I’m just a young man, barely out of my teenage years, staring at the girl who’s meant to be my forever. My mate, my home, my everything.
All the cells in my body scream for her. The sound of her voice, her touch, her scent. She stares at my mouth, her tongue darting out to wet her lips, and I swallow a groan.
“I’m turning in early,” I tell her, jerking away abruptly before this can go too far. “Don’t sleep past dawn, or I’ll leave you behind. Try not to break your neck stubbing your toe on a rock.”
Hurt flashes across her face, followed quickly by indignation. “No one asked you to catch me when I stumble. Especially me.”
“I would never stop catching you if that were the case,” I snap, meaning for the words to come out harsher than they do. “I meant—because you’re clumsy.”
She raises a pale brow, as if to say:am I?And she isn’t, we both know it, so I tighten my lips and try not to think about the warmth of her body against mine as I pulled her flush against me.
Weakness is a poison to the pack, and weakness from the pack’s alpha spells its doom,booms my father’s voice in my head, dominating every thought, every emotion.You are the weakest alpha’s son I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something, given the two-bit heirs out there in the other packs. You can’t afford to slip up and make another mistake, Son.
Aurora is another mistake.
So I walk away from her, despite the way the bond jerks at me, pulsing with longing and pain. Despite how much my wolf howls in anguish, full of anger for my inability to be what he needs me to be.
