My wolf growls jealously as Aurora leads him closer to the fire, her hands on his arm. She pushes the sleeve back to reveal long, deep scratches with an alarming infection coming from them. I’m impressed by her bravery as she stands inches away from a possibly infectious, mad murderer, but at the same time it infuriates me to see her put herself at risk like this.
The damn woman is supposed to be safe, far away from any threats. She’s too weak for this kind of thing. I never should’ve let my father insist I take her—now she’s cleaning and bandaging this random man like touching him is nothing at all.
Meanwhile she won’t even touch me without flinching.
What’s worse is, she escorts him to the log, gives him her rations, and starts going over what happened to him without even looking at me. I have to insert myself into the conversation by looming over them. It’s like I’m eavesdropping on my own mate.
“I think I know a way to help cure this wound’s infection before the madness gets any worse,” Aurora says calmly to Emmett, her soft smile making a muscle in my jaw tick. “We just have to get you to a shifter pack sooner rather than later, which won’t be a problem. Pack Sapphire’s lands are nearby. Do you happen to know anything about bike engines?”
“Do I? My adoptive father was a mechanic.” Emmett grins at her, and I swallow a growl, clenching my fists to hide the fact that my nails are turning into claws. “What do you need help with?”
I watch from a distance as they get to work on Aurora’s bike, fixing it up enough for it to at least run by the time the sun rises.With a grunt, I step away and shift into my wolf form, along with Emmett—who is, I have to admit, at least an easygoing enough man, despite being an interloper who has no business standing so close to my mate.
The sooner we get to Pack Sapphire, the sooner we can leave him behind with them. That’s the only thing that gets me racing down the path toward our destination.
Thankfully we aren’t on the path for more than an hour before it opens up onto a main road. Unlike many packs, Pack Sapphire is located not far from a large city. Emmett and I race along beside the road as Aurora gains speed on her bike, her joy so big and infectious I can feel it even through our broken bond.
We take a small, curving exit, then head down an even smaller private driveway to get to Pack Sapphire land. We’re halfway down the drive when we hit a snag—there’s construction up ahead, with very human construction workers diverting traffic. Emmett and I duck behind some trees to shift, then join Aurora where she waits on her bike.
The first thing she does when she opens her mouth is make acooing noiseat Emmett. “Your arm! It looks worse. Bring it here.”
He obediently lifts the blooded arm and she prods at the wound, then cleans it for him. Jealousy surges through me, hot and fierce. The past hour in wolf form has only made my wolf that much more demanding. He wants me to stake my claim over my mate.
Without even realizing it, I step between them, standing close to Aurora and staring down at Emmett. “Don’t get too close,” I snap, baring my teeth at him until he shrinks away. “You’ll infect her with it.”
“Sorry,” he says at the same moment Aurora snaps, “Kieran! Calm down.”
“You don’t know how it spreads?—”
“I absolutely do,” she interrupts with a scowl reserved solely for me. “Fae magic needs consent to spread, remember? And I’m not going to make a bargain, eat or drink fae food or wine, and I have no open wounds on my body. So you’re being an asshole for no reason.”
My nostrils flare at her words. Her scent overwhelms me, sweet and floral as well as pissed as hell. Emmett takes a step back from her, clearly uncomfortable, and the primitive man inside me crows in victory.
Until Aurora shoves past me and grabs him again anyway.
I have to get this thing inside me in check, damnit. I rejected her for very good reasons—reasons that still stand now more than ever. Jerking away, I struggle with the pain of the broken bond inside me.
It gets worse as she tends to the other man’s wounds, reassures him with her soft voice, and shoots me yet another glare. We get to the blockade in the road and wind up hitching a ride in the back of a truck with a human who hauls Aurora’s bike up a ramp. Sitting in the pickup’s bed, she shoots warm smiles Emmett’s way, her scowls and glares reserved for me.
There goes that smile I got out of her earlier. The laughter is gone too.
My frustration increases with every swerve of the pickup that sends her sliding toward him.
“Emmett and I should switch positions,” I argue, reaching out to snag his uninjured arm. “His wound keeps bumping up against you.”
“That isn’t?—”
“Sure,” Emmett says, giving me a friendly, if nervous, smile. “I don’t mind switching.”
That puts me on the same side of the truck as Aurora, but she somehow manages to grab hold to the bench and keep from sliding toward me at all. I want to grab her and pull her to me, toremind her that sheismy mate, even though I rejected her. The pain of the rejected bond intensifies with each smile she gives him.
It’s like a hot knife searing through me with every bump in the road.
We get dropped off not far outside the pack lands. Aurora gets on her bike again, so Emmett and I shift to wolf form once more. I’m so full of energy that I overtake both of them—my wolf is like a feral creature just aching for a fight.
When we get to the edge of the pack lands, tension is high. There’s an entire line of warriors and what smells like the alpha waiting for us just at the border. Aurora parks her bike nearby, while Emmett and I shift and get dressed. He has a bloodstain on his shirt, so I begrudgingly give him one of mine.
“The less you look like you just came in from the cold, the better,” I tell him. “Pack Sapphire isn’t the most friendly. There’s a reason why they’ve grown so large without the humans noticing—they don’t welcome outsiders.”
