Except now he’s a wolf, and she’s all grown up.
“You’ve changed.” A laugh filters through his mind, and his mouth opens, pink tongue lulling to the side. It’s as much of a smile as I’m going to get. “Maybe even more so than us.”
I laugh, running a hand across his head to give him a good scuff. His gaze sharpens, encouraging me even more. “I’m going to take that as a compliment, Crisp. It’s certainly not the worst thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“True,” he allows, pretending to snap at me with his shiny white teeth.
“Hey now.” Aras bends down beside us, fully prepared to take on his former nemesis, despite not being able to hear a word of which he whispers. “I know you’re finally back to your more comfortable animal state, but there’s no need to harass the lady.”
Crisp growls, the silver hairs standing up on his back. Clearly, he’s enjoying this. “Tell your guard to watch out. This animal form is unpredictable, and I might take a liking to his bitter meat.”
Oh, Ashen help us.
“On that note.” Vivi jumps to the rescue, snatching Aras by the arm and yanking him to his feet. “I believe that’s good enough, fake brother. Consider Brave’s virtue to be saved and intact.” She turns toward the rest of the camp, animal and human alike looking on in confusion. “Now, I realize you all haven’t been privy to that delightful conversation, as, thankfully, neither was Aras, but I think it’s time we get to work. There’s a lot to be discussed between now and when the man who cursed you finally falls. As far as I’m concerned, we’re wasting valuable time.”
“Well said, Viviana,” Ian says, stepping forward to begin his introductions.
As he speaks, everyone moves to settle in, determined to hear our plan for Knox’s demise and carry it out well. I find the nearest log, sitting down on a comfortable spot while Sara takes up residence at my side. By the time Ian nears the end of his speech, I’m grinning from ear to ear, pleased with how quickly he’s won the hearts of my family and friends. It’s not until I turn to ask Sara about her thoughts on our plans that I notice how still she sits, focused on Ian as if he’s the only person in the world.
“Sara? Are you okay?”
She drops her gaze, mouth pulling back on the sides to reveal her sharp teeth. “I’m fine, just confused is all.”
My brow furrows, caught off guard by her response. “Confused?”
“About Ian. Weren’t you supposed to marry him?”
I sigh, knowing better than to think I could hold off Sara’s questions for long. “Yes, we were betrothed. But the longer we stayed together, the more we realized we might be better apart. Just because we were forced into it doesn’t mean it should work.”
“I suppose that’s true.” She looks up at me, blue eyes blazing with warmth, and it’s like we’re back in Ashen, sharing secrets in our rooms. “And even I can admit that you and Aras were two strangers meant to meet and cause a heap of trouble.”
I grin, thankful for the raven-haired boy who keeps the fire burning in my heart. “Aras is my favorite kind of trouble.”
“I noticed.” She growls, a playful whine that catches Ian’s attention. He looks our way, waving at his ex-bride-to-be and her canine friend. “But I can’t help but wonder if you might have liked for it to work out.”
“No.” The answer is immediate, and true to the core. “He wasn’t meant for me.”
And for the first time, I believe the words not only for myself, but also for him. Ian has the entire world at his fingertips, and anyone would love to share it with him.
Even, it seems, my best friend.
Twenty-One
We decide to spend the entire day at camp, both sides working to understand the other with Vivi and I stuck translating in the middle. It’s not hard work, but it is time consuming. For now, those from Ashen have agreed to line the woods near the gate, hidden from Knox and his men when they arrive. They’ll only make a move on his men if they hear my call. While everyone else believes I’ll be able to maintain our connection, and thus, my control over their actions, I don’t share the same enthusiasm.
I’m deathly afraid of what will happen when Knox sees them, and he tries to steal their connection away. The fear of what he’ll make them do threatens to eat me alive.
“You’re chewing on your lip again.” Vivi plops down beside me where I rest along the bank of the small creek that runs close to our camp. She runs a soothing hand over my shoulder, and I lean into her as if she is the only person in the world who could hold me up. “I don’t understand why you are worried. You’re strong enough to hold their connection, Brave, simply because you know them better than Knox. Magic tends to flow best when its pathway is worn. If you’ve worked with them more than he has, which I know to be true, then you have nothing to worry about.” She rocks my body with a gentle shove, and I sit up, listening to her plea. “Besides, you’ll have me there if anything goes wrong. You know I’ve always had a strong connection with animals. I can help if you’d only let me.”
Now it’s my turn to hold her up. “Oh, Vivi. You know I trust you more than anyone else, and I am depending on you to help me at those gates. While you distract Knox with your magic, I’ll call on those from Ashen. If everything goes as planned, he’ll be overwhelmed with surprise, and that’s exactly what I’ll need in order to take him down. Aras explained that our magic is always weakest when we are focused on something else, and I plan to catch Knox when he’s at his lowest point.”
Vivi pulls away, plopping onto the dusty ground with more flare than necessary. “But what if my surprise isn’t enough? Lo said if we’re going to show our hand, we have to do it in a way that he would never expect.”
“And you don’t think blasting him with fire at the gates is surprise enough?” I ask, trying to keep the disbelief from coloring my voice. If Vivi thinks I’m not taking her seriously, she’s liable to do something she shouldn’t.
Something that might cause her to get hurt.
She shrugs, snagging dirt and tiny rocks against the back of her tunic. “It will do, I guess.”
Her words twist a funny knot in my stomach, begging me to prompt her further. “What do you mean, you guess? What else could we possibly do?”
Vivi looks away, eyes catching her favorite fake brother as he heads down the bank, jumping into the creek with a mighty splash. Her features grow wicked when he slides off his tunic, throwing it up into the trees as he sloshes water against his smooth, olive chest. “Don’t look now, sister, but I think Aras may be trying to sabotage your mission.”
I hold my gaze, determined not to let her rile me. “Oh? How so? I might accuse you of the same thing, seeing how you won’t answer my question.”
She pulls her legs to her chest, rocking to her feet. “You know how. I’d have to be a fool to not understand what the sight of him without his shirt does to your brain.” She pulls me to my feet and grabs my shoulders, turning me on my heel until I’m forced to see nothing else but a toned Aras standing innocently in the creek.
Blasted boy. I’ve never longed to become one with the water more than I do right now.
“It’s written across your cheeks in flaming red for all to see. Aras is the key to my heart. I’ll never live another day if not with him.” She laughs, prodding me forward with a light push. “Go. Tell him to put his shirt back on before Darcy mauls him to death, but get a good, up-close peek at him while you do.”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said you were the sweetest, meanest little girl I know,” I say, looking over my shoulder as I pull off my boots and step into the creek.
She beams, wearing the title like an honor. “It’s my life’s dream.” Then she is off, bounding up the bank and disappearing into camp.
I turn around to find that Aras has spotted me, but the slight twitch of his lips tells me he already knew I was there all along… probably plotting my demise for hours as he waited for me by the water.
I might be a little put off if I was
n’t so excited.
“I was wondering where you got off to. With all of these beasts around, you never can be too careful.” He grabs my hand as I near, giving my fingers a playful squeeze as he pulls me to his chest. “I should probably give you one of my extra tunics to wrap around you head tonight. We don’t want any unexpected visitors howling in your ear and pining for your heart.”
Oh, my sweet Aras. After all we’ve been through, there’s still a small part of him that doesn’t believe what we have is real. One of a kind. Never to be repeated. He likes to hide his feelings behind a tease. If only he would open his eyes and realize the only person I’ll ever run to is him.
Always.
I catch his chin in my fingers, tipping his head down so he knows what I have to say is true. “No need for the extra protection, Aras—I’ll have you. You do plan to make your pallet beside mine, right? I’m pretty sure everyone—man or beast—knows if there is going to be any pining going on, it will be between you and me.”
He dips his head, kissing my fingers when I let go. “I like the way you think.”
“Good, because I’m always right.” I wink. “Not to mention, I did throw away a dream life with the kindest prince I’ll ever meet. If that doesn’t prove my love for you, I don’t know what will.”
He starts, pulling back to peer into my eyes. Worry churns in my gut. I scramble to speak, afraid I’ve upset him when it’s the last thing I meant to do. “Aras—”
But that’s all I get out before his mouth is upon mine, covering me up in the sweetest and truest of kisses. Heat licks at my neck, torn between wanting to hold him forever and breaking what I know to be a very inappropriate and public display of affection.
Naturally, I choose the former.
It’s only when he finally breaks away, wide-eyed and out of breath, that I finally find the words to speak. “Aras,” I breathe as he lowers his forehead against my own. “What was that for?”
He smirks like the wild little devil he is, and I have to beg my traitorous heart to slow its pace. “You said you chose me over a prince. How could I not kiss you after that?”
I mimic his expression, determined not to let him unravel me in these woods. At least not yet, and not with so many witnesses. “I did, although you are my handsome prince, so I suppose that makes you equal.”
He sobers, a rare hue of pink tipping his ears. “You also said you love me.”
I straighten in his arms, completely caught off guard by his words. “I did?” I ask, and immediately regret it. Of course I did, or in a way at least. Why wouldn’t I? When two people have gone through what we have together, it’s only normal. We’re Aras and Brave—a true love written in the stars, for Ashen’s sake. In the past, we’ve only said we care for one another, which coming from us, means a lot. But I think we’ve both known our relationship goes far beyond care.
We’ve just never said it aloud.
I realize he’s watching, a hint of worry wrinkling his brow, and my mind fumbles for a response. “Why wouldn’t I?” And then, because now his worry has wormed its way over to me, I add, “Do you think I shouldn’t?”
His head shakes, dark curls sliding across his forehead. “No, that’s not what I meant—”
“Great cursed woods of the earth! Would you two knock it off already?”
We break away as if we’ve been stung, surprised to find my cousin staring us down in that angry and unhealthy way of his. Reeve sits by the water’s edge, dipping his hands in the current and splashing his face. Darcy lounges to his left, while Weston, my papa’s former guard, rests on her shoulder in his sleek hawk form. I send an awkward wave, as if the action alone could make up for the inappropriate show they’ve obviously been forced to watch.
Darcy growls, but doesn’t attempt to whisper anything further. She probably has her hands full enough with my cousin. I have to admit, out of all the easy relationships that have developed in the brief time since we’ve been together, theirs surprises me the most.
It must be the mother bear in her… literally.
“I still can’t believe that of all the dumb oafs you could have dragged into this forest, you chose the most annoying one you could find.”
Aras crosses his arms, settling in for a good verbal spar. At least one of us is back to themselves. “Don’t talk so down on yourself, Reeve. You know she never chose to drag you anywhere. And you said it yourself, you two are blood. She couldn’t help but bring you along.”
Reeve’s teeth flash, momentarily crossing the line between man and beast. I take a step toward him, palms out flat as if approaching a wild animal rather than my cousin. When he catches the movement, his anger fades, softening the hard lines of his face. “We’re sorry, Reeve. We didn’t mean for you to see that.”
He snorts, ticking his head toward Aras. “It’s fine. It is Aras, after all. He never has been one for appropriate behavior. Maybe you should save that until… you know… you’re together permanently, or something like that.”
I almost choke on my surprise. “Do you mean married?”
He shrugs and turns to walk back up the hill, a lazy Darcy and Weston in tow.
By the time he disappears over the bank, Aras is standing by my side. “Your family is kind of starting to make me feel a little unsettled. Do you think we should reconsider this whole love thing?”
I gift him with a light shove, making my way out to the middle of the creek. Aras starts to wash off his arms and stomach, leaving me to stand there in my full tunic and now half-soaked pants. He peers up at me through his long lashes, and I know I’m in trouble before he speaks. “If you’re going to stand there and enjoy the view, you might as well help.” He turns his back to me, stealing my breath at the sight of his mark. The red flames that stood out not long ago have now turned a toned olive to match his skin. Only the black outline remains, a stark reminder of our past, but also of our victory as well.
My fingers find the empty flames, and I fight to keep the tears from stealing my words. “It’s perfect. Have you seen it?”
He turns around, wrapping me up into a warm hug. “Yes. Vivi showed it to me the day after she broke the promise.”
I reluctantly pull away, the mention of my sister reminding me what I wanted to talk to him about all along… before he distracted me with his wiles. “Speaking of my sister, have you noticed her acting strange of late? When I spoke with her by the bank, she seemed hesitant to agree to our plan. Almost as if she felt our surprise wasn’t good enough for Knox. Do you think she’s up to something?”
Aras frowns, gently rubbing his hands up and down the sides of my arms. “She hasn’t said anything, or at least, not to me. I’ll ask around and keep a close watch. You know your sister; she’s always seeking trouble where it doesn’t belong. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Even though his words mean to soothe, a funny tingle still sends chills across my skin. My eyes find the ridge, watching for signs of my squirrely sister as she moves about camp. “Yes, I’m sure it is.”
Twenty-Two
It’s way past dark by the time we all settle onto our pallets, the worry and stress of the days to come weighing us down like a heavy cloak. Vivi sits beside me, our shoulders rubbing as she reaches out, sliding off her boots. She hasn’t said much all afternoon, and her silence, more than anything, is beginning to wear on my fragile nerves.
“Ian says the trip back to Theron should go much quicker than the time it took to get here.” I bump her arm, aiming for some sort of reaction—anything that lets me know I haven’t lost my sister even as she breathes by my side. “It’s been fun spending time with you in the woods, but I’ll be glad to be rid of this bed.”
She snorts, placing her boots by the pallet. “I bet he did, considering what a talker he’s been today. For a prince of few words, he sure seemed to have a lot of them.”
“Ian?” My eyes dart around the camp, looking for the golden-haired boy mingling throughout the humans and animals alike. Although I can’t say
I saw much of him during the day, Vivi’s words surprise me—mainly because he can’t communicate with half of our allies here. “With all the worry and pressure about our plans to take down Knox, he’s probably being extra thorough. There’s no harm in making sure everyone understands the details.”
She cuts me a knowing glance. “I don’t think those were the details he was focused on. You might know more if you and Aras weren’t stuck by each other’s sides for the entire day. We could have tied you together with a rope and I doubt either of you would have noticed.”
I try not to bristle, mainly because her words aren’t far from the truth. “I admit, we were pretty inseparable today, but a lot of that was because I needed to talk to each person from Ashen and he wanted to come.”
“Can’t imagine why.” She laughs, tugging gently on my braid. “Aras is smitten. Then again, so are you. But aren’t you the least bit interested in who Ian was talking to?”
I roll my eyes, refusing to play into her hand. “Who Ian chooses to talk to is none of my business, don’t you agree?”
“Oh, it’s your business, Brave. Unless you’ve found yourself a new best friend.” She motions with her head, and my eyes follow her lead, zoning in on the edge of the camp where the fire’s light barely outshines the shadows. There, Ian sits with his back against a tree. His mouth moves in an endless stream, hidden words flowing into the air with ease. For who would fill the silence if he stopped?
Certainly not Sara.
There my best friend sits, her silver coat bouncing off the low light of the fire and creating a lamp of her own. She stares up into his face, mouth closed but not clenched, watching his every expression and digesting his every word. She hasn’t moved a muscle in the time we’ve spent watching them, and something tells me she probably hasn’t all day.
What in Ashen is that boy saying?
Vivi pokes her elbow into my side, calling me back to our discussion. “I can’t decide if she wants to eat him or lick him, but I guess it doesn’t matter either way. There are stranger things than falling in love with a wolf. Trust me; I should know.”
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