by Rebecca Main
I ache to hold her in my arms, my feet bringing me to the edge of the bed before I can slam on the brakes. “It wasn’t your fault, Quinn.”
She shakes her head resolutely, somehow finding my eyes in the dark. “It is. I didn’t have to involve her, but I did. I did because I was going to leave with her.”
My heart halts and a pulse of pain radiates from my body. Quinn whines in response. “Why?” I croak, leaning a shaky hand on the bedpost.
“Because I don’t want to be a prisoner here anymore,” she whispers mournfully, “and I knew if I came back you would find some way to bind the soulmark.” I shudder a sigh.
“I would never make you submit to the binding without your consent.”
She lets out a wet bark of laughter. “That’s not saying a lot considering how I was sealed and marked.”
“I regret my actions, Quinn, more than you can know,” I tell her earnestly. “I wouldn’t force the binding on you. I swear it.” She stills at my sincerity, her sniffling subsiding as she hastily wipes away the remnants of tears on her face.
“But would you let me go?” she asks. Another ripple of pain travels the length of my body. I gulp down my nausea and nod.
“Yes,” I respond hoarsely. “I would let you go.” Even if it meant stalking her from the shadows for the rest of our days, just so that she wouldn’t have to feel the pain of our separation.
“You would?”
Another nod she cannot see. “Yes, Quinn.” Silence stretches between us, her face scrunching in contemplation.
“Then I’d like to leave. Today.”
My grip tightens on the bedpost. “Not today.” I continue before she can speak, her indignation spiking through the bond. “They’re joining the crystal later today, and we expect the Wselfwulf Pack to cause trouble. It’s not safe…but tomorrow, tomorrow you can leave if you wish.”
Another silence. This one slowly tearing my heart apart as Quinn fidgets with the covers. “Alright,” she finally whispers. I can tell she expected more of a fight, but I cannot bear to argue with her. “Tomorrow then.”
Chapter 13
Quinn
I wake up sometime in the evening, Ryatt resting peacefully at my side. How we both slept so long is beyond me. He had nearly retreated after the declaration of my intent, but I had stopped him. The word “wait” having bolted past my lips before I could think to stop them. He had turned around with such hope written across his face I couldn’t stand to devastate him once again like I knew my earlier words had. The soulmark was softening my resolve to him, which made the need to leave all the more urgent.
I was tucked into his body. Our legs loosely entangled. Hands resting gently upon one another. As if sensing I’ve awakened, Ryatt slowly begins to come to. His fingers flex against my hip before pulling away to properly stretch. I hesitate, then carefully detach myself from the comfort of his warmth. Enough of my wall had been torn down in the past couple of days; I didn’t need Ryatt slipping past my weak defenses.
“Why don’t you stay in bed a little while longer,” he asks, sleep still staining his voice. “I’m sure we can find a way to entertain ourselves.”
There is a teasing lilt to his words, though they still carry a familiar dark promise to them. The soulmark pulses with awareness, but I find myself shaking my head and shifting away from the warmth of his body. He clears his throat and the bed dips on the other side.
“I doubt Zoelle is around to make us any treats, but the kitchen staff will no doubt be around. How about I grab us something to eat and bring it back up here?” he suggests, discreetly adjusting his waistband as he walks towards the bedroom door. My eyes track his movements.
“I’ll come with,” I tell him just as his hand turns the doorknob. “We can eat downstairs.” He gives a nod and a small smile, opening the door with his usual flair.
“After you,” he murmurs.
I scoff as I pass, though it is halfhearted as his gaze follows me. “Don’t think I don’t know you just want to check out my ass.” He grins rakishly in response.
“Me? Never.” My returning grin halts halfway as the previous night comes into focus. “Hey,” his hand reaches out to grab hold of my chin, “it wasn’t your fault, Quinn. You could never have known that Vrana would have gone after your friend. In fact, it’s quite odd that he was able to figure out her role in our plot so quickly.”
I shake my head dully, escaping his gentle hold easily enough. “She’s done jobs for him before. He’s familiar with her work.”
“I see.”
We walk silently to the dining room, my stomach grumbling as I wait for him to return with our food. It gives me ample time to dissect the mess of thoughts colliding together in my head. Why had I agreed to wait? The longer I was around him the more I…felt. And feeling was something I desperately didn’t want to do right now. I could learn to live with the guilt of M’s death, but I wasn’t sure if I could do it with Ryatt’s constant empathy or that of the pack, which I could feel sifting its way through the bond. I wasn’t sure how to handle it, and that’s what I disliked most of all.
“I hope you like ice cream,” Ryatt announces, coming in with two bowls of iced dairy goodness. The vanilla is barely seen under the obscene amount of chocolate that has been poured over both. I desperately want to put on some character to hide behind, but his rather ridiculous choice in food keeps plain old Quinn in place.
“Ice cream for dinner?” I ask, amused. He sits down next to me with a happy sigh.
“I like to live dangerously,” he says, scooting his chair closer to mine. I can barely fend off the blush that douses my cheek and take a spoonful of the treat in minor defense.
“Where is everyone?” I ask once I’ve swallowed and Ryatt is busy with a mouthful of chocolate and ice cream.
“Out at the borders, no doubt,” he informs me, words cutting a bit too sharply. “They’re piecing the crystal back together, which will take a lot of magic and leave the witches vulnerable. If the crystal isn’t put together, or the wards fall along the border, then the wolves are needed there to protect them.”
“But not you?”
His smile turns slightly bitter. “Not I. I’ve been ordered to stay behind…with you.” I catch his sidelong glance and find my breath caught in my throat.
“Why?”
“My brother hopes I’ll be able to convince you to stay,” he admits slowly. Though his tone is light, and his expression mirrors it, something behind his eyes is daringly hopeful. “But I certainly don’t harbor any illusions that you will. Tomorrow we’ll see you off, with an escort, mind you. I won’t be deterred from that,” he tells me sharply. “They know your face. Until you can slip away unnoticed someone will follow you at a distance. Probably Keenan.” I let my spoon fall with a clatter.
“Not Keenan,” I say seriously.
He eyes me surreptitiously. “Definitely Keenan.”
“Why him? Why not some other wolf lackey? Keenan is pretty hard to miss.”
Ryatt sends me a quick wink, “He’s quite sneaky actually. One of our sneakiest wolves, I dare say.”
“You’re not actually going to have someone tail me, are you?”
His face turns serious. “I am. Keenan will know who to look out for to make sure you aren’t being tailed by someone from the Wselfwulf Pack, or to protect you from a vampire.”
“I thought you were going to let me go?” I ask, heart strung tightly as I say the words.
He nearly growls back, strikes of lightning flashing in his eyes. “I am.” A look of frustration passes across his face. His cheeks grow hollow as he takes in a steadying breath. “Despite how desperately I might want you or how painful it will be for both of us for you to leave, I won’t make you stay. But you’re still my soulmark. I won’t let you go unprotected when the supernatural world is holding its breath waiting on the outcome of this day.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Adolphus Pack and the Trinity Coven have been
the talk of the town ever since we took on the Wselfwulf Pack together. Our alliance is unusual as the supernatural community prefers to stay close to their own. Vampires with vampires. Witches with witches. Lycans with lycans. We don’t tend to mingle. Even the shape shifters and otherworldly creatures don’t bother each other. If Zoelle wasn’t Xander’s soulmark, I doubt we’d still be here today.”
A rather simple “oh” is all I can manage to muster. “Is there some kind of special Facebook group for supernaturals to use, where they can gossip about all the news and politics?”
“It happens easily enough through word of mouth. We tend not to lend our secrets to the vulnerability of the Internet.” I hum accordingly and turn my attention back to the ice cream. Ryatt’s mouth opens as if to say more, but his phone lets out a series of chirps. He frowns and reaches for it.
“What is it?” I ask, going for nonchalant since Ryatt holds his phone just out of view.
“They’re preparing the union of the crystal, and the Wselfwulfs have been spotted in the distance.”
My eyes widen and search for a clock. “But the moon shouldn’t be out for hours still.”
Ryatt lets a rueful smile spear across his face. “You’re right; it won’t. There’s no point in them arriving early, like they did last time. We’ll be safe unless the ward falls, and if it doesn’t, they’ll scurry back home with their tails between their legs.”
“What happens if the ward falls?”
“A bloodbath,” he tells me darkly, “one I’ll be missing.” He scoffs and takes a spoonful of ice cream spitefully. I raise an incredulous brow.
“You want to be out there fighting?”
He mirrors my incredulous look. “Of course I want to be out there fighting! This is the one night of the month I can shift and it just so happens to coincide with a potential battle.” He bops me on the nose with his spoon, startling me back at his juvenile action. “Of course I want to be there. Think of the glory of it all.” His hand reaches out next and presses firmly beneath my chin, closing my mouth with a snap.
“Men,” I mutter. “If you want to go, then go. I’m not stopping you.”
“I can’t,” he repeats, ire clear. “I’ve been ordered to stay back with you.”
I sigh and wipe the remnants of ice cream off my nose. “Did he say to stay back, or to stay with me?” Ryatt takes a moment to consider my words, then promptly grabs my face and kisses it.
“You’re a genius,” he whispers against my lips happily. Taken aback once more, my eyelashes flutter open a second later, my breath catching just so on a shaky exhalation. His eyes alight with mirth and the telltale anticipation that comes with finding the perfect loophole. It’s a look I know well. One I have worn often. I swallow and push away the emotion, but give him a shy smile in return. Then he takes my hand, and we go.
+++
“I’m glad we changed before we left, but I wish we would have put on bug spray before leaving. I’m getting eaten alive out here,” I complain. I’ve only one pair of shoes suitable for a trek in the forest: my pink Nike runners.
“You’re about to witness something quite spectacular; you do realize that, yes?” He continues to lead me into the thick of the forest, every so often sniffing the air. His brother would be furious, he claimed, if he got wind that Ryatt had come out. Let alone with me tagging along behind him.
“You’re really going to change in front of me?” I ask dubiously.
“Shift,” he stresses.
“Whatever.” He gives my hand a squeeze and continues on silently, but I catch the amused smirk that finds his lips. It makes my heart skip a beat, and I wonder faintly for the millionth time how I’m going to leave when I keep letting myself be pulled in by his smiles and eyes. By his candor and wild side. Ugh. I shouldn’t have come out here with him. Shouldn’t have even hinted at it in the first place. But I couldn’t deny that there was a part of me wanting to see him transform.
“Here,” he says, coming to a standstill and inhaling the air deeply. “Any further and someone is bound to catch my scent or yours downwind.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, obviously,” I joke, but then he is stripping off his shirt and handing it to me. I take a startled step backward. “What the hell are you doing?” I ask, watching in shock as he starts on his belt and toes off his shoes.
“I’m not going to ruin a perfectly good pair of clothes by shifting in them. They’ll get shredded,” he tells me as if I’m the crazy one. When his pants drop my eyes close, though why I cater to his modesty when he has none is beyond me. “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, sweetheart,” he whispers close to my ear. I give a yelp and turn around wide-eyed, but he is no longer where I would have guessed him to be beside me.
A sudden cracking sounds from behind. Like the breaking of bones —an unforgiving and constant snapping and cracking and crunching.
I forget to breathe. My mind skittering to a halt. Do I dare turn around? Fear grapples with my curiosity until a vicious snarl leaves me no choice but to spin round on my heel.
I fall to my knees, watching in a mixture of astonishment and horror as Ryatt’s body lengthens and realigns. Another choked snarl and a crescendo of bones splintering into place, Ryatt falls to all fours. For a brief moment I see vestiges of the man he was, and in the next, his skin is pulling taunt over bone to become something else. His body vibrates with unrestrained energy before fur erupts from his stretched flesh. It sheaths his body in a sandy coat.
The shaking continues. The wolf’s head twisting erratically from side to side as its snout finishes forming. Its lips pulling back to reveal pointed canines. An unsteady breath passes by my lips as I watch the transformation come to its end. Where once was a man, now stands a wolf.
“Holy shit,” I whimper, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. Everything was true. Everything. My hands move to cover my face. Hiding me from the truth I had been so desperately running from. Something cold and wet presses against the back of my hands and slowly I let them fall. I lock gazes with the familiar golden eyes of Ryatt’s wolf.
My hand ghosts upwards across the rough muzzle, aware that my every movement is being watched carefully. Up close I see how his fur coat is underlined with streaks of brown and tan. My fingers tangle in the coarse hairs about his neck and chest.
“You’re…” Ryatt lets out a whine and lies down, placing his large head in my lap. My hands continue to stroke the fur, marveling at the sheer size of him. The wolf snuffs against my stomach. The heat of his breath almost burning me clean. “…Beautiful.” His tail gives a lazy wag, tongue lolling out to give my leg a lick. We stay like this for some time. Me, marveling at what can no longer be denied. Ryatt the wolf peacefully resting upon me.
A faint buzzing sounds in the air, but it takes some time before either of us acknowledges the noise as something electronic and not of nature. My hands grope for his pants that lie nearby and track down his phone.
“I don’t know your passcode,” I tell him, and wave the phone in front of his face. The wolf huffs and begins to stand, another whine treading on its vocal cords. “I have an idea of what it could be though,” I inform him with a coy smile. “I’ve watched you type it in enough times over the past week to get an idea. You focus here, in the bottom left, then end right. Most people choose a birthday or an arbitrary four number combo, but you always punch in five.” The wolf sits up, staring at me very intently as I continue to ramble. “I’m going to take a guess and say your code is 7-8-4-6-6.” The key lock screen vanishes after the final number and I stand triumphantly. “Ha! I knew it! Quinn: 7-8-4-6-6. You idiot. You hack all my files and then put my name as your passcode. Amateur.”