Page 78 of Gift from the Stone

I thought confessing that to her would help, but she just sobs harder into my neck. My element soaks up her wet tears as they flow down my inked chest. Reaching in my shirt, she lays her soft hand over my heart, covering the brightly and extremely detailed moon that mars my olive skin. From collarbone to hips, my body’s a canvas that represents our Nexus.

A dragon in mid-flight with its wings spread wide. Scales painted and detailed in deep, rich auburn shades reflect the moonlight in flickering shadows. It’s my interpretation of Draken’s brightness in my darkened soul.

Beneath the dragon is a sprawling forest, much like the one outside that Tillman’s worked tirelessly to take care of and fortify. The trees, some tall, some recede into the background, create a layered effect that adds to the details of their impenetrable strength.

Cascading rays cut through the darkness of the night. These rays are meticulously crafted to illuminate and wrap around the scars that litter my chest. Corentin’s need to always protect me, pulling me out of the darkness before I completely give in.

And the center focus, the moon.

Its surface is adorned with craters and subtle textures, capturing the essence of a celestial body. It emits a soft light that feeds into the rays, cutting through the dark, and highlights the dragon and forest below. It represents the guiding light that brightens the path, revealing the beauty within the darkness. Every element of the piece seems to stretch toward it, vying for its light.

I never understood my obsession with its placement and perfection. I spent countless hours designing it and have gone back many times over the years adding even more detail until I finally decided it was complete. Now, holding my sobbing Primary in my lap as she falls apart, it’s quite clear, my blackened heart knew she’d find me. She’s my moon.

Her head pops up at the sound of my timekeeper going off in my pocket. My alarm to leave.

Fuck, this isn’t going to go well. I already know. I didn’t plan on her reacting like this, this morning, so the brief ten minutes I allotted for have come and gone in a flash.

“What is that? What’s that alarm for?” she asks in a panic.

“Look at me, Primary,” I order softly. Her bloodshot eyes swing to mine, and I nearly cave right then, but I have to go. I have to meet Rhett, get the files and a quick brief, then I’ll be right back. I can’t be late. It’ll put Rhett in danger if he’s spotted just fucking off right on the outside of the pack lands with a file on the possible soon-to-be alpha.

“I’ve got to get the report on the finalist. Rhett’s going to be waiting for me. I won’t take long, just a few minutes, and I’ll meet you at the academy.”

“No, you can’t leave me. You’ve only been here a few minutes. No.” She shakes her head, tears continuing to drip down her face.

“I know you’re having a hard time right now and I’m not making it better, but I promise I’m going to be right back. I’ll be with you at the academy all day.” I swear to her as I watch her eyes shatter.

Standing, she immediately clings to me again, wrapping her arms back around my neck and her legs around my waist. I know she isn’t going to let me go. I’m going to have to force her to, and that fucking breaks something inside of me. She needs me, and I have to leave her…again.

Once I can get back and spend enough time with her to get her out of this frenzy, she’s going to feel humiliated. She always does after each time this has happened with the others. But the bond feeds and pushes on our own emotions, multiplying them, so deep down, she does miss me. She wants me here.

“Corentin,” I grunt. My own bond now tries to rip me apart for having to pull away from her.

“Come here, princess,” he says softly, wrapping his arms around her stomach, giving me a nod, knowing exactly what I’m going to have to do.

“I’m so sorry, little Primary. I’ll be back.” I give her a kiss on her cheek, then call my shadows, my body going incorporeal as I slip through her hands.

Her sob follows me through the shadows into the lawn, and I can still hear her cry ringing in my ears as I travel through the transport. Stepping out, I immediately call my shadows back, shrouding me in the darkness and out of anyone’s line of sight as I collect myself.

Fuck that. Fuck this.

I’ll never leave her like that again.

I’ll let this motherfucker flood before I ever leave her when she needs me again.

I spot Rhett leaning against a tree for our rendezvous. Slinking my way to him, taking my time to make sure no one approaches him, I command my shadows to create a dome over us, blocking us from anyone’s sight and hearing.

“I was getting worried. The infamous Caspian is never late,” he comments lightly, but I don’t have time for pleasantries.

“What have you got?” I ask.

“Here are all ten files. I threw one together for Lyker just in case I got caught, it wouldn’t look like he was singled out. I still haven’t spotted a single mark, so I don’t know if they’re just all lower-level recruits or something else is going on. But you can see the rift in the pack between normal pack wolves and the wolves that interact more with the non-wolf shifters. And they’re cagey around me and my guys, as well as Lyker’s and his.”

“How many non-wolves will be here tomorrow?”

“As of now, there are seventy here that stay on the lands. I don’t think any more will join. You can tell the pack is still run by the ‘outsiders can’t come and go’ rule. Lyker’s the only lone wolf in the final ten,” he emphasizes. Wolves are notorious for not letting outsiders in. This pack being the exception to that rule.

“How’s he doing?”

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