Page 28 of Under Crimson Blades

“Well, no thanks to my current company, I’ve finally finished the cream pie.” She turned to Remmus. “Now, be a good lad and help me walk them out to the Great Hall.”

Saluting her, Remmus played the faithful servant and took an armful at her beck and call. Then, he paused and set a few cupcakes down on the counter. He winked at her.

“We’ve gotta save a few for Gwennie. We promised.”

Ava’s frown softened into approval before they headed out the door. Trailing in her wake, more than a few hungry wolves began circling before she’d even set them down and called them free game.

A blood bath for cupcakes ensued. There were casualties.

Remmus, already enamored with Ava’s baking, stole another cupcake for himself, and nabbed a piece of cream pie. It wasn’t long before the pack’s alpha joined the melee, and then stood back with Remmus to watch the wolves bound outside to burn off their gluttony.

The alpha wolf beside him gave him a scrutinizing stare. “Thanks for saving my beta. Heard she gave you a hard time.”

“Well, on the plus side, I’ve secured her wolf’s dental impression.” Shoving the last of his pie into his mouth, Remmus chuckled. “Just in case you ever need it.”

“Hazard of the job, I suppose,” Riaz mused. “In any case, I owe you. Twice now, if we’re counting.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything,” his solemn voice made Riaz look over, “but I could really use some more of those cupcakes. Perhaps I’ll twist Ava’s arm for a dozen more.”

Something changed in the alpha’s face, and it was made more intense by the unblinking stare that followed. Inhaling, Riaz straightened.

“If you think I don’t smell you all over her, you’re wrong,” he warned. “Don’t hurt her, Raeth.”

“A warning?”

“Call it what you will, but know I protect my own.”

Remmus didn’t make light of the warning in the alpha’s voice, or the threat behind his words. While he claimed eight centuries to Riaz’s five, alpha wolves were pack leaders for a reason. Territorial, predatorial, and possessive, the alpha wasn’t someone to ignore.

“Noted.”

Taking a calculating breath, Riaz’s shoulders lowered an inch, and he returned his attention to the scene before them. “Cortana mentioned you recoded our HVAC system already.”

“I did. Had a few spare hours earlier today.”

“Appreciate that,” Riaz glanced at him. “What’d you find out about the Raeth in St. Louis? Ava said you were able to check his psychic signature. Any ideas on what extracurricular gifts he has?”

Remmus’ mouth thinned before he responded. “No. It’s exceptionally difficult to determine that without delving into his mind—which he’d definitely sense. But being of destruction, I’ve no doubt his gifts will prove threatening.”

Chapter Eleven

Ava suffocated, pressure pushing down against her chest while she resisted the urge to move. Her hands scrapped against the heavy pelt atop her, itchy and thick. Choking, her lungs burned for clean air, constricting painfully as they tried to draw in the precious resource.

The sound of blood splattering on the ground was chorused by joyful shouts. And he was just watching: passive, aloof, indifferent. He was her enemy. Her ghost. Ciru, the Raeth.

A whine erupted from her throat. If she’d been human, it would’ve been a scream, but the wolf’s vocal cords were unable to make the sound. Curled in a ball on her own pillow, Ava shook off the remnants of her dream. Her painful past often transferred into her subconscious dreamland; a bloody history she could never fully escape.

She trotted into her bathroom where she shifted and showered. As the steam clouded the mirrors, she allowed herself the time to think.

Last night had been a mistake. Why had she kissed him? She’d allowed the Raeth to get too close and now she had … feelings. While she’d enjoyed his company, she couldn’t afford to lose herself in him. Her past simply wouldn’t allow it.

Remmus’ expertise was needed for the good of her immortal breed and helping her overcome her fear was an important benefit. Eventually—once she trusted him—she would ask him to look at her sketches and see if he recognized them.

Flipping off the light in her steamy bathroom, she padded quietly through her quarters, still lost in thought. When she walked through her empty kitchen, the echoes of passion still resounded in her heart. Ava hesitated, staring at the stool he’d sat in.

She wasn’t someone who let her feelings rule her actions. Or impulsively decided to let Raeths get close enough to bite.

The crimson-soaked ground she’d plodded over as a youngling had made sure of that. The last time she’d let a Raeth get close, she’d lost everything.

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