Page 19 of Make Me

“That makes sense,” Holly said before breaking into a story about her first Runes class, which set off another story from Desmond.

For the rest of dinner, they all chatted and swapped stories about their first year at the Academy. Bit by bit, Claire relaxed as she soaked it all in. After dinner, Desmond offered to walk Holly and Claire back to their dormitory. Zack went with them for some fresh air but was going to head to the library to work on a project with a classmate.

He watched as Holly got distracted by a classmate needing something and Desmond walked Claire back to the dorm, their heads bent together. He smiled. Something deep in his gut told him that Claire was going to shake things up at the Academy and possibly the Realm, but he didn’t think that was a bad thing. He thought of Cody’s pack and Bethany’s pride and their outdated views on a lot of things but especially mates. The Realm needed to be shaken up.

CHAPTER TEN

BETHANY

Age 21

Early fall in the shifter/Elven forest.

A hard lump against her back woke her up. She opened her eyes to the early morning light streaming through the trees. She must have rolled over onto a root while she slept. She groaned softly as she rolled off it. She could already feel the bruise forming in the middle of her back. That was going to make for a fun trek today.

They had left late last night from the neutral grounds. Cody had heard from one of the wolf patrols that there was evidence of a large group moving along the far edge of pack territory. Since they weren’t inside the territory lines, the patrol hadn’t engaged, but it was the first solid lead they had about the escaped prisoners. They had hiked until they had caught the scent of the group. Bethany’s lioness had locked onto the trail with a tug in her gut that had guided them, but by then, it was a very early hour of the morning, so they camped at the base of a large oak tree.

“Hey,” Zack said softly from next to her. He must be on watch. “You still have a bit longer to sleep if you want.”

Bethany rolled over to look at him and winced when her back hit the ground. “I think I’m up for the morning. I slept on a root.”

Zack frowned. “Let me see?”

Bethany pushed herself to a sitting position and swung her legs around until her back was to Zack. She couldn’t hold in the shiver as his hands lifted her shirt.

“Sorry,” he whispered, misunderstanding her reaction.

In contrast to the cool air, his hands were warm as they probed the bruise softly. Bethany felt his magic rise before it brushed against her skin, seeping deep into the muscle. The pain slowly receded until it was gone.

“Thanks.” She smiled over her shoulder.

Her breath caught. Zack’s face was closer than she expected. They just looked at each other for a few seconds. Just as he was leaning in to kiss her, Cody shifted on his other side. Bethany drew back, getting to her feet.

“Come on, wolf-boy.” She nudged Cody’s leg softly as a distraction. “We’ve got to make up some ground today.”

The scent they’d caught yesterday had been at least a day old. Who knew where the prisoners could be by now?

“I’m up, I’m up,” Cody said blearily, his brown curls falling into his face as he yawned.

“You look it,” Bethany said dryly. Her hands itched to push the curls away from his eyes, so she turned and packed up her bag instead.

Despite his sleepiness, Cody also packed up quickly, and soon they were on their way. Cody and Bethany took turns shifting to make sure they stayed on the correct path. Their noses were better than most in human form, but there was no room for error here. If it was just Bethany and Cody, they could have shifted and covered the distance in half of the time, but when Zack proposed that idea, they both shot him down. Neither of them wanted to leave the wizard by himself. Bethany was padding alongside Zack in her lioness form when the trail split in two directions.

She shifted back. “They split up,” she announced, pointing in two separate directions.

Zack hummed and pulled out his map. “It looks like one trail leads to the Dragon Mountains and the other leads towards the Elven Forest.”

“Which way do we go?” Cody asked. “I don’t want us to split up.”

Bethany nibbled on her lower lip. Her lioness was telling her to go towards the Elven Forest, but what if that was the wrong idea.

“Bethany, what is it?” Zack read her face too well.

Bethany hesitated. “I’ve been feeling this pull since we found the trail. I thought it was just that my lioness was excited to track them down, but now that they’ve split up, my lioness is pulling me towards the Elven Forest.”

“Then let’s head that way,” Cody suggested.

“What if I’m wrong and the bulk of the prisoners went the other way?”

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