Page 32 of Oath of Revenge

“I didn’t quite believe the rumors of the dragon king. I guess I was wrong,” he said thoughtfully, his deep voice echoing across the clearing.

She stomped closer, drawn to him like a magnet. “One of the many things you’re wrong about.”

He smiled, and her feet slowed. A thrill raced up her spine at his smile. Did the clouds part and let the sun shine on his face? No, that was just a trick of the light.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that I’m wrong occasionally. But not about us, bunny.” He grinned wider, and she scowled.

She crossed her arms and glared, her heart still racing. “You’ve got a big mouth for a monster.”

His grin only widened. “All the better to eat you with, my dear.”

A thrill went up her spine at his words, but her throat went dry.

“In your dreams, wolfie,” she said, crossing her arms and cocking a hip.

The blanket dropped as he tipped his head up, stepped toward her, and sniffed the air. “The druid is gone.”

It wasn’t a question, but Scarlet barely processed his words. Her eyes swept down his body. Holy mother of the gods, she had avoided looking at his dick when she was patching him up.

But now, it was just right there.

Her senses seemed to go into overdrive. The auras around him flared before she suppressed them enough to see him. The short layer of gray and black fur over his body made her want to slide her hands all over.

Would it be soft or wiry? The mane of hair on his head blew in the wind, and she shivered. She glanced down at his dick, thick and long as it hung heavy against his thigh.

Damn, he didn’t seem to be bothered by the cold at all. And she, well, she was so hot from being near him, the cold felt good.

Was this the mate bond? This undeniable tug in her gut that felt like she was tied to him with a string, and someone was pulling on the string to bring her closer.

No, she couldn’t give in to it. No matter how much her mouth watered and her hands tingled to taste and touch him. It would be disrespectful to her mother’s memory.

She pursed her lips and looked back up, meeting his gaze with a challenge of her own.

“So she is, but it means little. Get back inside before your busted stitches start bleeding and attract predators.”

“Bunny, I am the predator.”

His jaw elongated as he stepped outside and spoke, the kitchen door shutting behind him. His grin widened playfully. As much as a predator could, anyway. But the slam of the door reverberated through her as if sealing her fate.

She licked her lips and shifted on the balls of her feet, her nose twitching. She expected the surge of fear, but that familiar emotion didn’t greet her. Her head said to run and hide but her body felt the lick of desire ripple through her.

He stepped barefoot onto the frozen grass, the faint light flickering over his muscles and gray fur. “The dizziness is the most concerning, but my skin is almost completely scabbed over, thanks to your help.”

With each step he took, Scarlet’s heart thumped harder.

She stepped back, her hands going to her daggers. “You busted the stitches–”

“And I put on the ointment when you left. Even as I did, the last one sealed over. Should be completely healed by morning.”

She froze, her hands shaking slightly as she grabbed her daggers and held them, combat ready. She’d never had a problem with nerves before, so what the fuck was wrong with her? She took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes, bending her knees to prepare to jump. Whether at him or away from him, she didn’t know.

She shook her head on the exhale. “No, you’re weak, an invalid.” She didn’t know who she was trying to convince, him or her.

He grinned as his jaw completely shifted into a wolf’s even though he remained upright on two human legs covered in that gray fur. “That tea must’ve kicked in all the way. Even now, the dizziness is fading. Hells, I feel like I could run for miles.”

Panic clawed at her throat, and her nose twitched furiously. The stiff brush of fear slid down her spine like ice.

Damn it, she didn’t want the fear or the desire. Why couldn’t she just be? She refused to give in to this fear, this rabbit side of her that whispered to run and hide.

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