Page 211 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

“It’s an important day,” I reply with a slight shrug of my shoulders, letting go of his hand as I take a step back, brushing down my training clothes.

We’re back in the valley, training down in the long grasses by the icy river that races past us. It’s been several days, but I’ve still not wanted to train in the grove, just in case I accidently call on nature again. Images of Eldrin’s face as the thorns pierced his skin still haunt my dreams. The early morning sun has just fully risen above the top of the mountains, shining down into the valley and warming my skin. Closing my eyes, I bask in this temporary moment of calm, knowing it’s all going to disappear soon.

Today, we are moving to the foothills of the mountains. We will be making camp in the forest there, someplace where both the tribes and the wood elves can function. Most of the wood elves had stayed behind in the forest, unable to make the journey into the mountains to come find me.

The discussions amongst the tribespeople had been long and arduous. Many didn’t want to leave the mountains, and in the end, I had to point out that we will probably have to leave for the final battle anyway, so we may as well do this on our terms. Some were staying behind to care for the sacred stones and those who were too sick or young to travel, but otherwise, everyone who could fight would be coming.

“Prepare yourself,” Eldrin warns, pulling me out of my thoughts. I roll my eyes at him, but I drop into a defensive stance anyway, knowing he’ll tackle me whether I’m ready or not. “You don’t think it’s the right decision?” he asks carefully, slowlystarting to circle me, looking every inch the predator with his golden eyes flicking over me, searching for an opening.

“No, it’s the right thing to do,” I reply, and my wrist tingles in agreement, reassuring me we’re making the right decision. “There’s a lot that could go wrong.” Not to mention rising tensions between the elves and some of the tribespeople, and the long, difficult journey ahead of us moving twelve tribes and all of their equipment across the mountains.

I don’t hear his response because he’s moving towards me, almost too fast for me to track, and even with my fae speed, I act too late. His arms come around my stomach, and I try to step to the side and use his momentum to throw him off me, but his grip is too strong, and we just end up rolling. Bouncing through the grass, we come to a jarring stop with him pinning me to the ground, and I look up at him with wide eyes, only to see that I took him by surprise too. I don’t know if the stress of the last couple of days has finally caught up with me, but laughter bubbles up and I can’t hold it back, and it bursts forth until I’m in fits of giggles beneath him. I just start to control them when I look at his face, at his stunned surprise, and it sets me off again.

“I-I’m…I—” I try to apologise between bouts of laughter, my stomach aching. “I’m s-sor—”

I’m abruptly cut off as his lips crash onto mine. All thought leaves my mind as I focus on the feel of his lips against mine, my whole world narrowing down to his kiss. For a few painful seconds, I’m frozen in shock, until he realises I’m not returning his kiss and he starts to pull away.

“Don’t you dare,” I growl into his mouth, wrapping my arms around him as I pull him closer to me, returning his kiss with a passion I hadn’t known I possessed. All of the fighting, heated looks, and biting comments over the last couple of weeks comes out in our fervour, but we don’t take it any further than kissing,like there’s an invisible barrier neither of us are prepared to cross, at least not yet.

I’m not sure how long we stay like that, kissing in the tall grasses, but after a while, he rolls us onto our sides and presses our foreheads together. His large hand comes up to stroke my cheek, his face somber likes he’s carrying a heavy burden.

I don’t want to ask, but I can feel that happiness draining from him the longer we stay like this, and I can’t ignore it any longer. “What’s wrong?” I whisper, my lips brushing against his, my hands gripping onto the fabric of his shirt tightly, as if it will help keep him here with me.

He sighs and presses another kiss to my lips, but this one is different. It’s deep and slow and feels like he’s saying goodbye. Pulling back a few inches, he scans my face, his expression heavy. “We shouldn’t be doing this.” Gently, he untangles himself from me and sits up, wincing at my hurt expression. “You have mates,” he justifies, but it feels more like he’s trying to convince himself rather than me.

My thoughts are a mess, but my heart is breaking and telling me one thing. How can us being apart be the right thing when it hurts so much? Yes, I’ve been destined to love my three mates the goddess has designed for me, but I can’t deny that I have feelings for Eldrin too. Does that make it wrong? Does that mean I should put aside all of my other feelings just because I have predestined mates? I already know it’s possible to love more than one person, is it really so wrong that Eldrin could be one of those people? These thoughts are all so new and fresh to me that I’m not quite sure how to put them into words, but I can see him pulling away from me, prepared to put his happiness last once again. I need to make him understand.

“Stop.” Sitting up, I move onto my knees and straddle him, reaching out and catching his chin between my hands. He avoids my gaze, staring over my shoulder instead. “Are you tellingme you don’t feel this connection between us?” His eyes widen slightly as I speak, flicking up to meet mine as if checking to see if I’m telling the truth. I can’t hide my smile, my suspicion confirmed. He does feel a connection to me, even if he won’t admit it out loud. His expression changes as he watches me, hunger appearing as his fae instincts kick in. He wraps his arms around my lower back, holding me close. “If I didn’t have mates, would you ignore this?”

He growls low in his throat, pulling me tighter against his chest. “If you didn’t have mates, I would court you,” he replies, leaning in close, his lips brushing against my neck and pressing against my pulse point. He takes a deep breath and lets out a deep, satisfied rumble that makes my core clench with desire. He has barely touched me, and I’m already wet for him. I had no idea that just a sound could make me so aroused. His teeth press gently against my neck, and for a second, I think he’s going to bite me like the fae do when they mate. My breathing picks up and my hands tighten on his shoulders, but he pulls back slightly, chuckling low in his throat. “And if by some miracle you wanted me, I would askMenisheato bless us and ask you to be mine.” His words make my stomach flip as his tongue flicks out and he licks the tiny imprints where his teeth pressed against my skin.

Is he saying that in different circumstances, he would ask me to marry him? Do elves do that?My arousal fogged brain tries to pick apart what he just said as he blows on the now damp skin.

Eldrin pulls back to look at me, using one of his hands to brush my hair back behind my ear. “But you do have mates.” His voice is sad but resigned, quickly snapping me from my hazy state. He’s already come to terms with the fact that he will never be able to be with me, but he’s not even giving it a chance.

Frowning, I pull my hands from his shoulders and gesture from him to me and back again. “This…connection between us.It may not be goddess blessed, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less special or important than my others.” A vulnerable look appears on his features as I speak. It’s difficult to be mad at someone when you can see their insecurities. Sighing, I lower my voice and take his large hand in mine, letting him see that if he denies himself this relationship, it’s not just him that he’s hurting. “Are you giving up on me before you’ve even given us a chance?”

Silence follows as he looks down at our joined hands, his thumb rubbing over the back of mine. Following his lead, I glance down. They look so different together, his large, scarred, and tanned, mine small and pale, yet locked together, they’re perfect.

“Do you truly feel that way?” There’s an urgency to his voice that makes me look up, and I find he’s closer than I expected, his eyes alight.

I don’t need to think about my answer, the word immediately on my tongue. “Yes.”

A low, possessive growl leaves his throat again, his eyes heating. “Then I will never give up on you.” My heart soars at his declaration as he pulls me closer, our lips meeting in a passionate kiss. I bite down lightly on his lower lip, and he growls into my mouth, making a thrill go through me. I know nothing more can happen today, and he knows it too from the way his hands tighten on my shoulders and he sighs into my mouth, pulling away slightly. “Although, I’m not sure the others will agree.”

I wince and nod. He’s right, I’m not sure how the others will take it. Tor has been the most open to ‘sharing’ me with the others, but that was with those I shared a goddess bond with. Grayson, well, he hates elves, so adding another elf to the mix is going to test his limits. He only accepts Vaeril because the Great Mother wills it, so this may be too much for him. Nausea fills me at the prospect. However, it’s actually Vaeril I’m the mostworried about telling. Eldrin is one of his closest friends, and while he may already suspect I’m getting close with the scarred elf, I’m not sure how he would take it if I was to make him mine.

Inhaling a deep breath, I try to calm my nerves. “I’ll speak with them, but not today, after the move,” I tell him, and he nods in agreement. Everything is suddenly so different between us. As we both push to our feet, we watch each other with slight smiles like teenagers. I’ve never seen Eldrin smile so much. It’s not the bright, carefree smiles of Tor, but I can see the happiness in his eyes, and it makes his whole face light up. I’m watching him again when a thought abruptly comes to me, and I groan loudly, throwing my head back dramatically. “Naril is going to kill me when we tell him.” I think Eldrin’s twin has suspected that there’s been something going on between us for a while now, given the pointed looks he’s been throwing us.

Snorting, Eldrin pushes back his wild locks of golden hair from his face. “I’ll handle him.” His face settles into a more somber mask, and I know what he’s going to say before he even opens his mouth. “We should get back.”

He’s right, even though I wish he weren’t. Sighing, I give the peaceful valley one last look, committing the view to memory. I have a sinking feeling I won’t be coming back here for a very long time.

The move was just as long and arduous as I expected. It’s going to take several more days to get everyone and everything through the mountains, but we’ve got the base camp set up now, which is the most important part. We’re in the shadow of the mountain, and the sun is just beginning to set, casting us all in darkness, so campfires are being lit. A huge bonfire is roaringin the center of the camp, the large tents surrounding it where the chiefs meet, and right now, I can see Revna having a lively discussion with the painted chief, Ragnar. Concern lines my stomach. Of all the chiefs, he’s been my least active supporter. In fact, he’s stood against me on several occasions. He hadn’t wanted to move to the forest, claiming we didn’t need the elves in this war, that we didn’t need them to help fight our battles.

“Beloved?” a light, feminine voice calls, bringing me from my troubled thoughts. Schooling my expression, I turn, only to find it’s Speaker Fawne.

Smiling slightly, I dip my head in a show of respect. “How can I help you, Speaker?” The wood elf is beautiful and ethereal, and if I didn’t know otherwise, I would suspect she wasn’t in fact an elf, but one of the beautiful tree spirits I used to see dancing through the forest.

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