Page 44 of Sins of His Wrath

Something flickered across Prillu's face. She was silent for a long moment. “You told thezmolayour relationship with magic has changed. How?”

"I can sense it, feel it moving. They—what do you call it? Thennin…."

“Thennin-eellithi,” Prillu confirmed.

“Nnin-eellithi,” Naya repeated. “They each feel different.”

Prillu held her gaze. “And you didn’t feel it before?”

Naya shook her head. “No.” She looked up at Prillu, her brows furrowed. “But they must have always been there. Why don’t they attack?”

Prillu remained still for a moment. “What changed? Why do you feel them now when you didn’t before?”

“You haven’t answered my question,” Naya said evenly.

“Today is not one of your days,” Prillu said just as evenly back. “You’re not in danger. Just eat and sleep. We will leave before they can get close.”

Naya didn’t find her words reassuring, but at least they knew about them. “How are you monitoring them?” she asked. But Prillu was already walking away.

Even though she’d been awake for much longer than a day this time, Naya couldn’t sleep. With the magic as part of her senses, the night seemed alive around her, and she struggled to relax.

After hours of restless turning, Naya began methodically arranging her blankets, wrapping them around herself in tight, overlapping layers. The cocoon of fabric felt pathetically inadequate against the forces she sensed but couldn't see, but it made her feel better. She tucked her head beneath the edge of a particularly thick blanket, her breath hot and damp in the enclosed space, and she tried to steady herself.

The blankets shifted suddenly—pulled back from her face with deliberate force. Naya gasped, jerking upright, a wave of cool air rushing in.

Akoro knelt beside her, one hand still gripping the edge of her blanket. His sudden presence was a heavy weight of heat and power in the quiet mellowness of her campfire. She hadn’t even sensed his approach.

"What are you doing?"

The Alpha said nothing. Instead, he lowered himself beside her, pulled back the edge of her blanket cocoon and slid beside her, before she even had a chance to protest.

“What—stop! What are you doing? Get out.”

“Quiet,” he ordered, his larger body displacing her smaller one as he rearranged the blankets around them, trapping them both in their shared warmth. His voice—deep and resonant—burrowed into her, soothing the anxiety that had settled in her bones.

"I’m not having nightmares," she hissed, slamming the heels of her hands on his chest, trying to maintain some distance between their bodies. "I have nothing to explain?—"

“Every part of your body is calling for me,” he ground out fiercely, yanking her closer. “I cannot ignore you, no matter how angry I am.”

Angry?Hewas angry? Naya glowered at him, but with the blankets surrounding them, she could barely see his face. “Then leave,” she ordered. “I don’t need you.”

His arms tightened, his breath hot against her temple. “You’re tossing and turning and fretting.”

Naya stilled, alarmed. “I’m not!”

His hold didn’t loosen. “Be quiet and sleep.”

Naya’s mouth tightened, and she said nothing, because despite her anger and frustration, his presence was working against her, as it always did. The intimacy of the position couldn’t be denied—his breath stirring her hair, his steady heartbeat thudding against her cheek, strong and unshakable. And his scent—damn. It pushed into her lungs, thick and undeniable, a force that sank deep into her skin, into her blood, into her bones.

She couldn’t stop it and she didn’t know if she even wanted to.

The jittering coil of anxiety in her stomach unraveled, melted into something slow and liquid, her body welcoming what she refused. Why did he always have to smell so sinfully good?

She tried to focus beyond him, to feel for the magic hovering farther out, but she couldn’t sense it as clearly—not when her Alpha’s presence was so strong, and much more consuming. She hated that worked to calm her. That he had removed her worry just from being here.

They remained locked together; the Alpha holding the Omega, and their breathing slowed to a comfortable rhythm. Tiredness tugged at her, coaxing her toward sleep, but her mind resisted, turning over his behavior.

Naya shifted slightly, tilting her head just enough that her nose brushed his chin. “Why are you angry?” The words were supposed to be direct, firm, but they came out soft and quiet, almost on a sigh.

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