Page 21 of Whisper Woods

Can you watch someone loudly? Because it feels like he’s screaming at me.

Once I’m free from my friends, I hope they’ll understand. I’m sure they will. I’ll explain. Later.

Probably.

My foot raises, I take a step. No direction, no plan.

As I move, so does Rafe. Gracefully, he unfolds, no longer playing at being casual.

Another step is mirrored on the balcony.

Am I the hunter? Am I the prey?

Jokes—I’m both.

I always am.

Adrenaline floods my system, fucking my fight or flight system. Wolf howls with rage inside me tomove.

And then I’m off, moving through the bodies, completely blind. My instincts evaporated in the chaotic confusion of the club. I ignore the shouts of displeasure as I shove my way past the crowd on the dance floor. Stumbling out of the crush, my chest heaving with laboured breath, I catch myself, eyes darting around the room trying to find him.

But he’s gone, maybe he’s left? Did I just make a total ass of myself? Was he even here? I shake my head, the fog finally clearing. A laugh punches from me, and I breathe deep, enjoying the sharp, vivid clarity as it washes over me.

Along with a smell. Sweet. Smokey. Wild.

Yes.

A hand lands on my shoulder, the simple touch cracking open the entire universe as it guidesme to turn.

And there he is. Right there, face turned up to mine, his mouth a grim line of a smile. I have to look down at him, not by much. But enough. As always, there is something about him that feels… bigger. In that moment our eyes dance over each other's faces, attempting to catalogue every feature.

It is overwhelming, the tidal wave that crashes over me. I’ve battled with too many feelings my whole life, but now I am drowning, a dam broken open, with Rafe the cause and the saviour. The life raft in the chaos he created.

The space between us, not even a hands width, seems electrified with… us.

My dick throbs in my jeans, and he responds. A sharp intake of breath, his eyes growing hooded. And fuck me, those eyes once again hypnotise me into surrender.

He licks that lower lip again, lush and full, framed by the light beard that dusts his jaw. The air is completely sucked from me, my mind blank except for Wolf's desperate howls.

Rafe blinks slowly up at me, finally letting me see his own uncertainty. Is he inhaling my scent? I can’t focus with his hand still on my shoulder. His thumb is drawing circles on the skin there. I didn’t know the shoulder was an erogenous zone, but the feel of his touch is shooting through my system like lightning bolts.

Time has stopped. Or at least it feels that way. The pulsating need to do something, anything, builds in my gut, fighting through the lust. It’s crazy that only moments ago the world was a foggy mess. Everything is now in such sharp, painful clarity, I wonder if anything will ever be soft again.

Rafe

I have no ideahow I am meant to find answers to the fall of Tathys’ ancient magical wards in this crush. Shoving my way through the crowd with increasing impatience, I leave the front bar area with significantly less drink in the glass than when I purchased it.

If I didn’t trust Lughis’s gifts as implicitly as I do, I would have turned around the moment the woman manning the doors ushered me into this drunken circus.

Irritation skitters under my skin, igniting my temper. It takes every ounce of my control to maintain my skin. To not lash out with my claws and force the crowds out of my way. I haven’t struggled like this since I was fifteen and going through puberty. I do not even know why I am so frustrated. It’s entirely irrational. Which is only making me feel worse.

Heaving a sigh, and dodging a stumbling group of inebriated, half-dressed men carrying their even more inebriated friend towards the exit, I vow to myself that if I get any vomit on me tonight, I am going on a rampage. Consequences for the reunification be damned.

With far too much effort, I make it to the balcony area overlooking the pit-like dance floor. It’s blissfully empty here, most everyone either in the crush out in the pit, or gathered around the bars. Finally able to breathe, I make myself comfortable, leaning against the railing, nursing my drink in my hands.

“Hey, handsome,” a shiver ripples down my spine, trailing the touch of whoever has arrived at my side.

Maintaining a cool smile, I tip my head towards him, nodding in greeting. My nonchalance towards his overtures doesn’t deter him. Probably because theman is beyond drunk. It’s a shame, he is smaller than my usual preference, but is still rather attractive. Or he would be if his brown eyes weren’t glassy with alcohol and his hair a rough mess of sweat and whatever styling products he’d used this evening.

---