Page 41 of Savage Desire

“You tell me,” I blurt, and he rears back in confusion, hands slowly rising in defense.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

I’m directing my irritation at the wrong person right now, but it’s impossible to keep it bottled up.

“Sorry, I'm here now,” Lincoln hollers, bringing silence across the pack of wolves as he cuts through our conversation and draws everyone’s attention to him.

He offers a tight smile without making eye contact with everyone as he approaches our smaller group. He pauses a step away, seemingly sensing the tension when he comes to an abrupt stop, because he looks between the three of us before settling on me.

“What's going on?”

I look to the sky, scratching at my head as distress swirls in my mind. I’m the weak one, the soft one, the dead weight ninety-nine percent of the time, the one that usually needs soothing, but for the first time, I’m the one bringing an issue to light.

All the words I had wanted to say pause on the tip of my tongue. I'm never the one to say anything, to cause a scene, but right now, I'm frustrated, and the source of that frustration stems back to this man. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I know it does.

I lift my hand, pointing my finger first at Wylder, who gapes at me in surprise. He definitely fucked her today after making her mad in combat class, but he did spend lunch being nice to her, at least. With that thought in mind, I turn to Lincoln, finger aimed his way, and he assumes the same stance, lifting his hands cautiously.

Clearing my throat, I take a deep breath, trying to rein in the bite of my wolf who threatens to break free. “The next time you think about fucking her, be sure about it, because if you keep hurting her, I'm going to get defensive,” I snarl.

His eyes widen. “Of me?” he asks, and I sneer at the selfish tendencies he always has.

“Of her,” I bite, shouldering past him before he thinks he deserves an opportunity to explain himself.

The few wolves nearby stare at me cautiously, a hint of surprise in the air at my outburst, but I don’t fixate on it like I once would. Instead, I find Minnie across the crowd. Her eyebrows are knitted together, but she doesn’t miss a beat, waving for me to head her way, and I go without question.

I trudge the distance, my breathing pained with every inhale as I try and fail to keep my wolf at bay.

“Let's cool off,” she offers the second I appear before her. As if following her command, everyone starts to take off in wolf form, heading into the darkness.

I nod, taking a step back, but bring my gaze back to Lincoln one more time. “I mean it, Lincoln,” I grind out, and he nods, worry flashing across his face before I shift, a whoosh of relief flooding my veins. My eyes blaze as I stare at him now, my wolf at the forefront of my mind as I snarl at him, teeth and all.

I don't know why I'm this mad. I don't know why it matters this much, but it does, and I really do need to take Minnie’s advice and cool off. Before I can get myself wrapped up in feelings and emotions I don't know how to handle. I bolt, chasing the moon like my heart desires.

15

POLARIS

“Again, Polaris.”

The command comes and my heart thunders as I take a deep breath, trying to still and calm the stress coiling inside of me.

“I can’t,” I snap for the fifth time in a row.

“You can. Again.”

My heart ricochets in my chest at her order, and I snarl. Anything nice I was starting to think about Professor Juniper is gone now. I dislike her more than ever, even if she is pushing me to be a better version of myself.

Dammit.

I take a deep breath, focusing on the subject as I mutter the incantation under my breath.

“Ignis. Combustum. Caleo. Ignis. Combustum. Caleo. Ignis. Combustum. Caleo.”

I press my thumb and forefinger together, rubbing them in slow, tight circles as I press the grains of sand into my skin. My left foot twitches, grinding deeper into the sand markings drawn on the floor.

“Focus, Polaris. Concentrate,” Juniper coaxes, and as if at her command, a puff of light emerges on the tip of the wick and the candle begins to burn.

I sag in relief, overwhelmed and slightly overjoyed with the fact that, again, a candle is lit by my ability.

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