Page 269 of The Lands Defying
“And this is more important.”
My brows furrow. “What is?”
“Looking at you.”Damn if my cheeks don’t heat at that.“Adorable.”
“Shut up.”
Runa scratches inside of me, walking forward and I sigh, raising my hand and letting her materialize.
She shakes out her fur, looking back at me and I nod, accepting my damn fate.
“Go on then,” I say to her as Belldame chuckles beside me.
She trots over to Darius, who already has his body turned to her, with her tail held high. When she is close enough, her head goes straight to his neck and he raises a hand to hold her there, stroking her neck… I nearly collapse in a puddle.
Yes, my wolf is a traitor for the enemy, well, ex enemy, but I guess I am too as I can’t help but smile at them both.
Leo looks to me, to Runa, and then shakes his head. He has a smile on his face though, and I can tell he’s happy for Darius.
All his closest are.
“So, ready to boil blood?” Anna asks suddenly and I startle, just now noticing her. She sighs dramatically. “Don’t let a male get the advantage over you, Rhea, I could have attacked you.”
I side-eye her. “Don’t pretend you didn’t come here to get a better look at an Elite yourself.”
She glances away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.
“Hmm,” I say, sharing a grin with Belldame as I see a blade suddenly stop moving out of the corner of my eyes.
“Just don’t boil his blood, granddaughter, that’s not how we find a mate.”
“Can you have mates?” I ask, never hearing that before.
Belldame looks to Anna and then to me. “No, but we can still have a connection that’s deep.”
“That’s enough.”
“Is it?” Anna mutters, her eyes flicking to Seb and Zaide before quickly averting them.
“It was for Josie and Danny.”
She nods at that. “It was.”
“Can you boil their blood much?” I wonder.
Anna turns and smiles at me. I eye her, and when I suddenly feel heat in my legs, an almost bubbling sensation, I look down at that.
“Okay,” I mutter. “Point taken, don’t do that again.” She laughs as Belldame chuckles, but we soon sober up.
“We will live out this day.” Anna says, grabbing my hand.
I nod. “We will take nothing less.”
Taking a breath, I catch Kade’s eyes and nod my head off to the side. With a hesitant look at Sam, he gets up and follows me as I head into the trees.
I can feel Darius’s eyes on me, but he doesn’t say anything, knowing I need a moment.
We walk through the forest in silence. The snow has stopped falling for now, but the ground is still covered from this morning.
