Page 37 of Dawn to Dusk
“Are you going to help me clean up or pass out like a dog?” She shoved my shoulder, annoyed with my perceived thoughtlessness.
“Leave it.” I yawned and chuckled at the same time. Let my scent soak in as deep as it could go.
My eyes popped open when my own scent hit me full force. Sunshine slept, cuddled into me. I ran my nose over her, searching for her scent. There was nothing left. I coated her. Even her mouth. It took a lot to keep your scent in someone’s mouth.
“Hell.” I whispered. She washed up last night, but you couldn’t scrub a claim off. It took time to wear off on its own. I scent marked her. I rubbed my eyes, wishing I never woke up.
She nuzzled even closer to me and sighed my name, clueless as to how I betrayed her. I brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her temple. Resting my forehead on hers, I tried to figure out what to do.
I needed to tell her. It was a big no no to scent or soul mark someone who was not yours. I paintedmineonto her skin when I had no right to do it.
Instead of facing her, I carefully slid out of the bed, found my pants, yanked them on, kissed her one more time, and ran like a giant puss.
Chapter 12:
Ziam
I packed us lunch, in a new routine I developed over the week, and went out towards the west wards. Suspicion swirled my thoughts as I walked the same path she would have taken. I could not find her scent, as if she had not gone to work at all.
But I smelled Edur’s icy scent in the air, maybe he ran through with her before her scent settled and the wind blew it away. I resumed my trek until I found her kneeling on the prayer altar. I pulled a huge inhale of air into my lungs, and all I could smell was Edur.
She was claimed.
“Enchantress?” Panic filled my voice. Did she agree to this? Did she not understand that meant we could no longer fraternize?
She waved with a big, bright smile on her face and used her flame cloud to quickly descend to the ground. Nothing seemed to be off about her behavior; all her body language implied everything was normal.
I couldn’t believe she would agree to such a thing. Her company was enjoyable, and we got along well. Perfectly. It was hard to believe another woman could be more perfect for me. Hell, for all I knew, my mate died long ago. Disappointment made my body heavy. “Are you upset with me?”
Her eyes went wide with shock as landed on the ground. “Of course not. What makes you think that?”
The ignorance in her eyes told the truth. She was unaware of what Edur did. Anger vibrated through me in a way I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Her eyes studied me, and her eyes darkened with concern. “Are you upset with me?”
“No.” I answered roughly. She was not the target of my rage. She did nothing wrong. “I have to handle some business, unfortunately, so I do not get to enjoy your company today.”
Disappointment flitted across her face, but she quickly replaced the emotion with appreciation. “Thank you for taking the time to bring me lunch.”
She beamed at me, despite her wish for me to stay with her. It hurt my heart that he would do something like this to her.
I held the basket as far away from me as possible, carefully avoiding her touching me. My whole body recoiled from challenging Edur for his mate, even knowing his claim was garbage. If she was his real mate, he would have claimed her decades ago.
She moved closer, and I took a step back. He must have spent hours claiming her. As a witch, she probably did not even think about the fact he ejaculated on her.
The instinct to retreat put every nerve in my body on edge. I could not challenge Edur. I possessed a lot of magic, but not anything to deal with his overwhelming strength. I could fight him off on a regular day, but when a beast defends his mate, that is a strength I would not be prepared to deal with. There was no amount of rational knowledge to combat the need to keep her as far away from me as possible.
My teeth gritted together. “I apologize, dear, but I must take my leave.”
“Okay.” Her eyebrows scrunched together with confusion, and I could feel her eyes on me as I retreated.
I held myself together until I felt confident she would not witness my fury. As I stomped through the woods, my hooves tried to bust through my worn boots. Red fur danced acrossmy skin, but I willfully held my shift back. Wildlife fled, my pheromones falsely warning them that danger was near.
This yeti decided to throw out millions of years of traditions, because he wanted to monopolize her. There was no way I could spend time with her or even think about having sex with her, and he knew that.
We got along well enough when needed. We never fought or argued. I did my job, and he did his, outside of that, we never spoke to each other. We socialized in different circles. There was no reason to spurn me.
I went to the training ground where Balthazar and Edur were teaching the children to control and regulate their beast instincts. What a joke. Edur failed to regulate himself. What could he possibly teach children? Edur’s eyes slid over to me, and his body tensed.
