Page 80 of Research with Rivals
I sprinted away, running through the trees beside the forest path. There was no time to slow down and congratulate myself. As Compass Lake Village and the mountain trail came into view, a howl echoed through the woods behind me. I was out of time.
My paws pressed me forward, skipping against the ground. The tug in my chest told me I was just far enough ahead of him to trigger discomfort in our bond. That was the distance I needed to maintain to win this game.
He wouldn’tletme win, though.
If nothing else, I knew I could count on Ambrose for that.
We ran for hours this way. Clearing the mountain pass and sprinting down the switchbacks felt effortless with my focus wholly elsewhere. My heart pounded at every rustle in the trees. I imagined he’d somehow passed me and had doubled back to attack. It left me little choice but to keep sprinting. That rope between us stayed taut, even as I fled the foothills and ran through the thick woods toward the inn. I moved with a fluid grace I had yet to truly feel with my veil cat. Maybe being chased by Ambrose Yarrow was all I’d needed to understand how half-fae and veil cat worked together.
As with everything else between us, he pushed me to learn. Sometimes it was out of spite, but mostly, it was out of curiosity and a desire to do better. He pushed me to want.
That wasn’t quite right. I wanted things: my mom’s happiness, success in my career, and a sense of belonging in this world as a half-fae, but I didn’t speak my desires. If I didn’t voice them, then I wouldn’t be embarrassed or disappointed when they didn’t happen.
Silently wanting things might not sound powerful, but it was safe.
It was safe until Ambrose made me speak my truths—until Ambrose drew me to fight for what I wanted instead of letting it pass me by as another out-of-reach goal.
As if my thoughts summoned him, the rope in my chest loosened.
He was close.
We’d run all day. Exhaustion picked at every part of me that wanted to keep going, that wanted to win this game between us. Had this been his plan all along? Wait until I was at my most vulnerable to pounce?
The leaves shook in the trees.
It’s just the wind.
I knew it wasn’t. The rope between us was too loose, but the inn was in my sights, and I had no choice but to try.
A growl sounded—far too close.
Maybe I won’t make it.
I pushed myself harder. My muscles burned, but nothing motivated me like the idea of proving Ambrose wrong. If I could make it to the inn steps without him, maybe he wasn’t as good a predator as he thought he was.
The tug in my chest was gone completely. I couldn’t spare a thought to consider how slack that rope between us must be. My legs were on fire, and all I wanted to do was sploot here on the forest floor.
That one distracted thought cost me.
One minute, I was sprinting toward the flickering lights of the inn. The next, I was rolling off course, through the woods, and a massive gray wolf tumbled with me.
Fur and limbs tangled together. It felt a little wild—what I’d always suspected lurked beneath the surface of Ambrose’s golden boy persona. But even as we tangled together, I foundhis cautious preparation. Every time I flipped over him, his paws adjusted. He kept me safe even as he shattered my pride by catching me.
On the subsequent tumble, I let the fire burn through me and shifted. If I lost, at least I should get to tell him off. Gold flashed across his eyes, and on the next roll, he shifted, too. He conveniently landed on top of me, my body pinned beneath his weight.
“You were toying with me the whole time,” I hissed as I wiggled beneath him.
He huffed. “I wish. You’re fast when you want to be.” He shook his head as if coming out of a haze. “How that’s even possible, when I’m confident the only exercise you get is lifting books to a shelf above your head, I’ll never understand.”
“You’re a library researcher,” I pointed out. “Have you ever considered that your athletic activities are the abnormality here? What kind of historian has those shoulder muscles?”
The sinful smile was back. “Oh, Evelyn, I wasn’t sure you noticed.”
I laughed. “Yes, you were.”
Any fight fled me as he leaned down to capture my mouth in a kiss. We hadn’t had time to talk about last night—about what it meant, about the competition we still faced. My body decided all of that was irrelevant. Pinned beneath him, I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him down completely, desperate to feel his weight.
He’d known exactly what to do to stop my mind from spinning. It wasn’t a distraction so much as another, more tangible goal on which to focus. He gave me so much and asked for so little. He seemed only to want more time with me. More time to learn about each other, more time to discuss our ideas, more time to grow together.
