Page 20 of Dead Wolf Rising (Bad Moon Academy 3)

“Yeah.” She glances around the muted setting again. “It’s going to be weird.”

I shrug. “Maybe. But a little rest doesn’t sound so bad, does it?”

With a grin, she shakes her head. “I guess not. Thanks again, Raven.” She lifts her hand in a little wave and sighs.

“Do you want me to help?” I don’t know how she wants to do the transition, some spirits are brave enough to let go on their own, others need a little nudge.

“Nah.” Her body begins to fade, but she widens her eyes and resolidifies. “Don’t hang on to that anger forever. You have to let go too.”

I bite my cheek and blink back the moisture filling my eyes. “Okay,” I say when she squints at me. “I hear you.”

With a heavy sigh, Alice closes her eyes. “You have too many years ahead of you to let it drag you down.” Then she starts to fade. The edges of her fingers becoming transparent. Inch by inch, her arms begin to disappear until finally all that’s left of her body is her head.

“Oh,” she whispers. A big smile pulls at her lips right before she vanishes.

I laugh and wipe my damp cheeks as a soft wind wraps around me, the chill making my breath mist in front of me. Then it fades, and I’m left standing in the monotone Otherworld. I glance around once more before releasing my hold on this plane and heading back to where I belong. Off in the distance, a familiar shape of a woman stands in the middle of the road. She raises a blood-soaked arm and reaches for me. I frown and back away, following the thread that tethers me to Earth.

I meant what I said; I heard Alice, but I’m not ready to talk to my mother yet.

She can wait a while longer.

Chapter 8

ADLER

“Ugh.” Raven groans. Her fingers twitch and her eyes pinch at the edges.

Pushing off the wall, I stand over her and cross my arms, waiting for Raven to fully return to her body. I found her lying on the tile, but I picked her up and laid her on the bench. I tried to wake her but nothing worked, so I decided to wait a few minutes before alerting the others since she didn’t appear to be in distress. She even laughed in her meditative state.

My chest tightens when her eyelids flutter open and her jade irises pierce through me. Her eyebrows pinch together and she looks around, face twisting up when she almost falls off the bench.

“Adler. What are you doing here?”

“I should ask you the same thing.” I hold out my hand to help her sit and give her my bestwhat were you thinkingface.

Gently placing her palm in mine, she grimaces. “I didn’t want to wake you guys.”

“I’m a light sleeper. I thought maybe you were just going to the bathroom, but you didn’t come back, so I got worried.” She tries to take her hand back, but I cover it with my other one. She’s not going anywhere.

Her eyes darken, and she glances at our hands. “So it’s like that?” There’s an unspoken challenge in her voice, and I can’t wait to answer it.

At first I was afraid, I was honestly a little petrified thinking what would happen if she weren’t by my side. But now she’s here, more than alive, and the little flare of defiance in her eyes switches a flip inside of me and all I can think about is how to make her fall apart in my arms. Making those pale pink lips moan my name might be the perfect way to make sure she doesn’t go off into the Other World without letting me know.

Who the hell am I kidding? I’d justify wanting to fuck her a million different ways right now, and I’m done waiting to take what I want.

“Yeah,” I straddle the bench, facing her and leaning in. “What are you going to do about it?”

A pink flush crawls up her neck, but she swings her gaze to meet mine and determination flashes across her face. “Adler.”

“Yes, Raven?” I let go of her hand and grab her thighs, scooting her down the bench and placing them over mine. She grabs on to my biceps, and a sultry chuckle escapes those sinful lips. My cock was already getting hard, but that delicious sound does the final trick, and I’m painfully erect.

“We shouldn’t...” She trails off and chews on her bottom lip. “What if someone walks in?”

Running my hands over her legs, I shrug. “Then they walk in.”

Her chest pushes toward me, and I drop my gaze and trace my palms up her legs, over her stomach, and cup her tits. When her breath catches, my dick throbs and jerks, aching for her. Nails digging into the skin on my arms, she grips me tighter as I run my thumbs over her hard nipples and lift my eyes to meet hers. She starts to say something else, so I pinch her pebbled peaks. She gasps, and I grab the back of her neck and capture the sound with my mouth. Those silky soft lips open for me, and I swipe my tongue across the top of hers, swallowing her moan.

Grabbing the side of my face, she takes command of the kiss, giving me leave to take her clothes off. We break apart when I take off her top, but our mouths crash back into each other; my fingers make quick work of her bra, and I yank it down her arms, growling into her mouth when one strap gives me trouble. She giggles and turns her head, lacing her hands behind my neck and pressing her soft tits into my front.

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