I watch them go, unsure what to do.
A wolf? Another mystery.
Teo would’ve chased Estela if she had run like this.
Something in my blood tells me to do the same.
But she isn’t Estela, and I’m not Teo. I must give her space. Reluctantly, I take an iridescent speaking stone from my pocket and bring it close to my mouth.
"Things are not… good,” I start. “Upon arrival, we saw a pillar of smoke. Pens are burnt, men are rounded up and whipped, thousands are dead. Rholker is still here, and he has definitely secured a relationship with Arion. I do not know for how long the Elf King will stay."
I look for more words, but they escape me. The stone grows cold and dull as it hovers in front of my mouth.
I swallow hard and drop it, still staring at the tree where Melisa had been moments before.
All I can hear is the blood rushing in my ears.
All I can feel is the imprint of her body on mine.
I have a mate.
A mate possessed by that horrid giant.
We can't leave before the mission is finished, and I can't bear for her to be with him any longer.
Something has to change—I just don’t know what.
Chapter 26
MELISA
What was I thinking?
Comfort. I sought out comfort in him. It was a mistake.
It hurt so much—not the touches or the kisses. The care. It felt like he was sawing my heart in half with a blunt stone.
Coco and I reach the edge of the tree line before Eneko's cabin. I halt near, leaning against one of the trunks, and sink down to the wolf’s level.
Taking her head in my hand, I press our noses together.
“Thank you,mi amor.?1 But I was all right—he wasn’t hurting me,” I say to my little protector, ignoring the knots in my stomach.
“Go,” I pant. “Thea and Wren need you.”
Coco leaves, hopefully returning to the girls, and I put one foot in front of the other. Alone at last, I can hardly breathe. I’m hot and tired andunsatisfiedall at once. Pausing and pressing my fingers to my lips, I find them swollen and tender. I feel the spots where his sharp teeth nipped at me. They tingle with the phantom memory of passion.
Twice I've kissed him.
Twice I've nearly tossed myself off the edge of sanity and into the arms of a gentle, attentive lover. He was a way out of this wretched life.
Gods, he cradled my heart like it fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. And then, the pain stopped, and he made me feel so good. In a way I hadn’t thought possible.
The air is still as I trudge through the thin layer of snow and an even thinner layer of ice, but I can't seem to pull myself away from the moments I stood there in front of Ra'Sa and told him to run from me. Confessing where I'd been had felt like sticking a live coal on my tongue.
You are my mate.
He had said the words into my mind, utterly invading my space. Taking up territory I did not give him.