Jeniva kept her gaze fixed on the floor, her heart hamring against her ribs. For fifteen minutes, Dominick had held her in that sa protective grip.
How much longer could they sustain this fragile tether?
Inside her, her wolf, Eva, was humming with a primal satisfaction, finally reconnecting with Black. To Eva, the rejection felt like a distant mory compared to the pull of an Alpha of his caliber.
"Your Highness, do you still feel uneasy?" Jeniva asked, her voice trembling. Her own self-control was fraying at the edges. Being enveloped in the scent of an Alpha she thought she’d lost forever was triggering a biological response she couldn’t suppress.
"I do," Dominick rasped, his grip tightening ever so slightly. "But if I let you go, I fear I won’t be able to stay sane. I’m sorry for putting you in this position. I have one other option, but you must promise not to follow ."
"What? What is it?" Jeniva looked up, her eyes wide with concern.
"I can head into the woods. If I transform into my wolf, I can run off the fever of the rut," he suggested.
"No," Jeniva countered imdiately. "The forest here is far too dense, and with the fresh snow, it’s dangerous. Why don’t we... Why don’t we just try to sleep? I’m exhausted, and I trust you. I know you won’t break your word. I—I promise I won’t do anything either."
She glanced toward the large bed, already calculating how many pillows she could stack between them as a makeshift border, while silently warning Eva to keep her distance from Black.
’But Black is attracted to ,’ Eva whispered, her voice a low purr in Jeniva’s mind.
’How can that be possible?’ Jeniva thought back.
The rejection should have turned that attraction to ash, yet it didn’t happen. Shaking off the confusion, she finally pulled her hands from Dominick’s grip. She moved to the bed, gathered a row of plush pillows and lining them down the center of the mattress.
"Your Highness, sleep on that side," Jeniva directed, gesturing to the far edge. "Now that the pillows are between us, I don’t think we will cross onto each other’s sides." A weary yawn escaped her, and she quickly covered her mouth with her palm.
Dominick didn’t argue. He moved to the door first, locking it from inside, before heading to the bed. He slid beneath the heavy duvet as he fought to keep his distance. Jeniva reached over to switch off the bedside lamp, plunging the room into a darkness before settling onto her side of the barrier.
Silence stretched between them, thick and electric. Both lay paralyzed, staring up at the ornate carvings on the ceiling, their senses entirely consud by the intoxicating scent of the other.
Dominick shifted onto his side, his gaze tracing the soft curve of Jeniva’s profile.
’I never imagined sharing a bed with another woman,’ he thought bitterly. ’June was my world, my everything. She is the past now, yet here I am, feeling like a failure who can’t even summon an ounce of self-control.’
His thoughts were soon broken by the gentle sound of Jeniva’s snoring. Dominick’s brow furrowed in disbelief.
"Isn’t she afraid of ?" he murmured to the shadows. "What if I lose my grip in the middle of the night? How can she lower her guard so easily?"
’Nick, listen to ,’ Black’s voice rumbled at the back of his mind, vibrating with an uncharacteristic excitent. ’I spoke to Eva. She’s Jeniva’s wolf. I want to know more about her, but she’s gone silent. I think Jeniva ordered her to stay away. Why can’t you just consider this bond? I don’t want to drown in the pain of the past anymore. I want a fresh start. I want us to accept what the Moon Goddess has given us.’
Dominick squeezed his eyes shut, his fingers gripping the edge of the duvet. The rut was already making his blood boil, and his wolf’s pleading was only making the internal fire harder to extinguish.
’Stay quiet, Black. I—I don’t want this,’ Dominick groaned internally, pulling the heavy duvet over his face to block out the world. His heart was a chaotic ss of grief and newfound heat.
’Why? What is the problem?’ Black countered, his voice booming with logic. ’Is Jeniva not beautiful? She understands us. Look at her. She was considerate enough to stay close despite everything. She trusts us, Nick.’
’Black, how could we ever forget—’
’Why can’t we?’ Black interrupted, his tone shifting from excitent to an edge. ’June is gone from our lives for good. She wasn’t made for us, and we were never truly ant for her. I don’t understand why we must continue to suffer. I feel the envy burning when I see couples around us. I want to hold our mate, too. I want what is ours.’
Dominick lay frozen, the wolf’s words cutting through his defenses. He looked over the barrier of pillows at Jeniva’s peaceful form, her scent pulling at his very soul.
Monts later, he sat up abruptly, his breath hitching as a fresh wave of heat surged through his veins. It was unbearable, a stifling pressure that made the silk of his shirt feel like a catalyst to heat against his skin. He pulled the garnt over his head and discarded it sowhere on the floor.
Desperate to anchor his wandering mind, he quietly slipped out of the bed. He didn’t want to risk leaving the proximity of her scent and losing control in the hallway, so he retreated into the en-suite washroom. He turned the handle, bracing himself as the icy spray of the cold shower hamred down on his shoulders.
He leaned his forehead against the cool tiles, the water shivering over his heated skin. ’This rut won’t subside easily,’ he thought grimly, the sound of the water muffling the frantic pounding of his heart.
’I have to get those suppressants tomorrow. But if the dicine fails because the bond is reacting... What then?’ He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to drown out Black’s persistent murmurs. ’No. I can’t think about that. The suppressants are the only way to keep myself from doing sothing we’ll both regret.’
Reviews
All reviews (0)