Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight
Sorrow and Starlight: Chapter 29

“Idon’t know about this,” Xavier said as we sat out by the fire pit, smoke coiling up towards the twilight sky.

“Nonsense, you nincompoop,” Geraldine exclaimed as she helped Sofia and Tyler strap Xavier into a glittery lilac harness around his chest. They’d convinced him to strip down to his boxers, ready to shift and Sofia and Tyler were also in their underwear, putting on their own harnesses which were attached to Xavier’s between them by four thick straps.

“I feel like an idiot,” Xavier muttered.

“It’ll be fine once we’re up there,” Tyler said firmly. “Just give it a shot.”

Xavier stamped his foot in annoyance but didn’t refuse it any more than that.

“This is gonna be shit show,” Max muttered to me from my right.

I’d spent some time crafting the log seats out here, so they were comfy as hell with a lining of moss on them too, and I had my feet kicked up on a little loggy pouffe. But as comfy as I was, I wasn’t in the best of moods. Caleb and Tory still hadn’t returned, and my mind was chasing visions of them together in that deep, dark library, seeking solace in each other’s arms. What was taking so fucking long? Geraldine had taken a call not long ago, but had cast a silencing bubble and gone all incognito about it since, sending Justin and a couple of other Asses off with some job in mind. She always did shit like that, acting as if me, Caleb and Max weren’t worthy of hearing the plans of the mighty A.S.S. And it pissed me the hell off.

“Righto, are you ready, my stout stallion?” Geraldine clapped Xavier on the arm, and he huffed a breath then nodded.

Sofia undid her bra, wriggling out of it and tossing it away before her and her two Pega-men dropped their underwear and revealed a whole host of glittery rocks and shiny encrustings on their Ds and her P.

I’d always quite liked the idea of a dijazzle and wondered if my cock would appreciate a little makeover. I wonder if there was anything true to that rumour about Cal having the hots for Pegasuses…

The three of them shifted and the harnesses stretched out around their bodies to accommodate their new size. Sofia had had the idea to use the same magic as the Tempa Pego-bags to make it easier for them to shift in and out of their Order forms while wearing the harness. It had quick release buckles too for when they landed. Seemed like a solid idea, only Xavier was pouting like someone had pissed in his pancake mix. Even in Pegasus form, his lips were pursed and his eyes all angry-like.

“Go on, Xavier,” Max encouraged, the air filling with a buzz of excitement as he fed it to all of us.

Xavier looked a little brighter as he absorbed Max’s gifts and Geraldine moved around to smack him on the rump.

“Yah!” she cried, and Xavier kicked his hind legs at her, making her dive out of the way and do a forward roll before rising stylishly back to her feet.

It made me think of her signature Pitball moves and a whine left my throat as I thought of that game and how I was never going to get to play it again with all of my friends.

Max reached out to brush his fingers over my arm and I let him steal away some of my pain, before pressing some happies into me.

“Thanks, man,” I murmured.

“Any time,” he said. “I can go a little deeper if you like?”

“No,” I said quickly. Any deeper, and he’d replace my secret feelings for Caleb, but I hated the way my friend frowned at me, as if he knew I was hiding stuff from him.

“Love you, bro,” I added, and his face softened.

“Love you too, asshole,” he said.

The Pegasuses walked forward, turning in a large circle until they were facing downhill away from the firepit, their tails swishing and muscles twitching in anticipation of the flight.

“Go on, Xavier,” Geraldine hooted. “Fly to the nevermore and beyond!”

Xavier neighed, rearing up and flicking his head so his beautiful lilac mane fluttered in the wind, then he charged forward, leading the way. Tyler and Sofia raced along beside him, their wings stretching out either side of them, flapping in preparation of take-off.

“Go, Xavier!” I howled in excitement.

They started lifting into the sky, Tyler and Sofia rising fast while the harness attached to Xavier went taut between them, and he was hoisted off the ground with his horsey legs wheeling through the sky.

Sofia whinnied happily to Xavier, but Darius’s little brother slowly stopped kicking his legs, hanging there like a limp dick instead as he sailed overhead.

“Give it some gusto, dear brother!” Geraldine called to him, but Xavier’s features had fallen flat, his long face looking sullen as hell while Sofia and Tyler flew back and forth in the sky above.

“He looks like he’s about to be fed to a T-rex,” I said to Max who burst out laughing just as Xavier was flown overhead again, his horsey pout deepening.

“What in the world…” My mom appeared with Tiberius Rigel, the two of them watching the strange display in confusion.

Geraldine bustled her way over to them, grabbing Tiberius’s hand and pulling him closer.

“Good day to you and your cockles, Tiberius. Look, I have been wanting to say this to you for a finnywag or two, but there has been much ado about war and politics that has taken the front seat of our caddy wagon. So hear me now. I know you and my father stood upon separate cliffs which bordered a desolate sea, but I must say that you have sired a fine salmon, and I have decided I wish to form something of a trout truce with you. We can put our whelks aside for the sake of mine and Maxy boy’s pimpersnapping, at least outside of the war councils and such, what say you?”

Tiberius frowned, looking to Max then back to Geraldine. “I’m terribly sorry, my dear, but I have no idea what you just said.”

“Oh-ho! You are quite the devil dancing with a dandelion,” Geraldine laughed, slapping Tiberius on the chest. “You have such wit about your warthole. Shall we sup together this eve? Or perhaps upon the morrow if this night doesn’t suit? It would be best for us to get to know each other on a more personable level, to forge a bond that can transcend our animosity towards one another. Of course, I won’t promise to shut my tripper trapper when it comes to my loyalties, and no doubt your tongue will dance the dinglehop in my direction whenever a debate arises, but Maxy and I have found fertile ground to plant our neutral begonias in, and I do not see any reason why we cannot do the same. So what say you, does a supper suit or is a tiffin more appetising to your belly box?”

“I, er…” Tiberius looked lost for words and Max shoved to his feet.

“She’d like dinner with us, Dad,” Max explained, moving to slip his arm around Geraldine’s waist. My mom made a face that said she was concerned about my friend’s new relationship with a royalist.

It got my hackles rising, because I was so sick of all this ‘us and them’ bullshit. The royals versus the Heirs. I knew all of that might be relevant again one day if we ever got a chance to seize the throne, but I was tired of battles and I definitely didn’t want to go back to war with the Vegas and their friends. And yeah, okay, so maybe that made me a hypocrite considering all the shit I’d done in the past to try and get rid of the twins, but like, why couldn’t everyone just get along now? If anything made alliances more important than ever, it was war. We’d put our Heir hats back on if we ever killed the lizard king. Simple.

“Of course,” Tiberius said, smiling kindly at Geraldine. “How about dinner tomorrow?”

Xavier swooped over our heads again, eyes narrowed and expression flat even though Sofia and Tyler were working hard to give him the ride of his life.

Mom walked over to me, cocking her head as she took in the way I was slumped in my chair.

“You could go and speak with some of the rebels, start talking them around and gaining some favour among them,” she suggested.

“And why would I do that?” I asked, folding my arms.

“Politics, Seth,” she clipped. “Have you forgotten everything I taught you? You need to become a leader among these people. It’s important you show your face, and that you’re seen helping with the new building sites. I’ve been working on the construction of a nursery on the eastern side of the island, perhaps you could head over there and offer a hand?”

“You mean slap on a fake smile and go win some allegiance with my charm,” I corrected dryly, not looking at her, but she stepped firmly into my line of sight.

“I know you’re still grieving, pup,” she said gently. “But it really is time to start thinking of the future again. We must rebuild what has been lost. If you don’t want to get involved in public relations today, then perhaps you’ll spend some time speaking to Xavier once he’s let down from that humiliating harness?”

Xavier flew over us again just at that moment, his head hanging in shame as he heard my mom speak those words.

“Now look what you’ve done,” I hissed, pointing at sad little Xavier in the sky. “Sure, it’s embarrassing. Demeaning even-”

Xavier whinnied woefully, apparently hearing me say that as he sailed by again. Damn, horse ears were more sensitive than I’d realised.

“But the guy deserves to fly around up there as much as he likes, kicking his little hooves and remembering what it was like to soar through the clouds before he lost his wings,” I went on, pushing to my feet and looking down at my mom. She was tall, but I was taller. “Maybe we all deserve to remember the good times. Maybe I want a go in that harness.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she gasped.

“I would. I’d go up in that harness and I wouldn’t care how shameful, mortifying, embarrassing, and reputation-shattering it looked,” I said proudly, hearing Xavier neigh mournfully again in response to my words.

Xavier started biting at the harness to get free of it, whinnying angrily at Sofia and Tyler, but they didn’t seem able to hear him. He shifted back into his Fae form like he thought that might release him, but instead he flipped upside down in the harness, naked as a new-born with his arms flailing and his bejewelled cock flapping in the wind.

“Argh!” he cried out, wheeling left and right as Tyler and Sofia continued to fly around in huge circles, not noticing the carnage unfolding beneath them while they focused on staying airborne.

Xavier grappled with the harness, managing to unstrap one side of it, which only made him hang more awkwardly, the whole thing slipping down to snag around his ass. He flopped forward, ass now high in the air and his hands reaching desperately for the other buckle which had twisted around to sit at the base of his spine.

“Someone should help him,” I said, shaking my head sadly.

“You should help him,” Mom insisted, and I realised she was right, lifting my hand and casting a gust of air to try and twist him upright again. Woops. Totally could have helped out sooner. My brain was so frazzled today. It kept hanging out in the little world I’d made up called Calaria, where Caleb was all smitten with me, kissing me and calling me a good pup while fondling my balls.

I cast my magic a tiny bit too powerfully as I got distracted by my thoughts, sending Xavier into a wild tailspin instead of steadying him, and he cried out in fury as he went spinning past my head like an ass tornado.

I quickly righted the magic, holding him still and flicking the buckle open to free him with the power of air. He tumbled out of it, and I caught him on a little cloud, carrying him down to land at my side and leaving the fluffy cloud in place to cover his junk. His cheeks were bright red, and he looked ready to dig a hole for himself and disappear, or maybe punch me in the face, I wasn’t quite sure.

“There you go, bud,” I said, patting his shoulder and he shrugged me off with a snort of rage.

“You asshole,” he snapped.

“Yeah, I, er, have to take the blame for that one for sure,” I said, giving him a guilty look. “But on the plus side, you looked great up there. Really cool.”

He gave me a flat look that said he knew that was most obvious lie I’d ever told, and he had a point.

“Xavier, that was quite…something,” Mom said, smiling brightly, her voice coated in false enthusiasm.

I looked at her, seeing so much of myself in her mannerisms. The phony smiles that were painted on so thickly, you couldn’t see through them at all. The only reason I could was because she’d taught me that skill, and I knew her well enough to sense when she was being fake. I was sick of always having to act like everything was perfect, like I was this brave, happy, always optimistic figure head that people relied on to keep their own spirits high. But what about my spirits? What about when they were obliterated and every forced smile I jammed into my cheeks chipped off a fresh, juicy piece of my soul?

For my entire life, every action I took was carefully monitored, the reactions I got from news articles demanding more or less of my personality, until there were times when I didn’t even know who I was when I was standing on the stage of the world. The only times when I’d been free of that was in the company of the Heirs, and more recently the Vegas and my new friends. I wasn’t ready to go back to correcting every move I made that might piss off the masses. Fuck the masses. They could wait until I was done grieving.

Xavier turned away, grabbing his clothes as he went and stalking off up the track that led back to the R.U.M.P. castle, the cloud still hovering around his ass.

“Go after him,” Mom encouraged. “And try to talk him into taking Darius’s place and stepping up into the position of Fire Lord. I know it’s hard but we’re at war. It’s time he took up his role in it.”

Rage slashed through my chest, and I growled at her, showing the Alpha in me.

“He doesn’t want Darius’s place. Leave it empty, who cares?” I sniped.

“You are not yourself,” she snarled, casting a silencing bubble around us in case any nosey rebel might be near enough to hear us. Like I gave a fuck anymore. “We got word today that Linda Rigel has been given a position as ‘High Councillor’ in the new court Lionel is setting up.”

I blanched at that little snippet of information, looking over at Max and his dad who looked to be talking seriously in a silencing bubble, no doubt discussing what this meant too. Max’s stepmom was a royal bitch and we all knew that, so I doubted he was too shocked by the additional betrayal, but it had to sting, especially for his dad.

“When did they announce that?” I asked, my curiosity captured despite myself.

“Just this morning – look.” Mom took the Atlas she’d been given from her pocket and held it out for me to see as she opened up the article from The Celestial Times, but before I could read it, a pop-up blocked the screen instead.

Good day and a wet Wednesday to you, Libra, the stars have spoken about your day!

Today is a great day to clean out the nooks and crannies which have been stuffed full of woe of late. Delve deep into the gaping chasm of your soul and pound those worrisome thoughts right out of you. A dip in the sea is just the ticket to see you slippery and salacious once more, and don’t forget that you can always dump on a friend if the load gets to be too much. A handsome Pisces would be more than happy for you to dump on them if you need a release – even a teeny weeny dump can leave you feeling as wet as a whistle precisely when you need it most. But don’t forget, the best secrets are those held closest to your heart, for a traitor still lurks among our ranks and we must all be at our most cunning to lick that lurker out!

“What the fuck kind of horoscope is that?” I asked, my nose wrinkling as I read it over again and Mom growled low in the back of her throat as she dismissed it.

“That Vega girl offered Brian Washer a position as a general in her army,” Mom muttered irritably. “And the first thing he thought to do with his new title was to start up a daily horoscope for the rebels. He’s been reading tarot cards and sending out nonsense like this all day. I intend to have a stern word with him about it when I next see him.”

“Good luck with that,” I muttered, because if Washer and his teeny weeny had decided to do this, then I knew there was about as much chance of my mom convincing him to stop as there was of a Lionel revealing himself to be a secret Worm Shifter in his next press release.

I closed the horoscope down and turned my attention to the article Mom had opened up instead.

A New Dawn for the Celestial Council.

Today has dawned another rioting success in the newly risen kingdom of Solaria under the wise and powerful rule of our great king. As many of us rejoice in the ascension of the most powerful Fae in Solaria, and a return to the rule of a king at last, we are finally beginning to see how this new and prosperous reign will look over the coming years.

Linda Rigel has today been announced as High Councillor – the position granted to her after a brave and selfless act of devotion to the king when she informed him of the treason being plotted by the former High Councillors – her now estranged husband and suspected sexual deviant Tiberius Rigel along with Melinda Altair – check out page six for more on the torture chamber found in her basement – and Antonia Capella – see page twelve for an exposé on the cult she called her pack and the debased activities they had been performing in secret.

Linda Rigel, seeing her chance to escape the tyranny which had been taking place in her own home, spoke bravely about the women Tiberius used to have brought to him on a regular basis, his son Max one of many bastards he has sired over the years, though the only one Tiberius allowed to live beyond conception.

As a survivor of this ruthless household and adamant supporter of the crown, Linda had been trying without success to escape her husband’s control for years, and with the help of our powerful and benevolent king, she finally managed to do so. In a twist of fate which will likely delight the population as a whole, Lionel Acrux has rewarded her years of constant, quiet loyalty to him with the most illustrious position as head of his new Council.

In a spin on tradition, Lionel has decided that no further High Councillors shall be appointed, instead Linda Rigel will head up his court and help run the day-to-day tasks required of a kingdom so that he may continue to rule with a just and firm hand, seeking out the insurgents who seek to undermine him at every turn, making Solaria into the great kingdom we all know and trust he can return it to.

All hail the King.

-Gus Vulpecula

Skye Marie: I always knew Tiberius Rigel was shifty – he was at a pie eating contest once and told the entire room that he didn’t even like pie when he was offered a piece #shiftynopieguy #canttrustaFaewhowonteatpie #ibetheeatsquiche

BigGriff99: I for one am elated to see a new face in politics. I can’t wait to see what she brings to the table and am excited to hear her plans on taxes for Griffins when the issue of street turd taxation is next brought up in Council #dontpersecuteusforneedingtopoop #whyshouldipaymoreforevacuatingmybackdoor #freedomtodump #itsalsoaratdeterrent

Brandy May: @BigGriff99 It’s Griffins like you who give the rest of us a bad name – I have never and will never take a public dump and I for one am horrified at not only the prospect of having to pay the Griffin turd tax, but that Fae of my Order have taken to public shitting so often that it is now necessary to actually discuss this as an option #forshame #imallforonthespotfines #notallGriffinsdoit

BigGriff99: @Brandy May I’ll have you know that our kind have been dumping in public for over six thousand years – it is a part of our culture and heritage, and I can only assume that you are not pure blooded if you don’t understand that #poopingrights #illploptilidrop

Telisha Mortensen: LINDA RIGEL IS A TWUNT

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Kristen Cannell: Oh I am sure Linda Rigel will make a fine High Councillor! After our king’s new law stating lesser Fae needing a permit to shift in public, I am over the moon that I no longer have to watch my neighbour Mr Grunnet shift into his disgusting Heptian Toad form whenever it rains, sitting in the gutter like a slimy turd opposite my lovely porch. It makes my beautiful Lioness skin crawl. #nomoretoadintheroad #antiamphibian

Jeremy Grunnet: Damn you, Kristen! You’re the one who reported me to the authorities, weren’t you?? #fuckyourporch #lowlyLion

BigGriff99: There’s nothing wrong with a slimy turd in the gutter #itsmyrighttoshite

Lejla Asoli: I’m glad we have a High Councillor, but did it have to be Linda Rigel?? When she laughs, it sounds like a goat choking on a chipmunk. I’d know. That’s how I lost my dear Chippy. It brings back terrible memories, but will she answer my emails about building a statue in his honour? Of course not. #insensistiveSiren #buildastatueforChippy

Brown Cow: Solaria is being run into the ground by that prejudiced, Orderist, asshole sitting on the Vega throne! Don’t listen to the lies printed in this drivel. Read The Daily Solaria for the truth! #jointherebellion #thisbrowncowwillshowyouhow #themoooovementiscoming #allhailtheVegaqueens

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“Well, you always said Linda was a prick, so I guess you must feel validated in that opinion now,” I said, handing my mom’s Atlas back to her.

“Seth Capella, do not use that potty mouth with me,” she snapped, clipping me around the ear with a strike of air magic so swift I didn’t see it coming in time to block it. “Do you not understand what news like this means? Lionel is creating a foothold within the kingdom, he is setting up his court, and the people need to see us solidifying ours in response if we stand any chance of convincing them that we are the better option. And when I say us, I mean just that – the Celestial Council as it should be with Xavier taking up the place as Fire Lord. The Vegas mean well, but they are severely underprepared for the task of ruling even if they were able to claim that position from us – which I do not believe they can. It is vital that we re-establish ourselves as the power in this army. We must recruit. We must start to spread word across Solaria to-”

“Good luck with all that. I’m out.” I turned away from her, stalking up the track in the direction Xavier had taken, a heavy mood falling over me. All I wanted was the last remnants of the people I loved to be safe. I wanted Lionel gone, sure, but I didn’t want to rush into another battle unprepared. I refused to watch another person I loved die, and I wasn’t going to start rallying the troops ready to lead more people to a bloody end before we were ready for battle again. No fucking way.

I stalled as the air glimmered in front of the castle and Caleb and Tory materialised from the stardust, with a large bag made of leaves and something hopeful in their eyes.

Relief flooded me at replaceing them safe and I broke into a run, colliding with them the moment I got there and pulling them both into a chokehold of a hug.

“Argh, you’re on my foot, Seth,” Tory cursed, ducking out of my grip while I tried to hold onto Cal, but he batted me off too, backing up.

I looked between them with a whimper in my throat, needing more than that small little snuggle. I needed a mega snuggle. Blankets, movies, candles, the works. But their eyes said I wasn’t gonna be getting that any time soon.

“So? What did you replace out?” I asked.

“We found a way to locate Darcy, but I can’t do the spell until midday tomorrow,” Tory said, and hope bubbled in my chest. “I wanna go hide these books before your parents spy them and start asking questions.”

“I’ll take them to your room. I think I can feel my Order starting to wake up, hopefully it won’t be much longer.” Caleb took all the books into his arms then jogged away into the castle.

I opened my mouth to ask Tory a stream of questions, but then my gaze fell onto two bloody pinprick marks on her neck. A bite. A Vampire bite. A Caleb bite.

I froze, coldness pouring down my spine as Tory lifted a hand, her fingers brushing over that mark as she realised what I was looking at, healing it away. But I’d seen it. It was branded to the inside of my skull now, right to the backs of my eye sockets.

“I gotta go,” I muttered, turning, and marching off across the grass.

Darius had made Caleb promise he’d never feed from her again after he’d hunted her and knocked her off the roof of King’s Hollow. He’d broken his word to him. He’d fucking bitten her. He’d drunk her blood, and when? For what? They’d been in a dusty old library, what possible reason could he have had for drinking from her?

They’ve been fucking.

I saw red. Blinding, burning red.

I was done pining, done whimpering, and spending every night alone in a cold bed thinking of my best friend. I needed to remind the world what Seth Capella was capable of, that he was a tempest housed in the flesh of Fae.

I spotted Justin Masters out taking a stroll on the path and bared my teeth as I claimed him as my first victim. I sent a barrage of air into his back, sending him flying off of the path with a yelp of fright before I buried him in five feet of soil and left only his head poking out.

“Why?!” he wailed as I stalked past him, not giving him an answer.

Because during my time at Zodiac, no one had questioned why I did shit. I was one of the most powerful Fae at the academy, a volatile Aquarius ruled by chaotic forces like Uranus, but it was my Libra rising sign that was fucking me up. Ruled by fucking Venus with her wily ways, cursing me to love a man who would never love me back.

I shoved my hands into my pockets, marching on, my eyes falling on a hill up ahead where a huge nest was being constructed by Leon, Dante, and some tattooed guy I was pretty sure was called Carson. There were other people there too, earth Elementals casting beautiful sticks and offering them to Leon who either approved them with a nod or shook his head violently and tossed them away – or sometimes he smacked its maker around the head with it.

The nest was beautiful, bent into the shape of a falcon, its wings parted at its back to allow entrance inside.

“Hey dude,” Leon called to me. “Wanna help us? We could use another decent earth Elemental over here.”

“We don’t need shit. Stop recruiting every asshole who walks by,” Carson grunted, tugging his long hair up into a topknot and offering me an unwelcoming scowl. He cast a long stick in his hands and encrusted it with jewels that glittered like starlight. Dante took it from him, cocking his head with intrigue, the Dragon in him making his eyes spark possessively.

“I’m not gonna fight you for every stick I make, Infer-” He coughed hard like he’d just breathed in a bug. “-nal asshole.” Carson yanked it back out of his grip and moved to fix it onto the leg of the falcon while Dante’s skin crackled with electricity.

“I’m good,” I muttered, shrugging and walking on, but Leon jogged down the hill to get into my way.

“Aren’t you all intrigued by what we’re doing, dude?” he asked hopefully, golden eyes sparkling. “It’s so cunning. The most cunning idea I’ve ever had.”

“It was my idea, stronzo,” Dante called.

“It was a joint idea,” Leon said, waving a hand at him and turning back to me. “Mostly mine,” he whispered.

“All you’ve done is shout orders at us and been a pain in the ass,” Carson said, standing upright as he finished fixing a new stick to the underside of the nest.

Leon laughed like the guy was joking and I made a move to step past him again. He leapt into my way with the agility of a cat despite the huge size of him.

“It’s to distract Gabe,” he announced. “Because his Harpy brain is obsessed with nests, isn’t it great? When he tries to see us, all he’ll see is this amazing nest and he’ll go all pigeon brain on it, cooing happily while he examines every bit of it. We’ve hidden all kinds of fancy sticks inside it, so it’ll keep his mind super distracted, and he won’t be able to see too much of our war plans.”

“That’s dumb. No way is that gonna work,” I said, folding my arms.

“Pfft. It’ll work. This nest is like the best Harpy porno ever made. It doesn’t matter how hard he tries to resist it, his brain is gonna tiptoe back here to look at it with lube in one hand and tissues in the other. Besides he won’t want to look away – he’ll understand the cunningness of my most cunning plan and keep looking at this, so if Lionel sneaks into his head for a peek at our future all he gets is the nest. It’s pure genius.”

“Well good luck with that,” I grumbled, darting past him before he could stop me again and hurrying on down the path.

I turned around the base of the next hill and my gaze settled on Rosalie Oscura in her silver Wolf form, laying on her back as she soaked in the last of the sun. A cruel smile twisted my lips, and I tugged my shirt over my head, tossing it away before dropping my sweatpants and kicking off my socks and shoes too. I was dying for a fight. And she was the answer.

I ran forward, letting the shift ripple through me, and howling as my four enormous white paws hit the ground and sent a tremor rocking through the hillside. Rosalie looked my way lazily peeking out from under one floppy ear that pricked up as she spotted me.

Her eyes narrowed as I padded forward, my lips peeling back in a snarl.

Fight me.

A growl rolled out of her throat, and she shoved herself upright, engaging me as her hackles raised. We started to circle one another, assessing the threat. She was the biggest Alpha Wolf I’d ever met, her size almost matching mine, and defeating her was just the kind of victory I needed today.

A group of rebels noticed our interaction, gathering to watch, but I didn’t let my focus falter from her. It had been too long since I’d asserted myself as an Alpha. I was going to remind the world of my power, and let Rosalie pay the price of that. This girl with her knowing eyes, and little looks in my direction whenever she was close by. Like she held some information I could never understand, and it was time she learned not to rile me.

I leapt forward with a snarl, claws outstretched as I collided with her and she swiped me hard across the side, sending me crashing to the ground. I’d gotten my claws into her flank too though, and I was back on my paws in seconds, snapping at her throat. She lurched backwards, trying to avoid my attack, but I pressed forward, my paws smashing into her chest and knocking her to the ground.

I was on her in the next second, barking in fury as I went for her throat again, but her legs kicked me back and she managed to wriggle free and gain her feet once more. Rosalie was forced to run, and I got a mouthful of fur as my teeth closed over the tip of her tail.

She howled angrily, twisting around and coming back in for another strike, but I was ready when she swiped her claws at my eyes, ducking low and driving myself forward.

My teeth finally closed around her neck, and I forced her to the ground, my paws crashing down on her shoulder to keep her in place. She thrashed like a wild thing, and I tightened my grip, a growl of warning in my throat as I told her to submit to me. My heart hammered with adrenaline, the call of a hunter running through my veins and urging me on towards my victory.

She snarled, gnashing her teeth in refusal and my bite deepened until she yelped.

Come on. Give up. Yield to me.

Rosalie managed to get a paw between us, tearing her claws across my face and my jaws unlocked, the pain of the attack making me release her with a whine.

Blood ran down my cheek and she leapt away from me again, forcing me to take chase up the hill. I followed her with fury fuelling my muscles, wanting to make her pay for the cuts gouged into my face.

She didn’t keep fleeing like a pup as I expected though, she turned back at the crest of the steep hill, jumping into the air and coming down on me like a ton of bricks, teeth and claws ripping into fur and flesh.

The collision sent us rolling back down the hill and I bit every piece of her I could as we spun in a tornado of silver and white fur, unable to see where my attacks were landing only that blood was starting to taint the air.

I clamped my teeth down on the tip of her fluffy tail with a surge of triumph. I’ve got you now, Rosalie.

I bit down harder, and a yelp left me as I realised it was my own tail I had hold of, and I quickly released it before anyone noticed.

We landed at the base of the hill with a tremendous thud and the crowd gasped as I lay on top of Rosalie, our paws twisted together. She didn’t move, her eyes closed and her body eerily still.

My heart began to thrash as I nosed her cheek, trying to wake her, but she still didn’t move.

Panic washed over me in a tidal wave, and I whimpered in fright, pushing to my feet above her and nosing her side. Get up, Rosalie. Please, get up.

I couldn’t face any more death. What had I done? Had I really killed her just for the sake of securing myself a pointless win?

I yapped like a terrified pup, nosing her again and the crowd broke out in worried mutters. Blackness sank deep into my head, death seeming to follow me everywhere these days, and now it had come for me again all because I’d needed an outlet for my anger.

I shifted back into my Fae form, kneeling at her side and pressing my fingers into her fur until I found skin, readying healing magic as quickly as I could.

But before I could even begin to heal her, she leapt upright, her tail wagging and a bark of amusement tearing from her throat. She ran the pad of her tongue right up the centre of my bloody face then trotted off with her tail held high, pushing through the crowd and leaving me staring after her, in the grass, naked on my knees. Like a fucking idiot.

“Goodness me, what fun,” Washer called from the crowd, stepping to the front of it in his Speedos, his hands on his hips and his leathery chest looking freshly waxed.

He came jogging over, and his Siren gifts got a hold on me before I could escape. He latched onto the rage inside me, then picked apart the humiliation, and started to replace his way to the worst emotion of all that sat beneath it, the jet fuel poured on the fire of all other emotions. Love.

I blocked him out fast, my mental barriers slamming into place and making him pout.

“I can help with all those knots deep inside you, my boy. Let me get myself in there to do some untangling. It will take a teeny-weeny bit of pushing and pulling, thrusting and ramming, but if you let me have full access to your darkest regions, I will give you so much relief, I assure you.”

“I don’t want your relief,” I hissed, shoving to my feet, and heading across the grass to fetch my clothes.

Blood was sticking to my skin from the wounds on my body, and I pressed a hand to my chest to heal them all.

“Holy shit,” breathed a teen girl among the rebels, looking to her friends as they admired my body. “He’s a savage.”

I tugged my clothes back on, twisting around and replaceing Washer standing right behind me, our chests knocking together.

I pressed my shoulders back, my teeth baring. “Get out of my way.”

“You really do need to take a breath, Mr Capella,” he said in a low, concerned voice. “Come on, breathe with me now. In and out, in and out.” He started squatting in front of me, his arms raising and lowering with every breath he took. “I can stand behind you if you like and guide you through the movements hip to hip.”

Air blasted out of my hands the same moment a bark spilled from my lips and Washer was sent sky high with a cry of alarm. The crowd broke out in more mutters as I prowled towards them, most of them darting aside, but I barged into anyone who didn’t.

“He touched me,” one of the teen girls squealed in excitement. “Look, I have his blood all over my ear!”

Washer suddenly came racing out of the sky on a slide of ice he’d cast beneath him, and he went splashing into a pond some of the water Elementals had created, a whoop of joy carrying from him.

I set my gaze on the stone building that had been built as a makeshift observatory, where everything we’d had left of our arcane supplies had been brought. I knew what I was gonna do. I’d demand answers from the stars, replace a way to rip this love from my chest so it wouldn’t torment me anymore. Then I’d be back to myself, and I wouldn’t lose Caleb as my friend. I’d make a deal with the moon, or the sun, or maybe Venus herself. One of those celestial beings had to be feeling generous today, and I was sure as shit gonna take advantage of them.

I wrenched open the wooden door, stepping into the dark, circular chamber that rose to a glass roof above. Shelves all around the edges of the room held the last of our tarot decks, crystals, scrying bowls, pendants, and books on the divine arts. There were a couple of Fae at the table in the middle of the space and I snapped my fingers to get their attention before pointing to the door.

“I’m actually in the middle of a reading,” one of the men squeaked.

“And I’m about to be in the middle of ripping your face off and making a hat out of it,” I hissed.

He placed down the tarot card in his hand which was ‘Death’ and nodded quickly, running for the door with his friend. There was a bottle of bourbon on the table which they’d been sharing, and I growled, knowing for sure it must have once belonged to Orion. It was his favourite brand. The Silver Circle.

I shoved the door shut and grabbed the bottle, drinking from the neck in a long guzzle. The burn trailed all the way down my throat into my stomach and I revelled in the way it melted some of my anxiety, but hated the way it reminded me of my moon friend. Where was he? Was he still alive, still protecting Darcy with every breath he took?

Had to be. That was his thing. He wouldn’t leave her ever, and as much as I missed them, I had to keep believing they were going to replace their way back to us one day soon. Just make it really, really soon, guys.

I placed it down, heading to the shelves and grabbing a book on planetary astrology, dumping it on the desk along with a pen and paper.

I dropped onto a seat, collecting the tarot cards scattered on the desk and shuffling them back into a fresh deck.

“Come on then, stars. Let’s have it out. What’s in my future, huh? More bullshit?” I aggressively pulled cards from the deck at random, placing them down before me and scoffing at the sight. The Lovers lay right next to The Chariot, both of which were upside down, hinting to a disharmony in love and a lack of control.

“Yeah, ya think?” I barked, drawing the next card, laughing humourlessly as I slammed down The Hermit on the table which was upside down too.

“Loneliness,” I spat bitterly. “Where are the answers in this? This is just stating my star-damned, everyday life. Why don’t you give me something helpful for once?”

I drew the next card replaceing The Hanged Man looking back at me. “Sacrifice,” I murmured, placing it down and feeling an ominous atmosphere closing in around me.

I grabbed the bottle of bourbon, taking another deep swig and thinking of Orion and Darcy again. Were they okay? Had Darcy gotten control of her curse? But if she had, then why hadn’t she come to replace us?

I swallowed heavily, drinking on and reading through the book on planets until there was nothing but dregs in the bottle and my head was swimming.

I turned to a page with a large picture of Venus on it and slammed my finger down on her face.

“You. You’re the one who caused this. You had no right. I was doing just fine before you made me fall for him. Why’d you have to go and be such a bitch about it? Why couldn’t you let me fall for someone who could love me back? Or better yet, why couldn’t you let him be able to love me back?”

I grabbed the pen on the table, writing across the page on her stupid Venus face.

Venus is a dirty, conniving, skank bitch who invented unrequited love and thinks it’s funny to fuck with Fae emotions whenever she likes.

“I’m gonna come up there,” I slurred, looking to the darkening sky through the glass roof above, Venus smirking back at me from her position in the sky, her glow positively mocking. Whore. “I’m gonna bring the moon with me and we’re gonna fuck you up.”

I shoved to my feet, heading to the shelves to replace something to help me. There had to be some spell I could do that would make this agony go away. I knew it wasn’t just this agonising pining for Caleb either, it was all of it. The grief was driving me to insanity, and every time my mind slipped too close to Darius, I was sure I was going to break into a million fragments of childhood memories, pacts made and delivered, friendship forged from the deepest love in the universe.

“Yah!” I lunged at Darius with the awesome wooden stick I’d found among the dead leaves.

It smacked down on his shoulder, breaking in two. He was getting big, those arms looking too large on his ten-year-old body. But it was clear what he was becoming. When he filled out all over, he was going to get that fierce Dragon look about him that his dad had.

His dad kinda gave me the heebies sometimes. He was always grumpy, looking at us as if we were taking up too much of his time. I’d padded up his fancy staircase in my pup form when I was younger, dripping mud all over it, my white coat completely sodden with filth after Max had pushed me in the pond and I’d clambered my way out up a steep, mucky bank. Uncle Lionel had gone craaaaazy on my butt, then Darius had come running in after me and demanded I go home so that he could deal with the situation. There had been this awful kind of tension in the air and Lionel had asked Darius if he was certain he wanted to take on the responsibility for my actions. Darius had shoved me out of the door, holding his chin high as he confirmed that he did.

I’d always felt awkward around his dad after that, though Darius had only shrugged off my questions over what had happened after I’d left, telling me not to worry about it. Luckily Lionel was always working and we rarely saw him even when we hung out here at Acrux Manor. Especially because we mostly liked to play outside in the woods.

Darius launched himself at me with a laugh, taking me to the ground and a second later Max and Caleb bundled in too, crushing me at the bottom of the pile. We were all soon playfighting, laughing and rolling in the leaves while snowflakes began to fall, the promise of winter making my heart stutter. I thought of the mountain my parents had left me on during the Forging and pushed myself to sit upright, a whine leaving me.

Darius sat up next, slinging an arm around my shoulders even though he wasn’t often very touchy.

“Forget the mountain,” he said, like he knew. He always knew.

I smiled, looking at him and nuzzling his face.

“You’re not ever gonna be alone again,” he swore, and my smile reached as high as the moon.

I winced out of the memory, remembering how I’d believed those words that day, so certain nothing could tear the four of us apart. We had seemed so immortal back then. I couldn’t remember a time without them, and I had foolishly assumed there would be no time to come where they didn’t exist. I’d lost Darius now, popping that illusion and forcing me to consider the possibility that I could lose more of them. There was no enduring that.

I found a bottle of moon-charged water and yanked the cap off, drinking it down, all of it. It was for potions, but I didn’t give a fuck, I just needed the pain to stop. The moon always had the answers, and the immediate buzz I got in my veins did a great job of numbing some of my wounds.

I found an Atlas sitting in a portable speaker and my eyebrows arched. I clumsily tapped on the screen, wondering if the motherfucker who owned it had any decent music on there. Thankfully, they seemed to have some taste, and I pressed play on Bones by Imagine Dragons, the music thundering through the air and filling up my soul.

I gave up on trying to replace a spell for my needs, and decided to invent one myself, grabbing a couple of fire crystals, a black-wick candle, a banishing stone, and some ground lilarock.

I melted some of the candle with a fire crystal, mixing the hot wax with the rock until it made a thick, inky liquid. Then I shed my shirt, painting the Taurus constellation over my heart and feeling a kiss of magic against my skin. This was gonna be fiiiiine. It was definitely gonna work.

The constellation that represented Caleb prickled against my heart and I lifted the banishing stone as the heavy pounding of the music filled me up, then I pressed it directly against the mark that was hardening against my skin. There was definitely good logic in this. I was going to use the stone to banish my love for Caleb, sending it anywhere else but in my heart where it constantly tortured me. Maybe I’d send it into a potato then smash that potato up with a hammer and kick the pieces into the sea. That oughta do it.

The banishing stone met my skin and pain exploded along my chest. The mark was devoured by the stone, and I gasped as the power of the spell sank into my body, deeper and deeper. I didn’t know what was going to happen, and I was half aware that this might just kill me, but it was too late now.

A tearing sensation circled my nipple and I looked down, gaining some good sense and tugging the stone away from my skin. My nipple went with it, perched there on that rock, while my skin was left smooth where it had been.

“Ah!” I yelped in panic, pressing the stone back to my skin. “Give it back, you nipple stealing rock of doom!”

The door opened and Caleb, fucking Caleb of all people, walked in, replaceing me there with one missing nipple, standing among the mess I’d made making my nipple-stealing spell.

“Get out,” I rasped, but he only kicked the door shut, shooting towards me in concern.

He looked down at the stone in my hand and the nipple it had taken from me, a curse leaving his lips.

“Are you drunk?” he snapped, snatching the stone from my grip.

I didn’t answer, leaving him to head away from me to the shelves, grabbing a binding crystal and some kiffer salt before returning to me just as fast. His hand slammed to my chest, knocking me flat onto the table at my back and leaning over me, holding the banishing stone over the place where my nipple should have been.

Why did everything I do lately make stuff so much worse?

He murmured a spell under his breath, using the binding stone to knit my nipple back onto my skin before dipping his fingers in the kiffer salt and rubbing it over it. His touch sent lightning tearing through me, and my nipple hardened under his fingers, making me knock his hand away fast, his touch sending aftershocks rippling through my skin.

I shoved myself upright to sit on the edge of the table, nose to nose with him when he didn’t move aside. His breath was hot against my mouth and it tasted like a sin I wanted to commit.

“What are you doing, Seth?” Caleb asked in a low tone, like he was angry with me, or maybe he was worried about me. It was hard to tell when my mind was full of alcohol and my body was falling into the madness of being this close to him.

“I was trying out a new spell,” I muttered.

“What spell?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I snarled.

“Why are you so angry at me all the time? We used to talk about shit,” he said.

“Because you keep pissing me off.” I tried to get up, but he gripped my arm and used his Vampire strength to keep me in place.

“Talk to me,” he commanded.

“You bit Tory,” I spat, the truth pouring out like I’d never had a chance to hold it back.

His eyes widened in surprise. “Are you…jealous?” he asked.

“No,” I lied quickly, heat rising in my veins. “Of course I’m not. Why would I be jealous? It’s just the principle of it all.”

“What principle?” he demanded.

“You broke your promise to Darius,” I said in fury, sitting up straighter. “You swore you’d never bite her again, and now he’s dead and cold in a coffin, and you think it’s fine for you to just disregard any promises that passed between you two.”

Caleb’s eyes shuttered and he dropped his head in shame, stepping back. “It wasn’t like that. We were in trouble. I needed magic and she insisted…I had to.”

“Yeah, whatever.” I dropped down from the desk, turning my back on him and picking up the tarot cards which I’d been forced to sit on while he stuck my nipple back onto my body. I subtly plucked one from my ass where it had gotten stuck, The Lovers laughing at me as I shoved the card into the deck and shuffled.

“I didn’t want to break that promise,” he went on.

“Uh huh,” I said dismissively.

“Seth,” he snarled.

“Wanna do a reading? Let’s replace out your truth, Cal,” I said coldly, moving to the other side of the table and dropping onto a seat. He looked to me with narrowed eyes, and I took the liberty to carry on.

I pulled out a card, turning it over and replaceing Justice reversed.

“Dishonesty,” I announced, flicking the card at him with a gust of air so it slapped him in the face. “Sounds like you’re lying about something, Cal. Maybe you’re lying to your best friend. Who can say? Maybe you’re hiding something like, oh I dunno – let’s ask the cards.”

I whipped another one out and surprise, surprise there were The Lovers. I cast it away from me, so it slapped him in the face again and he cursed in anger. “A secret love affair perhaps. That would be quite the scandal. I wonder who it could be?”

“You can’t draw conclusions like that, you’re not even letting me pull the cards myself and you’re just guessing random shit based on them,” he hissed, but I barrelled on.

“It’s not me, Caleb. It’s the cards. I’m not saying any of this. Oh look, Death,” I announced, sending it flying towards him again, but this time his hand came up to block it, but I was fast, making it slap him in the ear instead. “Death of an old relationship, maybe? A lifelong friend cast aside? Could be that, for sure.”

“What are you going on about?” he huffed.

“You tell me,” I barked.

I went to draw another card, but Caleb leaned forward, snatching them from my fist and tossing them into the air, a rain of fate and destiny showering down on us as we glared at each other.

The Wheel of Fortune came fluttering down to land on his shoulder and I picked it up with a lump in my throat.

“Inevitability,” I whispered.

“You’re drunk, and you’re rambling,” Caleb said, pushing a hand through his hair and knocking The Chariot out of his curls where it stood upright, signifying a sense of control, but as it cascaded down to land in front of me, it lay upside down. Losing control, chaos, willpower crumbling.

I looked up at him from my seat, the turmoil in me rising to the surface of my skin, begging to come out.

“Talk to me,” he said in a low voice, leaning down and bracing a hand on my bare shoulder. Skin to skin contact with him was like a drug, and I was his hopeless addict. I fractured there and then beneath him, the alcohol loosening my tongue and letting out some of my truth.

“Sometimes I dream of waking up and replaceing everyone gone. I’m in the dark and it’s cold, so fucking cold. There’s frost in my veins and I can feel the loss of you all. But what if one day I wake up and realise it’s not a nightmare anymore? It’s real.” I grabbed hold of Caleb, feeling the solidness of him to assure myself he was still there, and he drew me to my feet, pulling me close. When I spoke again, my voice was a raspy whisper of desperation, “If you have to go, please be the last one. Please stay until the end. I can’t lose you. Not you.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Seth,” he vowed, unblinking as he stared me straight in the eye. “I am not. Going. Anywhere.”

I sagged against him, loving him through to my bones. His promise wasn’t binding; life was too volatile for certainty, but it meant a hell of a lot that he voiced it anyway, because I knew the heart of Caleb Altair, and he had never let me down yet.

“It’s not fair,” I exhaled, my hands fisted in his shirt and my head bowed so he couldn’t read my expression.

“What’s not fair?” he asked, his breath stirring my hair and making my heartbeat skitter.

“All of it,” I cursed, my fingers curling tighter. He wasn’t pulling away, but I wasn’t letting go either. I just needed to be close to him for a second. My skin was starved of contact and my Order needs were polluted by my desire for his hands to be the ones to sate those needs. “Did you ever think it would come to this? Because I didn’t. I was stupidly optimistic. I really thought we’d win this war. I should have known better. I always did look at things with blind positivity, but I’m running out of reasons to feign ignorance now.”

“Seth…”

I chanced a look up at him, my throat tight and not letting in a single scrap of air.

“Don’t let this war change you,” he said. “Your optimism is one of my favourite things about you.”

“One of?” I snagged onto that breadcrumb of attention. I was pathetic for it, but I didn’t give a fuck. Caleb had implied there was more, so I’d be getting it if I could.

“I envy the way you feel everything so sharply, even when you try to disguise your pain in rage,” he said.

“But doesn’t that make me weak, Cal? I feel weak. I can’t contain this pain. It pours out of me like I’m filled with holes. But you’re always so strong. You don’t have cracks, let alone holes.”

“Your pain is the most admirable strength I know. I keep mine inside because I don’t know how to express it outside of words, but you’re the opposite. You bleed with your actions, and I’m one of the few people in the world who can read your anger and hate for what it really is.”

“What is it?” I asked, because hell if I knew.

“Love.”

That word was a curse upon my soul, and I flinched away from him, withdrawing. “I can’t do this anymore,” I whispered to myself, scraping a hand down my face. “Lie to me, Cal. Tell me it will all be okay, even as the walls crumble and the earth shatters beneath our feet. Lie to me so good that I don’t feel it when our world falls to ruin.”

His brow creased and he pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear, the simple touch meaning everything to me. “It will all be okay.”

He said it with so much certainty that I really did believe it for a second, unsure if it was actually a lie or just a truth he was banking on. It helped either way.

“But not if you keep starving yourself of your Order needs,” he said darkly. “Why don’t you turn to your family?”

“I’m supposed to be strong for them. I don’t want them seeing me like this,” I breathed shamefully.

“You can’t keep sleeping alone and staying away from people. You need the touch of other Fae,” he urged, his hand pressing to my spine, and I shivered with want.

“Don’t, Cal,” my plea was weak, sounding more like I was begging for the exact opposite.

“You need this,” he said firmly. “And you’re my Source. I always protect my Source.”

His knuckles traced the length of my spine, and I felt my resolve cracking and falling to ruin. I could practically hear Venus laughing at me, making me yearn for this man who wasn’t meant for me.

“Come on. You’ll stay with me tonight,” he said, and I realised night must have fallen some time ago while I was lost to this place.

He took my hand, guiding me to the door, but our fingers parted the moment it opened, like we were both quietly acknowledging the fact that it meant more than it should have, and no one was allowed to witness it.

“I hate this place,” I sighed. “I miss King’s Hollow.”

Caleb frowned at me then scooped me into his arms in a blur of motion, speeding across the island at the full capacity of his Order gifts, stealing the breath from my lungs. He placed me down and I stumbled dizzily, a throaty laugh leaving my chest as he grinned.

We were at the base of a large oak tree on the edge of the island, the sea crashing against the shore to our left. Caleb began to wield his earth Element, building a treehouse that was like a small version of King’s Hollow, with a single ladder running up to a little arching doorway.

When he was done, he jerked his head in an offering and I hurried forward, scaling the ladder, and stepping into the beautiful room he’d built. A large wooden bed with a thick mattress of springy moss lay to one side of a stone fireplace and when Caleb entered behind me, he raised a hand, casting a fire into the hearth. Heat spread quickly into the space, and I glanced back to replace Caleb locking the door and pulling his shirt off. His body belonged to a creature not of this world, one that went beyond all magic I knew and captivated me deeper than any power the stars possessed.

“Lie down,” he commanded, and I cocked my head to one side.

“Sometimes I think you forget I’m an Alpha too,” I said, and he smirked, closing in on me.

“I think you like being bossed around,” he said, pressing a hand to my chest and shoving me onto the bed and by the stars, my heart leapt like it just wanted to prove him right. “On your front.”

I moved up the bed and lay on my stomach, confused as fuck but drunk-happy too now that I was getting this treatment from him. A little birdy in the back of my head was squawking at me though, telling me I was just going to feel like shit again in the morning. But the morning was a wandering doom, too far off to cause me issues right now and the night…well the night was making me promises which I had no hope of even trying to deny as my entire world was filled up by the powerful presence of Caleb Altair.

Caleb moved to straddle my back, his fingers kneading at my shoulders, massaging my skin in firm strokes. I groaned at how good that felt, his hands working over every inch of me and feeding the demands of my Order.

He pushed my hair away from the back of my neck, his thumbs rolling over the top of my spine in a perfect way. He didn’t hold back on using his strength, digging deep into my muscles and driving out any kinks and knots he found.

His fingers grazed lower, working into the muscles around my shoulder blades before he painted out a crescent moon between them, making my cock immediately hard. Fuck, how was I ever going to get up from this bed without him seeing that?

“Are you still planning on getting a tattoo here?” he asked and a beat later his mouth pressed to that very spot.

“Cal,” I said breathlessly, grinding my hips into the mattress.

“Answer me,” he insisted, and I cursed him in a growl.

“Yes,” I said, and his mouth dragged over my skin again like he was rewarding me for obeying him. “Now answer me something.”

“Ask away,” he whispered, his breath on my back driving me wild.

His mouth travelled lower and his hands ran down my sides, his thumbs massaging as he went and sending a quiver of delight through me.

“Whose blood do you prefer, mine or Tory’s?” I asked and he laughed against my skin, his fangs suddenly grazing me.

“Her blood is a head rush for sure,” he admitted, and I swallowed a jealous growl, remaining silent. “But yours…” He reared up over me, his palm pressing to the mattress beside my head and his body crushing me down into the bed. I loved the weight of him, the way he never held back his power with me, the two of us so perfectly, equally matched in strength that we could always handle anything the other offered.

His mouth ran over my neck and my fingers fisted tightly in response to his fangs dragging over my sensitive skin.

“You taste like the earth and sky colliding, but it’s more than that. There’s moonlight in you, and it calls to me like a song in the night. You’re my Source and nothing is going to change that. I don’t want to claim anyone else, this is mine and it’s all I crave.” His fangs drove into my neck and my back arched, the kiss of pain making me even harder and sending my thoughts scattering to the wind.

Me and him, this thing between us, it was getting to be more than I could take. But if I had no choice in desiring him then maybe I needed to surrender to it, and let it run its course. I would stop swimming upstream and let the river of this all-engulfing love claim me into its rapids. It would end with me dashed against the rocks, but I was going to enjoy the ride before I reached that unavoidable end.

He fed deep, pinning me down and growling every time I shifted beneath him. I felt him hardening against my ass, his cock driving against me through the fabric of his sweatpants and my breaths came heavier. It was just his obsession with my blood, or maybe he wanted to use me again for an outlet. But then hadn’t Tory given him that?

He drew his fangs free of me, sitting back fast and starting to massage me more aggressively, his body angled so I couldn’t feel his arousal anymore, but we both knew the truth, even if neither of us would voice it.

He massaged me until my muscles were jelly and peace was coming for me, the kind I hadn’t felt in so, so long.

Caleb rolled down to lay next to me, casting a woven sheet of leaves over us and I turned onto my side, grateful for the cover so it wouldn’t give away how fucking hot that had gotten me.

“What do you need?” he asked softly. “Do whatever it is your Order wants.”

I glanced at his bare chest, then shifted forward, curling into him and pulling him tight against me. His arms wrapped around me, and I nuzzled against his cheek, our stubble raking together and feeling so star-damned good, all I wanted to do was turn my head and steal a hungry kiss from his mouth. But holding him close and feeling his muscles tighten around me was enough of a gift for tonight, and I wasn’t going to do anything stupid that might send him running from here.

So I shut my eyes and breathed in his sharp, masculine scent, replaceing some clarity in why I had fallen for him so hopelessly. He was Caleb Altair. The most protective, loyal Fae who knew every piece of me and never flinched from it. Of course I’d fallen for him. Just like The Wheel of Fortune card had predicted. It was inevitable.