Wren's POV

“I’m sorry” is all I can say right now.
I’m mortified! A little piece of me is dying inside after learning Kilian met Jinx.
This wolf is a freak. Speaks like me, uses me like a vulgar skin glove.
She tricked my father more than once. An absolute bitch.
And where the hell did this Spanish sentence come from? Kilian’s face. It was gone! Livid, blood-drained... Now he seems unable to even mention this part. Jinx is not a freak. I am!
“This Jinx of yours doesn’t like Hataro. Why?” Kilian asks.
I try not to fumble, gripping the rope tightly for the guardrail as we descend those rocky overpasses, Kilian’s own clench propelling me forth with every step he takes.
“He’s not what I call all-around material. And Jinx despises anything soft. Don’t ask. I tried to reason with her multiple times, but she’s crazy.” All this huffing of mine, it’s as if we’re having walking intercourse, minus the cock.
“We’ll find a way to remove her. Watch your head, lass. It’s bulky around this corner.”
I stop in my tracks. “Remove Jinx?!” Ouch!
“Laura is working on it.” Our feet take a break.
“Kil-
I’m shoved against his chest, my nose squashed between two pecs. Soon, a soft rub lingers over my sore scalp. He doesn’t know, but I just got knocked twice... Those are black-market muscles. Definitely not homologated...
“Why would you want to remove her? She’s been a part of me for as long as I can remember,” I muffle against a cotton t-shirt. Even his sweat smells good. Arf... Someone shoot me.
“She’s not your wolf, Spades.”
My breath-holding self pushes away. “Jinx’s a living soul. She takes over when I’m out of resources. I gain courage from Jinx. When I need to take that shot, Jinx’s there. When I pull the trigger, she’s there. Don’t you know I’m a coward without her?”
His lips pinch, dragging his head towards the runway. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he splays his legs, drowns back his gaze to his feet, and sighs. Am I annoying the fuck out of him?!
But soon, there’s a hand snaking around my wrist, my mouth filling with air as I watch it fold fingers over me.
“No, you’re not. These wolves stripped you of who you are.”
“Stop talking like that!”
Huff! That pull. I’m annoying him. Confirmed... Right there.
“Is that Jinx again?” Kilian says, dragging me behind him.
“No!” I spit-cough, struggling not to walk on his heels.
“See, you’re just like her, a harpy.”
“A-a harpy?” If I could knife this back of his.
Idiot girl...you could never.
“Yeah.”
“Come here!” I command, pulling the brakes all the way.
Kilian plants on the spot, towering over me, his gaze burning my eyes. I think I accidentally pushed his Alpha button. Maybe I should just start walking the other way...
“Here, you mean?” Kilian’s words melt on my lips, silking his whispers in glides. “Confrontation isn’t something new to me, darling...”
Over his skin, my tongue smoothes, “Doesn’t confrontation reveal whom you’re dealing with?..”
With featherlight ease, he glides his fingertips under my top, skimming my ribs. Phew! It's hot in here.
And then my frazzled self disintegrates to the following murmur, “I wouldn’t be able to tell... You corrupted my heart, Spades.”
I should push those buttons more often...
#
The few sunrays that managed to enter this massive rock shelter are subliming the place in hues of ochre and sulfur. Warm gold just as... Kilian’s eyes.
Coasting down the inner side of the cave, we cross stony platforms leading from one level to another. My eyes keep wandering from the runway below to the glass dome habitations flanking the mountain’s inner walls. At this time of the day, it’s beautiful.
I shudder. The landing strip is deadly empty of Cromancer jets. “You made a mistake sending them all.” I’m bitching and fussing because my father’s diversion sticks out a mile.
There’s a tug followed by my face crashing against his chest.
“It’s no mistake... I want a celebration. I want my people to rejoice in victory, no matter how small it may be. I’m not stupid. We’re just a bunch of rebels with old weapons. It’s just a matter of surviving as long as we can. Desperados...”
I need to stop this!
I look up, my teeth clenching from emotion as a gulp resounds deep in my guts. This is not a cheezy statement, and I’m not trying to be cute. We all know that feeling of a heart dropping below our knees when in love. It can’t be helped! The butterflies in my stomach are devouring me; no matter what I do, they just keep feasting. I need proper deworming at this stage because these are not beautifully winged and soft bugs. They are flesh-eaters!
“Can a pretty wolf grant me her trust?” My...
Kilian.
Tiptoeing, I clasp his cheeks and husk in return, “Am I not by your side?”
I can’t even handle the smile he gives me. The need to protect Kilian is unlike anything I have experienced before...
BAM!
