Yeah, Ryker should probably give up on the whole crush thing.
“I could do it, you know,” Bastian said lightly.
“Do what?”
I watched the silver wolf rise and shake himself off before sprinting after Rynn. Behind them, the sun fully sank beneath the horizon. A shadow seemed to stretch out from the forest as night claimed dominion. They’d cut it really close. Too damn close. I’d be lecturing the two of them about this.
Tomorrow.
When Rynn was less likely to come for my balls. I was smarter than Bastian or Ryker.
“Woo her.”
I gave him a skeptical look. Bastian was a charmer. I was fairly certain he’d fucked half of the Velesian and Moroi realms. Probably a quarter of the Furie realm as well. Sure, some of it was because of his looks, but he also just had a way about him. The only time I’d seen it fail was with Warrick. Although that was more complicated than an outright fail.
“Bet me.” Bastian turned to face me. “I’ll have Rynn eating out of my hand by the spring melt.”
It was mildly tempting, mostly because I was fairly certain Rynn would not be interested at all and watching Bastian get shut down would be highly entertaining. Though given what had gone down today, I didn’t want to make things with Rynn worse. Plus, we had no idea how Ryker would react.
I shook my head. “Find your amusement somewhere else.”
“You don’t think I can do it.” Bastian narrowed his eyes at me.
Shit, I knew that look. Bastian and I had grown up together. Behind all his charm and cleverness was a giant chip on his shoulder. He ran on spite. If you told him he couldn’t do something, he’d practically die trying to prove you wrong.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Rynn making it through the open gate of the stronghold. Ryker followed her a few seconds later. They were both officially safe for the night.
I thought about how to respond to Bastian. He was going to do it no matter what I said, so I might as well get something out of it. Rynn would likely shut his attempts down quickly, so as long as Ryker didn’t react poorly, this would all be over fast.
“Getting Rynn to sleep with you would be too easy because you’d just go for a hate fuck.” I tilted my head thoughtfully. “I bet you can’t get Rynn to sleep in your bed.” Bastian grinned and opened his mouth, but I cut him off. “And getting a room with only one bed at an outpost doesn’t count. It has to be your bed, and she has to be in it all night. Sleeping for at least half the night.”
Bas had never let anyone sleep in his bed after he’d had his fun with them. This was how I knew I’d win. He wasn’t going to break that rule for Rynn.
“Well, that’s hardly any fun,” he complained. “Fine, but when I win, you’re coming with me to the Moroi realm and we’re getting you laid. This celibacy thing you got going on isn’t healthy.”
I glared at him, but he just grinned. Alright, Bastian, you want to be like that? I crossed my arms. “And when you lose and Rynn amputates your balls, you’re going to tell Warrick the truth.”
“What truth?” he scoffed.
I leaned forward. “You know exactly what truth.”
Hesitation flickered in his eyes before he hid it and fixed that arrogant expression back onto his face. “It’s a moot point because I’m not going to lose. Now, I’m going to go check on Rynn.” He patted me on the shoulder before heading for the door. “You should probably do the same for Ryker and make sure the boy has his head on straight. We’ll discuss the Selene situation tomorrow.”
And then he was gone.
Warrick was going to be pissed when he found out about the new addition and the bet. “That’s what you get for not coming back, old friend.” I sighed and went to find Ryker.
Chapter Five
Bastian
Rynn would be in a bad mood. I contemplated how to proceed as I quickly walked down the hallway towards the opposite side of the stronghold. Ryker had tracked her down, which had certainly only enraged her further, not only because he’d invaded her space, but because he’d acted the same way he always did around her.
Possessive and demanding.
I chuckled to myself. It wasn’t that Ryker was bad at detecting the emotions of others. He was actually phenomenal at it. The problem was how he responded to those emotions.
When he’d found Rynn, I was fairly confident the first words out of his mouth had been, “You’re mad at me. Why?”
