The door creaks suddenly, and we freeze. A priest slips in, tending to the fire. We stay locked in the shadows, breaths shallow, until his back is turned. Then I grab her hand, drag her out in the hall, and pull the secret door quietly shut behind us.
“So…” she murmurs, lips swollen, cheeks flushed. “I’ll see you tomorrow for the Chase?”
I smirk, brushing a thumb over her kiss-bruised mouth. “I will be aiming for you.”
She blushes, hiding a smile. “Aim true.”
“Always.”
I give her perfect ass a little smack as she walks down thecorridor, watching her hips sway like temptation itself. Finally, after the longest year of my life, I’m going to claim my mate.
Chapter 46
EMBER
The foyer is teeming with energy and nerves. It’s contagious, and I arrive late on purpose to avoid it and the commotion like last time. But as I slip down the three flights of steps, I notice it wasn’t quite late enough.
“Oh, look who decided to join us,” Lucia retorts, leaning against the wall.
“It’s the virgin who thinks she’s better than everyone else,” Aura smirks, crossing her arms beside her.
“Who says I’m still a virgin?” I glance down at my nails.
“Your attitude,” Lucia sneers.
“Thorn needs a real female,” Aura pipes in, voice dripping like venom.
That’s when I see red. The female who had Thorn in her neck, the female who stole him away from me while we were talking. This bitch needs to know her place. My blood heats until it’s nearly boiling.
“That’s funny, I thought you had a mate,” I snicker through gritted teeth.
“Thorn has always been mine on the side,” she smirks, but it doesn’t meet her eyes.
“That’s not what he was saying when his fingers were inside me last night.”
Aura blanches, color draining from her face. Lucia’s sneer deepens.
“Thorn doesn’t deserve a mate, and neither do you.” It’s Rue who speaks up, her long blonde hair shaking with her anger.
“If your mates weren’t stupid enough to challenge Thorn, they’d still be alive. Stop carrying a torch for dead men. And stop blaming us for your inability to keep your dead mates from imminent death.”
The fire in her eyes is about to ignite when the priest leads us out into the torchlit path leading to the valley.
The three widows toss me evil eyes as we line up along the valley and shift. Unlike last year, I’m able to tune out all the noise, eyes focused on the tree line as the priest drones on with his speech. I know what I want this year, and I’m determined to get it.
The first horn blasts once, echoing through the valley. I leap forward with the rest of the females, paws pounding the valley side. The line of trees opens below us, moonlight glinting off silver leaves and mist rising between their majestic trunks. I aim straight for the Sacred Tree, lungs burning with determination. It’s where I know he’ll find me.
But I never make it.
A wall of bramble rises ahead — woven thick, laced with ironwood stakes. Too late to stop. My paws skid, thorns tear into my legs. Pain lances up my side.
Snickers echo behind me as the others circle around. Lucia’s laugh slices through the night. “Run faster, little virgin. Maybe you’ll get there before he finds someone better.”
Fury roars inside me. My wolf surges, snapping through my chest. My claws tear, teeth gnash, and I rip through thevines with savage force. The thorns shred my foreleg, slice my shoulder, blood slicking down my fur.Virgin blood.
The second horn blares. The males are loose.
If I’m stuck here when the males arrive, I can be caught by anyone. I can’t stop. Not now with virgin blood dripping down my fur, and I’m stuck like a sitting duck.
