Page 42 of Cherry Moon

I sped up until the wall stopped me.

This wasn’t stone. It was bone.

Zach arrived beside me, catching his breath.

Behind this wall I sensed him, felt his warmth, his light. Even smelled him baking his dark chocolate and raspberry brownies—his undisputed masterpiece.

Aki…

Stretching my limbs, I inspected the wall. It was smooth, most of it hidden by the darkness around us, apart from this exposed section.

Touching it sent a chill rushing through my veins, a freezing rejection of me. I resisted, pressing harder, feeling for any sign of weakness. My heart was pounding, my love an incredible swell.

The lights in my fingertips blinked one by one, then sent ripples of pink across the bone. It warmed up, beating back the chilly rebuff, letting me see a flash of him.

“Aki…”

Zach’s breath shivered behind me, his hand landing on my shoulder. More warmth flooded my system, twinning with my love. Churning it, whipping it up into incredible force.

The sibling and the soulmate were here to kick ass.

A growl rumbled in my chest. “Let him go.”

The bone heated up further, tiny cracks appearing across the surface. The cold tried fighting back, but my hand pressed harder into it, Zach pouring more magic into me.

“He is mine. He is ours.” I bared my teeth, echoes of my wolf nature always there to feed my strength, to show the world they didn’t get to mess with what was mine.

“Break!” I roared. “Break and let him go!”

Pink sparks shot across the surface, the cracks widening, the heat intensifying.

“Aki!” I bellowed. “My Aki!”

Almost there, the bone about to give.

The promise I’d made remained intact. He was going to be okay.

Zach practically crushed my shoulder, his love for his brother a powerful tsunami.

Yes!

Yes!

Yes!

“Let him go!”

The final roar triggered a violent explosion, sending me flying backward.

I hit the path, the blossoms cushioning most of the fall. Zach landed beside me. A spray of bone fragments rained down on us and I brought my arms up, protecting my face. They hit, biting into my exposed skin, not causing any substantial damage.

“G?”

Aki!

I sat up, quickly glancing at Zach. He was splayed on his back like a starfish with a few cuts on his face, but fine.

He signed for me to go.