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Valentina’s scent swirled around me as she loosened her grip on my shirt to fold her arms against her chest. The way she shifted the air mixed with the mossy earth around us was brutal to my senses. The aroma almost felt too much like home. Not only could I smell her distinctiveness, but I could almost feel the fury that leaked out of her into the air. It was as if there was a thread between us that was lit with warmth, nothing overwhelming, but it pulsed like a signal towards me, like a warning, or a call out.

That was the part that had me conflicted, that physical pull. She should be sending me waves of distress, not anticipation for what would happen next. Valentina was the most dangerous person I ever came across, but the thought of kissing her hooked me, dangerous and infatuating. I could almost feel how soft her lips could be against mine. They’d be cushions wrapped in silk that left a tingle to the touch. And her skin… It would taste just as sweet as she smelled.

As the anger swirled around us, it created almost a vacuum. The feelings in the air clung against my own fragile state, prickling me to no end. The only thought that had the fury even wanting to yield was the memory of this morning. When I felt at my most volatile, her touch physically settled the emotions that bubbled inside. It was like light piercing the darkness, pulling me up to breathe. I didn’t know if I could actually help her in that way, but the thought egged me on. Touch her, let her feel you. Take some of that anger away.

I fought against it at first, not wanting to agitate her any more than I clearly had. But the way she was trying to hold it together, lips pressed tight, eyes far away, sent another jolt of unease through me. It was as if my body were begging me to correct the misalignment. Just one touch, it wouldn’t hurt, it would be reassuring. I wasn’t that lost in the irrational desire to not offer it. Even if I didn’t know what type of assurance she needed, I could offer the little I did know how to.

It wasn’t even a moment later after I rationalized it with my better half that I reached out. Brushing my fingers against her, I hoped to settle the storm behind her gaze and to ease away the tightness in my own chest. Our fingers wove together, and I guided her gently in front of me, waiting for her to meet my eyes.

Val stood still in front of me, not meeting my gaze, her own was locked on the floor, embarrassed, maybe. I almost felt guilty that I caused her to withdraw into herself. It was off, really; she didn’t seem like the type to even have the capacity to feel uncomfortable. So I stood there in front of her, silently waiting for her to see me.

Once she lifted her gaze to mine, they were searching through mine for something. I wasn’t quite sure; maybe she wanted some answers I didn’t have. Or an apology. One she wouldn’t get from me. She was the one who had been reckless, breaking that fairy’s wing. Even if it was for my benefit, as she claims it was, it was still violent. But the way she looked at me, the brown in her eyes shifted to a golden color that was so mesmerizing and clear. It sent a charge through me, crackling under my skin.

Energy leapt off her and slammed into me, passionate and wild. The threads between us were taut as our focus never shifted from one another’s faces. Through that bond, I could taste her frustration, her curiosity, and everything in between. Another tingle crawled down my spine, the kind that made me forget tomorrow even existed.

If the sky could melt into the earth, that is how it felt when she stared at me like this. My heart pounded like a war drum inside my chest, my ears. I couldn’t help myself. Bending down, I brushed my knuckles against her cheek. A lock of hair had slipped from her ponytail, and I tucked it behind her ear.

Valentina’s features froze the moment my fingers graced her skin, the soft brown flushed underneath it. That scent… that scent would do me in. Every time it had flared sent an electrical pulse through me that should have been illegal. She watched as I took a small breath allowing myself just for a moment to let it ride my system like a new obsession.

As if she were going to slip away, my hands slid down her neck, holding her gently like she was something fragile and irreplaceable. They had minds of their own as they trailed her delicate skin to her shoulder, memorizing her silhouette. She inhaled—a shallow, startled breath—her pulse thrumming beneath my fingertips.

The air simmered with electricity as hers started to gleam with her own infatuation. That small hint of desire there had my mind dwelling in impure thoughts. I had to eject those thoughts immediately, or I’d find myself leaning in to brush my mouth against hers. I’d only meant to calm her, but the way the sun lit her eyes ignited that curiosity again. Her gaze dipped to my mouth, and she leaned closer.

My heartbeat roared. My head dipped. Our noses brushed, feather-light, before I dragged mine across her cheek, inhaling deeply. Her scent soaked into my lungs, sweet and alive. The anger coiled inside her bled into me the moment our skin touched, then slowly unraveled. I could feel it easing out of her, melting under my breath.

I had to force myself not to brush my lips along hers. Instead, I let them skim the shell of her left ear as I whispered, low and steady, “You have to calm down.”

And gods, I needed to calm down, too.

When she didn’t respond I forced myself back, our gazes finding each other again. For a moment we stood there silently taking each other in. Both of our breaths were evener than before I had pulled her into me. The heat that had rested deep in my chest also finally subsided. As we let our breath and mind settle I finally managed, “We should get to your father’s house.” I couldn’t talk about what had just transpired. I had to figure out what she was doing to me before I could even mention it. “You’re the only one who knows the way.” I continued.

Valentina nodded slowly, her tight curls swung over her shoulder as she turned away from me, spinning lightly in the grass. “Come on, let’s go,” she murmured, and she didn’t dare look back, but there was a subtle electrical pull still in the air. I kept a respectful few steps behind her, giving her the space she clearly needed.

An hour slipped past as we trudged through the forest. The trees bled into hills, their thick branches crossing overhead to form a heavy canopy. They leaned into each other like a village holding itself up, gripping root to root as though sharing breath.

And no matter how powerful I felt, how strong my new strength made me, I felt weak in that moment. Truly weak. The muscles in my throat strained, tightening until they burned. Heat crawled up my neck. My mouth dried. My belly hollowed out as if something acidic had been replaced with hunger far more vicious, a pain made to tear me apart from the inside.

I tried steadying that heat with a pull of strangled air, but my emotion and the hunger weren’t soft; it was demanding. My fingers twitched toward Valentina’s shoulder, brushing the air just to get her attention.

“We should hunt.”

There was no protest, no teasing remark, just a single, knowing nod. And then I let my nose guide me.

Valentina hunted with me. Only once, commenting on how she could have just let me drink from her, but I was still so young. “You’d end up hurting me more than anything else,” she said. When she mentioned my lips brushing against her skin, with permission, heat whispered through my stomach, sharp and hungry. I had to shake it away to keep focused. Even if she said I was supposed to be her mate, whatever that meant, I still didn’t know her well enough to put my mouth on hers.

It felt like a lie I was telling myself to keep the distance between us. She shouldn’t have that effect on me, and I should have been able to control it. I channeled all that confusion into the hunt, filling the emptiness that pitted my stomach. My nose guided me through the woodlands, filtering through her unrestrained perfume to the cougar atop a hill.

By the time the heat had faded from my belly and the scent of blood dried on my lips, a cave mouth stretched before us, yawning wide like a stone throat waiting to swallow us whole. That unexplainable sensation from yesterday, before we entered the woods, prickled at my skin like a thorn. It was a low pressure that started in my stomach and festered through my muscles. I found my gaze searching around the jagged rocks as if those horrid creatures were going to attack.

Valentina led us inside without worry, moving as if she’d walked this path a hundred times. Her stride remained easy across the uneven stone beneath our feet. Sharp gravel pierced through my sneakers, causing me to stumble along the path as we ascended its depths.

The cave went further into the earth than I expected, the floor shifting from shards to soil. The air was heavy and damp compared to the forest. It made the cotton of my shirt almost stick instantly to my skin from soaking up the moisture around us. Even the aroma felt thicker with algae and salt the deeper we went. The only light came from the world behind us and the thin slivers that slipped through cracks in the stone above. That sixth sense didn’t let up as the soil somehow shifted to grainy sand.

Just ahead, a lake breached the shoreline, its surface mirroring the cave walls, reflecting angular stone and moss clinging like veins across its face. The pool shimmered a deep peacock-blue with a tint of emerald, deceptively deep, like something prehistoric could be sleeping beneath it. Every scent bounced around the cavern like a symphony: the rich musk of damp stone, the cool purity of fresh water, the faint sweetness of soil.

Everything about it was beautiful, but that unwavering feeling that we could possibly be in danger was persistent. It was a knife in my back. Valentina’s casualness had me second-guessing whether or not I should be overanalyzing. But when it came to that threat of those werewolves, her lack of awareness yesterday made me doubt she sensed it. Those claws in her back were still burned into my mind like a brand.

Valentina approached the lip of the shore, and I followed behind her. She crouched, trailing her fingers through the water, speaking softly in a language that sounded more like a spell. Her words were low but held a quiet command, summoning something unseen to the surface.