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“What’s wrong with my nudity anyway?” Scott tilts his head to one side, a teasing glint in his eyes. “You’ve seen a naked male before.”
“Of course I have!” I’m aware of how flustered I sound, and his slow smile tells me that he knows exactly how embarrassed I am by this whole conversation. “I need to pay attention so I don’t get killed by creatures like that.” I wave my hand towards the bog.
There’s a pause, and I sigh, already anticipating his comment.
“So,” he drawls, “you’re saying I distract you.”
“What I mean is that with your…” Trailing off, I gesture towards his genitals. “Male parts,” I continue, “dangling around, they could get in the way if we have to fight—” Seeing his smile stretch into a grin, I realise that I just implied that his junk was huge. While not incorrect, I’m just digging myself a hole here.
“Oh, for goddess’s sake.” Throwing my hands up in the air, I stalk away from him, being careful to check where I step, with Star trotting at my side. His low chuckle rolls over me.
With Star’s help, I’m able to avoid the marshy part of the field. Now that the creature has been dealt with, the nausea and sense of dread I’d been feeling has disappeared, which fills me with relief. I’m not sure how I’d handle another one of those creatures. I can hear Scott behind me, and as I glance over my shoulder, I see him checking out my ass. I arch a brow, but he just smirks.
Shaking my head, I face forward, and knowing he can’t see, I allow myself a tiny smile. When we reach the treeline on the other side of the clearing, I let out a breath of relief, feeling more protected now that we’re not out in the open. I begin to jog, weaving my way through the trees, with Star at my side and Scott protecting my rear. I try to judge which way we’re going from the position of the sun, but the tree canopy is really dense here, making it difficult.
Something catches Star’s attention, and she freezes, staring to the left. Her entire body is alert, and her ears are pointed upright as she listens to… something. Frowning, I try to see what she’s looking at, but I don’t see anything amiss.
Scott stops beside me with a furrowed brow. “What—”
He cuts himself off and turns his head to the left, the same direction Star is staring, a low growl now rumbling from her chest. That’s when I hear a rustling in the undergrowth and footsteps, as though someone, or something, is speeding towards us.
A figure suddenly appears through the trees, sprinting towards us so fast I almost can’t track him. There’s a kick in my chest when I recognise the figure—Alpha Syn. Fear shines in his eyes as he spots me.
“Laelia! They are coming, run!”
ChapterTwo
Syn barrels into me, our bodies colliding so hard I almost get knocked to the ground. At the last moment, he wraps his arms around me and holds me to his chest, pulling me upright.
“You,” Scott snarls, stepping forward. It looks like he’s going to rip the other male away from me, but then he pauses and looks back in the direction Syn just ran from, which is probably a good thing because Syn looks slightly unhinged. His dark aura is almost visible and pulsing around him, his eyes are wild, and his whole body shakes as he pants, trying to catch his breath like he just ran a very long way to get here.
Glancing around for whatever threat he’s fleeing from, Syn grabs my shoulders and shakes me. “Laelia, we have to run, they are coming.”
“Who?” I ask, grateful that my voice sounds strong instead of giving away the fear that’s making my knees weak and hands shake. “Who’s coming?”
It scares me to see Syn like this. He’s someone who never seems to let anything bother him, and he gives off the impression that he’s not afraid of anything and nothing could take him down. So just what is coming for us that is making him react this way?
Baring his teeth in a snarl, he glances over his shoulder before turning his attention back to me, impatience shining in his eyes. “Bates and his cronies. They released a minotaur and are leading it right to you.” He emphasises his last words, and I’m sure he’s trying to make sure I understand the seriousness of the situation. What he doesn’t know is that my mind got stuck on one word, so his next words are muffled as I blink at him in a stupor. “One of them spotted you fighting the morjic, and they have been tracking you since.”
Minotaur. Aminotaur, like from Greek mythology. I have so many questions. Where the hell is the council getting these creatures from? How did Syn find me? Did he just stumble across us or was he tracking me too? My chest is tight, my bond is freaking out, and I’m so overwhelmed that the presence inside me starts to rise again.
“A minotaur? Those are real?” My voice closely resembles a screech, but neither him nor Scott reply, their attention elsewhere. Mulling over the rest of his words in my mind, I try to keep myself calm. The morjic he mentioned must have been the squid-human hybrid that attacked us. That’s when we were seen. Iknewwe were out in the open and exposed for too long. I had no idea anyone else was around, but then again, I was trying not to get eaten by walking sushi.
Something doesn’t feel right. I pull myself from my turbulent thoughts and realise that I can feel the ground trembling. We don’t have long.
“Shit,” Scott barks. “We’ll never outrun a minotaurandthose goons. Not if they have your scent.”
Bile starts to rise up my throat, and I have to take a deep breath to stop myself from freaking out, because that’s when the beast within me will take over. I can feel her working her way to the surface, trying to control me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to concentrate on pushing her back, and it’s only when I feel a wet muzzle against my hand that I realise someone’s calling my name. Opening my eyes, I release the breath I hadn’t realised I was holding and look up at the two males. Syn looks expectant, like he’s waiting for an answer to a question I didn’t hear, but when I look at Scott, I see a frown pulling at his brows, and I know he’s remembering what happened earlier when I killed the morjic.
“I can hide you, but there’s no way I can manage him too,” Syn comments, and when I look back at him, I see him jerk his head towards Scott.
Scott doesn’t look happy. In fact, he snarls at the alpha, but before he can say whatever hateful words were on the tip of his tongue, his attention snaps behind us, obviously hearing something that I can’t. The dark aura around Syn is a literal dark cloud now, something I don’t understand but don’t have time to question as a bellow shakes the ground.
“Then we split up,” Scott announces and starts to kneel, getting into the familiar position of someone about to shift.
Split up? He can’t be serious. For starters, we have to finish this togetherto qualify for the next round, but what if he gets hurt? That’s a minotaur hurtling towards us, plus alpha wolves who want me dead. I’m sure they wouldn’t even pause at the idea of killing Scott if it ultimately led to my death. If that happens and he needs me, I won’t be able to help because I’ll have no idea where he’ll be.
Blinking, I shake my head and reach out to stop him, my heart thundering in my chest. “Wait—”
