Chapter 17

Covered from head to toe in riding gear and a massive helmet, Sylvie grinned from ear to ear as Kian pulled away on his Harley. The engine’s vibration tingled her thighs as she squeezed them against him, and her hands latched around his taut abdomen.

She had never ridden on a motorbike, and the control and speed at which they moved filled her with excitement. Her backpack over her shoulders was heavy. She almost regretted bringing as many items as she did.

Her mind wandered to the shifter homes. What would they look like? They had electricity if the dungeon was anything to go off, but in the middle of a forest, they probably wouldn’t have easy access to plumbing or water that didn’t have to be boiled before drinking.

God, she hoped they had toilets. Although Rowan seemed to have little care for privacy, considering he was happy to fuck her in front of two strangers, she hoped when it came to bathing or shitting, the shifters maintained some modesty.

Speaking of Rowan, Sylvie’s head snapped to the side as a shadowed creature faded in and out of sight a few meters into the tree line. Could that be him? Why would he be here and not back with his people?

Kian slowed a fraction, and the pace of the shadow reduced too. From her distance, she could make out the potential shape of a face though no other distinguishing features stuck out. Was it watching her?

With a raised brow, she let her hands go from Kian’s waist and planted them on his thighs, causing him to startle and yell something unintelligible back at her. Probably, ‘hold on,’ but she felt pretty secure.

Running her fingertips up and down his leg, she swore she heard a bass growl just a bit higher in pitch than the bike. Hmm, so maybe it was him. He better not be jealous because that would not fly with her or her other mates.

“We’re almost there!” Kian’s strained voice called behind him. Sylvie squeezed his thigh in response and dipped her hands along his innermost thigh until her hands touched again, this time revelling in the hardness that was entirely Kian.

She could just slip her hand into her pants and-

The bike turned a sharp corner down another gravelled path that was hauntingly familiar, and the previous naughtiness faded to a sick pit in her belly. Why would he send her back to this fucking hell hole?

The H-shaped building peaked out from behind a few trees and looked the same, perhaps with a few more bloodstains smeared across the outer walls, but that could have been a trick of the light.

Kian stopped and killed the engine just beside the smaller path. Surely, he’d have to walk his bike deeper into the woods or risk it getting stolen. Turning, he gripped Sylvie’s hands that sweated right through her gloves, and she shook them off.

“This is the place, isn’t it?” he asked.

Without a word from her, Kian unzipped the riding gear and gently lifted the helmet from her head. Just in time, too, her breakfast rose to her mouth and shot from it at a shocking speed, almost hitting him in the chest. Kian’s reflexes kicked in perfectly, and he stepped to the side before striding forward and pulling her into his arms.

“Let’s get out of here; Rowan should be on his way.”

A furious growl and whine echoed from the tree line before a giant wolf careened into the small clearing next to the building, his outline perfectly centred on the path.

Sylvie’s racing heart and sickened stomach grew as the creature stalked forward, growling low in its throat with raised hackles. It looked half ready to rip their heads from their shoulders.

He looked menacing. Sylvie reminded herself that this sleek, coated monster was, in fact, her mate and not a wild animal. Or perhaps he was both.

Something about him had changed from the exchange outside their house not so long ago. He looked bigger, and his golden eyes were darker, the pupil covering more of the eye, making him appear possessed.

“Shift back, Rowan,” Kian said clearly, loud enough to make Sylvie jump. Her pulse spiked, and the growling from the beast’s chest intensified with it.

Sylvie looked up at Kian’s face and paused. His lifted brows and parted lips revealed his surprise, which quickly shifted to something else. Lips pressed into a thin line, with narrowed eyes. He realised something, and he was concerned.

“What is it?” she croaked, throat still sore from vomiting.

“He’s lost control, and your fear is affecting him.”

“What?”

“I don’t think he can shift back.”

“He looks like he’s gonna fucking kill us, Kian.”

As they spoke, Rowan’s wolf prowled closer, looking more like a tiger testing his footing on the crunching ground than a common four-legged companion.

“Not you,” he whispered. “Me.”

Sylvie gasped, gripping Kian’s arm tighter and pulling him back. Rowan lunged from the movement and Sylvie’s rising terror, mouth wide open, revealing unbelievably long teeth. Longer than she remembered.

“No!”

Just before his teeth latched onto any part of Kian, a red-coated missile barrelled into his side and knocked him off course, straight into a tree. He shook his head, clearly dazed, giving the rescue party time to shift back into their naked glory briefly.

“Go west; I’ll catch up with you once I’ve sorted out my cousin.” Rosie’s determined face still held a softness, radiating a sweet essence as she shifted back and let out a bark of her own to the now-standing Rowan.

Then, with one last look at the pair standing off, Kian moved quickly, pulling Sylvie along in what she guessed was West.

Chirrups and a steady low hum filled Sylvie’s ears as they plodded along an unbeaten path. They had been walking for at least thirty minutes, and Rosie was yet to appear and guide them to the shifter ‘house?’

Sylvie had no clue what they were walking towards. She had no signs of life beyond the forest’s tiny creatures, so she had no inkling. She thought she’d have at least seen some buildings or structures by now, but the bush was as thick as ever.

“Do you think we’re close?”

“No.”

“Can you feel anyone’s emotions?”

“Besides your anxious ones, no.”

Sylvie sighed and interlinked her fingers with Kians. “Well, this sucks-”

“Sylvie!” Rosie’s voice carried from behind them, but her body was invisible until she was almost on top of them. Luckily this time, she sported a thin singlet and shorts.

“Follow me.”

Kian followed without question as Rosie turned forty-five degrees and started walking into the brush. “Hey. I thought you told us to go west.”

“I did,” Rosie turned to smile over her shoulder. “I didn’t want you stumbling on any shifters without an escort. Rowan told me you were guests, but nobody else would see it that way. Only cause he didn’t tell them yet, is all.” In her eyes, a silent question flickered, but Sylvie ignored it.

“Yeah. We were gonna look into your vampire problem.” She didn’t need to know Sylvie was her cousin’s mate.

“Oh. Well, that’s kind of you.” The unsaid words in Rosie’s mouth seemed to say, ‘I don’t know how you’d be much help.’

“Mhmm.”

Ten minutes passed in silence, and Sylvie was grateful for it. Tiredness seemed to creep up on her after the adrenaline of Rowan’s crazy behaviour settled, and she couldn’t think of anything worse than maintaining a conversation with Rosie. The shifter was far too preppy and sweet for Sylvie’s current disposition.

“Almost there!” Rosie chirped, proving Sylvies thought.

A few more minutes passed before the mix of raucous laughter and low, mumbling voices reached their ears.

“-don’t play with it; just throw it in the bin.”

“I am!”

“You’re bruising them!”

“You told me to throw ’em.”

“Oh, for fuck sake.”

Sylvie stifled a smile as they breached the tree line, and two shifters, one tall, athletic-looking woman and a short but insanely muscular man, stared at her with shifting eyes.

“Ugh, Rosie?”

“Alpha’s guests. Kian, Sylvie, this is Alastair and Sadie.”

“Right,” Sadie said with a sarcastic smile. “Well, will you tell Al to be gentle with the vegetables? Or there won’t be any unbruised vegetables left for dinner.”

“That ain’t fair.”

“I’m not getting involved,” Rosie replied with a giggle. “You two wouldn’t be on veggie duty if you didn’t start a food fight yesterday.”

“Hey! That was all, Al,” Sadie shot a sharp look to her partner and crossed her arms, but he mirrored her and shot right back, “If you hadn’t mocked my taste in women, then I wouldn’t’ve.”

Sylvie snuggled tighter to Kian, vaguely amused and fed up, and Kian snickered softly. “It was nice to meet you both, but we ought to be on our way.”

“Oh right,” Rosie said, shifting on her feet. “You’re probably tired. Let’s go. And you two, sort it out.”

They walked passed rows of gardens stocked with vegetables and herbs until a clear path appeared, running through a cluster of modest wood cabins leading towards a larger house that sat snuggly in the opposing tree line.

“Most of us are out training now, so you can stay ahead in the main house while Rowan sorts himself out.”

“What was wrong with him.”

“Uh, nothing. Just a full moon thing. He’ll be here soonish, I imagine.”

Walking them to the front door, Rosie pushed it open with a bright smile and gestured for them to go in. “The second floor has two guest bedrooms on the right and a bathroom on the left. So head up there, get comfy, and call out if you need me.”

They walked passed her and turned as she pulled the door shut, pitching them in silence. Sylvie peered up at Kian, and his contemplative face forced her to double-take.

“What is it?”

He placed a finger to his lips and pulled her to the nearby staircase, not giving her any time to look around the first floor. Then, reaching the second floor’s first bedroom, Sylvie asked again.

“Shh, princess,” Kian chided. He then tilted his head toward the open window of the sparse room, and Sylvie clicked.

‘Listening?’ she mouthed, pointing an index finger to her ear. If Rosie was, in fact, eavesdropping, Sylvie’s trust in her automatically dropped a few notches.

‘Maybe,’ he mouthed back.

They pottered about the room; Sylvie jumped on the bed and almost moaned from its softness that pulled her in and cradled her exhausted body.

Kian, however, traced the walls with his fingers, turned over a small clock and a large landscape painting on the wall behind the bed, and then took out the single bulb in the overhead light, inspecting something inside.

“What are you looking for?” Sylvie said with a yawn.

“Nothing, Princess. Try to get some rest.”

She tried to protest, but a wave of exhaustion flooded her senses, and sleep stole her away, and she was certain Kian had something to do with it.