Chapter 47
I drag my hand over Axel’s für Arriel gave him some meat to eat an hour ago that he absolutely devoured. He is back to sleep now, stronger than before.
“He has made you his pack,” Arriel says from above.
It my eyes to his “Come again?” I’m not an Alpha, so I’m not sure how Axel and I could form a pack,
“But you could be an Alpha,” Ariel responds after reading my thoughts as if it’s completely normal. “You’re strong enough to lead a pack, and he is loyal to you. Not out of love, but something deeper.”
“Even if I’m a fox?”
“Oh, Eden, are you afraid Joel would regret being to you if you knew? If that’s the case, drop that thought. He already knows about that.”
Ho.. knows?
Azriel stretches, rolling his broad shoulders, and wanders toward the only bedroom. He pushes open the door, revealing a modest bed with thick covers and a window overlooking the blackened forest outside.
He glances over his shoulder. “I’m taking the bed,”
Iblink, still kneeling beside Axel. “Excuse me?”
Azriel smirks his lazy, infuriating smirk that somehow makes my heart skip. “You’re welcome to join me,” he says, voice a low purr. “But I’m not taking the
Прог
My mouth drops open. “You’re not giving the only lady in the house the bed?” Where’s the chivalry?
“Nope.” He walks inside the room, and I get up to follow him. Azriel chuckles like he knows I’m trailing behind him like a shadow. He reaches for the hem of his shirt after rounding the bed and pulls it off in one smooth motion
My brain short–circuits.
Azriel’s back is a masterpiece of muscle and smooth, golden skin. Those steel–hewn muscles along his spine flex when he tosses the shirt onto a nearby chair. Then he turns, giving me a full view of his chest.
Holy hell.
I snap my gate away, cheeks burning
“You’re you’re insufferable,” I blurt, not sure what to do. I haven’t taken a shower yet, and getting in bed with Azriel, who looks like a dream, would feel
like a sin
Azriel, who I know is reading my mind, laughs. He then sprawls across the bed like a lazy cat, probably knowing he is sexier than any other man I’ve ever seen. His hair is a little messy, and there’s sweat on his forehead from his magic usage, yet it only makes me more drawn to him.
“Come on, little fox. I don’t care that you’re dirty. Not one bit,” he drawls. “I’m lonely, and it’s a big bed.”
“Dig bed, huh?” Pretty sure he is taking up more than half of it…
“It is,” he smirks. “Afraid I will bite? I would if you asked.”
My face flames even hotter. Arriel smirks wider, it makes i bend down and throw a pillow at his head, but he catches it easily, grinning.
Thanks. Ineeded this”
1/3
Chapter 47
„Erb’re unbelievable!” I growl.
“And yet you’ve still standing there and watching me with heart shaped eyes,” he textes, puffing the pillow behind him to than fold his arms behind his head.
Iglare at him, weighing my very limited options. The cottage is freering, and the fire’s already dying. The floor looks about as comfortable sleeping on
Greaning in defeat crowd into the bed, yanking the covers up to my chin and making a clear point of staying as far away from him as possible.
Ariel watches me with open anusement. “You’re adorable when you’re mad“
1 scowl at the ceiling. “I’m ignoring you
He chuckles, and the bed is sightly. He is closer. We’re alon eye to eye now. Notes almost brushing, but we’re
I we’re not saying a word. Everything is silent until curiosity pets the better of me.
“Hey,” I whisper. “You’re fan, right?”
Arriel hums, in response.
“Does that mean that you…. have wings!
That finally makes him give me his wicked smile. “Curious about me,
I narrow my eyes. “You could have led with the wings. That’s important information.
He laughs quietly. Then, without another word, he sits up and kneels on the bed, his broad naked back turned away from me. The scent of magic in the
grows stronger, then a massive pair of wings unfurl from his back. Huge, Enormous. They stretch wide enough to brush the walls.
room
And they are gorgeous.
Feathered like the wings belonging to an angel, but colored in deep black and gleaming like the feathers belonging to a raven. My breath catches. Those wings are painfully beautiful. Almost too much to look at.
Ariel tits his head, smug. “Impressed?”
I don’t answer since I’m already sliding out of bed, rounding it to get a better look. My fingers twitch at my sides, aching to touch actual wings.
Azriel watches me carefully now, his cocky bravado slipping. There’s something tight in his jaw, something almost nervous.
1, um
“I glance up at him, suddenly unsure. “Can L..7”
His violet gaze softens as he watches me from over his shoulder, but his voice lowers to a rough whisper. “For a fae to let someone touch their wings… it means they trust them. Deeply”
Hreeze. “Oh
The room is suddenly too small, too quiet.
Still, Azriel leans down slightly, giving me permission.
Heart hammering, I reach out my hand. I’ve never seen a winged creature before. I lightly run my fingers along the silky feathers. They’re softer than anything I’ve ever touched, but hiding in that softness is strength, Muscle and sinew made for flight, for war
My fingers trail a claw that’s sticking out on top of the wing Arriel shudders. At first, mistake it for him freezing, but then a soft, almost broken sound escapes him. It’s a sound he immediately tries to smother by inhaling sharply
jerk back my hand like I’ve hurt him, but he catches my wrist gently.
Chapter 47
“It’s okay,” he says, voice thick, “You can touch.”
Swallowing hard, 1 het my fingers ghost over his feathers, marveling at the way they shimmer under my touch.
Tcould study them forever.
But that would be giving too much away so I reluctantly withdraw my hand and crawl back into the bed.
Ariel folds his wings behind him and lies down to face me in the dark, his expression strangely soft while the clock ticks.
Tick
Tick
Tick
The clock strikes twelve, and the sound echoes.
I shiver, but not from the cold, which is…weird? Oddly enough, I’m not the only one reacting, either. Azriel’s entire body goes rigid, which confuses me
Topen my mouth to ask what’s wrong, but the words die when I feel something invisible and powerful snapping into place inside me. A red thread of fate, pulling tight between us, binding our souls together.
Ariel’s purple eyes widen, horror and wonder battling inside them, “You’re…” he breathes, voice breaking. “You’re my-
“Mate,”
“I whisper.
The mate bond has flared to life between us
