Claws and Kisses

The forest was cool and shaded, a nice contrast to the hot, summer sun. Bear smirked at Avel as she shifted me in her arms, her eyes wild and delighted. “Hey, Avel.” She jerked her head down at me, her smile widening. “Looks like your mate decided she wanted better than some scruffy Dragon Lord.”

Avel, who sat on a large boulder next to the row of coaches, did not even look up from his book, but merely flipped the page as we approached.

“It’s okay to admit your jealous and heartbroken that Wendy wants a real woman to take care of her,” Bear casually remarked, stopping a few feet from where he sat.

He looked outrageously handsome, sitting there in only an undershirt and leather pants the shade of chestnuts. His blue-black hair curled at the ends, a wind-blow mess atop his head. His long, dark eyelashes cast shadows over his cheeks, highlighting his beautiful features all the more.

“Wendy,” Bear whispered hotly. She nudged me in the side, regaining my attention once more. Her black eyes were wide and earnest as she mouthed, do the thing.

I sighed heavily. In a bland, emotionless voice, I said, “Avel, I have something extremely important to tell you.”

My mate hummed in response, still not bothering to look up.

“I have . . . decided to leave you for Bear. I think she will be a better mate than you could ever be. I hope you can understand.”

Bear’s grin was so big it was practically splitting her face. She hefted me in her arms once more as if I were some kind of trophy. “See! She’s mine now, bitch!”

Avel snorted softly. I scoffed in turn and squirmed out of Bear’s arms. She let me go with a cackle, going on about how she was about to steal all the mates in the hordes. As soon as I was on my feet, an awful pain shot up my side. I bit down on my lip, refusing to whimper like some wounded puppy.

The damn Dragon Lord somehow knew anyways and was at my side in an instant. He gently grabbed onto my hips, maneuvering me closer to him. I remained still as he placed a soft pressure on my hips, quietly asking, “Is there a particular reason why you let Bear pick you up and confess to leaving me for her?”

I winced as he added more pressure. “Ah—she told me that she would take me out drinking when we got to Jara.”

His lashes fluttered in a more than attractive way as he glanced down at me. “And you thought I would let you go out at night alone with Bear because . . . ?”

Smiling a wane smile, I cupped my tattooed shoulder and locked eyes with him. “Because I just spent the last few days trying to recover from the mark that you let Romeo hammer into my body with a boar tooth and a mallet, so that we could start a Drachen ritual that I have zero knowledge about to appease your desire to prove that I am, in fact, your mate. And if that’s not enough,” I leaned closer to him, my words quieting to a lethal whisper. “I am also an independent woman who can do whatever the hell I want.”

Avel tilted his head, his eyes on my lips. “Is that so?”

“Mhmm,” I nodded, leaning closer still.

My lips had almost brushed against his when Bear retched loudly behind us. “Alright you two. Break it up, break it up!” The curvy female somehow slid between us, pushing Avel and I apart. With a little huff, she hooked her elbow around mine and started to lead me back to the coach. “I don’t know if you just heard, but I stole the heart of your girl. Don’t bother crying. She ain’t coming back anytime soon.”

Avel trailed behind Bear and I, and we shared a knowing look as Bear continued on her speech. She only stopped when I was once more on my bench, laying down among the pillows and furs. The she-dragon left with a wink at me and a mock salute to Avel. He watched her go with a shake of his head before turning back to me. “I thought you two went to get food?” His brow once more as he sat on the bench beside me, reaching over my stomach to roll back the edges of my shirt. Bandages covered the whole of my side, supposedly keeping away any infections.

“We did get food.” I sucked in a breath as he started to peel off the gauze to look at the Drachen mark. A swirl of black ink peeked out, similar to the marks on his own body.

“It shouldn’t have take you a half an hour to get back,” he remarked, running a thumb over the tender skin. His face was deep in concentration as he gingerly took off each bandage, careful not to prod the skin too hard. “Technically speaking, it takes about a minute and a half to get to the center of camp where the cooks are. It takes about two minutes to get in line and get your food. It takes another minute and a half to walk back. With your limitations at the moment, we could potentially add on three minutes with Bear’s help. At the most, it would have taken you eight minutes to get back. So—”

“Avel,” I cut him off, swinging an arm over my face so I would not have to look at the tattoo any longer. “Don’t start with the math. You’ll just make yourself upset.”

He exhaled roughly. “No one’s upset, I just don’t understand how an eight minute walk turns into a thirty two minute—”

“Avel. Please, stop.”

I kept my eyes covered as he muttered something else under his breath and continued to undo the bandages. After a moment, he quietly asked, “Don’t you want to see it?”

“Nope,” I replied cheerily, popping the p.

He was quiet for another minute, his hands stilling on my waist. The warmth of his palms was a nice contrast to the chilly air of the carriage. Softly, he said, “Are you—”

“Yes, Avel. I am sure.” With a jerk, I lifted my arm off my face and straightened on the bench, rolling my shirt back down. I did not look at Avel as I stood up and stretched, looking out the carriage’s open door to catch the fall of the sun. “How many more hours until we get there do you suppose?”

Avel watched me warily from the bench, his gaze still lingering on my side. “Three or so,” he murmured. Something akin to determination flashed in his eyes as he stood as well, towering over me. He laid a firm hand on my shoulder, halting my movements. “Wendy, what’s—”

“Nothing is wrong, Avel.” I shrugged off his shoulder and turned away from him, making for the door.

Not a second had passed before a hand was reaching around me to close the door. I twisted back around to see Avel—no longer smiling—with his arms crossed and his chest puffed out in a way that meant business. He looked down at me, a stern glint in his violet orbs. “Stop cutting me off, Wendy. There is obviously something wrong if you can’t even stand to look at your own mate’s mark.”

I attempted to cross my arms too, but I only ended up irritating the skin where the tattoo was. Huffing in vexation, I just let my arms hang at my sides as I stared at the ground. “Everything is fine, Avel. Stop making a big deal out of nothing.”

He grabbed my chin, twisting my face up so that I was forced to meet his heavy gaze. He did not let go as he said, “I am not making a big deal out of nothing. You are brushing me off. Now tell me what the hell is bothering you so much. Do you regret getting the mark, is that it? Do you wish you hadn’t said yes to me?”

“Of course not!” I hissed, shoving his hand away and twisting out of his reach. Backing up until I was near the book shelves instead of him. I ran a hand through my hair and pretended that I was smoothing out wrinkles on my tunic. “Of course not,” I repeated. “I just don’t want to look at it right now, okay? Is that such a problem?”

Avel stood there, his hair a mess and his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. His eyes were honest and open as he looked me up and down. “Yeah, it is a problem for me.” He took a step forward—stopped. “That’s my mark on you and you are acting like it is something to be ashamed about.”

I tensed, shaking my head fast. “I’m not ashamed of anything, Avel. I just . . . I need some time to get used to it, alright?” The apprehension in my chest swelled, and I felt myself hitting one of the walls of the carriage, slumping against the smooth surface. Avel watched as I closed my eyes and said, “This is . . . a lot. The tattoo, the trip, Jericho and Rhett, the horde . . . all of it. I just need to get use to the way things work in your world. I—I need time to adjust. Please? Can you give me that? Can you at least give me time to . . .”

The words died on my lips. I kept my eyes on the ground, not able to look up and see that anger or disappointment in his eyes. A beat of time passed before I heard him murmur a quiet goodbye before opening and shutting the door. Gone without a word more.

I sunk to the floor, suddenly feeling more alone than I had ever before.

Hey, folks!

Short Q/A today. What did you guys think of this last update? Promise the intro to the funeral will be next chapter. I really wanted to have a scene with Wendy kind of taking everything in. Our heroine has been put through the ringer, and I wanted to have a chapter that kind of reflected how she was feeling about it all.

In other news, one book it is! You all seem to like the idea of one book better than three, so we will stick with that! I hope you all are ready for this long-ass book.

That's all for today, folks. Hope you enjoyed and are excited for the coming chapters!

~Elaine