Chapter 24

24

I pretended not to see the emotion glazing Jack’s eyes, even though every part of me ached to draw him into my arms and hold him. But giving in would be disastrous, because holding led to feeling and feeling led to… well, feelings . And I could not afford any more slips in that department.

I was growing too attached as it was.

So I kept my mouth shut when he made up some excuse about drawing fresh water from the well and glued my feet in place as he grabbed the pitcher by the door and headed off toward the copse of trees. Unfortunately, he didn’t leave me by myself.

“Soooo,” Tenebris drawled, cocking his head to the side. “Wanna tell us what happened out there today? Because that did not look like a man who’d given up on you.”

“Or vice versa,” Calum muttered under his breath, shooting me a cautious look.

I narrowed my eyes at them both. “There’s nothing to tell. We met with Harp, she told us about the enchanted decanter, and now we have a plan. End of story.”

“Uh huh.” Tenebris smirked. “And at which point during that did you end up with a two-pronged hickey? Because you weren’t sporting that thing when you left this morning.”

Shit. I’d completely forgotten about that.

I clapped a hand over my neck. “Not another word or you’re dead.”

“What’s that?” Tenebris asked, looking far too amused. “I was distracted by the heat radiating from your cheeks. Funny, I didn’t think you were even capable of blushing.”

Calum snorted, then attempted to turn it into a cough when I swung my glare his way.

“I mean it,” I growled, letting my alpha command seep into my voice. “Don’t push me on this.”

Calum immediately dropped his head, any trace of levity disappearing in a blink, but Tenebris continued to eye me with a mix of curiosity and—oh gods—cunning. I summoned my wolf claws, a layer of black fur sprouting over the back of my hand, and flipped him the bird as I stomped off to find somewhere to seethe in private. Since Tenebris would most likely follow me if I went inside the cabin, and Jack had already fled to the trees, that pretty much left the creek and the grassy field beyond.

I shucked off my boots and cloak, along with daggers and leather armor, leaving them beside the bubbling creek while I stepped into its clear water. A school of little fishies surrounded my feet, but they soon scattered and went back to swimming around.

“What? Nowhere to bring me today?” I asked, trailing my fingers through the calf high water. I wonder if all the animals in the castle are as clever as the ones in this room? I glanced toward the trees. Maybe Jack knows. “Nope. Don’t even go there, Mari. Asking Jack requires speaking to Jack, and you are going to do as little of that as possible if you know what’s good for you. Love is not on the table.”

I scooped up a flat, purple stone and sent it skimming over the water’s surface, focusing on the resulting ripples instead of recalling the way Jack looked earlier, prowling through the steamy water of the springs like a predator on the hunt.

And I was definitely not thinking about the raw vulnerability he’d shown in that brief moment before hurrying off to the well. We weren’t together anymore. His emotional state was none of my concern.

Only, before we’d been lovers, we’d been friends.

Best friends.

Maybe… seeing as how we were stuck here with no one else for him to confide in… I could, perhaps, be that for him again? Not his best friend, per se, but a listening ear. And I have been trying to be a better person. Checking on him would just be a good deed, really. Nothing romantic needed to come of it.

I bent down to pick up another rock, only to look up in surprise when I realized I’d wandered all the way up the creek bed and into the woods while lost in my musing. The pool where I’d found Ollie was just up ahead, and a few yards beyond that was the old stone well. Jack’s back was to me as he leaned over it, arms braced against the lip while he stared down into the recesses below.

I swallowed, taking a tentative step closer. “I stopped by your dad’s house before coming up here. He’s head of the council now, so I wanted to consult with him before climbing the beanstalk.”

Jack turned his head, the only sign that I might have caught him by surprise in the slight twitch of his shoulders. “Oh yeah?

I turned the stone over in my hand. “Yup. No surprise there, right?”

He shook his head, his gaze returning to the well. “Not really, no.”

I took another step closer. “Sean answered the door, and I just about shit my pants. He looks exactly like you did at that age.”

“Poor kid.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. You know you were hot.”

He let out a rough chuckle. “I don’t know about that.” He scrubbed a hand over his face before finally turning to face me, and my heart squeezed painfully at the sight of his red-tinged eyes. Leaning against the well, he crossed his arms and arched a brow. “Wait, so are you telling me you think my kid brother is hot?”

I smirked. “Uh, yeah. He’s stupid hot now. Tenebris turned into a flirty pile of goo when he answered the door.”

“Tenebris, as in the man-child you failed at passing off as your lover?”

I flicked a spray of water up with my foot. “Not. Funny.”

“You’re right, it wasn’t funny.” The levity slipped from his voice while his eyes narrowed into something I could only describe as smoldering. “Hearing him talk about how he’d touched you, how he knew you in ways only I used to know…” A muscle in his jaw ticked, and I ached to step forward and lick it. “It hurt more than anything I’d endured up here so far.”

He was right. Throwing Tenebris in his face had been a shitty move on my part, even if I had only been trying to protect myself. “I’m sorry,” I whispered softly, dropping my gaze to the edge of the pool. “I shouldn’t have lied to you like that. I was just…” The word stuck in my throat as the alpha in me bristled, but I bit down on my pride and forced it out. “…scared.”

I waited for a smart remark about the infamous Mariana actually being afraid of something, but the only sound that followed was the soft tread of footfalls in the grass as Jack stepped forward, the tips of his boots toeing the edge of the pool. My gaze roamed the worn leather, taking in the multitude of scuffs and scratches earned from ten years of surviving this place.

Ten years away from his home.

Away from his family.

Away from me.

My lip quivered as the emotion I’d so carefully packed away came bubbling to the surface. We should have been together. In the forest, on the outside, or even up here in this castle—it didn’t matter where, so long as he was with me. Instead, I’d spent a decade carving him out of my heart and filling the gaping hole with anything and everything that would make me feel like I was in control, when in reality, I was spiraling in the opposite direction.

Rough fingers brushed my cheek before cupping my chin, and I blinked back tears as Jack tilted my head up to meet his gaze.

“It’s okay. You’re allowed to be scared sometimes, Mariana.” His lips curved into a sad smile. “And you’re allowed to move on. With Tenebris or Calum or whoever.” He hesitated. “Well, maybe not with Noah. He can go straight to hell.”

I let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, I fully plan to murder him at first sight,” I agreed, wiping my fingers over my eyes and dashing away any lingering moisture. They dropped to Jack’s vest, gripping the lapels as I let my forehead fall against his chest. His arms immediately wrapped around me, cocooning me with their familiar warmth, and I breathed in a mix of leather and fresh grass while I relaxed into his hold.

“I came here to comfort you , you know, not the other way around.” I smiled as his chest rumbled beneath my cheek.

“Yeah, well, deal with it,” he murmured, arms tightening around me.

I slid my hands around his waist. “I missed you.”

He dropped his head, huffing a laugh into my hair. “Was that before or after you wanted to chop my balls off for ditching our bonding ceremony?”

“Have you been reading my diary?”

“Don’t need to.” He loosened his grip, leaning back enough so I could see the bittersweet smile gracing his lips as he gazed down at me. “I know you better than anyone, Freckles.”

I made a face at the old nickname, arms dropping to my sides when I took my own step back. “I still think you could’ve come up with something a little more original than that. I mean, Freckles? Really? Talk about pointing out the obvious.”

“Hey now, I was ten,” Jack protested. “Cut me some slack.”

I stuck out my chin with an exaggerated grimace. “Never. It’s all or nothing, kid.”

“And Mariana Cabrera ain’t got time for chumps,” he finished, mirroring my expression. He shook his head. “I’ll never forget the fire in those amber eyes of yours when you challenged me that first day, daring me to steal one of Mary Müller’s prized apples off her tree. I was terrified we’d get caught.”

“We did get caught.”

“Oh yeah.”

We stared at each other for a long moment, the memory of childhood shenanigans filling the space between us like hot tea on a snowy day. I smiled, holding my hand out.. “Friends?”

He clasped his long fingers around mine. “Friends.” He gave them a little tug, drawing me back in as he lowered his lips to my ear, the soft flesh grazing the lobe and sending tendrils of heat dancing through my core.

“For now.”