CHAPTER TEN（Untitled）Wranth

CHAPTER TEN

Wranth

My bride’s husky laughter sweeps through me like a velvet caress. Oh, how I love the sound of her joy.

And the feel of her in my arms.

Keeping her above the water gives me the perfect excuse to hold her more tightly, to delight in the brush of her curls on my chin.

As Zephyr nears the bank and the river grows shallower, the nymphs leap ever higher to still reach Naomi’s hand. When the last one falls away with a glad cry for her to return, my moon bound sways to the side, her head swiveling to keep them in view, her eyes wide with delight.

Zephyr climbs out of the water, her hooves squelching in the rich mud of the riverbank as she brushes past a stand of cattails. They thrust long bladed leaves up to the sky, mixed with both the young flower heads of spring and the golden-brown “sausages” of early autumn. All of the warm seasons blur together in Alarria, most of the year given over to times of fruitful plenty.

Shadow sits waiting on dry ground at the edge of the trees, idly grooming himself.

“By the goddess, you certainly primp enough, cat,” the unicorn says.

“Time well spent, wouldn’t you say?” His green eyes glitter with mischief as he arches his back and stretches, making his smoky fur ripple. “After all, I look magnificent, no matter my form.”

My old friend humphs and marches into the trees. “I’d rather you spent your time finding my promised meadow.”

“Yes, cat sith,” I say. “Where is this meadow that I and my bride might test the limits of our entanglement?” A part of me likes that she cannot leave me behind, no matter where her powers take her. Yet another despairs of ever hunting again. How am I to feed her as I should if I cannot stalk and take down game?

“Yes, yes, patience.” Shadow marches past, the tip of his bushy tail flicking in agitation. “It’s just ahead.”

And for once, the feline fae speaks without embellishments, for we indeed emerge from the trees and into a wide grassy meadow not long after leaving the river behind.

“Thank the goddess.” Zephyr doesn’t wait for us to dismount before ripping up a mouthful of rich green grass dotted with buttercups and bluebells.

A pang goes through me. For all her typical grumpiness, this is true hunger. She’s run so hard these last days, and a lack of proper forage has been difficult on her.

“We’ll camp here tonight.” I slide from her back.

“There are hours of travel left in the day,” Shadow says.

I lift Naomi down. “We’ll put those hours to good use testing our entanglement.”

“Yes!” My moon bound nods up at me. “I need to figure this out.”

I remove the packs and saddle from Zephyr so that she may roam free and unburdened. Then I lean close to murmur, “Eat well, my friend. We will not move on until you are well fed.” I keep my voice quiet—she would not want me to expose her need to the feline fae. Although the cat sith are part of the alliance that includes orcs and unicorns, we do not yet know the heart of this Shadow.

Still chewing a mouthful of bluebells, she bats my shoulder with her horn, a soft, affectionate tap.

I lead Naomi to the other side of the meadow and leave her near the edge of the forest. “When we were snapped together earlier today, you were still, and I was moving. Let’s repeat that. You remain here, and I’ll walk away.”

“Okay.” She bounces on her toes a little, her expression curious. “I can’t wait to figure this out! Usually, I just read a book to research something, but this is much more exciting.”

Quick strides carry me across the soft grass, which ripples in the breeze. Meadow wrens cheep, hopping about and pecking for bugs. My senses remain on high alert, the tension between my shoulder blades growing with each step. I didn’t note any warning signs last time I got flung across the forest, but I also wasn’t watching for any.

Once I’m ten feet away from her, I slow. As glad as I am that Naomi is built solid, she’s still not an orc. It won’t do for me to tackle her too roughly.

Fuck. Now I can’t stop picturing tackling her on purpose. Her running through the forest ahead of me, leading me on a mating chase. Tracking her, keeping my strides purposefully contained to draw out the moment. Her sweet scent pulling me forward until I can no longer resist. My weight carrying her to the ground, that luscious ass pillowing my—

“Why did you stop?” Shadow’s sardonic voice cuts across my imaginings, pulling me back to the here and now.

And the ache of my raging erection.

I clear my throat and resist reaching down to adjust myself. “I was trying to determine if I could feel when it was going to happen,” I lie.

“Did you feel anything?” Naomi asks.

“No.”

“That’s funny.” The cat sith flashes his wide grin, sitting in the middle of the meadow, watching us. “Because to me it looked like you were feeling hor—”

“Enough!” I bark. “On with the experiment.”

“Whatever you say, orc.” Mischief dances in his eyes.

I flash my tusks at him and take a step forward, then another. Right as I begin to think the earlier occurrence a fluke, a tingle rushes through me, like the faint whisper of my tracking magic when it first senses prey.

Another step, and the world wrenches around me, throwing me against Naomi’s back. This time I’m ready for it, and my arms scoop her off her feet before she can fall forward.

She lets out a surprised burst of air, then gives a breathless laugh and shakes her head. “That’s… I don’t know what that is, but it’s sure something.”

Her curls tickle my face, filling my nose with her sweet scent, and my arms tighten around her for a second before I can make them set her down.

My bride points into the meadow. “How far away do you think you got?”

“About twenty feet,” I say, having counted my paces.

“Yes,” Zephyr calls out, having angled herself to watch us while she grazes.

“Did you feel anything?” My moon bound looks up at me with curious brown eyes brimming with intelligence.

“My tracking magic activated right before I teleported.” The word tastes unfamiliar on my tongue, but I suppose I had better get used to it. “You?”

“I don’t know.” She lifts her necklace. “My crystal didn’t do anything, and I didn’t get that burn along my nerves I get when I try to teleport right now. But maybe I felt something .” Her lips purse as her fingers brush over the skin between her alluring breasts. She grins up at me. “I’m not sure, which means we need to do more experiments.”

I nod.

“So if you move away, you get teleported to me.” My bride points from me to her. “Time to see what happens if I’m the one moving.”

I grunt. “Good idea.”

The sway of her hips is mesmerizing as she walks away from me.

The quick shiver of my magic is the only warning I get before she winks out of existence only to crash into me, her back to my chest. I catch her as she bounces off.

“Okay, wow!” She lets out a delighted laugh. “That didn’t feel like my regular teleport at all! Those are easy. This felt like a giant hand threw me.”

“It always feels like that for me.” I set her on her feet. “It felt the same as when I followed you to each location earlier today.”

“Huh! That’s interesting. Maybe it means I didn’t teleport you. I teleported me, and this… tether brought you to me.” She spins around and grabs my elbow to tug me into the middle of the meadow. “Now, let’s both walk in opposite directions!”

We stand back to back, then pace away from each other like opponents in a duel. I shorten my steps greatly, trying to match her human stride.

A quick buzz of magic, and the world spins around me. I move, and Naomi moves, too, until we slam into each other, chest to chest.

This time, when my arms catch her to me, her face hovers only inches from mine, her lips parting on a startled gasp that draws my gaze to their soft plumpness.

Her tongue darts out, wetting them, making me groan with need.