Chapter 14

Taryn had no right to feel like this

The night was warm, the fire was dying, and Taryn was lying next to the human, watching the play of the remaining firelight on his sleeping face.

Rhys had fallen asleep first, his exhausted body giving in to sleep. He was a warm weight against Taryn"s side, one arm flung out across Taryn"s chest, half sprawled across Taryn"s body.

Taryn had never felt anything like this. His body felt sated, a pleasant warmth spreading through him from the point of contact between him and Rhys. It was as if the human"s very presence sent out a soothing, pacifying signal, something that calmed Taryn"s warrior"s heart and coaxed it into beating slower.

It was a dangerous feeling.

Taryn was playing with fire. He"d already known that. From the very first moment he"d laid eyes on Rhys, looking up at him defiantly in the middle of a battlefield, demanding that Taryn kill him, something about the human had called out to Taryn.

And the longer they spent together, the more he felt half-mad with frustration.

The human stirred in his sleep, nuzzling his face against Taryn"s chest. In the firelight, his expression was open and unguarded, free of the hard edge that he wore during his waking hours. Taryn had seen that hard edge plenty of times, as Rhys struggled to make a living in a world that was stacked against him.

But he"d also seen something else: the flash of quick, defiant humor in the human"s eyes, the determination as he set his jaw, the easy-going nature when he joked. Taryn had seen all of those things, and now he saw them writ large across Rhys"s sleeping face, unmarred by any other emotion.

After coming back from the warfront, Taryn had expected a life of duty to his clan — and nothing else. With his brother gone, there was too much pain to even think about anything else.

But here was something else. Something he never in his life could have expected.

Taryn closed his eyes. On cue, the memory flooded his mind, rising unbidden as always: the sight of his brother, dying from the hands of humans. The way his young face had been twisted with pain and fear, as he clung to Taryn.

The memory always felt as fresh as the day it had happened, burned into Taryn"s mind. He"d been too late. No matter how fast he moved in his nightmares, no matter how many humans he could dream about cutting down, he would always be too late to save his brother.

Taryn"s chest rose and fell with the effort to control his breathing. Even since that day, he"d viewed humans with hate.

But here… here, now, there was something else, too. As he looked at Rhys, as he spent time with the human and saw his quick wit, his determination, and the kindness that he tried to hide beneath a jaded exterior, Taryn couldn"t help but see similarities to Airen.

It felt easy for Taryn to care for him.

Taryn shook his head, banishing the thoughts. They were madness. He was already courting disaster by spending time with a human at all. To entertain even a moment of comparing Rhys to his brother was a betrayal, a sign that Taryn had lost his mind.

But as his instincts purred with satisfaction and the warmth of the human seeped into his body, Taryn found himself unable to care about anything else.

He was a Borraq. He was a warrior.

And to this lost little human, he was utterly bound.

Taryn couldn"t help himself. He brushed a thumb across Rhys"s cheek, and the human stirred, nuzzling his face deeper into Taryn"s hold.

Rhys spoke, his voice thick with sleep. "Hey, big guy. You gonna stare at me all night, or what?"

Taryn hesitated. "I am not," he said. It was a half-hearted protest, and he knew it.

Rhys yawned, unbothered by Taryn"s lack of conviction. "Yeah, you are." As the first hints of dawn began to turn the sky pale, Rhys sat up and stretched. "Morning already?"

"Yes. Do you feel well?"

"Everything"s still attached." Rhys grinned. His pale skin was marred with scrapes and bruises, lingering kisses from the river"s rage, but he was breathing easily, and his color was better. When Taryn had first seen the blue of Rhys"s lips as he"d hauled him from the chilling water…

Taryn watched as Rhys rose to his feet, his movements still sluggish from sleep. A flicker of surprise stirred within Taryn at the human"s initiative. "What are you doing?"

Rhys cocked his head. "We need to catch the others," he stated matter-of-factly, his voice still carrying the faintest rasp from everything he"d been through. He gathered Taryn"s pack, oblivious to Taryn"s bemused expression. "We"ve got a lot more ground to cover, thanks to me. We better get moving."

Rhys"s words hung in the crisp morning air, the first rays of dawn casting a warm glow across his features. The resolute set of Rhys"s jaw, the determination burning in his eyes... It was a look the Borraq had seen countless times before, yet in this moment, it struck him with a newfound appreciation.

Here was a human, a member of a species that Taryn had been conditioned to view as adversaries, displaying the very qualities that the Borraq held in the highest regard: resilience, fortitude, an unwavering commitment to one"s cause.

Qualities that, were Rhys born a Borraq, would have made him a valued addition to any clan.

Damn. Taryn had been blinded by his grudge.

No wonder Rael was the clan"s alpha. He"d thrown off old prejudices and seen his human mate with clear eyes.

Taryn still had some things to learn from his alpha.

And he was happy to do so.

Taryn stood, something warm and bright inside his chest. "Let"s go."