Chapter Five

Iwatched as the two cousins worked on the sigils I had shown them. My gaze locked more firmly on Sasha and her movements.

I couldn't help myself. My eyes were drawn to her. My body craved her touch. The moments when she was in my arms, no matter how brief, I could feel the bond tightening between us. It drove me to her and set my body on fire.

She bent over as I watched them, her jeans tightening against her rounded ass and leaving little to my imagination. I could feel the blood in my body all rushing to a singular location, my own jeans tightening against my body as a result.

I let out a cough, turning away before anyone could notice, though the look on Baer's face as I glanced his way told me that he knew all too well what I was going through, and as much as he may have empathized with me, I found more amusement in his eyes than I'd like to see.

"I'll go and gather some wood," I called out as I left the area the girls were completing.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will," Baer called back with a chuckle.

I cursed under my breath as I went into the forest. I found the roots of the forest beneath the earth to ground myself in place and followed the links to the animals and creatures who lived here.

To my relief, nothing dangerous was close by. None seemed aware yet of our presence in this realm, and if the wards did their job, they never would.

Once I was certain that all was safe and I found myself a decent distance away from the others, I released my control over myself to the wolf. Just enough to feel everything I had been holding back with the bond.

Image after image of Sasha appeared in my mind. The way she smelled, the softness of her lips as she leaned towards mine. So close to tasting her, though my mind did well to imagine what flavors I would have found.

Pomegranates and honey, just like she smelled. The taste coated my tongue as my pants grew tighter.

‘She would taste so much better, you will never taste a fruit so sweet as your fate,'my wolf whispered to me. ‘Why not give in, Ayden? Give into the bond forged by The Fates themselves. Taste the truth of what you most desire.'

I shook my head. "She'd never take me."

‘How do you know if you don't at least try?'

The thought was tempting, but I knew better. The most I would ever have would be those stolen moments of closeness and the vision created by my own mind.

I closed my eyes again and leaned back against a tree, my hand palming at the bulge of my jeans.

I pictured the way she looked bent over, her back arched as she supported her weight with her hands and knees. I created an image from there. Her face turned to look back at me, cheeks flushed with a heat as great as the one boiling in my veins.

I could almost hear her moaning pleas to help. Her voice heavy with desire and begging me to help ease the burn with my touch.

In my mind's eye, I reached out and ran my hand over her hips. My hand rubbed over each cheek, giving her a playful pinch as I wrapped my hand around my shaft and slowly rubbed the hardened appendage.

"You deserve to be punished, you know," I said, her blue eyes widening as she looked back at me. "Always trying to push everyone around. Someone needs to put you in your place."

She moaned as my hand came down with a smack against her ass, my fingers quickly rubbing away the sting of the swat.

"That's a good girl," I whispered, my cock growing harder as she pressed her ass against my hand.

I smacked her again, squeezing the cheek before reaching around her to find the buttons of her jeans. I quickly undid the button there and pulled down her zipper. The tight fabric fought to come off, the sound of ripping fabric accompanying the sound of her gasping at the sudden cool air against her burning skin.

My hand ran along the bare skin, my other still gripping my cock as I ran my thumb over the head to collect the drop of pre-cum there.

I groaned as the images danced through my mind, my mouth watering at the imagery the wolf helped fuel.

‘This is only half as good as it could be,'he said in a whisper at the back of my mind. ‘All you have to do is accept the bond.'

I pushed away the sound of his voice, my hand tightening around my throbbing cock as more images came to my mind.

Sasha lay on her back beneath me. Her breasts glistening with diamond-like sweat as she looked up at me with hooded eyes.

"Please, Ayden. I need you," she breathed, her hands reaching up towards me.

I leaned down over her and pressed my lips to hers. That delicious taste of pomegranates and honey coated my tongue once again, and I moaned against her mouth.

My hands ran along the curve of her body, moving their way back up to her breasts as my hips thrusted against her. She parted her legs to me, my cock running up along the slit between her thighs, slick and hot against my skin.

I moaned again at the feel, wanting nothing more than to sink myself deep inside her. I quickly realized that it had been something I had always wanted to do. Even before I understood the desire.

She was the forbidden fruit in the paradise that was the school of magic. Something that I could never have, not without dire consequences. Consequences that made her all the more desirable. All the sweeter.

‘You could have her,'my wolf's voice came again in my mind. ‘She is no longer forbidden fruit, Ayden. She is yours. The Fates have made her so.'

I licked my lips at the image of her, her smile soft and eyes hooded with pleasure as my cock rubbed up against her clit. I pinched her nipple between my finger and thumb, my thoughts wandering to what they might taste like.

Would they taste of honey? Or would they taste of pomegranates? My curiosity won me over as I leaned down and took one of the hardened peaks in my mouth.

She moaned as my tongue flicked the sensitive bud, her back arching against the ground as she rubbed her body closer against mine.

I could feel myself coming closer to the edge, my cock growing harder against her as she moved with my thrusts.

"Please, Ayden," she moaned. "I need you. I need you now."

"Sasha," I moaned out loud as the pressure grew too much to bear.

I growled against her breast, nipping at the soft skin as I rubbed the head of my cock against her opening. It was all too tempting. All too much for me to even imagine.

My head fell back against the hard trunk of the tree against my back. The images of Sasha rushed away as I felt the pressure in my cock break.

I closed my eyes, my cock twitching with the last drops of cum. I shook my head and chuckled a bit.

Even in my fantasy, I couldn't fully take her. I couldn't bring myself to imagine what it would feel like inside her, no matter how badly I may want to. I just couldn't imagine what I couldn't allow myself to have.

‘You're a fool,'my wolf said to me.

"I understand that that's how you feel," I replied. "But there are some things that you don't understand. Some things that she will never let go of."

I found a large leaf and cleaned myself up the best I could before pulling my jeans back on and straightening out my shirt.

In all my distractions, I had lost control of my grounding and the forest seemed to have shifted around me. I let out an annoyed sigh as I reestablished the connection and located the others at the camp.

Luckily enough, I hadn't been shifted too far from them. Just in the opposite direction as where I had left, but the same distance either way. I sent a small thanks to the forest for not shifting me closer to the camp, given the position I had been in. It would have been mortifying if the others had seen me finish with Sasha's name on my lips.

I approached the camp and found the others sitting around a fire and realized too late that my arms were empty.

"I thought you were going to get wood," Sasha said as she spotted me crossing the boundary of the camp.

"Yeah, where is all that wood you went to look for, Ayden," Baer taunted with a grin.

"I dropped it. Lost my ground with the forest and it shifted. I figured I'd better not worry about the wood and just get back here before it happened again." I lied quickly. I glared at Baer as he stifled a laugh, Aurora looking back at him with confusion.

Sasha rolled her eyes and turned back to the fire. "Whatever, I got plenty of wood myself. So, don't worry about it."

Baer lost it then, nearly falling over with laughter as Aurora demanded to know what was so funny.

I glared at him again, tears running down his face as he clutched his sides.

"The forest can have that effect on people," I said to Aurora. "Maybe you two should go to bed. He needs rest."

"Well, I certainly don't need any wood," Baer laughed as Aurora struggled to pull him to his feet and towards their tent. "But you two let me know if you need anymore. I'm pretty sure I could find a big piece if I really wanted to."

"What does that even mean?" Aurora cried out in annoyance.

Sasha stared after them with her own confusion. Her head turned towards me for a moment before her eyes widened and she looked around again. I wondered if she realized what Baer had been joking about. Wondered if maybe she realized what I had really been doing in the forest.

Or maybe she simply realized that we were now alone, Baer's laughter muffled within his tent with her cousin.

"Well, I guess I'll be going to bed too. I imagine we'll be up at sunrise, that comes pretty quickly this time of year, so, yea. Night."

I watched her stumble clumsily to her feet before running over to the second tent that had been erected in the camp. She disappeared inside and quickly zipped the flap closed behind her.

My hand wiped across my face as I stared into the fire, the lite growing faint as it ate the few pieces of wood that Sasha had collected.

"Baer is going to make this entire trip incredibly uncomfortable," I groaned to myself.

‘It's natural to desire your mate. You have nothing to be ashamed of,'my wolf said. ‘He has the same desires for his mate.'

I chuckled. "Doesn't mean that this isn't uncomfortable for me."

My wolf huffed. ‘You humans put too much thought into comforts. Comfort is comfort, and desire for your mate is something no one can avoid. The Fates made it so.'

I leaned back, my arms pillowing my head against the ground as I looked up into the glittering trees.

"Maybe you're right," I said. "Maybe my feelings are completely unavoidable. But I've known plenty of stories about men accomplishing greater odds."

He let out a huff of disapproval in my head.

‘No one can avoid their fate, Ayden. Not even the gods.'