Chapter 25

TWENTY-FIVE

Pyre

Tempest moaned, her pale skin flushed pink. He stared down at her, wondering what in the blazes was he doing here? Nyx and Briggs were more than capable to care for the female Hound. Yet, he couldn't leave the bed.

"I can hear you worrying from here," Briggs muttered from his chair beside the bed. "She's fine . It's just a cold."

Pyre nodded and then rested his fingers on the pulse beating at the base of her throat, counting her heartbeats. For such a ferocious creature, his Hound looked awfully pitiful at the moment.

"Humans are so weak," he murmured, eyeing the blue veins standing out starkly beneath Temp's skin.

Briggs snorted. "Don't let her hear you say that. We'll never hear the end of it."

Pyre cracked a smile that felt a little too stiff. "True." The moment of mirth passed. "She should never have been on that dragon." Every time he thought of Damien's smug smile, Pyre's hackles rose. Even now he could smell the dragon's scent on Tempest.

"You're being unreasonable."

Pyre arched a brow at the healer. "How so?"

"Damien provided her safe transportation." The big man crossed his arms and rocked in his chair. "Would you have rather had her trying to traipse through the storms outside? Shifters die in weather like this all the time. What do you think it would have done to our girl?"

A valid point.

Temp thrashed and the sheet slipped, catching on the tip of her breast. His jaw clenched at all the flushed snowy skin on display. Pyre growled and yanked the linen up passed her shoulders and tucked it around her body. Maybe that would keep her from trying to flash the other male in the room.

"When are we going to talk about it?" Briggs asked.

"Talk about what?" Pyre bit out, still wrapping the female up.

"About the fact that you've taken a mate."

He jerked at the healer's blunt words. "I haven't."

Briggs guffawed. "You wreak of aggression and every time she's shown even an ounce of skin your scent gets stronger. I'm a healer, Pyre. I've seen many female parts while assisting with the birth of babes. Tempest doesn't have anything I haven't seen before."

Sweat beaded Pyre's brow, and he licked his upper lip, feeling edgy. "She's a private person. She wouldn't want anyone looking upon her person when she's so vulnerable."

"True, but you forget that I already have cared for her. I've seen everything the little Hound is hiding beneath her clothing and it's just flesh. Nothing more, nothing less."

A low growl rumbled Pyre's chest, and he glared at Briggs, hating that his friend had seen Temp naked. You're jealous .

Briggs held his gaze, not flinching. "I will not tiptoe around you. I've always spoken my mind to you, have I not?"

"You have," Pyre ground out.

"Then hear me now. The woman you guard so staunchly now has no appeal to me. Her scent stirs nothing."

Pyre's shoulders slumped. One less male to deal with.

The healer continued, leaning forward. "But if she had stirred my beast, I promise you that I would have made her mine before she left the cabin."

Pyre tensed, his upper lip curling at the idea of Briggs claiming the Hound. "She's mine ."

"I know, which is how I don't understand why you are letting her roam around unclaimed. Mates are a rare thing."

"We aren't compatible." He stared down into his Hound's face, her eyes flickering behind her lids. She was the light, and Pyre the darkness. "I can't afford to be distracted."

"That's rubbish, and you know it," Briggs barked.

"Even if I tried to court her, Tempest would refuse me." His gut clenched as he remembered the look on her face when she'd left him after he revealed his second human form. Betrayal. He knew the look well. "She will never fully trust me."

"She cares for you even though you've been an idiot. Come clean now, claim your female, defeat the king, and then give me nieces and nephews I can spoil."

Tempest cuddled into his side, and his heart beat faster. If only it could be like this always.

"You're being weak. "

He glared at Briggs. "This is not just about me and my wants. My decisions affect an entire nation of people. She's working with the enemy. I cannot fully trust her, even if I wish to."

"You've mistrusted everyone around you for so long that you're going to miss out on the greatest gift anyone of us could receive." His friend blinked at him slowly and then sank back into his chair, continuing to rock. "Tempest is special, and while I might not be interested in her, there are others who don't have your reservations. She will be snapped up by another from right beneath you if you tarry."

"Are you done?" Pyre asked, his tone cutting. His claws lengthened, and he tried to breathe slowly to calm himself.

Briggs nodded. "I've said my piece."

Pyre glanced away and then back to the female in his arms. "I knew you were trouble."