Vyra

What the fuck?

I knew within seconds that Seren was just as lost as I was. He was unable to hide the fear that flashed over his face after Titus explained what the Tantulus was.

Yesterday he had been all smug, feigning control.

"You didn't know about this." I called Seren out.

I would've full-on laughed seeing him all panicked if we weren't about to do...what Titus just said we would have to do.

"Isn't it obvious? I would have never agreed." He seethed, muscles straining under his black tunic and breeches.

"So tradition and nobility ends at your discomfort?" I didn't feel sympathy for him.

He really hates the idea of this, doesn't he? It was quite satisfying watching him squirm.

His face fell further, "Why would I choose to do this with you?"

With that snide remark, now I wanted nothing more than to do it. If the stars were somehow aligned, maybe I wouldn't fail.

Titus interjected, "Do you both agree to let me sense the bond using mind-speak?"

We both said yes.

Seren held out a hand to Titus, asking me only. "You're okay with me touching you?"

I hid the chill that came over me at his words. Steeling myself, I nodded in agreement. I asked the same of him, to which he slowly said yes.

"Then may the best of us win." I placed my hands in my lap, my tone blade-sharp. "You go first, if you can stomach it."

Seren hesitated, and for a moment I swore I saw a flash of regret in his eyes. Before it disappeared along with any sign of emotion on his face.

"Wine. Now. Fill both of our cups to the brim," he commanded, "If we're doing this, it's not going to be sober."

That wrung a laugh out of me. I agreed, accepting the deep purple glass Mena handed to me and finishing it.

I wiped the merlot that escaped from my lips as Seren watched me over his own glass.

He gripped his glass tighter, tongue running along the inside of his cheek, before holding it back out to Titus. "Please. Fill this, again."

This time, Seren made no show of manners. He drank the wine down, his throat waving. He wore a fierce look of determination after he slammed his cup on the ground.

So it begins.

Suddenly, I didn't know how to sit naturally without feeling like I was a creature playing pretend in my own skin.

My face would be permanently stained red after this. I anxiously wrung my hands together in my lap, before attempting to hide behind my thick waves.

I took a deep breath, scenting him before I felt his fingers caress and then thread themselves into my hair, revealing my face to him. 

Lifting my head in surprise, I found Seren sitting much closer to me. He stared at the silver-white lock within his palm, smoothing it between his thumb and forefingers. The action was quite delicate for an Alpha, whose hands wielded weapons and dealt out death.

It felt too long before I could breathe again, when he stroked to the ends of my waves and gently tugged on my strands.

I felt the sting of it travel from my scalp to my spine, the familiarity choking me.

"Vyra." Sitting back, he indicated it was my turn, the hand he used to touch me curled within his lap.

One slight touch and my heart was near plummeting.

My body is going to react. All I had to do was keep at bay the feeling that came over me when we danced together. The tug of the bond within my chest that once pulled, would begin to unravel.

I attempted to reach out, my arm barely crossing the space between us.

The Alpha hooked his foot under my skirts, using the chair leg to roughly slide me across the floor. I held onto the sides of it, nearly toppling as we were brought face to face.

"So you can reach." Seren explained, eyes roaming over my face.

He opened his hips wide to accommodate my body, now situated between his legs.

Do something, Vyra. It was hard to think, with our new position and how he so easily moved me.

Shakily, I lifted my hand, he immediately tracked the movement. I found myself returning his previous gesture, my fingers gliding over the first few ebony waves that fell over his forehead.

It's as silky as it looks. I bit my lip to keep from smiling. Of course it is. Seren wasn't moving away from my barely there touches.

It emboldened me to sink my hand into his waves, brushing it away from his forehead.

I saw conflict in his crumpled expression, but not loathing.

His breath gently scraped my wrist, warm and tinged with the peppermint tea he drank often. I felt it quicken in pace, but I was more than likely imagining things.

His brows furrowed together when my thumb accidentally brushed across the skin of his forehead, making his eyes a thousand shades softer.

Pulling away, I coughed to hide my nerves.

"There." I said timidly, placing my hands back in my lap.

I could still feel him eyeing me in the palpable stretch of silence. What is he thinking right now?

Jeers erupted around us. Titus tried to calm the Umbra Clan. "You can't do the same thing back. It's not what the crowd wants." The guard said to me, attempting to placate them.

"Fuck the crowd." Seren rumbled, voice taut in his chest.

Seren wasn't addressing Titus, he was reassuring me.

The room grew hotter, the pack members' protests fading into the background.

"More wine please." I asked.

Downing the next glass, my walls lowered as I stared a little too deeply at the Alpha, my good sense evaporating. I tried to keep my face blank, but all I could think about was how his high cheek bones were dusted with cherry, his eyes glowing like clouds covering the moon.

The hair I'd moved from his forehead had already fallen back to its original position, but he refused to fix it.

I looked around, catching the disapproval of his people.

Seren's voice punctured me as he curved closer, blocking out their faces with his broad shoulder, "It's just me, and you."

My lips twitched, "Aren't you the most dangerous one here for me?" Some of the light in his eyes dimmed. I tried to lift the mood. "Give me your worst."

The look Seren gave me in response to my challenge was...heated. Knowing. Seductive. He was able to stun without trying, but when he used his charm, it was overwhelming. I wanted to turn away but I couldn't be fragile right now.

He reached out to me, and my muscles went tight in preparation. I didn't expect him to rest his hands on my knees, their size taking up a good portion of my leg.

The rings he wore were cold even through my dress, so different from the heat emitting from his palms.

A shiver went up my spine, which he caught, lips tilting up into a smirk.

The wine worked in my veins, providing me the boldness to try and distract from the rapid beating of my heart.

"Does this usually work for you?"

He smiled fully, dimple on display. "Every time."

The bond didn't like that. I moved back from him as far as I could, my amusement doused.

Seren followed my retreat, hands moving from my knees, and sliding up the satin skirt until they rested on my upper thighs.

My breath hitched, he was entirely too close as he angled his face below mine. I turned my chin to the side and he placed himself in front of me again, chasing to meet my eyes.

When they finally locked, I could see everything.

The small, raised scar on the bow of his upper lip. The exaggerated shadows of his jaw, his cheeks, and the sharp, slightly raised bone of his narrow nose complimented by deeply golden skin. His slightly curled, ebony hair had grown a little longer, dipping below his ears.

Threads of white and gray stretched like lightning bolts in his eyes, with black flecks of ash near his widening pupils. His inky lashes dipped low as he spoke, hiding some of the silver from me.

It wasn't fair how exquisite his every feature was. An allure that was almost unnatural, as it cut through me like a blade, sharp and unforgiving. A reminder of what I was not, and never could be.

Looking at him hurt.

"Your eyes are as dark as the night sky. Reflective, like a frozen lake. A mirror." Seren lifted one hand, carefully running his thumb across the hollow under my eyes. "Obsidian."

He didn't stop, merely resting his hand slowly over the curve of my rounded cheek, cradling most of my head in a single palm. He swallowed uneasily, eyes skimming over me. 

"Do you like what you see?" I ground out the words. He merely made a poetic observation.

His fingers dug into my thigh gently.

Seren closed his eyes for a few moments, before reluctantly answering. "I don't like feeling lost."

Okay?

He then sat back as far as he could, peering at the ground. Avoiding me.

I thought more about what he said, realization settling over me.

Was he...was he insinuating he could get lost in my eyes? It couldn't be.

"Seren?" I said his name quietly, wanting clarity.

"I've always liked them." His words came out quickly, mumbled. A deep flush spread across his face, along his throat like he'd divulged something he shouldn't have.

Holy shit.

I assumed everything about me was unremarkable to Seren, but the compliment had been genuine. His embarrassment spoke the truth for him. He was planning to win, at any cost, even his own expense.

Yet...

Something I'd been taught to view as ugly, as shameful and dull, the antithesis to Lycan perfection, was beautiful to someone like him.

I felt fluttering. Everywhere. Along with chills that continued to ripple through my limbs with an intensity I hardly recognized. My cheeks burned.

I gritted my teeth and grabbed the sides of my chair, unmoving. I imagined snipping the bond at the root within my chest. After a few slow breaths, the feeling lulled.

My gaze veered to Titus, who urged us to continue.

The Alpha seemed surprised and a little annoyed, his gaze moving between Titus and I, like he didn't believe he hadn't evoked the bond within me.

His cockiness grounded me.

Feeling less shaky, I looked at Seren for what to attack next.

His sleeves had fallen up his forearms. My eyes caught on the smooth flesh there, before nearly bulging from my skull.

Without thinking, I pulled his arm into my lap. The Alpha nearly lurched from his seat, but I was mesmerized.

The old wound was warm to the touch as I hungrily ran my fingers over the red, shiny, blunted crescent. The skin rippled, like it's been burnt over and over.

"How do you still have this?" My shock was apparent.

Was he truly that jealous of my scars that he wanted one himself? Was he unable to heal?

Seren's eyes were half-moon's as he looked down at me, and my ministrations.

He swallowed slowly, his throat dipping before he bit out, "Silver salve. It's what Lycan use to put on their tattoos until they stop trying to heal."

"Why?"

Seren looked like he was being tortured. "As a reminder."

"A reminder..." I trailed off, not understanding. That I hurt him?

"That you hold my soul in your breakable hands." His full lips twitched, an almost smile.

Well that was morbid, in every sense of the word. I didn't like being reminded of the power he had over me, and yet he wore it like a badge of honor.

A wicked idea entered my mind.

I let my hands slip from his forearm to his wrist, lifting his hand to my mouth.

"What are you doing?" His eyes went wide, his body slack.

I smiled up at him, ghosting his thumb over the plush flesh of my lips. Before taking it carefully into my mouth and biting past the knuckle.

Seren's darkened eyes were zeroed in on my mouth, lips parted. I watched him shudder when my tongue accidentally brushed him, and I no longer needed wine to feel drunk. I wasn't sure what took over me but I bit down harder, wanting to leave a mark but not to draw blood.

I didn't linger. Once I got the reaction I longed for, I roughly scraped my teeth up his thumb and held his arm in my lap.

"You said you like your woman to bite," I pressed into the wound he kept from me, teasing, "Clearly you weren't lying." 

For a moment, Seren was stunned into silence, eyes trained on me and broad chest heaving. The same expression on his face as when the night started, if not more desperate.

I had little time to react before he ripped his arm out of my grasp, knocking over his chair as he did so.

The Alpha took off, slamming open the doors to the hall and disappearing.

What just happened? Was he allowed to do that?

I turned to Titus, "Make him come back. This isn't over."

The room went silent once again.

"You won, Vyra." Titus said after several pauses, loud enough for the room to hear.

Not a single being looked happy about it, with pack member's starting to whisper around us. Mena's face was ashen. Titus seemed conflicted.

Me?

I was fucking angry, and more than a little upset.

I won, and in his pride couldn't even stay long enough to hear it. And somehow that was the least of my worries, after watching the Alpha flee from me like I'd end him right then and there.

He felt the bond, and not because he chased me. It was just me. I needed answers.

Standing up from my seat, I ran after the Alpha.

It took minutes to find him, only because he decided to head to the healing room instead of his quarters. When he spotted me glowering down the hallway, he took off like a scurrying mouse.

"Seren! Stop for a second." I quickened my pace, nearly catching up to him. His broad back nearly took up the entire narrow hallway. My voice rasped with frustration,  "Why are you running away from me?"

He stopped and turned so suddenly, I almost went crashing into his chest. I stumbled and righted myself as he towered over me, eyes bright in the dim light.

When a thrill ran down my spine at his expression I realized...

Coming after him might have been a mistake.