He walked over to the bed, chest glistening with moisture, a towel the only thing separating us. I crooked my finger at him, raising my eyebrows seductively. He grinned and leaned over the bed, heat radiating off of his naked body. My fingers pulled at the towel, releasing its hold on his waist. Slowly, his lips grazed against mine as his fingers connected with mine lifting my arms into a locked position over my head. Warmth spread all throughout my body as he shifted on top of me. His mouth took its time to pepper kisses along my jawline, down my neck, to the valley between my breasts. I melted beneath his touch, my body obeying his every command.

“Ray,” I moaned happily, biting back my desire as his tongue flickered against one of my nipples playfully. He released my hands momentarily and I took the advantage, curling them into his hair as my back arched to meet him. His hands grazed the inside of my thighs; a gasp escaped my lips in response to his touch. My heart beat faster and my eyes closed as he thrust on top of me, both of us reaching a state of pure arousal. Fireworks exploded between us. There was nothing more I wanted in the moment than him.

“I love you,” I whispered as he released me.

“I love you, too.” His voice came out husky and rough. When I opened my eyes, I was met with a steel blue-eyed gaze instead of green.

I gasped, bolting straight up in bed. I whacked the body sleeping next to me with a pillow. “Raydir!”

“Hm? Wha-what happened? What’s wrong? What did I do?” He rubbed sleep out of his eyes. I studied them; green, that was good.

I breathed a sigh of relief and flopped back down on the mattress. “Nothing. Just a dream.”

After my dream, sleep decided it had had enough. So once the sun had risen over the horizon, I quietly slipped out of bed to go clear my head. Luckily, no one else was up at this hour, so the valley was truly mine to take in.

There was a spot in the clearing by the lake that Caesaria and I had taken up as our archery spot. It was peaceful and where I practiced the best. I hoped today would be no exception.

Thwap. The first arrow embedded itself into the target. Last night was a disaster, to say the least. Sure, the shared moment with Raydir behind the falls was amazing, but then I had to go and ruin it by getting too…hyped in the moment.

Thwap. Then Darius invaded his way into my mind. I could still feel the way his lips tasted on mine, the way his hands pressed gently against my waist.

Thwap. And of course, my dream.

I notched another arrow, focusing all my energy on the target. Why was it that when I felt so comfortable with Raydir, my mind decided to spew out new possibilities? What was it about Darius that had me weak in the knees? Maybe it was that stupid smirk he couldn’t seem to wipe from his face. Maybe it was the way you could just get lost in his eyes. Maybe it was the way his muscles rippled or the thought of how it would truly feel to have him on top of me, delicately kissing every inch of my body…

Whoosh. The last arrow surpassed the target completely.

Where did that thought come from?

I groaned as I went to retrieve the arrow. In the distance, I heard the sounds of someone grunting. As I pushed through the brush, the outline of a person came into view, along with the arrow jutting from his arm. I let out a gasp as I realized what had just happened. I shot Darius with an arrow while thinking about how good it would feel to be kissed all over by him.

What a way to go.

“Darius!”

He groaned again in response. I ran toward him where he lay on the ground, clearly in pain. “Was this you?” he managed to get out.

I dropped to my knees beside him. “You have to know I had no intention of hurting you. I didn’t even know anyone was out here.”

He winced. “Not your fault, Arwyn. But it would be nice if we could get this arrow out of my arm.”

I nodded. My fingers fumbled with the fabric of his shirt, then paused. “Um, I’m going to need to rip your shirt to make a tourniquet.”

“That’s fine. Just do it quickly.”

I smirked. “Not exactly what a girl wants to hear.”

Darius laughed, offering me a smile amidst his pain. “Feisty, aren’t we?”

“Shut up and stay still!” I wrapped the cloth around the arrow. “This is gonna hurt a bit. Should I count to three?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. One, two—”

“Wait, no! I changed my mind!”

“Too late, three!”

Darius howled in pain, his voice echoing through the entire valley. So much for peace and quiet. Once the arrow was out, I quickly wrapped another piece of fabric around his arm, pulling it taut around the wound.

“There.” My fingers lingered on his arm for just a moment too long, his skin warm beneath my grasp. I cleared my throat. “We’ll need to take you to the healers to make sure you don’t get an infection.”

“Right.” He drew his gaze up to meet mine.

Damn those blue eyes. I swallowed, hoping he couldn’t hear my heartbeat. “We should get back.”

“Uh huh.” His eyes flickered to my lips. Oh no.

I stood up, brushing off my pants, and started to walk away. “You coming or what?”

Darius smirked and followed me. We walked in a brief silence back toward the cabins. The entire time I waited for Darius to say something, anything. The silence was just becoming too much for me, and I couldn’t take it anymore. “So are we going to talk about yesterday?”

“Which part? A lot of things happened yesterday.” He clutched his arm as we maneuvered around a branch that stuck out from a tree.

“The kiss. Why did you have to kiss me?”

“Well technically, I didn’t have to.”

“But you did.” I stopped and crossed my arms over my chest. “You haven’t told me why. You just…did.”

“I told you yesterday. There was something…a threat. And you wouldn’t stop talking—”

“Because you also haven’t told me why we have that mind connection thing.”

“One thing at a time.”

“So you kissed me because I wouldn’t stop talking.” I let the words roll over my tongue. In all honesty, it seemed like something I would do with Raydir. “And what is it about the mind connection? Why do we have that? Raydir and I…we have that connection because we’re together. So why are you and I connected too?”

“The connection with Raydir appeared on the first Alignment?”

“It happened when he shifted. But we hadn’t…” I trailed off, scratching my head.

He nodded. “I see. The connection you have with Raydir is because you’re together. You’re right about that. And the reason you have it with me…is because of the pact. Once the protection is lifted on the Alignment, we won’t have the connection anymore.”

“Here we are.” We entered the medical cabin, and one of the healers took Darius to a table.

“What happened?” she asked, glaring at me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Darius beat me to it. “Archery incident. It was my fault entirely.”

The healer continued to glare at me disapprovingly. “Let me get the salve.”

“Why did you lie to her?” I asked once she left.

“Because. It was an accident, and you shouldn’t have to take responsibility for that. Plus, in a way it was my fault.”

I froze. “How was it your fault? I’m the one who shot the arrow.”

“You shot Darius?”

Raydir’s voice caught me off guard, and I turned to see him walking over to us holding a bowl of salve. Ever since his first incident during training, Ray had turned to studying medicinal herbs and had quickly become one of the best healers in the valley. We had quickly learned his power was plant manipulation, and he had put it to good use.

“It was an accident,” I clarified. “I needed to clear my head. I went to the range because archery helps me ease my mind. And then I slipped and one of my arrows missed the target.”

“Then how did it embed itself into Darius’ arm?” Raydir removed the tourniquet, turning his arm over roughly.

Darius winced in pain.

“Careful!”

“I know what I am doing, Ar.” He took the salve and carefully spread it on the wound. Darius hissed at the touch.

“Hold still.”

“I’m trying.”

Raydir turned to me. “Ar, do you think you can leave? I mean, you seem to be very distracting for Darius right now, and he needs to focus.” There was an edge of irritation in his voice; I figured it was because of last night.

His words twisted my heart. “Fine.” I got up and left the medical cabin without a glance back. Outside, the fire from the night before had died out, turning the rocks beneath an ash white color.

Footsteps approached behind me. Given the slight hesitation in their steps, it could only be one person.

“So, you shot Darius, hmm?” Caesaria asked. There were no traces of anger in her voice which pleased me, although my guilt was still present.

“It was an accident. I didn’t even know he was there. I don’t normally miss when I practice, but today I was just—”

“Thinking about him?” She sat beside me on one of the logs. “Ar, I’m sorry for my outburst yesterday. I know your kiss with him didn’t mean anything. You told Raydir, right?”

I nodded. “He let it slide because Darius had been protecting me from…something…but it still upset him.”

“And he knows it didn’t mean anything?”

“Of course. I mean, I had just told him that I felt nothing for Darius. Why would I turn around and do something that showed the complete opposite?” And it was true. I have no idea what changed to spark those thoughts about him in my head.

“Maybe the Alignment is messing with your head,” she offered, as if reading my mind.

I raised my eyebrows.

“What? I can sense your feelings, remember?”

I blew out a puff of air. “Yeah, I forgot about that. Can I ask why it meant so much to you yesterday? You said you weren’t in love with Darius.”

She gave me a small smile. “He was my best friend. A few months older than me, he thought that I was precious and needed to be protected, especially when he found out about my power. But when it came to protecting me in that moment during the school incident, he froze. Then there was an incident when I shifted and I…injured him. We never got the chance to talk about it, and having him here now brings up all sorts of feelings and memories. Plus, two empatis together makes for a very…intense amount of feelings.”

“Empa-what?”

“Empatis. That’s what our gift is called since Darius and I can both feel emotions and desires of other people.”

“So then what’s mine?” I looked down at my hands.

Caesaria raised her eyebrows. “Did you find your gift already? You haven’t had the shift.”

I nodded. “Yesterday after Darius got here, Raydir and I got into an argument. When I went to find him, we kissed behind the waterfall. And then he almost dropped me because the water had sort of woven its way toward us of its own free will.

“Ah, I see. An acquator. Water bender. That makes a lot of sense. And what about Raydir?”

“Plant manipulation. That’s why he’s been working as a healer. It’s fantastic, really.”

“He’s a chlorovoltae. Speaking of…” She inclined her head to a spot behind me. I turned and smiled as Raydir walked toward us. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows, exposing the toned muscles in his arms.

“Hey,” he greeted me with a kiss.

“Hi. Are you ready for lunch?”

Ray scratched the back of his head. “Actually, the healers need me at the med cabin all afternoon, so I won’t be able to have lunch with you after all.”

“Oh. That’s ok. How’s um, how’s Darius?”

“He’ll live. ”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I didn’t mean for Darius to get caught in the middle.”

“I know.” He glanced back at the medical cabin. “Listen, I have to head back. But I’ll see you tonight, right?”

I kissed him again. “See you tonight.” Once he left I turned back to Caesaria who locked eyes once again on a spot behind me and stood up.

“Gee, look at the time. I have places to be, so I’ll catch you later, Ar.” She hurried away, leaving me stunned.

“Fancy running into you out here.” Darius’ voice sent a tingle down my spine.

“I was just leaving,” I replied. “Places to be, things to do. All that.”

He smirked. “I was thinking of lunch, care to join?”

I tucked my hair behind my ears and stood up. Getting some answers would be nice. “I’d like that. But do you think we can go somewhere to talk? With the Alignment tonight, I want to make sure I’m ready.”

Darius nodded. “Of course.”

We walked over to the Grand Cabin, but instead of going toward the dining room, Darius took a detour to the kitchen, checking the hallway to make sure we were alone.

“What are you doing?!” I hissed at him.

He pressed a finger to his lips. Trust me.

I glared at him. Stop doing that! You know how much I hate it.

He responded with a smirk. Gotta love a little adventure. From the kitchen, he filled a basket with various foods including bread, cheese, leftover brisket and macrou, and a little wine.

“Wine?” I asked. “Really?”

“Technically it’s prosecco,” he replied. “Thought we could use a bit of fun.” Once satisfied, he took my hand and led me out of the Grand Cabin to one of the trails. We walked along it in silence until we came to another clearing.

“Wow.” If I had thought I’d seen beautiful, I was clearly mistaken. This was even more breathtaking than the main lake with the waterfall. Large boulders dotted the grass by the water and purple flowers sprouted up from the ground.

“I thought you might enjoy being close to the water today. It might help ease some of your anxieties for tonight.”

“Thank you,” I said as we sat down to eat.

“So, what questions do you have?” Darius poured us each a glass of wine.

“Getting straight to the point, aren’t we? I just…I’ve seen Ray go through the shift and it terrified me. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to experience it myself.”

Darius leaned back on his elbows then sat back up, wincing. “It’s definitely a shock to the system.”

“Did you mean it when you said that after tonight, we won’t have that connection anymore?”

Darius cleared his throat and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “That is true.”

“And Raydir said that the pact had other consequences?”

He visibly tensed next to me. “That would only happen in extreme circumstances.”

“What sort of extreme circumstances?”

“The kind that would involve us…getting together.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Oh. Right. Well, I don’t see that happening any time soon. So is there anything specific I need to know for the transformation?”

“You’ll need to focus on something—anything—that brings you happiness. The transformation itself is painful and it’ll help with the process, I promise.”

I sipped my wine. That was exactly what Rosie had said when Raydir had his first shift. “Will I remember anything? How will…if this Alignment reveals Raydir’s true wolf form, will I still be safe? Will he be safe from me?”

“You will both be safe, but whoever has the harsh wolf won’t remember who they are until the Alignment is over.”

My head buzzed, pounding from the information. I looked out over the water. It called particularly urgently today.

“Is everything alright?” Darius asked, a crease forming between his eyebrows.

I inhaled sharply and offered him a small smile. “Just fine. But I am going to go for a swim. The water will help me clear my head.”

He nodded. “See you around then.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, the lake was a wonderful way to clear my head. But as soon as I returned to the cabin, my heart began to beat faster and my brain swam with worry.

“Arwyn, what’s wrong?” Raydir strode over from the sofa and wrapped me into a hug. “Did something happen?”

I let out a shaky breath. “I’m just worried about the Alignment tonight.”

He led me over to the sofa so we could sit down. “You’re going to do great, I know you are.”

“Thanks.” I sniffled. “God, this is pathetic. I chose this, I should be more prepared. I should—”

“Hey, stop it.” Raydir brushed my hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering on my cheek. “You are the strongest, sexiest woman I have ever met.”

My lips quirked into a smile. “Sexiest?”

He leaned forward, kissing me. “Definitely.”

I stood up, walking to the closet and coming back a few minutes later with the art supplies. “I’ve been waiting for the right time to give you this. I wanted everything here in Darqua to feel good, familiar.”

“Arwyn, this is…I love it.” He kissed me again. “And I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I smiled against his mouth. “And I’m glad you like it.”

He ran his hands down my sides, resting them on my hips. “How about I paint you? Help get your mind off of the Alignment tonight? The feeling of the brush on skin…remember we used to paint each other’s hands as kids?”

I smiled at the memory. I’d forgotten. My fingers reached to undo my top, pulling it off over my head and then down to my pants. I leaned over him as his gaze traveled down my exposed body.

“Ever paint on someone naked before?” I asked.

He grinned. “There’s a first for everything, isn’t there?” Raydir instructed me to sit in front of him on a blanket while he prepared the paints and took off his shirt. After a few moments, I felt the prickle of a paint brush against my back, sending a shiver down my spine.

“God, you are breathtaking.” His left hand traced the curves of my body while his right hand used small, precise brushstrokes over my back.

I blushed, trying not to move. “You’re too much, Ray.” Heat radiated through me as his hand grazed over my breasts, then lower, and his lips nestled their way to my shoulderbone. Wow, he sure can multitask.

“Oh, sorry. I’m getting paint all over your front,” he apologized, starting to pull away.

“No, it’s ok.” I turned around to straddle his waist and pulled his hands back onto my body, gliding them down further as I pressed my body into his chest. “I like the messiness.” I reached up to trace a finger along the cord that held his praesidium crystal.

He smirked, leaning down to kiss me, slipping his hands all over my body and leaving colorful fingerprints as he went. My heart thumped hard in my chest and a pounding echoed through my head. What was happening? I tried to ignore it and keep my focus on Raydir. Our bodies began to move in a rhythm before I felt him pull away.

“What happened?” I asked, sitting up. “Did I do—ahh!” I clutched my head, the pounding growing louder.

“The Alignment is starting,” Raydir said, pulling his shirt back on and handing mine to me. “We need to go.”

I hurriedly dressed and nodded, taking his hand as we left the cabin.

Darius was the first to spot us as we ran up from the cabins.

“How’s she doing?” he asked.

“She is right here,” I grumbled. “And I’m fine.”

Raydir looked up at the sky. I wasn’t even sure how it was possible he was doing this well unless he was just that good at hiding how he felt.

“Gahhh!” I howled in pain, doubling over. My breath came in shorts spurts, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest. “I-I c-can’t do this.”

“Yes. Yes, you can, Arwyn! Look at me.” Raydir turned my face toward his with his finger so that my eyes met his. “Focus on me. Tell me what you see.”

“I see…green.” My fingers clutched at the grass. “With flecks of gold. Your eyes…they shine differently tonight.” I squeezed my eyes shut as my body began to morph. “Ahhhh!” Tears streamed down my face. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this!”

“Arwyn, please,” he begged. “Just focus. I need you to focus or the pain will be unbearable.”

I nodded slowly, trying to relax my breathing. Then remembering what Darius told me about focusing on something that made me happy, my mind trailed off to memories with Arabella. Her laugh echoed in my mind as my limbs contorted. The image shifted to one of me and Raydir. This was my 18th birthday and he’d taken me dancing. I focused on how it had felt to be in his arms, those green eyes sparkling with mischief.

It’ll be ok, Arwyn. You just have to focus.

Protect me.

Always.

Howls from the other wolves sounded in the distance. It was time. Time to give in to the wolf who had been hidden away from me. My vision began to change; the colors of the valley began to morph and blur. The scent of watergrasses hit my nose almost instantly. I knew where I needed to be. With one low growl, I bounded away.

Several other wolves were gathered in the distance as I surveyed my surroundings. A dark grey wolf and a blonde wolf trotted toward me. The blonde wolf stood its ground protectively in front of me as the grey wolf bared its teeth. I growled back.

Arwyn? Are you okay?

“Awooo!”

I pawed at the ground, glaring at the two wolves in front of me.

Ar, are you in there?

I growled and stepped forward. You have no power over me.

Arwyn. Baby, please. You can fight this.

She has to fight this on her own.

Will you two stop and leave me alone?! I bared my teeth. Take another step, I dare you.

Arwyn, fight it!

She can only have one of us.

I stood my ground before leaping at the grey wolf. He easily deflected, causing me to land on my shoulder.

Feisty, huh? The grey wolf bowed his head, his eyes glowing. Go. He growled.

I kicked at the ground, taking off in the other direction before I blacked out.