The Luna's Bodyguard [a mature werewolf romance]

Ch 41: Love Bites

FALLON
🌶️

"Where do you think you're going?" I barked at the witch.

"Home," Addy said with a smirk. "There's no point waiting here. It's chilly."

She was right. A harsh cold funnelled through the hedges of the maze, making my shirt snap against my stomach like a sail.

If only I could feel it. Panic was rising, hot and slippery, uncomfortably similar to the time one of my lungs caved in during a fight and filled with blood.

Ophelia was gone. And it was all my fault.

"You have to do something," I snarled, pulling on my hair until my scalp screamed in pain. "Open a portal, or —"

"There's nothing to be done," the hedge witch said, shaking her head. "She made her choice."

Fuck. Fuck. "If Nate finds out —"

"He's already on his way," Addy said, smirking at my stricken expression. "I figured he ought to know."

That sneaky bitch. I should have known her fingers were glued to her phone. I was of half a mind to grab it and crush it under heel — hanf and phone — but I couldn't deny that Addy was right. Two heads were better than one, and Nate did deserve to know.

Even though Ophelia told me she loved me first. That had to mean something, right?

... or had she?

Crunching gravel alerted me to Nate's advance. Addy took that as her cue to walk away, and I glared at her, wishing I could spit venom like a snake.

"Isn't she your friend?" I called out, not caring who might hear. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Addy?"

"I can't afford to have friends," she said darkly, looking over her shoulder as Ignatius stormed past, not even sparing a sideways glance for his cousin.

Not my gentle friend, but the volatile prince. And his fury was trained solely on me.

Ignatius was on me at once, blue eyes burning like the hottest part of a flame. He grabbed the leather holster for my weapons and yanked me closer, catching me by surprise. I actually stumbled forward, my head pitching down to his level.

It was easy to forget how strong Nate was. He worked so hard to hide it, but I knew the monster that slept beneath his tawny skin. There was power brimming in his veins, dark and malevolent and possessive. There was muscle limning that seemingly lithe form.

Strength enough to kill. And Pendragons killed out of jealousy most of all.

"You lost her?" the Crown Prince snarled.

I stood my ground, even though I was floundering inside. "You shouldn't be here. You could have been seen—"

"I wanted to go with you from the beginning! I trusted you when you said it was safer if you went alone," he exclaimed, his beautiful face warping into a vicious snarl. "Did you actually believe that, or was it just an excuse to get in her pants?"

"How dare you." Rage bubbled up, fusing with my fear and shame to create a toxic combination. "I have done everything in my power to keep that girl safe. It is you — your legacy — that endangers her in the first place!"