Beneath a Flaming Sky - Book Three (Moon Child Series)

Chapter Thirteen

Xander POV

It had been a week since my sister had refused to leave this place where my mate was, and I felt myself losing my mind. With boredom, and most annoyingly, lust. Every time I saw my mate, or smelt her scent Draco lost his mind, and my body reacted of its own accord. It was extremely frustrating because she was everywhere. Every corner I turned she was there, every room I entered she was there. She seemed to be avoiding me as much as possible though, so it was just fate playing a sick joke on me.

Draco had been bugging me more and more lately with his demands to claim our mate, so I’d taken to running to drown him out and help vent my frustrations. Which is how I found myself in the woods surrounding the pack house, running for a couple of hours. By the third hour my frustrations and Draco had not gotten any quieter. With a growl at my growing frustrations I headed back towards the pack house. A cool breeze weaved its way through the trees, cooling the sweat on my body as I broke through the tree line, and with it came her scent. The perfume of jasmine pulled my eyes to where she sat on the swing chair with her younger sister.

Our eyes connected and I felt my heart jump in my chest and Draco perk up at the sight of our mate. For once though, I actually wanted to see her, and not for the reason that others would think. Nimue refused to leave, and if she didn’t then neither could I. I refused to go home without her and deal with my fathers never ending disappointment in me. So if I could convince her to in turn to convince Nimue to leave. I could finally get out of here and return to my normal life. I could find a place to live as far away from my father as possible, with enough room for Nimue to visit anytime she wanted and continue with my work and forget about ever having met Mia Greystone. And she would be safe.

I watched with some amusement and some annoyance as her eyes went wide at the sight of me, and with a quick word to her sister she took off like a lightning bolt. She was fast, but I was faster. I almost had her as she turned the corner at the top of the stairs, but as I came around it, she was gone, as if she had vanished into thin air. I followed her scent as best I could, but it seemed to be leading me in circles. So with a frustrated sigh I headed back out the pack house and shifted, deciding an afternoon flight would clear my head.

As the wind embraced me and the sun warmed my scales, I felt my mind grow busier, not clearer. My mate seemed to fill my every thoughts. Feelings were stirring irritatingly within me the more time I was around her. Even though I didn’t spend any time with her I still got to see the person she was by the way she interacted with her family, her friends, and her pack. She treated everyone as her equal, even though her title would say otherwise. Being a gamma was impressive enough but being a woman who was a gamma was almost unheard of. Her laugh was intoxicating and contagious and always had others around her smiling. As much as I hated to admit it, feelings were starting to deepen, and I couldn’t let that happen. Its why I had to leave. My father would kill her. I couldn’t let him. If I couldn’t reject her, then I would make it so she despised me, loathed my very presence, and then she would beg Nimue to leave and take me with her, and in doing so we could then move on with our lives.

As the sun began to dip beneath the horizon and the sky began to purple, I hovered above the tree line and made my way back to the pack house where feelings of rage and jealousy, feelings I’d never experienced before, ripped through me at the sight of my mate kissing another man. I pushed down the possessive Draco and took a deep breath as I came to land upon the banister of her offices balcony silently and gently, shifting halfway. I leant against the wall and watched as the man who should fear for his life left myself and my mate alone, unbeknownst to her.

She stood as if in a daze, her fingers lightly brushing against her soft, pink lips. Jealousy reared it ugly head yet again as I came to the realization that she had enjoyed that kiss. And at the thought of that all reason left my body. 

“So this is where you were hiding.” Her gaze focused on me as I dropped down from the bannister and sauntered towards her whilst still speaking. “So, while I was searching for you, you were here, swapping spit with some brainless warrior.” I hadn’t been searching for her, but she didn’t need to know that. Her eyes wide, she attempted to run. The predator in me purred in delight at the thought of a chase and with swiftness that had even me getting slightly dizzy, I caught her body between myself and the closed door, my hand gripping lightly at her neck as I pressed her against the wooden barrier. I felt her heartbeat increase beneath my hand and the smell of her arousal had Draco chomping at the bit.

Hmm, so our mate likes it rough, huh? Nice to know. I practically purred in my head, before mentally slapping myself. Why did it matter how she liked it? It wasn’t like I was going to be the one giving it to her.

But we could. Draco purred temptingly to me. I felt a moment of weakness in myself at that moment but with an internal shake of my head I dismissed Draco’s words and turned my attention back to my mate. My hand was tingling like crazy at the skin-to-skin contact of my hand on her neck and it was extremely distracting. I leant forward as though I had no control of my body and sniffed at her intoxicating scent and felt the familiar sting of my eyes as they changed colour and my dragon came to the surface. My eyes ran across her face, searching for something, even though I didn’t know what, or why. But my body seemed to have a mind of its own today as my hand slid from the front to the nape of her neck and my lips connected with hers.

It was like an explosion, colours flashing before my eyes at the sensation of her warm, soft lips against mine. In the moment I couldn’t breathe. I think I forgot how. All I could focus on was how amazing her lips felt on mine, and how incredibly intoxicating it felt to press my hard, muscled body against her soft, voluptuous one. She was like a drug, one that could kill me if I over indulged. One that would have me losing all control of who I was and what I was. But it was hard to care in that moment as fire practically burnt between us. Her hands slid up my chest and into my hair making my mind unravel even further. This felt so right, yet I knew it couldn’t be.

I reluctantly pulled my lips from hers as I felt wetness touch my nose. With a wipe of my hand I came to the realisation that it was tears that dampened my skin. I felt concern for a split second before I tamped it down and instead pushed forward my indifference. Why on earth would she be crying?

“Are my kisses that good that you cry with joy?” I spat sarcastically a smirk perching itself on my lips, even though it wasn’t the expression I wanted to have. Her eyes filled with rage as she spat out her next words, the rage from her eyes translating into her words.

“Could you just put me out of my misery and reject me already?!” I felt my heart break at her words, but I couldn’t go back now. I had to keep up the act, make her hate me. I forced a soft chuckle before my hand shot out, pinning her once again against the door as I leant in closer.

“Believe me, mutt. I want to but I can’t. So until you convince Nimue to leave I’m stuck here, and you’re stuck with me.” The words were like poison in my mouth, but they had to be said and they seemed to enrage her more. I had to admit I was a little aroused by her in that moment, as much as I hated her rage being from my words. Her hands pressed lightly to my chest, the tingles shooting to my groin as dirty thoughts of us tangled in pleasure flitted through my mind. But all thoughts of pleasure exited my mind however when a painful jolt of electricity zipped through my nervous system and I was pushed back by an unseen force, my back slamming into the cold, hard concrete of the balcony floor.

When my body could function again, I rose into a sitting position and rubbed the back of my head where it had struck the ground. What the hell was that? With wobbly legs, I stood from the ground and made my way to the guest room I had been given for my stay and headed straight towards the shower. The hot water helped dull the ache of my over stimulated muscles at the shock of electricity and I stood beneath its stream for much longer than I should have. As I exited the bathroom, a quick glance at the mirror showed two small handprints, perfectly imprinted upon my chest and I couldn’t help the amused chuckle at it.

With a shake of my head, and one last glance at the small handprints on my chest, I exited the bathroom to find my sister perched on the edge of my bed, her arms crossed and eyes full of rage. I was about to greet her with a pleasant smile when she stood and connected her palm to my cheek. The sound of skin meeting skin seemed to echo through my room as my angry gaze met Nimue’s.

“What the hell was that for?!” I growled through gritted teeth as I placed my hand against the cheek she had just assaulted.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she growled back, her eyes burning with rage, her dragon coming to the surface as evident by the glowing scales surrounding her eyes. I rolled my eyes as I pulled some clean clothes from my bag and walked into the extended wardrobe to dress as I spoke to her.

“What have I done now to inherit such wrath, little sister?” as I exited, now fully dressed in track pants and a grey polo, her anger seemed to fume around her as smoke began to literally escape from her nostrils.

“As if you don’t know. What the hell are you doing kissing Mia one minute, and then insulting her and telling her you don’t want her the next?! Why don’t you want her, Xander?! She is your mate!”

“And that is precisely why I don’t want her, Nimue!” I snapped back, visibly shocking her. “I’m acting this way for reasons that I can’t tell you. I don’t want it to be this way Nim but believe me when I say it’s better for everyone this way!” I felt my heart ache with my words, knowing she would never understand or know why I was doing what I was doing. Her eyes filled with sadness and a hint of rage as she met my eyes.

“How is it better for everyone that you dismiss the gift the Gods placed before you?” her eyes seemed to fill with tears as she spoke and grief seemed to grip at me as I remembered how she had lost her gift, her mate, and it aches further at the fact that she would never know that her losing Dominic was the exact reason I couldn’t be with Mia, or that my father was the one who killed him and who would kill Mia if I stayed with her.

“Just trust me when I say it is. Please Nim.” She looked away from me, anger still in her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“I do trust you brother. But that doesn’t mean I have to be happy with your decisions.” Her eyes landed on mine and I flinched at the hatred there. I had practically raised Nimue when our mother died, my father too lost in grief to care for us. So to see her hate me broke my heart, but if that meant keeping her and Mia safe, then that was a sacrifice I was willing to make. “You have hurt my friend, Xander, and for that, I will never forgive you.” With one last glare she stormed from my room leaving me alone and my heart aching.

I plopped down onto the bed not bothering to throw back the sheets and crawl under them and as I closed my eyes, I prepared myself for the dark inky blackness that had welcomed me in sleep over the past week and revelled in the silence it would hold for me.