A spotlight cut through at the dance floor.
Niva stepped into Velor’s arms like a verse sliding into rhythm.
He pulled her close...so close that the moment held its breath. And the music began.A low, sultry melody. Something old.
The two began to move.He led with commanding grace; she followed with languid precision. Every sway, every twirl, every shift of her waist beneath his hand drew the room in tighter.
She dipped back dramatically, her locks cascading like molten light as Velor’s hand gripped her spine, arching her with control.
"Show off," Miera muttered under her breath, though her eyes were wide, taking in every moment.Her body language screamed ’jealousy’.
Autumn’s gaze, however, wasn’t on the dance floor. Her gaze had drifted somewhere far away... she was zoning out.
And then...just as the music shifted key,Niva released Velor with the same grace with which she had entered, replaced smoothly by the striking, sapphire clad Serra.
Gasps fluttered through the crowd. Whispers rushed like wind in the trees.
Another partner? Was this choreographed?
Everybody knew Velor had the knack of picking up pretty ladies here and there but nobody knew exactly how many he had in the brood.
The guy liked it that way. Keeping them guessing... keep things mysterious... build anticipation and gossip around himself.
While everyone was busy enjoying the spectacle,Autumn’s one hand moved slowly, quietly to her chest. Her palm rested above her heart as a sudden, sharp tug coiled in there.
Like a noose tightening from within. A pull. A throb. A warning.
Her other hand curled around the edge of the table, nails digging into its polished surface.
" What was that?" Her mind whispered. Not pain. Not yet. But something was shifting.
Was it... the babies?
No. It didn’t feel like that.
She glanced across the room where Kieran had vanished earlier.
Something wasn’t right.
Autumn inhaled shakily, blinking away the haze in her vision. No! She couldn’t afford to get sick again. She was recovering... and recovering well. Soon she would be free again... away from these wretched lands. Away from him for good... she couldn’t embarrass herself in front of everyone. "Damn it! Stop overreacting, stupid body! "
Autumn gritted through her teeth quietly setting her glass down.
But it was only growing. So without a word she rose from her place, the crimson gown brushing the floor in her wake. Her steps were swift but soundless, her composure seamless but hurried.
Meira did not notice her departure.
Autumn disappeared into the crowd, melting between couples and shadows, her hand still pressed to her chest as she slipped out of sight.
The dance reached its crescendo.
Velor stood at the center...one hand on each wife’s waist, the third wrapped around his arm...bowing with triumphant ease as the room erupted in thunderous applause.Just like he wanted.
Autumn had no way of knowing what was causing her trouble and unrest. That somewhere in there Kieran’s pulse was a wildfire, his emotions bleeding through the bond she had tried so hard to sever.
And whatever he was feeling...rage, lust, agony...it was clawing at her too, like a beast trying to escape its cage.
She could not stay still.Not when every gasp of air tasted like him.
Backyard, beyond the kitchen doors...that’s where she was headed, hoping it would be quieter. Deserted even.
She staggered out the back doors and down the stone steps.Her chest heaved, the breath inside her coming too fast.
"Breathe...breathe, Autumn...don’t lose it now."
The moonlight slanted through the hedges, dappling her crimson gown as it swayed around her ankles.
But the fire in her veins was growing.
Her fingers fumbled at the tiny buttons running down the back of her bodice. She didn’t care anymore if the damn thing ripped. She yanked at the top.The fabric parted, exposing the delicate lace of her innerwear, the moonlight tracing the rapid rise and fall of her chest.
She didn’t care if the silk slipped, if the chill bit at her bare shoulders...she just needed air. Needed to escape the suffocating press of the bond that was pulling at her, like a hook lodged deep in her ribs.
"What the hell is happening to me?"
She reached the stone fountain at the center of the garden, its water glinting silver under the stars. Gripping the edge, she bent forward, gasping, her reflection distorted by the ripples beneath her.Her mind spiraled as she leaned over the fountain edge, one hand gripping the stone tighter than the other.
Damn him. Damn this. Damn everything.
Water trickled quietly, as if trying to soothe her.
"What’s wrong with me?" she hissed to herself, pressing her forehead against the cold marble.
Autumn’s body went rigid.
The air behind her shifted...subtle.
"No," she rasped. Her voice came out sharp and also pleading at once.
She knew exactly who it was.
"Go back," Autumn called out, her voice cracking like dry leaves. "I don’t want anybody here! "
Kieran looked disheveled! She sniffed the female scent. Not just perfume, female arousal. Fresh, hot juices on his body.
Her knuckles grabbed the marbles tighter and she turned too fast.
His shirt was half unbuttoned, his hair out of shape like someone had pulled at it.His eyes were burning with something feral, untamed.His lips were...swollen...filled with lust.
His chest rose and fell in uneven bursts, his jaw clenched so tight she could see the muscle twitching.
Autumn gulped. The bastard had been having sex? Was it that? This pain? This discomfort???
" Why the fuck are you here Alpha Kieran? " Autumn barked out despite herself.
"You tell me," Kieran growled taking Autumn by surprise.
He came closer. Autumn took a step back.
" Alpha, please. I... I just want to be alone. I am not feeling too well... "
But he wasn’t listening.
"I have been losing my goddamn mind in there, and..." His gaze raked over her exposed skin, the lace barely covering her, the flush creeping down her chest. "...and I see you...you are out here undressing like you are on fire."
Autumn’s cheeks burned. "I was hot."
"Yeah?" A dark,lamenting...mocking smirk. "Me too."
She stiffened. "This isn’t funny."
"No," he agreed, his voice dropping to a rough whisper. "It is hell.And I am burning..."
For a heartbeat, neither moved.