Born By Moonlight by Krista Street

Chapter 10

~ WYATT ~

Avery’s soft footsteps cracked twigs and swished through the brittle leaves behind me. Every sound she made had my senses jolting to attention. It was as if now that I’d voiced my desire to make her my mate, my senses grew hyperaware, every nerve in my body zinging with apprehension at what she’d say or do next.

My gut clenched as if I’d swallowed rocks. She hadn’t accepted my apology. Not fully. She’d believed me. I’d scented that much, but even though her anger had lessened, she was still royally pissed off and for good reason.

But . . . she’d hesitated at the thought of waiting two years for me. Hesitated.

A sour taste filled my mouth.

And that was why I’d never forced a relationship on her. That was the reason I’d chosen to push her away instead of telling her the truth and asking her to wait for me.

I hadn’t wanted to put her in that position.

Because the response I’d just gotten was exactly what I’d feared, and it made me want to howl in frustration.

But I kept my footsteps steady even though every muscle in my body coiled. I’d dropped enough on her today. She didn’t need my emotional baggage on top of it.

Still, it was hard. Damn hard to act like I was fine. Magic simmered beneath the surface of my skin, heating my blood, as my wolf prowled and paced in my belly.

She didn’t outright reject us, I reminded him. She hesitated.

He snarled. According to him, this mess was entirely my fault.

And he was completely right.

Slivers of trepidation swirled in my belly as we walked back to headquarters, because it was possible that Avery didn’t feel the mate bond like my wolf and I did.

I took a deep breath and called upon my years of training to keep my focus clear. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Because thinking about Avery, about what lay ahead for her and potentially us, was like tumbling down the rabbit hole. I knew that if I allowed it, I’d never claw my way out of that bottomless pit, and right now, I needed to stay focused and tuned into the task of ridding her of her mysterious illness.

Her life depended on it.

The Bulgarian libraries were our last chance to find a cure for whatever ailment plagued my mate. Their archives spanned millennia and contained more scrolls and ancient texts than any supernatural library in any realm.

Once there, I would hunt for answers relentlessly. I wouldn’t rest. I wouldn’t fail. I would do whatever it took to seek the cause of her failing magic and life force, and only then after I’d found a way to save her, would I face a future in which Avery may not choose me in return.

“What time do you leave today?”

Her quiet question snapped me from my brewing thoughts just as the edge of the woods appeared.

“As soon as my meeting with the gargoyle scholars finishes.”

“So the gargoyles were also working here while you were working in the fae lands?”

“That’s right. Masters Mallory and Alarus were assigned to your case.”

Her breath stuttered before she said haltingly, “I didn’t realize so much was going on behind the scenes, and to think when I’d been researching in the library last week, the gargoyles had been searching for the same information at the same time.”

I could only grunt in return. She had no idea that I’d also contacted every gargoyle who had ever worked in our library to see if they had any idle time to search for answers. I’d even been willing to sacrifice part of my life in return, as was the deal when one made a request of the gargoyles outside of the court’s ruling.

But no gargoyles had been available for me to make a bargain with. I hadn’t been surprised, since the four-foot-scholars were so coveted. Because a gargoyle’s knowledge superseded any supernatural’s, they were very sought after, and the legal delicacies didn’t help.

The courts were ultimately in charge of all library gargoyles, because gargoyles were naturally made of stone. They only came alive and stayed alive during daylight hours if they’d been given a human’s or supernatural’s life force to harvest from the courts—the typical punishment for convicted criminals. Like leeches, gargoyles fed off others’ energy forces. Without those sacrificed lives, they’d remain stone indefinitely.

So I’d had to go through the proper channels, through the supernatural courts—the law of our land.

Headquarters loomed around us when we stepped out of the forest onto one of the training fields. To the west, hidden under cloaking spells and iron wards, the SF library stood. Even though on the outside it looked like the other concrete buildings on site, inside was another story.

The library was ginormous and enchanted with magic. It contained thousands of documents on its soaring floating shelves. Mallory and Alarus’s latest report to me last night had revealed the same as my hunt in the fairy realm—nothing.

On the open field, Avery shifted closer to my side. Even with her magic gone, that soft lilac fragrance still clung to her like a delicate aura. My fingers shook at that realization. That scent solidified her witch heritage, yet her magic was gone. Logic deemed that her scent should be that of a human now, but it wasn’t.

So what the hell did that mean? Was she still magical because the comet’s magic was inside her? It was the only reasoning that made sense.

I threaded a hand through my hair. That had to be it, because if Avery’s magic was gone, she should carry the scent of a human, but she didn’t, which only proved how bizarre the Safrinite comet’s magic was.

My nostrils flared, and I tried to tamp down my anxiety. How the hell did we fight something we didn’t understand?

“Wyatt?” Avery said quietly, snapping my attention back to her. “About what you said in the woods . . .” She wrung her hands. “It just caught me by surprise. I didn’t know you felt that way, and for so many weeks, I’ve been thinking the worst of you, and I don’t know—” She shook her head. “I’m still angry. I know you probably don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. That, and it’s a lot to take in. A lot to process.”

A bone-deep weariness filled me. “I know. I don’t expect anything from you.”

“It’s not that. What you said about the ice cream shop—” Her voice caught. “I remember that day too.”

My gaze snagged to hers, surprise filling me.

“I felt something the first time I saw you too.”

My chest rose unsteadily, hope cutting through me like a knife.

“But right now, I need to focus on staying alive, but I wanted you to know that. I wanted you to know that . . . it wasn’t just you that day who felt something.”

I swallowed the thickness in my throat. Once again, she hadn’t rejected me, but she hadn’t thrown herself into my arms either.

Fuck.

I focused on the new recruit groups to the west working with their commanders. Their tests were this afternoon. All of them reeked of hope and determination—the pummeling scents carrying to me on the wind.

Avery’s attention shifted there too. Longing filled her scent. I imagined she wished she was progressing to the next level of her career.

I curled my hands into fists, fighting my instinct to comfort her.

It didn’t help that today should have been a day of celebration as we once again welcomed the newest generation into the SF, yet all I could think about was the woman walking at my side. The woman I desperately wanted a future with.

Avery cleared her throat, the sound as anxious as the emotional scent floating from her. “What time do they usually post the scores?” The door to the west entrance of the main building loomed ahead.

“They should be up by now.”

Her eyes widened.

“I’ll go with you when you check them.” I didn’t give her a chance to deny me. Once again, that innate need to protect her rose up like a tidal wave. I knew I couldn’t stop what was coming. I knew she hadn’t passed, but maybe, just maybe, the judges had taken pity on her.

We reached the door, and I opened it for her. She gave me a small smile, but her lips were tight with nerves.

“This way.” I led her down the familiar corridors and halls. Excited conversation drifted toward us when I rounded the corner in the wing containing the training rooms. A crowd had gathered around the posting boards, everyone clamoring to see their scores.

A young woman at the front of the group ran her finger up and down the sheets. She stopped when she reached her name. The tentative hope on her face abruptly vanished. She ran her hand along the line again, then pushed back from the wall. Others rushed forward to claim her spot.

The young woman ran past us with an anguished expression as two other recruits from her squad ran after her.

I inhaled her lingering scent of disappointment and regret in the ruffled air.

“Maybe I don’t need to look,” Avery said, jolting to a stop. Her face was pale as she twisted her hands.

A low growl rose up in my throat. My wolf wanted to hurt anyone who caused my mate to wring her hands and look so worried, but I pushed him down. “Would you like me to look for you?”

She bit her lip, and her beautiful golden-flecked eyes wrinkled at the corners. “Could you?”

“Of course.” I would do anything for you. But I didn’t say that out loud. She had enough to worry about without my overbearing instincts to deal with too.

I left her by the wall, hanging back from the boards, and moved closer to the crowd. I didn’t see Charlotte, Nick, Eliza, or anyone else from my new recruit squad in the mix. Usually, commanders brought their new recruits here in a group so everyone could look together. Bavar had probably already done so, or they would be arriving shortly.

The commanders standing near the back wall nodded in acknowledgement to me. I gave a brisk nod in return but didn’t slow my pace.

When the young recruits gathered around the boards saw me, several of them hustled out of the way, making room. The alpha in me was used to the reaction. Most in my pack acted similarly. Even though the human side of me didn’t like using my position to push my way to the front, for Avery, I’d bowl over everybody if I had to.

I reached the board and began scanning the list. My finger stopped when I reached it.

Meyers, Avery  —  new recruit Jamison squad  —  FAIL

My gut tightened. I’d known that result was coming, had known all the way to my bones that they couldn’t pass a new recruit that failed all three tests, even if she was an ambassador recruit. Even if she had suffered an otherworldly magical calamity that none of us had ever heard of.

Yet I’d been hoping, wishing, for them to show leniency. Everyone on the judges’ panel had known what the Safrinite comet had done to my mate.

But they hadn’t shown leniency. They’d shown brutal fairness.

I let my finger fall, my heavy sigh following.

Comet or not, rules were rules. We operated everything in the SF on rigid protocol. There was no gray, only black and white.

Which meant three fails couldn’t be passed no matter the circumstance.

I turned toward where Avery waited, scanning over the heads of those around me to focus on my mate. She stood ten yards away, that last thread of hope lining her face.

Something in me cracked at her barely contained eager look.

And then she saw my expression.

Devastation ripped through the hope in her eyes.

My stomach dropped, and I was already pushing through the crowd to get back to her, but she gave me a tight smile and shook her head, her eyes pleading with me to stop.

I jerked to a halt. She didn’t want my pity, even though what I felt wasn’t pity. It was biting regret, soul-shattering rage, and the need to vengefully right how she’d been wronged. The storm of emotions nearly consumed me.

But she didn’t want any of that.

I knew my eyes were glowing with the emotions that burned through me, yet just as I opened my mouth to call for her, she turned on her heel and ran.