Born By Moonlight by Krista Street

Chapter 12

~ AVERY ~

Wyatt was leaning against the wall, his hands stuffed into his pockets, but the second he saw me he straightened.

My breath caught. As always, his presence made my insides flutter. That flapping feeling only increased when I took in the width of his shoulders, the cut of his jaw, and the worry etched into his features.

“Hi,” I said, startled, my door still open behind me.

Hesitation hung around him, as if he wasn’t sure he should be here. “I just wanted to check on you.”

I eased the door closed, the soft click the only sound around us. “I’m okay.”

His brow furrowed, and I realized how ridiculous my response sounded.

“I’m sorry I left you back at the scoring boards. I shouldn’t have done that.”

He groaned. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m so goddamned sorry about your test. I know you would have passed if it wasn’t for—” He sighed. “You know why.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know. With my magic, that test would have been a piece of cake.”

A moment of silence fell. All of the things he’d revealed in the forest bubbled up inside me again. Mate. The air charged around us. I swore if anyone else had been there, they would have felt it crackle.

“I’d like you to get checked again at the healing center, before I leave,” he said hoarsely. “If you’re okay with that.”

The breath rushed out of me. Right. Wyatt was leaving. Pain cut through me, making my heart squeeze. Yet even though he probably had a hundred things to do before he left, he was here, patiently waiting for me, wanting to know if I was okay, and wanting to get me checked so he could know my status before he left again.

Even I wasn’t angry enough to deny him that.

“Yeah, of course. I can do that.” I texted Charlotte, telling her I’d be there soon, but I needed to do something else first.

She replied back immediately.

Don’t sweat it. We’re here. Just let us know if you change your mind and want us to come to you. xx

My lips lifted in a sad smile. If it weren’t for the comet, I would have been celebrating with them now.

“Avery?” Concern laced Wyatt’s question.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket and braved a smile. “Sorry. I just had to tell Charlotte and Eliza that I was going to be late. I’m supposed to meet them.”

“If you’d rather not get tested now and do it later instead, that’s completely fine. It’s your choice.”

Even though he was once again putting my needs first, he still stood stiffly, shadows in his eyes.

My insides turned over. He just wanted to know about my life force, if I was still hanging on before he left.

Mate.

“No, it’s fine. I mean, you’re probably right. I should get checked out, ’cause if my magic disappeared this morning, it’s probably best to know if my life force—” I clamped my lips shut.

A storm ripped across his features before he locked his jaw. “I’ll escort you.”

I stepped away from my door and began walking down the hall. He fell into step beside me, his hand coming to rest on my lower back.

I jumped. The feel of his warm palm seeped through my shirt. How long had it been since he last touched me?

He curled his fingers and jerked his hand away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay. You just caught me by surprise.”

He gave me a tight smile, his expression veiled.

We took the stairs down and headed outside. SF members were doing afternoon drills and training in the surrounding fields. Despite it being test day, that didn’t stop what the numbered squads were doing. At any moment, they could be called away for an assignment. Life and death responsibilities still ruled this fortress. The Gods only knew that the law and order the SF was tasked with keeping didn’t stop just because a few new recruits hadn’t passed their final tests.

“Do you know how long you’ll be in Bulgaria?” I asked as we walked on the sidewalk toward the healing center.

“I don’t. It all depends on what we find and how quickly.” A deep crease appeared between his brows.

My stomach dipped again when I realized that I may never see Wyatt again if I died before he . . .

I twisted my hands as we approached the healing center.

A low growl came from Wyatt, then his hand was on my back again, his touch gentle and comforting.

The warmth from his hand eased me in more ways than even I understood. Some of the worry slipped out of me.

“This way,” he said gruffly. He opened the door, ushering me inside and toward the elevators.

The entire ride up to the second floor, his large frame felt so big in the small space. A presence hovered around him, a weight that had nothing to do with a scale but more to do with a force. Some women probably found an alpha wolf’s powerful build intimidating, even scary, but I’d always found Wyatt’s presence soothing. The only time that had changed had been the night after the stars. And now . . .

Now, I didn’t know what to think.

I nibbled my lip when the doors opened, as I once again remembered what he’d revealed in the forest. He believed I was his mate. Over the past weeks, he’d pushed me away so I could pursue my dream at the Institute and not be encumbered by a long-distance relationship, but he’d intended to find me again after he upheld the commitment that kept him here at the SF.

And even though he’d lied to me—which was a super shitty thing to do—I was kind of starting to understand his reasoning.

I sneaked a glance at him again when we stepped onto the healing center’s ward. He seemed to sense it, because his head dipped and his eyes locked onto mine. His expression was carefully schooled, but a faint glow rimmed his irises, and his hand still pressed against the small of my back, the touch gentle yet surging with strength.

His touch held the promise of endless love and fierce devotion—if only I accepted him in return.

Gods, how could I have been so wrong about him? He was still the same boy I’d fallen in love with in high school. The last three months had just been one giant, colossal misunderstanding.

My stomach tightened. Mate.

But just as emotions threatened to overtake me, one of the witches hurried from around the main desk. It was Sally, the young red-headed healer, who blushed every time Wyatt stepped onto the ward.

“Major Jamison,” Sally said, nervously peeking up at him through her lashes.

But if Wyatt was aware of her giddy interest, he didn’t show it. His warm hand stayed on my back, its reassuring weight causing goosebumps to pepper my skin when he began making slow movements up and down, just enough to let me know he was there while also tingling my nerves in a calming rhythm.

“Is Farrah here?” he asked, his gaze already sweeping the corridors over the young witch’s head.

Sally’s eager expression dimmed, even more so when her attention drifted to Wyatt’s hand which had lowered to my waist. “She is. She’s tending to a patient right now.”

“Tell her Avery Meyers and I need to see her when she finishes. We’ll be waiting in the scanning room.”

He didn’t wait for Sally’s reply and instead propelled me down the hall, his normally long strides shortening to accommodate my gait.

My heart hammered at the feel of him, that familiar somersaulting in my belly growing again—the sensation I’d lived with daily when Wyatt and I were teenagers.

But when we entered the scanning room that I’d come to know so well, I stiffened. The magical device that I’d been laying on every morning for the past week waited—and this time, it promised a much different picture than the last one it painted.

The pressure of Wyatt’s fingers on my back increased into a soft and calming massage until my tensed muscles loosened once more. With his free hand, he pulled a chair over. “Why don’t you sit down?”

I nodded, thankful for the seat. Despite Wyatt’s presence, it felt as if my legs could give out.

Once sitting, I folded my hands together and took deep, steadying breaths.

Wyatt prowled to the doorway, peering around it to where the witches were busy at work down the hall. When he caught me watching him, he gave a small smile.

“Have you been to the Bulgarian libraries before?” I asked, anything to distract myself from what was to come.

“No, it’ll be my first time.”

I folded my fingers together, then unfolded them. “I’ve heard they’re quite extraordinary. That they employ more gargoyles than any library in the world.”

“Four hundred and six last time I checked.”

My eyebrows shot up. “That many?”

“Yep. Wes is convinced that if answers lie anywhere, it’s there. He’s been trying since last week to secure a permit for me from the courts, but as you probably know, the courts can be damned annoying.” He growled, then huffed.

I laughed, the sound taking me by surprise, but he looked so cute and put out, like a teenager who hadn’t gotten his way.

Some of the tense lines around his mouth softened, his lips tipping up. “It’s been too long since I’ve heard that sound.”

I sobered, my laugh tinkering out. His quiet declaration reminded me of what he’d said in the forest. Of everything he’d revealed.

Mate.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, as our eyes stayed locked together.

“Thank you,” I said softly, breaking the silence. “For working on my case and trying to help me, and thank you for my training. I know you called in a debt from Major Armund to do that. And I know nobody’s ever done that for an ambassador student before. So thank you for doing everything you could to help prepare me. And thank you for telling me the truth about my condition before you left, and getting my car when I forgot it downtown, and for checking my score for me, and—” My breath caught. “And for what you said in the woods, for coming clean about how you really feel for me, and being honest about what happened three months ago. Honestly, Wyatt, I can’t thank you enough. I had no idea you were doing all of that for me.”

My gratitude spilled out, my words growing faster and faster. My chest was heaving by the time I finished, my breaths shallow pants.

In a blink, he was at my side again, sitting in the chair beside me, but he was so damned big that his knee brushed mine. He began to move his leg, but my hand shot out and settled on his hard thigh.

The second I touched him, his entire body stilled.

I licked my lips and peered up at him. “And thank you for being with me here right now. It helps having you here.”

The glow around his eyes intensified as his jaw locked closed. I could have sworn the heat rising from his leg increased.

He nodded curtly, his chest filling with a shallow breath.

My palm warmed and tingled. He was so hard. All of him was like a rigid wall of stone and mortar, as if he would erect himself around me to stop anyone or anything from daring to touch or hurt me.

Something clenched deep inside me—something I hadn’t felt since that night under the stars.

He took a deep breath, then tentatively placed his hand over mine. His large palm felt rough and warm. His fingers curled, squeezing me gently.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

My breath caught, my throat growing thick. I opened my mouth to tell him that I felt the same, but Farrah bustled into the room.

The second she appeared, my hand shot back to my side, slipping out from under his palm.

Farrah came to an abrupt stop, her attention sliding first to Wyatt, then me, then to Wyatt’s hand which still rested on his thigh.

Wyatt tensed, and I could have sworn the energy around him grew thicker, but if Farrah thought it was odd to have a commanding officer sitting so closely to his recruit—while practically holding hands—she didn’t comment.

Instead, she pulled out her tablet and tapped a few buttons on it. From the familiar routine, I knew she was pulling up my chart.

“Sally tells me you wanted to see me?” she said briskly.

Wyatt gave a curt nod. “I’d like Avery assessed again. Her magic disappeared entirely this morning.”

Farrah’s eyes flashed wide, but that tell of surprise disappeared when she smoothed her features into calm professionalism. “Gone? She still had five percent this morning.”

“I know.” I ran my hands up and down my thighs, my palms suddenly feeling damp. “But I don’t think it’s there anymore. Right before my test this morning, I felt it go. It was like the last of it just slipped away.”

Farrah frowned, then waved toward the pile of gowns on the counter. “I see. In that case, would you mind changing, Avery? I’ll run the scans again.”

I stood on shaky legs and grabbed one of the gowns before stepping behind the curtain. Once I had my SF T-shirt off and the gown on, I slid around the changing area and shimmied myself up on the scanner’s bed.

Wyatt pushed to a stand, that same vibrating energy growing off him again. It was weird, even though my magic was gone and I couldn’t register his supernatural strength or power, I still felt his presence. I wondered if that was what humans detected when standing near a powerful supernatural.

“Lie back, and I’ll begin.”

I did as Farrah said, and she set to work, attaching the stickers to my chest and limbs. The familiar hum of magic washed around me as the enchanted devices vibrated to life.

Wyatt stayed near the wall. He paced a few times, but then seemed to realize what he was doing, and ground to a halt before crossing his arms.

Once again, I swore the energy in our surroundings increased. Even though I didn’t have my magic anymore, the sheer power of him filled the room.

“This won’t take long.” Farrah’s fingers flew over her tablet as the scan began.

As before, the lasers swathed me, bathing me in their magical glow. A few minutes later, it was complete and I was getting dressed behind the curtain before joining Farrah and my commander on the other side.

“Well?” I asked, as I tucked in the last of my shirt. “What does it say?”

Farrah’s frown deepened as she reviewed the information. She swiped to the next page on her tablet, then threw me a shaky smile.

“Sorry for the bother, Avery, but would you mind slipping back into that gown? I’d like to run the scan one more time, just to make sure it’s accurate.”

A stone formed in my stomach, and the luminescence around Wyatt’s eyes increased. I didn’t say a word, and instead whirled around to change again.

But on the second round, when I was lying flat on the scanner’s bed, an aching sense of doom grew in me. Farrah had seen something on the first scan. Something she couldn’t believe she’d seen.

By the time the second scan finished and I was dressed again, it felt as if ants had crawled under my skin and a ghost had grasped my lungs, seizing my inhalations. I couldn’t sit still, and I couldn’t breathe.

Wyatt sat at my side, following my every fidget and nervous movement. His jaw locked, yet he didn’t say a word.

As Farrah reviewed my second scan, her face paled more and more with every page she flipped.

I began to tremble, and Wyatt reached behind me, his large hand settling between my shoulder blades.

I didn’t realize how jumpy I was until he touched me, but with his warm, steady palm splayed across my back while his fingers lightly massaged my stiff muscles, I finally released the encased breath I’d been holding. I relaxed, if only a little, and I swore an approving growl rumbled in his chest.

“I’m sorry for taking so long,” Farrah finally said. She pulled over a chair and joined us.

I tensed. Every time she’d sat down with me in the past after a scan, the news hadn’t been good.

“Just say it,” I said, my fingernails digging into my palms.

Her brow creased, concern lighting her eyes. “Your magic is indeed gone, but it’s your life force that I find most concerning. It fell another thirty percent from this morning. It’s now down to fifty percent.”

My breath stopped, and Wyatt’s fingers stilled.

“Thirty percent?” he said, his tone biting. “But the last test was only eight hours ago.”

“I know.” She scooted her chair closer and placed a hand on my arm. “That’s why I wanted to test you again. I was hoping it was inaccurate.”

“Gods.” It was all I could manage, all I could utter. Fifty percent. I could be dead in days.

“So she has zero magic, and only fifty percent of her life remains? And you’re sure that’s correct?” Wyatt shifted to be closer to my side as the heat off him grew.

Before I realized what I was doing, I leaned into him. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, drawing me close. It was only when his scent flooded me that I grew aware of what I’d done.

Farrah averted her gaze, again studying the information on her tablet. “I’m sorry. I wish I had better news, but the second scan revealed the same information as the first.” She pocketed her device, then regarded me with sympathetic eyes. “Have you told your family?”

I nodded. “They’re on their way here. I told them this afternoon.”

She placed her hand over mine and gave me a tight smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m glad to hear it.” She squeezed my arm, then stood. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning for your next check up if you wish to continue them.”

She breezed out of the room, her long robe fluttering around her ankles.

My lips parted at her final words. If you wish to continue. As if she knew the check-ups would only further show my downward spiral and just become a formality. Her comment hinted at the fact that most likely I only had days left, a week if I was lucky. And was spending each morning here, hearing more bad news, really how I wanted to spend my remaining time?

The dam I’d carefully encased around my heart burst.

I lurched forward in my seat, my breath rushing out of me. In a heartbeat, Wyatt was kneeling in front of me, his large palms steadying my shoulders.

“Avery, look at me.”

His urgent words had me raising my head as my entire body began to tremble.

The glow in his eyes intensified and every muscle in his body clenched. “I’m going to find a way to fix this.”

The torment in his words and agony in his expression had tears filling my eyes. “But what if you can’t?”

He snarled. “I will. I’ll find a way. I won’t let you die.”

I squeezed my eyes shut as Farrah’s departing words again filled my mind. If you wish to continue.

Wyatt ran his hands down my arms. “What can I do right now? What do you need? Tell me what you need.”

You.

The thought stole over me before I could stop it, but it was true. What I needed right now was him, holding me and supporting me, essentially everything he’d been doing since the moment he came back into my life this morning. I scoffed. Was it really only this morning since he’d returned from the fae lands to watch me fail my final test?

So little time had passed, yet my life was careening in a downward spiral.

As if sensing the growing urgency in me, he pulled me to him. Before I could process what was happening, we were standing and I was in his arms, his entire body pressing against mine.

“I won’t let you die,” he whispered in my ear. “I won’t. I’ll find a way to stop it.”

My heart broke at the thick emotion in his voice. I wrapped my arms around him, savoring the feel of him and relishing his oak and pine scent. “Just hold me. Please.”

He swallowed but didn’t reply. Instead, his grip tightened, and I closed my eyes, sinking back in time to the night under the stars when he’d held me just as tenderly as he did now.

“We wasted so much time,” I whispered. “I wish—”

But I couldn’t continue. How could I wish for something that could never be? In another lifetime, another world, maybe we could have found a way to be together. But that wasn’t my reality. I was already saying my goodbyes. I was accepting a truth that I could neither control nor eradicate.

“No.” His arms turned into bands of steel. “Don’t talk like that. This isn’t the end.”

“But if it is—”

“It’s not!” he said fiercely.

I sank against him, letting him support my weight. It was crazy how easily he’d ripped through my barriers and shredded my walls. It had only taken him a few hours and a raw confession to break down the concrete blocks around my heart. Yet it’d taken me months to erect them. I’d done everything possible to pretend that I didn’t care and that his rejection hadn’t hurt me, but it had.

And now that I knew the truth of how he really felt, I didn’t want to pretend anymore. “Kiss me.”

His breath stopped, his body growing rigid. “You mean—”

His question hung between us, and I nodded. “If I’m going to be dead in a few days or a week, I want to spend the rest of my time with you.”

“Avery.” His hands tightened, gripping my waist and digging into my flesh. “Don’t say that. Please. I can’t . . . the thought of you not—”

I silenced him by pressing my lips to his.

He groaned, his eyes closing, and the feel of his mouth on mine again ignited a fire in my core and awakened my senses. I threaded my fingers through his hair, opening my lips under his.

He didn’t need further encouragement. His grip tightened, and he pulled me so savagely against him that I didn’t know where he ended and I began.

I moaned when his tongue dipped into my mouth, playing with mine, as the scent and taste of him flooded me, bringing me home.

“Avery,” he whispered. His kiss deepened as our lips throbbed and the urgency between us grew.

His hand locked around my neck, angling my head back farther so he could plunder my mouth. I moaned as the delicious taste of him overflowed my senses. Our tongues danced, dipped, and tasted one another in a fevered pitch. Need curled inside my belly, wrapping around my core, reminding me that it had been so long—too long—since he’d last given me release.

“Avery,” he growled. He tore his mouth from mine to kiss down my neck, then beneath my ear, before grasping the sides of my face desperately yet tenderly between his palms. “I would die for you,” he said hoarsely. “I would do anything for you. I need you to know that.”

I nodded quickly, hating that he’d stopped kissing me and needing to feel him, all of him.

He dipped his head again, his lips sealing over mine. And when I ran my hands up his sides, over the broad, muscled planes of his back, his entire body shuddered.

He gripped me harder, then growled, the low sound rumbling in his chest before his hands moved down and curved around my ass.

He lifted me in an abrupt swoop.

I opened my thighs and wrapped my legs around his waist, letting him support my weight. He crushed my core against his hard length, already stiff and throbbing.

Moaning, I ground against him, wanting to feel him, needing to straddle his erection, and grip him so tightly until we—

Someone cleared their throat from behind us.

My head flew back, jerking toward whomever stood in the doorway just as Wyatt snarled his displeasure.

“I’m sorry,” Sally said, her eyes wide and her cheeks pink. “But Farrah asked me to come clean the room since your exam is over.”

Wyatt’s chest heaved. A feral expression covered his face, but he slowly lowered me until my feet were firmly back on the floor.

“Give us a minute,” he said curtly.

Sally bobbed her head, her lips puckering. She gave me an envious glance, her gaze drifting back to Wyatt before she hurried from the room.

I gulped in a breath, my body still on fire. Embarrassment crept up my cheeks that we’d just been caught like a couple of teenagers making out in the school’s broom closet.

When Wyatt caught my expression, he shook his head, then chuckled before pulling me close again and running his hands up and down my back. “That kiss doesn’t even come close to all of the things I want to do to you, Little Flower,” he whispered in my ear.

I shivered again, loving the feel of him against me, but just as quickly as the high of being with him came, so did the crashing wall of reality that it would all soon come tumbling down.

His grip on me tightened. “Avery,” he said, his fingers clasping my chin, then tilting my head up. His irises glowed. “I’ll find a way.”

Thick emotion clogged my throat. All I could manage was a nod, because as much as Wyatt was intent on finding a cure, deep down, both of us knew that may not be possible.

A buzzing sound came from his pocket. He rearranged his arms and pulled out his tablet. A fierce look of determination grew on his face as he read a message.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s from Wes. The final arrangements have been made. I’m going to Bulgaria, and I’m going to find you a cure.”