Royal Wolf Box Set by Haley Weir

Chapter Ten

When Aeron caught sight of Samar still standing at the edge of the courtyard, he stopped and looked at her.

“Sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t help but watch you. You’re an impressive fighter.”

Aeron smiled and stretched out his hand toward her. Samar walked toward him, and her eyes ran down his body all the way to where the crook of his pants tightened around the bulge between his legs. Aeron noticed her lingering gaze and smiled. There was heightened tension in the air as they both stared at each other with the same familiar longing. Then, Samar broke the stained moment with a bit of playfulness.

“Do you want to see some of my Kitsune tricks?” she asked with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Aeron was, of course, extremely interested in seeing what a Kitsune could do. Aside from her beautiful shifting that he had already seen.

“Fight me,” she said.

Aeron laughed.

“I’m not going to fight you,” he said.

“Come on,” Samar pleaded. “You have to spar with me so I can show you what I can do.”

“Fine,” Aeron conceded. “But I’m not going to fight hard.”

Samar shrugged her shoulders.

“You might end up changing your mind on that,” she smirked.

Aeron took it easy on her, giving her a hint of slow movement in his stance before he struck. And even when he went to throw a hit, it was soft and meant to mark the move and not actually land a hit. Samar giggled because she knew that he wasn’t really trying, so she decided to show him that he should have a bit more faith in her abilities.

Samar didn’t even need to shift to use some of her Kitsune magic. As Aeron’s hand came to tap her across the shoulder, Samar used her Kitsune magic to craft an illusion that seemed to move time and space. Aeron smugly thought that he had landed the soft hit, only to blink seconds later and see that he was not even anywhere near Samar. He turned around quickly and looked over his shoulder to see Samar standing behind him.

“How did you do that?” he asked, completely disoriented.

Samar grinned at him and giggled.

“Try again,” she said. “This time, really try, please.”

Aeron still wasn’t going to hit her at full force, but he did put a little more effort into it this time. He gauged her position and put a bit more force behind his throw. Aeron’s aim was perfect. He never missed a shot, ever. But just as he went to knock Samar onto the ground, the same thing happened again. Not only did he find himself in a completely different spot than he had thought he was in, but he also looked down to see that there was a small fire growing around his feet. Aeron quickly hopped out of the slowly growing circle of flames and stomped it out until it was nothing but smoldering embers. Then he stood and looked at Samar in amazement and disbelief.

She smiled at him with satisfaction before she explained what she had done.

“Kitsune can create illusions,” she said. “The place that you thought you were aiming for wasn’t really the place where I was standing.”

“Impressive,” Aeron said in awe. “And the fire?”

“I can create small flames,” she said. “It takes a lot of energy, but I can do it. I can also create a blue flame that counters actual flames.”

Samar made another little fire grow on the ground between them. It seemed as if she had crafted flames right out of the air. She watched the fire grow until it was about the size of a small cat. Then, she made a new fire appear, one that was a blueish hue, which seemed to drown out the other almost like it was water.

“That is fascinating,” Aeron said. “I can help show you how to hone those abilities to be useful in combat. I can teach you how to anticipate your opponent’s moves so that you know exactly where to create the illusions, and I can show you how to use fire as a weapon to wield. If you want me to?”

Samar widened both her smile and her eyes. She not only wanted to learn how to better use her abilities to fight, but she was also completely enthralled by the idea of a personal and private training session with Aeron.

“Yes! Can we start now?” she asked him.

“What about resting?”

“We can rest afterward.”

Aeron beamed at her enthusiasm and took her hand in his to bring her into the center of the courtyard to begin.

The two of them trained together well past the others and into the evening. But even when they were about to finish, rest was not on the agenda. The rising adrenaline that came from sparring, and the closeness of their bodies wrestling against each other as they fell to the ground in what should have been a fighting match, ended up turning into a heated love-making session in the courtyard beneath the stars. Instead of throwing punches and dodging hits, their movements turned from combative to sensual. With each swiping hand, an article of clothing was pulled off and thrown out of their way. With each tumble to the ground, it took them longer to stand back up again, until finally, they didn’t even try to get up at all. Their bodies wrestled together, trying futilely to hold onto what they were supposed to be doing but eventually giving in as they wrapped their bodies around each other, and Aeron skillfully pushed inside of Samar with a steady force. Her eyes lit up, and so did his. There, against the backdrop of fight training, the soft grass of the courtyard beneath them, they moved against each other. When they finished, they laid together in an exhausted heap and held onto each other as if the war wouldn’t be able to reach into their arms.

“I know you still love Cassandra,” Samar said to him gently as her head laid against his chest and he ran his fingers through her hair.

She paused and took in a slow and unsteady breath as if she were nervous about what she was about to say next.

“But I hope that you can love me too,” she spoke softly.

Aeron tilted his chin down to look into her eyes.

“Something brought me here to you,” she continued. “I came to Grenvich because of what my mother said. But I came into the castle for another reason, one I cannot even explain. I was drawn to your door, and the moment that I saw you there, I just knew. I feel as if we are supposed to be together here and now.”

Aeron didn’t say anything right away. He had always had some difficulty with vulnerability and letting his feelings be known, especially when he struggled with figuring them out himself. But this time, he felt as if he knew exactly what Samar was talking about because he had felt the same way too.

“I feel the same, and I promise that I will always keep you by my side, Samar.”

At his words, she smiled and nestled her head deeper against his chest. They wouldn’t lay there all night, because in the morning, the courtyard would once again be filled with people ready to begin their training. But they would lay together for a few more moments in the fresh air and with the blissful exhaustion of spent bodies. Then they would go to the bedroom to try to sleep before tomorrow unveiled whatever it would bring.

Aeron laid there with Samar in his arms and thought about what she had said. His feelings for her had grown, and he was now starting to see a future between them. Maybe, after this war was won, they could all be happy together again. Maybe he wouldn’t feel the hollow pit of longing in his stomach that he felt every day when he saw Cassandra with Rubius. Maybe this was where his future was supposed to end up—with Samar, a stray Kitsune that the fates had somehow brought to his castle and placed into his path for him to help, and love, and surrender to.

When they finally got up, they grabbed their clothes with them and walked to the bedroom naked in the dark halls of the castle. Cassandra had gone to spend the night in the forest with Rubius, so Aeron urged Samar into his bed with him. He fell asleep listening to her soft breathing beside him and imagining what children with a Kitsune would look like. He imagined that they would be beautiful and lookjust like her.