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Arch into him before I can stop myself.

Heat floods my veins while something wild and hungry unfurls in my chest.

“Focus on my heartbeat first,” he continues, voice gone rough. “Let it anchor you to something steady.”

I feel it—powerful and measured against my spine, steady as bedrock. The rhythm calms the wild thing clawing inside my chest, creates baseline for everything else.

Gradually, crushing input separates into distinct streams. Individual instruments emerging from cacophony to become symphony.

Morning dew on spider webs.

Individual bird songs weaving harmonies I never noticed.

Wind patterns through different types of leaves creating their own music.

The deep, patient breathing of ancient forest consciousness that tastes like starlight and smells like home.

“Better? Because I can think of other ways to help you... process all this new information.”

“Better.” My voice emerges breathier than intended. I lean back into solid warmth without conscious thought, letting his strength support me while awareness settles into manageable intensity.

“Good.” His arms tighten around my waist possessively. “Now the real lesson begins.”

One hand slides up to cup my face, thumb tracing jawline with maddening softness. The simple touch makes me shiver despite mounting heat that threatens to melt my bones.

“You’ve been living half-dead among iron and stone,” he continues, words vibrating through his chest into my back. “The forest has been calling you home your entire life. Can you hear it now?”

I can.

Between heartbeats, beneath conscious thought, something vast and green and ancient whispers my true name. Not Ash—the human designation given by people who found me. But something older, something that tastes like starlight and growing things and makes my blood sing with recognition.

“Orion.” His name falls like a confession. “This is either the best worst idea I’ve ever had, or you’re about to ruin me for every other man on the planet.”

“You feel it.” Statement, not question. He turns me in his arms until we’re face to face, hands rising to cradle my face between calloused palms that smell like earth and growing things. “The recognition. The pull between us.”

I do feel it.

Something deeper than attraction, more primal than desire.

Like every cell in my body recognizes him as essential, as the missing piece I never knew I’d lost. My nervous system humswith awareness of him—his scent, his warmth, the way his magic tastes like lightning and honey on the back of my tongue.

The Academy bells toll in the distance, breaking the spell. Reality crashes back—duties, appearances, the careful façade I need to maintain while my world tilts off its axis.

“Shit. Reality check time.” I pull back reluctantly. “Much as I’d love to continue this wilderness education, I have a cover to maintain and questions to avoid.”

“No classes today. There’s been a breach at the border. I was on my way there.” He doesn’t release me immediately.

His forehead drops to mine. His fingers tighten possessively in my hair.

“Remember this feeling, Ash.” His voice drops to a growl that makes my pulse spike. “You don’t belong to them anymore.”

His scent marks me like a claim.

“The earth has chosen. I’ve chosen. And everything in me that’s been waiting for you is done pretending this is coincidence.”

The words brand something primal inside me. Something that’s been waiting for exactly this.

He releases me slowly, hands trailing down my arms before letting go completely. The absence of his touch leaves me cold despite the growing warmth of day, like losing essential armor before battle.