Page 38 of Blood Fist

So, he’d attacked him. He’d attacked the strange feelings the bastard brought up in him, tried to bleed out the things he didn’t understand. But all he’d managed to achieve was a sweaty brow and sore muscles.

Sometimes the fight isn’t worth the pain.

Ridan could now, begrudgingly admit, his father had been right. It wasn’t as if he’d run from the alpha, he just avoided him. Not that it was hard. Not with his additional responsibilities on top of his existing chores. And if he’d spent an extra hour grooming Peppercorn until he could see himself in the sheen of her coat, that was between him and his mare.

It was difficult to get away from the gossip. The foreign boys were all the clan could talk about. Worse than when Corric came. He’d been so small then, weak and in desperate need of a home. Everyone took one look at his delicate face and immediately decided he needed to be protected. But these two were different. They’d been warriors who suddenly changed sides. Rushedinto battle to protecthim.For no apparent reason.

Divine interventionhis ass.

They made it farther into the woods, close to where the creek forked off and the razor fish liked to nest for the season. Maybe he could grab a few and convince Momma Sehleh to make some for dinner. It had been a while, and thinking of crunching through their small bones made his mouth water.

But when he got to the small creek, he wasn’t alone.

Standing just before the ford, where the creek wasn’t half a man wide, was the foreigner. He was kneeling in the cold water, nearly naked as he used cupped hands to scrub himself clean. Only wearing his underclothes—white linen nearly transparent as it clung to the man’s thighs—he shivered a little as he scrubbed his skin. Ridan’s eyes traced the gooseflesh as it erupted along his muscles.

He was built well. Thick shouldered and waisted, there wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t big. Even his hair, a dark mane falling around his eyes with the wet tips sticking to his cheeks.

Even though he was alone, the man was‌ smiling to himself. As if the trees and rocks were telling him the funniest of jokes. His teeth caught his lips, a jagged smile that had no right looking as if his lips were the dark of night, hiding the sun every time he closed them.

Bending forward, the man dunked his head in the shallow creek, trying to get his hair wet. He apparently had no soap with him, content to clean himself with just water and fingertips. When he sat up, his hair flopped into his eyes. Water sluiced down his body, and Ridan found his gaze lingering inappropriately.

His nipples were the same color as his lips—almost brown. Perky against his firm chest, they were pebbled fromthe cold. Scars traced across his skin, though not nearly as many as some warriors his age.

From the recesses where it usually slumbered, Ridan’s omega perked up. Like a cat waking from a nap, eyes sleepily parting as it lifted its dainty nose to the air, sniffing for anything of interest before deciding to fall back asleep. He couldn’t smell the alpha over the water and forest, but he was surprised that he wanted to.

And was it really his fault he stared? His disinterest in mating didn’t go so far as to notnoticean attractive alpha. Foreigner or not, the man was attractive. Even his face, cut from stone yet soft around the eyes and mouth, was appealing.

Peppercorn sneezed, breaking the spell. The man jerked, looking up with wide eyes. They settled on Ridan. A flush curled up on his tanned cheeks, as he sheepishly waved.

“Apologies,” he said, as if he had been the one to walk in on Ridan bathing. “I didn’t know this was a popular spot.”

Ridan felt himself sneer. He braided Peppercorn's reins into her mane to keep them from dragging and stepped forward, hands on his hips.

“You decided to bathe off a game trail and didn’t expect to be seen?”

The big alpha blinked. “Oh. I didn’t…notice?”

Ridan looked back at the trail he’d just come from. It was plain as day. How did the idiot miss it?

Rolling his eyes, he looked down at the balled up clothes Brune had apparently just shed. They bobbed in the water beside him. “You know we have a bathing spring.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Ridan seethed, feeling his cheeks heat. They had specific bathing springs for alphas and omegas. He’d never been this close to a near naked alpha before and it was…distracting.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Brune shrugged slightly. He stood, brushing the mud from his knees. Even standing in the creek, he was a head taller than Ridan. He wrung out his underclothes, pulling them from his skin to try to protect what little modesty he still had.

“Maybe you could show me?” he asked with another sheepish smile. After he asked, he froze, eyes going wide. “Er, uh, I mean…someone? I didn’t mean you, of course?—”

“Why not me?” he snapped.

Brune seemed to look everywhere except Ridan. “I mean, you’re the prince.”

“Thewhat?”

“Oh, do you use a different title? Sorry, we called them princes. But you’re um—the heir! That’s what you said before.”

Ridan ground his teeth. “Listen up,foreigner,” he spat, stomping into the creek so he could go toe to toe with the alpha. Even through his boots, he could feel the chill from the mountain creek.