Page 41 of Entwined

I throw him a disbelieving stare. “I’ve got no money!” Agitation beats at me. “You do remember my meeting in the dean’s office, right?”

“You don’t need money. You have us,” he shrugs, as if that’s all he needs to say.

Connor digs his fingers into my ass cheeks with bruising force, and I swing around to shoot him a glare. “You aren’t listening to us, Starling,” he tells me, his tone gentle. “My family might have a problem, but it won’t be with you.”

“The Thierras will be lucky to get through this unscathed after what their bitch daughter did comes out,” Vaelor agrees, sounding way too gleeful about it.

“And my family won’t look too kindly on the way your grandfather handled this, either,” Connor agrees. “But that’s all beside the point. It doesn’t matter what my family thinks.”

My brows furrow, uncertainty beating at me. “It doesn’t?”

Vaelor laughs in my ear, sending shivers running through me. “You should know better by now, Princess,” he purrs. “When the fuck have we ever cared about what anyone else thinks?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

vaelor

Istep back as Connor releases his hold on Felicity, slowly dropping her down his body, dragging her against every solid inch of him. He throws his head back on a groan, the tendons in his neck popping out in stark relief.

“Fuck,” he whispers, eyes on the sky above us. “Was it only this morning that I last had my dick inside you? It feels like it’s been longer.”

I lean forward, my lips brushing Felicity’s ear. “You know, a shifter gets caught up in the bloodlust after a kill. It’s like their adrenaline can’t regulate to a normal level without doing something to release the tension.” I nip her, and her breath hitches. “He’s stuck infight or fuckmode right now. You got anyone else you want to sic your wolf on? Or have you got a better idea of how you can help your mate?”

“Vaelor,” Connor cautions, just as Felicity’s throat bobs on a rough swallow.

“I haven’t agreed to anything,” she whispers.

“Haven’t you?” Connor’s head drops, green eyes piercing,tracking the movement when her tongue flicks out to wet her lips.

I wrap an arm around her shoulders, pressing a palm into the rune branded on her chest. She hisses at the pain of it, arching away from my punishing hold, but then the bond flares to life, throbbing with urgency. “Your body makes a liar of you, Princess.”

“We can feel you,” Connor adds. “You opened yourself up to us and the mating bond. Tell me you don’t sense it.”

She pulls away from us, backing up a step. We don’t move, Connor watching her with a feral gleam, his wolf prowling close.

Felicity’s lashes flutter, her mouth working, and we can feel her apprehension leaking into our chests—a feeling grounded in a fear of rejection after years of her family constantly letting her down and neglecting her. Our mate is touch-starved and desperate to believe us, but she’s been burned too many times to trust our word.

Felicity wants to hide from this, to run, but we won’t let her, no matter how scared she might be.

“You didn’t give me a choice,” Felicity whispers, the breeze picking up and whipping through her hair. “And I don’t know if I can trust you…” She touches her chest, everything about her screaming that shewantsto.

“Look at the bond,” Connor urges. “You don’t need to trust us when you canseeit.”

She stares at him in bemusement. “What the hell are you talking about?” She looks around wildly, as if something’s about to jump out at her. “Seewhat?”

I look over at Connor as his eyes soften with affection. “The bond, Starling,” he murmurs. “Look inward.” She stares back at him before inhaling deeply and closing her eyes.

I already know what she’ll be looking at—a blanket of dark velvet, lit up by wispy ropes of starlight, transparent but full of vibrant color, stretching out between us, connecting us.

She’ll see two souls—gold and green, flecked with darkness—entwined together and wrapped around hers—a soft blue that glows brightly—in a protective shield. It’s a breathtaking sight that even a cynic like me can appreciate, and one I wasn’t able to see until we lay our marks on her.

“You’ve already accepted us,” I tell her. “You just need to lay your claim.”

She inhales sharply, her eyes flaring wide. “That’s…That’s the bond?”

“It didn’t look like that earlier.” It hadn’t been quite as brilliant, the tendrils that drifted to her end muted and closed off. But now…

Her blue eyes flick to me, filled with caution and a little hope.