Page 22 of Veil of Shadows (Fae of Woodlands & Wild #2)

CHAPTER 22

I awoke to the feel of Jax’s hard body pressed against mine. His naked chest was flush to my back, and his arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me close.

Sunlight streamed into the room, and one sniff told me that the scent of sex hung heavily in the air.

I blinked sleepily, a smile forming. Jax and I had done many activities throughout the night. A giggle escaped me, and I quickly slapped a hand to my mouth to muffle any further sound. But I couldn’t help another small laugh because the crown prince of Stonewild had taken my virginity. His need through the night had seemed insatiable, but each time, I’d been just as ready for him.

Stars and galaxy, I’m not a virgin anymore. My heart felt so content that it took a full minute before reality began to seep in. Bittersweet reality. I’d given my virginity to my mate, but I could never truly claim him as mine. And that fact burrowed itself into my bones.

The room continued to brighten, but the light within me dimmed. My claim on Jax was coming to an end. We had this night, this one perfect night, but he was still the heir to Stonewild, and I was still a caged lorafin. Nothing could ever come of this, even if the gods had created us as fated mates.

Still... I smiled again. I could enjoy it while it lasted. I would forever savor the memory, and for this one delicious moment, he was still wrapped around me.

I snuggled closer to him. The prince’s deep, rhythmic breathing continued, and I allowed myself time to memorize my mate—the feel of him, his strength, his tenderness, his unbelievably arousing aura that had commanded me completely. Everything about him I wanted to hold close.

I wanted to remember all of the best details, and the only regret I had was that we hadn’t engaged in any positions other than him taking me from behind. Rutting seemed to be what he enjoyed most, but I cherished that too, and I would remember it forever.

Sleepily, I sighed against him.

Jax stirred on my next breath, and a tingle of his magic puffed in his aura. Still asleep, he tightened his arm, then his hand strayed lower, fingers dancing along my skin toward my?—

The door banged open. “Jax, wake up!”

I started at the sound of Bowan rushing into the room, and a squeak emitted from me.

Bowan stopped halfway across the chambers, his feet planting to the carpet. His jaw dropped, and his gaze shot to the floor. “Oh, shite.”

The emission left him just as Jax growled awake. The prince’s arm locked around my waist, dragging me against him, and then a terrifying snarl tore from his mouth just as his magic speared toward the intruder.

Jax’s magic hit Bowan at full force. Bowan twitched upright in a rigid board, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound came out. His entire body began to convulse, then his mouth opened in a silent scream.

Stars and galaxy , the prince was inflicting pain .

I shook Jax’s arm, which was like trying to remove a steel band. “Jax, it’s just Bowan!”

But the crown prince’s arm just locked tighter around my waist.

Sleep was still evident in his expression, so I wiggled against him, hoping to snap him out of whatever sleep-crazed instinct had just overtaken him. “Jax, it’s Bowan !”

In his next blink, the prince’s eyes widened. “Goddess,” he rasped. He released his magic, the power around his friend obliterating.

Bowan blinked and sagged, nearly crumpling to the floor. Somehow, he managed to stay upright, but the second his gaze snagged onto Jax’s, he snapped his attention to the floor once more.

My heart beat frantically because that was quite the wake-up call, yet Jax just pulled me against his chest again, then gathered the covers around us to cover me completely.

“What in the realm are you doing in here, Bowan?” he growled. “And it better be an absolutely fucking fantastic reason. I almost killed you.”

“I...” Bowan’s gaze stayed on his toes, but slowly, he began to lift his head.

“ Don’t look at her when she’s not dressed .” The energy around the Dark Raider soared as his Mistvale commanding magic speared his friend.

I gaped and whipped my attention upward to face Jax and demand to know why he would command his friend like that, but the prince’s focus didn’t waver.

Bowan immediately dipped his chin downward, then inhaled deeply. And even though he kept his attention latched to the rug beneath his feet, I couldn’t help but notice his shocked expression. “I’m...I’m sorry, my prince. I meant no disrespect. I didn’t know.”

“What do you want?” Jax demanded. “And Galaxy Above, Bowan, never enter my chambers like that again when I have her with me.”

“I understand now, but...well, I didn’t expect to find her in bed with you or to know that you?—”

“Enough.” Jax snarled, and his body nearly curled around me. “For the last time, what do you want?”

“I’m here because I saw Bastian,” Bowan said in a rush. “I saw him this morning in the Wood with a group of half-breeds. If we’re fast, we can catch up to them.”

Jax wasted no time heeding Bowan’s call. Within minutes, all of us were dressed and flying from the penthouse suite. Outside, the shifters transformed into their stag forms and took off through the capital’s sleepy streets.

The realm moved in blurred speed around us. I sat in front of Jax, atop Phillen, as the other males kept pace around us. We’d been in such a hurry to leave that neither Jax nor I had spoken a word to one another about what we’d done during the night.

But the evidence of Jax coming inside me again and again had been a sticky mess between my thighs when I’d gotten dressed in a hurry.

I’d used magic to whisk his seed away, but I’d hesitated initially. It was stupid. It was just sex. We hadn’t sealed our bond, and I took an annual contraception to avoid becoming with child, so it wasn’t like anything would come of it, yet wiping away the evidence of what Jax and I had done had also felt like I was wiping away the memory too. And I didn’t want that.

I wanted to remember each detail vividly, but regretfully, I made myself cleanse the remnants of our lovemaking away.

I nibbled on my lip as Phillen continued rocking beneath me. This wasn’t good. Already, my heart was beating too fast at the thought of Jax taking me again, which he couldn’t. This needed to stop. I couldn’t allow myself to become attached any further. Even if he was my mate, reality wouldn’t allow us to claim one another.

But despite knowing that, my heart was aching. Feelings were growing in me that I couldn’t ignore, even though I had to ignore them because he was the crown prince who was to marry another.

Jax’s arm hugged my waist, pulling me back to the present. He leaned down and kissed me on the neck, his lips warm, and the kiss seemed so easy and natural that I wondered if he was even aware that he’d done it.

My breath stuttered as his head slowly lifted, but instead of saying anything, Jax merely straightened and splayed his hand over my stomach again. His entire body was tense, his magic pounding around him. He’d been like that since we’d mounted Phillen and had taken off.

It seemed that finding Bastian was growing into a reality, and it was demanding all of Jax’s attention even though his touches hadn’t stopped, but all of his focus had shifted to finding his brother.

I’d known it would end this way, and it only reminded me that last night was something I could cherish, but I would need to ultimately let go of it.

It was one night, Elowen. Only one night.

Bottom line, all of us were here for Bastian. We weren’t here so Jax and I could begin a scorching affair that would ultimately end in heartbreak.

The stags slowed minutes later. We were in the Wood. Soaring trees, colorful leaves, shrill bird songs, and chattering wildlings filled the space around us. Several pairs of eyes peered up at us from the brush when we finally slowed enough to see details again, and a few steps later, Bowan—who’d been leading the way—ground to a stop.

Jax slipped off Phillen, his hands automatically going up to assist me down, but I slid off before he could. He eyed me briefly, as though making sure I was steady, then turned his sharp eyes outward to assess the Wood.

I took in the prince’s broad shoulders, powerful build, and commanding presence. My lower belly quickened despite trying to stop it, so I snapped my attention away from him. Bastian. We’re here to find Bastian .

In a rush of magic, all of the males shifted back to their fae forms.

Bowan pointed at the wildling trail we’d just traveled on. “He was on this trail, right here the last time I saw him.”

“There’s a stream just up ahead.” I waved down the wildling trail. “This isn’t far from Emerson Estate. I know this part of the Wood well. If Bastian got to the water, his trail might be lost.”

Jax took off, running down the trail toward the stream before anyone could reply.

All of us sprinted behind him. Wind rushed through my hair, and the scent of the Wood, heavy and humid, filled my nose. It was such a familiar, comforting fragrance.

The sprint was quick, yet I was still entirely winded by the time we reached the winding ribbon of water. Of course, none of the shifters were.

Panting, I looked for a sign of Bastian. Rushing water, rustling leaves, and the chattering of wildlings in the trees filled the Wood. It all appeared normal, and there certainly weren’t any signs of a half-breed anywhere.

Panic began to claw up my throat that we were once again so close to finding his brother, only to hit another dead end, because not even the distant sound of a fairy tromping through the Wood was evident. Instead, the only creatures within arm’s reach were in the water. Colorful schools of tiny fish swam lazily at the stream’s edge. The sound of bubbling water cascaded around them, and every now and then, one of the small fish would leap from the stream before splashing back down.

Jax crouched, his fingers going to the bank’s soil. My eyes widened when I beheld footprints in the mud. Some were siltenite, and others were hooves and paws. I hadn’t even noticed them.

“These are fresh.” His gaze sharpened across the stream.

I gasped. There were footprints on that side too, only they were cut deeper into the soil and muddier, as though whoever owned them had trudged through the stream to reach the other side.

Jax stood and pointed. “They went that way.”

My heart lurched that we hadn’t lost the trail after all.

Before anyone could comment, Jax leaped across the stream, crossing the eight-foot span as though it was nothing. The other males did the same.

On the other side, Alec stopped and looked over his shoulder at me. “Sorry, Elowen, I’ll come back and get you.”

“No need to.” I rushed back from the stream’s edge and called upon my lorafin power to heighten my magic. Only a tiny buzz came from my collar, barely noticeable.

In a burst of speed, I took off running, and at the last moment, when I was about to launch myself over the water, I pulled on a segment of my power.

Magic heated my muscles and propelled me with increased strength. I flew through the air, catapulting across the water before landing on the other side. I only slipped slightly when my feet hit the damp soil.

Straightening, I grinned and ran a finger along my collar. “I couldn’t have done that a few weeks ago because of this.”

Alec laughed, then clasped my hand and pulled me with him down the trail.

The others were already well ahead, and we ran to catch up with them and nearly plowed into their backs. They’d stopped, standing immobile in a clearing.

A clearing that hadn’t been here a month ago.

Jax’s nostrils flared the second I neared. His gaze cut to mine, then to where Alec and I were holding hands.

Bowan’s eyes rounded. “Um, Alec, you might want to release your?—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Jax had Alec against a tree, ripping the male from my grip with a furious bellow.

“Don’t. Touch. Her.” Blue light glowed in Jax’s eyes. “She’s mine .”

My mouth dropped in absolute shock at his menacing growl while the rest of the group of stag shifters released a collective intake of breaths.

Trivan gaped. “Holy shite, did he?—”

“Yes,” Bowan hissed. “Yes, he did.”

I stared at all of them, my gaze traveling between them rapid fire. “Did what? What in the realm is going on? Jax, what are you doing ?”

But Jax ignored me, still holding Alec against the tree even though the noble held his hands up in surrender while keeping his eyes down. “I’m sorry, my prince,” he said quickly. “I didn’t know.”

“Elowen?” Lander said quietly from behind me. “Can you lift the hair from the back of your neck?”

“ What ?” My chest heaved. Seriously, what in the galaxy is happening?

“Your hair,” Bowan hissed. “Lift it up, so they can all know I’m not lying.”

Shaking my head, I lifted my hair, showing them the nape of my neck.

The energy in the clearing soared.

“Fuck,” Trivan said, then whistled.

“He seriously did it?” Lars whispered.

“He did,” Phillen growled.

I dropped my hair and swirled around. “Did what?” I demanded, then ran my fingers under my hair, across my nape. Only smooth skin greeted me, but a memory stirred in my mind, of feeling something burning on my neck during the night. “What’s on my neck? What in the realm are you all talking about?” I frantically thought back to my night with Jax. We hadn’t sealed our bond. I was sure of it. So what are they talking about?

But nobody responded. Another snarl tore from Jax, and my jaw dropped again when he appeared in front of me. Antlers had sprouted from his head, like those of a half-breed, looking exactly as he had last night when we’d rut.

My cheeks burned as those heated memories consumed me. “Jax? What. Is. Happening?”

But once again, he didn’t reply, and nobody else did either. Everyone’s attention stayed glued to the ground, and from the wild glowing light in Jax’s eyes, I didn’t know if his mind was functioning in a sane fashion right now. He inhaled, drinking in my scent, and more blue light flared in his irises.

Actually, I was pretty sure he wasn’t of sound mind. Yes, definitely insane. He looked like a beast, and he was certainly behaving like one too given what he’d done to Alec.

Finally breaking the silence, Lander said quietly, “My prince, your brother...we were looking for him.”

Jax shook his head, his huge antler rack swaying. In his next breath, magic puffed around him, and his antlers disappeared. Just like that. They disappeared .

“Dear Goddess, I’m hallucinating,” I whispered.

“You’re not,” Alec said, still by the tree, although now he was in a submissive bow too. “But Lander is right. We need to find Bastian. We’ll deal with... this ... later.”

I swung toward him. “ This ? What is this ?”

Alec smiled feebly. “It’s probably best if the prince explains.”

I planted my hands on my hips and glared at Jax. “Explain what?”

Jax shook his head again, as though shaking off a spell that had been cast over him. His nostrils flared as he drank in my scent again, and then his look grew full of...satisfaction.

But before I could ask again for clarification, he ran a hand roughly over his cheek. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to go all territorial...” He sighed heavily and glanced at Alec, who merely nodded. “Sorry,” he added gruffly to his friends.

They all stood, casting him wary but understanding glances.

Baffled, I stood there immobile and once again wondered if I’d woken up in a new realm. So he’s apologizing for being so aggressive with his friends? Is all of this some kind of weird stag thing? Shaking myself, I turned and lifted my hair. “Jax, what’s on my neck?”

Silence was his only response. Dropping my hair, I spun around to face him, only to find the prince staring at me with another look of satisfaction spreading across his face.

I scowled. “Why are you smiling?”

“You don’t know?” He cocked an eyebrow.

I blew a strand of hair from my eyes. “Know what?”

His brow furrowed, a heavy look descending over his features. “But you said?—”

“My prince,” Bowan hissed. “Bastian? We’re going to lose him if we don’t keep searching.”

Hearing his brother’s name erased Jax’s heavy look, and he snapped his attention to the clearing.

“Right.” He assessed the ground again. It looked as though someone had recently hacked down the trees, but there was nothing else to signify anything unusual besides the plethora of half-breed footprints.

But it was a reminder that we were here to find Bastian, and that was where our focus needed to be right now. I’ll ask him about my neck again later.

“Where did the prints go?” Lander frowned, then crouched and touched the soil. All of the footprints, siltenite and wildling alike, stopped abruptly at the clearing’s edge.

Jax inhaled, and magic curled around him. “Their scent is still fresh. They were just here.”

Everyone circled the perimeter, listening, scenting, but...nothing. There was no sign of Bastian or any other half-breed in the vicinity.

“I don’t sense him,” Lars said quietly.

“Neither do I,” Phillen agreed.

“Well, they didn’t just up and disappear.” Trivan threw his hands up in disgust, then prowled around the clearing’s perimeter, inhaling deeply with each step.

But still, there was no sign of Bastian.

Jax dipped to the ground beside Lander and ran his finger along the prints. “What did you see this morning, Bowan?” he asked his friend.

I tapped my hands on my thighs and continued watching all of them.

Bowan’s eyebrows slanted together. “That group of half-breeds that Alec saw enter the barn last night all left at the same time this morning, just before sunrise, but instead of heading back to the Finals, they all marched toward the Wood. I thought it was odd, especially if they’re employed to work at the Matches, so I left my lookout point to follow them.”

Bowan cleared his throat, then shook his head as his face became a mask of confusion. “At the Wood’s edge, Bastian appeared, but he didn’t really look like Bastian. He wasn’t smiling, and he didn’t say anything, and something about him seemed off. He turned wordlessly and led the group of half-breeds into the Wood on the trail we were just on. I followed them for a bit, but when they never deviated from the wildling trail, I left and came back to get you in hopes we could catch up to them.”

Jax growled low in his throat. “But where did they go? Like Trivan said, they couldn’t have just vanished in thin air from here.”

“Unless they had portal keys?” I offered. “Even though that’s unlikely. Or if a Solis fairy was with them, they could have mistphased them out of here. Or perhaps they went underground?” I thumped my foot on the soil.

“Underground?” Jax’s attention snapped to me, and the second our gazes collided, that wild light entered his eyes, a blue glow appearing in his irises. But he shook himself, and in a flash, it was gone.

I stared at him warily. What in the realm... I didn’t know much about mate bonds, but I was starting to wonder if that had something to do with his bizarre behavior. But we’re not fully mated, so how can that be?

Shaking that thought off, I cleared my throat. “Um, yes, underground. It’s common in this area of the Wood for wildlings to have extensive dens beneath the soil. There are also underground rock tunnels and caverns in this part. Some are quite large.”

Alec cocked his head. “How do you know that?”

I shrugged. “On the days I wasn’t doing a calling, I often spent my time in the Wood. My guards would give me space since there weren’t any other siltenites nearby, and I’ve always found nature calming. The galaxy and the Wood are my solace. Even though my guardian and I had only moved here recently, I’m no stranger to this area of Faewood, and I’ve always made it a point to befriend local wildlings. A few of them told me about this area not long after we settled here.”

They all glanced downward, and Jax ran his hand along the soil again, Lander doing the same. The rest fanned out, all of their nostrils flaring as they scented the Wood and perimeter anew.

On the opposite side of the clearing, Bowan put his hands on his hips, and a ray of sunshine shone upon his brown skin. “They definitely didn’t move past this clearing.”

“Agreed.” Phillen stood opposite him on the outer circle, nodding. “I can’t scent anything past the soil there.” He pointed to where Lars and Trivan were both prowling.

Jax scowled. “But how would they have gotten underground?”

“ If they’re underground.” Trivan drummed his fingers along his thigh. “Like Elowen said, if they had a portal key or were with a Solis fairy, it’s possible they transported elsewhere from here.”

Bowan laughed. “And when was the last time you saw a Solis fairy on this continent?”

Jax arched an eyebrow. “My fellow royal, Norivun, was here just last summer when we met about the Lochen’s raids.”

“But that was for a political reason,” Phillen countered. “Surely, whatever’s happened to Bastian isn’t political. And nothing going on in this clearing would draw the attention of foreign royals.”

My brow furrowed as I listened to them arguing about what could have happened, then I sighed in annoyance. “You know, I could simply ask my wildling friends what they know about this area. Or if they saw anything. They may be able to help.”

Everyone grew quiet. Lander cocked his head, Phillen scratched his chin, and Jax eyed me with interest.

“Do you know them well enough to ask that?” the prince asked.

“I do. I’m good friends with a few of them.”

“Well, then that would be quite . . . logical,” Trivan finally stated.

“In that case, follow me.” I turned away, intent on finding Esopeel. Of all my wildling friends in this area, she was most likely to know of any unusual changes made in this clearing.

Against my better judgment, I glanced over my shoulder at Jax.

His eyes were glowing again, and a slow grin spread across his face as he watched me.

My heart began to pound. One night. We had one fantastic, amazing, mind-blowing night together, but he’s to wed another. Calm yourself, Elowen.

I snapped my attention away from the male who was fated to be my mate and tromped through the Wood.