Chapter 76 The Warmth Before The Storm
SERAPHINA
Warmth.
That was the first thing I felt–pure, comforting warmth wrapping around me like a protective cocoon. For a moment, I didn’t move. My breathing was slow, unhurried. My body, usually stiff from tension and exhaustion, felt…rested.
Too rested. Too relaxed.
My eyes blinked open to the soft amber of early dawn painting the cave walls. My heart skipped.
Dawn?!
My eyes flew open.
How had fallen asleep?
The last thing I remembered was…talking to Ronan, chewing on guava, asking questions- then…being pulled inte was that possible! That guava was there something in it…
But I brushed it aside and hurried, I tried to sit up–but froze mid–motion
My eyes subconsciously went to the figure sleeping beside me that I had somehow failed to see in panic.
My breath hitched. Ronan?
He was sleeping beside me.
Close. Too close.
sleep. How
Our faces were turned toward one another, barely an inch apart. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek, soft and steady. His dark lashes rested against his skin, his jaw relaxed in sleep. His hair had fallen slightly over his forehead, and for the first time, he didn’t look sharp or cocky–just peaceful.
How did we end up like this?
Panic rose in my chest.
Did something happen between us last night?
I carefully pulled back scanning myself in haste. I was still in his shirt. I didn’t feel any discomfort, no signs of disturbance between my legs or any body part, no evidence that he had..done anything.
He didn’t touch me.
My heartbeat slowed, shame creeping in for having even feared it. But still why was he sleeping beside me?
But then, the weight of everything hit me all at once.
The hunter. The trial. Alpha Hugo The deadline.
I reached out to wake hun up but then I remembered that I was naked under his shirt
1 had to change
I shot up with the speed of lightning, stripping off Ronan’s shirt in one swift move. My pants, now dry from hanging near the fire were hastly pulled on. I turned my back to Roman and tied my chest biddings quickly on, breath heaving with urgency atąd turned slowly around applying the perfume to hide my seem and huair
1 whirled around, eyes wide
Bojan was already awake, sitting up wals one arm resting lazily over his bent kure, watching me. His gaze was unreadable, but there was a flicker of amusement of interest My face flushed hot
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Chapter 76 The Warmth Before The Storm
How long had he been watching me?
Did he see-? I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and disappear if he saw me naked.
-When did you wake up?” I could not help but ask.
+8 Pearls
“Just now, when you were applying the perfume,” he replied casually but why did I have the feeling he actually saw more than
that!
He grabbed his shirt from the ground and wrapped it around my shoulders. “Wear it.”
My heartbeat took a sudden race at our proximity. I could not go back to the Academy without the shirt so I slowly slid my arms into the sleeves. However, just as I finished buttoning, the current situation hit me.
“Let’s go,” my voice was sharp as I grabbed his hand. Thankfully it was no longer raining and had stopped long ago.
“Where he blinked.
“It’s already dawn and the hunter will be still out there. But the trial is about to end. We have to leave the forest!”
“The hunter won’t find us now. I took care of them last night,” before he could finish. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the cave, into the morning light. He matched my speed as we ran out into the forest.
Honestly. I was shocked by what he said about the hunter. He dealt with the hunter while I was sleeping? How deeply had I slept
I glanced at him and stated, “It’s good that there is not a hunter but we have to leave the forest before morning. I’m taking you to Alpha Hugo. He gave me only until morning. If we don’t make it back before sunrise…it’ll all be over.”
We ran across the damp forest floor, leaves.crunching under our feet and breath puffing in the cool air.
This was my last chance. Ronan’s testimony was going to fix this messed up situation for me. I could not let it go. I was so lost in those thoughts that I did not know Ronan had his eyes on our hands still clasped together.
Suddenly I felt him slip his fingers into mine, intertwining them. I glanced at him again, finding our hands still held together but this time he was holding me.
My heart skipped, then raced.
No one lad ever held my
hand like that. Not in affection. Not imunity. Not while running beside me like we were something more than just wolves in the trial.
The moment our eyes met, my heart skipped another beat. Heat rushed to my cheeks and I quickly looked away. Ronan didn’t say a word. But I saw the faint smirk pulling at the corners of his lips as if he knew exactly what he was doing.
We were close–so close–to the edge of the forest, where I had once felt an invisible barrier, a wall that kept me from crossing My pulse quickened.
“We are almost there,” my chest filled with happiness.
But then-
A guttural growl split the air with the loud sound of shooting in the air.
My heart shook at the danger that I felt in the air with the presence of someone extremely powerfully. The growl reverberated through the trees like a warning
That was when I saw a figure running towards us from the corner of my eye.
“Move!”
Ronan’s voice roared just as the figure tharged from the trees, a blur of black and bone white claws cutting through the mist like a style. The air whistled around me as I was shoved to the side by Ronan, falling hard into the underbrush.
I barely caught my breath as I scrambled back out my hands and knees.
Chapter 76 The Warmth Before The Storm
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“What is going on?” I quickly looked ahead to find a masked tall person now standing before Ronan, not cloaked or hiding. but visible and monstrous. His face was obscured by a bone–white mask etched with runes. his form crouched like a beast about to pounce again.
Ronan stood tall, blocking the hunter’s path. His muscles coiled, eyes glowing fiercely as he bared his teeth.
They clashed, Alpha and predator.
No…
Theld my breath when I realised who the predator was.
The hunter.
