That is, until a rustle sounds in the distance. 

My spine snaps upright as I turn my head side to side, the hair on the back of my neck rising as I search the shadows for the origin of that noise. It couldn’t be Mor… could it?

I push to a stand, using the trunk of the welwig at my back for balance. I wait for the familiars to crowd around me, to protect me from the danger lurking just outside—but instead of that, all six of them scurry into the forest, leaving me to fend for myself.

Before I move to investigate, a pair of powerful arms wraps around my middle, sweeping me off my feet and dragging me up past the canopy into the open sky. I lean my head back with a full-bellied laugh, the sound lost to the violent wind whipping around my face, stinging my cheeks and bringing tears to my eyes.

As we soar higher into the atmosphere, I look over my shoulder to find Kaebl staring down at me, his canines lengthening and golden eyes swirling with hunger.

I found you. His grip tightens, and a small whimper pours from my lips as his claws pierce my skin. You left bed, his wicked voice whispers into my mind. We weren’t done with you, little one. Not even close

“I was just getting some air,” I whisper, my core pulsing with a heat only my mate can elicit. “I was…”

“Thinking you’d get a little break?” Cyprien glides into view, his powerful wings beating the air and keeping him aloft as he closes the distance between us. “You can’t be done already.”

Heat travels up my neck as I worry my lip, images of this morning flashing through my mind like a slideshow. My eyes shift to the side, anxiety pricking the back of my neck at the look of hunger in Cyprien’s glowing yellow eyes.

It’s springtime in The Far Place, and though the change of season doesn’t seem to affect the climate, it’s clearly impacted my mates’ appetite. I’m still so sore from last night’s escapades, and when I woke up this morning and realized my mates were sound asleep, I admit I did sneak away to have a little break from their constant, ravenous hunger.

I can hear your thoughts, little one. Kaebl’s arm tightens around my abdomen as he slides his other hand down, his claws shredding through my bodysuit and letting it fall to the canopy below. You can’t ever get away from us, Dagny. You belong to us, just as we do you.