If I thought Darius’s arrival in Darqua was tense, it was nothing compared to the days that followed.

Everywhere I went, he seemed to follow.I spent most of my breakfasts glaring at him, stabbing at my eggs with my fork. And every day, Caesaria had to snap me out of it.

“One of these days you’re going to poke a hole right through the table,” she said. It was an exaggeration, but with the anger that radiated off of my body she was probably right.

That day, Darius cornered me on my way out of the library. We kept wanting to go the same way until he gently placed his hands on my shoulders and moved me over. I wanted to smack that everlasting smirk off of his face.

“You know you flare your nostrils when you’re angry,” he said with a smirk.

“I’m not angry,” I said through gritted teeth. “Don’t you have anything better to do than follow me around? I’m not a puppy.”

Darius laughed. “I’ve been leaving you and your boyfriend alone just as I promised. I’m here on my time.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “So, what? Darqua is a vacation for you? Away from your perfect life in the dukedoms?”

His face darkened. “You don’t know me.” The atmosphere between us turned ice cold and he shoved past me.

“Darius! Darius, wait!” I ran after him, catching him only as he jumped down from the last step of the Grand Cabin. “I’m sorry, okay? That was insensitive of me.”

“Whatever, Arwyn,” he grumbled. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I have to go.”

I stood there with my mouth agape. But he was right. I didn’t know him. And it wasn’t right to make assumptions.

Caesaria waved at me. “Hey, I thought we were meeting for breakfast.”

“We were. Are. I just, um, got distracted,” I said.

She raised her eyebrows. “With Darius?”

I rolled my eyes and pushed past her. “C’mon. Let’s just eat.”

All through breakfast, Caesaria pestered me about my run-in with Darius. I explained to her, repeatedly, that nothing had happened.

“He didn’t look happy,” she commented as she sipped her tea.

I sighed. That’s my fault. “I may’ve said some things I didn’t mean. He just…ugh! I don’t know why I even talk to him.”

“Maybe because you like him,” Cae mumbled into her cup.

“I do not!” I said louder than I intended. Then, lowering my voice, “It’s just like everywhere I turn, there he is. Why does he do that? And yeah, he says he’s been leaving Ray and me alone but come on. Did you see them last night at dinner when Darius took the last scoop of mashed potatoes? You could cut the tension in here with a knife.”

“That sounds like it’s more Ray’s issue with Darius than yours,” she commented.

I stood up and handed my empty dishes to one of the passing kitchen workers, thanking them for the meal. Caesaria drained the last of her tea and followed me out of the Grand Cabin.

“Well whatever it is, it wasn’t right of me to go off on him like that.” I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail. “You ready to go riding?”

Caesaria grinned. “I’ll race you to the barn.”

We took off down the hill and mounted our horses, but not before we grabbed our archery gear. Caesaria led us to an open space we’d dubbed as our archery range. A few days before, we’d set up wooden targets against the trees. Some were higher up, some were more hidden. It became a challenge of who could beat who.

“Are you up for a challenge?” Caesaria asked, readying her bow.

I smirked. “You know I am.”

“Let’s do this.” She counted to three and we began our race through the woods. The wind whipped through my hair as I ducked, dodged, and twirled my way through our obstacle course. Beads of sweat dripped down my forehead, hanging on from the humidity in the air.

Caesaria and I hit the finish line at exactly the same time, doubling over into fits of laughter.

“Alright, let’s go count our points,” I said once we’d caught our breath. We trudged back through the woods. Any red-finned arrows were mine; any blue-finned arrows belonged to Cae. This made it easier to tell them apart.

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“Fifty-six for you,” Caesaria said. “And fifty-nine for me.”

I rotated my shoulder. “Not too bad. Best two out of three?”

She grinned. “Let’s reset and go again.”

That evening, I was ready to spend a night in with Raydir. My shoulder was still sore from spending the morning competing against Caesaria in our archery competition. After we ate lunch, we went for a swim. The water had helped significantly, so I ached for a bath that I hoped would relieve my sore muscles.

“Raydir!” I called out as I approached our cabin. “Ray? Are you here?” Upon entering, I gasped. Raydir was laying on the couch, a bag of ice on his forehead and over his chest. “What happened?!”

Raydir sat up suddenly, wincing in visible pain. “Arwyn. You’re back.”

“And you’re hurt.” I sat down beside him. “What happened?” My fingers delicately brushed his hair out of his eyes.

“Nothing.” He winced again. “I’m fine.”

“Clearly you’re not.” I pressed my hand lightly against his chest and he cried out in pain. “Can you lift your arms?”

Raydir hesitated then weakly shook his head no. I tore at the fabric, ripping the shirt away from his chest to reveal a bruise, purple and blue, covering his ribs. It was in the same location I had noticed earlier but it had deepened significantly.

“Who did this to you?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “Did you get into a fight with Darius?”

“No one. And no. It was just…training.”

“Training?! I left you alone for one day. You didn’t say anything about that earlier.”

“You didn’t ask. Plus, you know I used to do this in Alvenora. It’s not different than that,” he argued.

I got up and went into the kitchen, rummaging in the cupboard for herbs that could be used to make a healing paste for Raydir. Growing up where it was notorious for one of us to come crying to Ginny about a scraped knee or a scraped elbow, I’d learned all about what it took to create different healing concoctions. I returned a minute later, instructing him to lay down while I spread the salve on his chest. He squirmed under my touch.

“Hold still, Ray.”

“It stings,” he protested. He stuck his bottom lip out in a teasing pout.

“Well it would sting less if you stopped fidgeting so much!” I pulled back. “God, Raydir what happened?” My voice cracked. I couldn’t bear to see him hurt like this. And from training? He’d never been hurt like this back in Alvenora.

He also wasn’t a wolf back in Alvenora, the voice in my head reminded me.

His expression shifted. “I told you. I was training.”

“Training with who? Darius?” I dipped the cloth back into the mixture before pressing it lightly against the bruises. My fingers traced abs, his skim warm under my touch.

“With Bennett. He offered when I told him about the combat training I used to do in Alvenora. Why do you automatically assume this has something to do with Darius.”

“Why shouldn’t I assume that?” I countered. “You hate him, don’t you?”

Raydir sighed. “I don’t hate him. He’s just a nuisance.”

“Then why do we put up with him?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. “This isn’t fair. If he put you up to this—”

“He didn’t.” Raydir covered my hand with his. “It’s apparently something that some of the new wolves go through when they get here. It helps them learn their way around dealing with a new body.”

“I like your body the way it is,” I murmured.

Raydir smirked. “Thanks. Listen, Ar. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. When Bennett dropped by a few days ago, he gave me that woodpile to work on and I started with that. But I was so antsy, I asked him if there was any other sort of training I could do. With Darius being here, I needed a way to keep my head on straight. We started a short regimen after that and by the end of the day…it was a lot.” He brushed my hair away from my face. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“Here.” I helped him over to his bedroom and we laid down so his head was across my lap. My fingers stroked through his hair.

“I don’t remember anything,” he said.

“Shh, Ray, you don’t have to talk.”

“No, I want to tell you. You asked me what happened during the Alignment, and the truth is that I don’t remember. I still don’t remember. It comes in flashes.”

“Ray, I’m so sorry.” I kissed his forehead.

“Bennett said that chopping wood helps get the muscles moving.”

I nodded. “Going through the motions to strengthen your body. Makes sense.”

Raydir sat up and turned to me. “And about what I wanted to tell you earlier, about your wolf spirit—”

I pressed my lips against his. “Not tonight, Ray. I don’t want to think about it. We have a month until the next Alignment. We’ll deal with it then, okay?”

He smiled and wrapped his arms around me. “Deal.” He lowered his head to kiss my neck. “You know, Bennett also says it’s best to work through the pain.”

I smirked. “Oh yeah?” My fingers slid lightly over his skin and his lips found mine again when he nodded.

The pain didn’t seem to bother him as he rolled on top of me. “Oh yeah.” His head dipped down for our lips to meet again, and he ran his fingers through my hair. A few seconds later, he groaned and pulled away, rolling onto his back next to me. “Okay. Maybe that was too much.”

I sighed. “Do you have to keep training like this, Ray?”

“Yeah.” He winced, sitting up straighter on the sofa. “It’s strength training and it’s for my own good.”

“So says Bennett.” I set aside the bowl of salve and pulled his shirt back down over his chest.

“No, so says me. Plus,” he adds, “I enjoy the thrill.”

“He’s working you too hard, Raydir. This can’t be normal.” I bit my lip. Sure, this was only one day. But what would happen when it turned into one week? One month?

Raydir reached out to brush his fingers across my face. “Trust me, I know my limits. Thank you for tending to my injuries. What can I do to make it up to you?”

I swatted his hand away and smirked. “Rest, Ray. That’s what you can do. Because you’re not getting any more of this”—I gestured to myself—“until you’re better.”

Raydir smirked. “Duly noted.”