Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,172

paws hitting the tree above his head as I caged him in. He punched my ribs and I yelped as I fell back, uprooting him with one of my paws so he was knocked down with me.

I leapt onto him and shifted back into my Fae form, keeping him down with my weight and smirking at him. “Yield.”

His fist slammed into my jaw and he rolled us over with his Vampire strength, though I didn’t even bother to fight. I cupped my hands behind my head as my back hit the ground and he locked his fingers around my throat. His fangs snapped out and he grinned as he leaned down to steal his prize, pulling his hand away and driving his teeth into my neck.

I groaned audibly then bit my tongue as his muscles pressed to mine and I got rock hard for him. Oh shit.

He pressed me into the ground and my magic was immobilised by his venom as he crushed me beneath him. I was definitely not the submissive type, but if Caleb wanted to force me down in the mud and have his way with me, I was game. Of course, the way he wanted me was to take my blood, nothing else. I thought about what Darcy had said, wondering if I should talk to him, but surely my dick was having a whole conversation with his right now because it wasn’t being subtle.

He lifted his weight half off of me, sucking in a breath and drawing away from me so he was kneeling over my thighs.

He looked down at my solid cock and no matter how many people had seen it before, nothing beat him looking at it right now, exposing me for how much I wanted him. My eyes slipped to his crotch the same time his did and the bulge waiting for me there made my heart pound out of rhythm. Caleb glanced at me in confusion, an awkward silence washing between us.

“Erm,” I began and his brow furrowed just a little as he leaned back.

“Race you back to the Hollow.” He got up and shot away with his Vampire speed before I could stop him and my heart lurched painfully as he just left me lying there in the dirt.

I shifted back into a Wolf, howling after him in a plea to come back. But he didn’t and I had the horrible feeling I’d just fucked up everything.

***

I flexed my fingers, admiring the Phoenix metal gauntlets covering them. I obviously had the coolest weapon of all the Heirs. Darcy had tried to convince me to have something simple like the others, but I’d come up with this design myself after I’d dreamed of having flaming claws of death. The gauntlets were enchanted to expand when I shifted into my Wolf form, so they could pack a spectacular fire punch in Fae form and became flaming claws in my Order form.

We’d been tracking a few Nymphs out this way the last couple of nights. There’d been a bunch of reported sightings of them and we’d only managed to catch and kill three in the past two days. From the tracks we’d found tonight leading onto some old farmland, I was guessing we were about to run into a damn nest.

I moved through the cornfield behind Caleb, the others walking ahead of us following Tory and Darcy. Tory had some serious rage to vent and though it was risky bringing her on this run, it was also damn good for her. She needed to let her Order flourish and be reminded of how fierce she was, so when she went back to Lionel, she’d at least have that to hold onto.

I cast a silencing bubble around me and Cal, jogging forward to walk at his side. He glanced at me, then quickly away again, raising his twin knives. I knew talking about this now wasn’t really good timing, but he’d also been avoiding me since boner gate and the last thing I wanted was to lose my friend over this.

I cleared my throat, knocking my shoulder against his. Despite how much time I’d had to decide on what I was going to say to him, I now couldn’t remember any of that. What had Darcy advised? Don’t talk about my boner, or do talk about it?

Her plan to feel him out so far hadn’t gone too well. Apparently every time she tried to move the conversation in that direction, Caleb changed the subject.