Scent of a Wolf by Alex Lidell

Author:Alex Lidell [Lidell, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Danger Bearing Press
Published: 2019-06-07T05:00:00+00:00

10

10. Tye

With the others busy at dinner, Tye swung on the horizontal bar in the center of a quiet training pitch as the sun slowly sank below the Academy wall, gaining more momentum with each flex of his body. With an easy exhale, he gave himself a final push and flew into the air.

Cool air nipped his face, his body’s tumbling in defiance of gravity sending a rush of exhilaration through him. In that instant of soaring above the bar, with nothing but the control of his body and trust in momentum keeping him in the air, Tye felt that elusive completeness.

He felt alive, his heart pumping hard in celebration of nothing but the now.

The moment ended as Tye caught the bar on his way down, his too recently dislocated shoulder screaming its protests. With a swallowed wince, Tye let himself down, landing neatly on the forgiving sands. After the high of soaring through the air, the return to the ground was deadening.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Tye turned toward the applause, a trained smile on his face as he saluted whoever it was. Katita. Again. Tye’s jaw tightened. Pretty, intelligent, and ruthless, Katita was King Zenith’s heir and Ckridel Kingdom’s—Tye’s kingdom—next queen. For all the uniforms and Academy rules that technically made the upperclassman Tye a superior to first-year Katita—there was no denying the reality of power. Ckridel was hers, and by extension, so was Tye.

“Impressive,” Katita said, ending her applause. “I’m not sure what Master Shade would say about stressing the shoulder, though.” Dressed in a pair of billowing black pants and a short silver jacket that let a sliver of taut belly show, her blond hair tied up in an elaborate nest of coils and braids, Katita was accustomed to drawing the eye of every male at the Academy. Yet her toned body failed to captivate Tye in the least. Not that it would be polite—or wise—to inform her so aloud.

Tye summoned a grin wide enough that he knew it made his green eyes seem to dance—which usually confused people long enough to give him time to escape. He didn’t like to abuse his effect on others, but sometimes it was worth it. “What Master Shade doesn’t know can’t hurt him. You wouldn’t be in the mood for reporting on a friend, would you, Kit?”

“My name is Katita.” A mix of annoyance and pleasure.

“Is it?” Tye hopped back on the bar, which had the dual benefit of ending the conversation and making his shoulder burn. At least pain was a feeling. A something.

These days, feeling was a privilege. No matter how many people surrounded Tye, how he laughed or jested, a great slice of Tye’s soul seemed to remain trapped away in some dungeon. And no matter how hard Tye pounded on the door, he couldn’t get to it. Couldn’t feel the range of emotions, not outside those glorious moments of flying.

With one notable exception.

Leralynn’s lilac scent woke Tye’s soul as only soaring above the earth did, his heart and breath quickening with the merest shift of wind if it carried the smell.

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