When they arrived at the training field, both Elara and Serena looked around, visibly confused. This did not feel like the next logical stop on the political mystery tour.
Gavriel, ever the tactful one, broke the silence without a hint of sugar.
"You were both awful. Serena, you let yourself get stabbed by a girl who was fighting herself the entire time. And Elara? I held you off with one hand. Your execution was embarrassingly sloppy."
"Noted. Thank you for the feedback," Elara replied, her tone dry enough to parch the grass.
"If you three have duties, we can train and meet you," Serena offered. She wanted time alone with Elara anyway.
Dex, who had been holding a question all day like it physically pained him, finally asked, "The bow and quiver earlier… do you actually know how to shoot?"
Serena's lips twitched. But her face stayed maddeningly neutral.
"Yes."
Elara snorted so hard it echoed off the training posts.
Serena shot her a look sharp enough to slice.
"What?" Elara asked, grinning. "That's the equivalent of that one time Hyran asked if you knew how to read."
Dex's lips twitched, curiosity sparking in his eyes. It had clearly gotten the better of him.
"Show me," he said, handing her a quiver and a fresh set of arrows.
Serena took them without a word, her face still perfectly neutral. Unfazed. Almost annoyed that she had to prove this. It had been six years since she'd last shot, but it didn't matter.
If there was one skill she never questioned, it was this. She didn't just know how to shoot.
She was the best.
And in this one thing, she was allowed to be cocky.
"You don't know what you've just done," Elara warned darkly, a wicked grin spreading across her face.
Serena loaded. Fired. Bullseye.
Loaded again. Fired. The arrow split the first clean down the center.
A third. Same motion. Same calm. Split the second. Perfect symmetry.
She finally looked back at Dex. Her expression hadn't changed, but something flickered in her eyes. A spark of mischief. An idea forming.
She paused, bow still in hand, then set it down carefully.
"What were you thinking?" Dex asked, grinning now, pride glowing behind his words and absolutely not bothering to hide it.
"I just realized I can do something that I've never thought of before," she admitted.
Elara crossed her arms. "Here we go."
"And you want to try it, but aren't because…" Dex prompted.
"Hyran mentioned I shouldn't in front of mages or…"
"We're not mages," Dex interrupted, breaking her out of her train of thought.
Serena blinked.
"Good point," she conceded, now grinning because she really wanted to try this.
Elara sighed. "Famous last words."
Serena lifted her hand, fingers steady, and the air around her vibrated.
An arrow formed from nothing. Pure gold magic humming into shape like a vibration in the atmosphere.
It gleamed, luminous and deadly. Not made of wood or steel, but power shaped to a razor's edge.
She aimed. Fired.
The magical arrow shot forward and struck dead center, embedding itself into the target with a sound like a tuning fork.
A second arrow formed instantly in her hand, seamless and smooth as breathing. She fired again.
This one split the first gold arrow clean down the center, scattering glowing shards like sunlight shattered mid-air.
Serena calmly set the bow down and turned around.
Every jaw had dropped. Even Dex's.
No one moved for a few heartbeats.
"That's a new one," Elara remarked, breaking the silence first. She shook her head slowly. "I hate that I'm not even surprised anymore."
"Didn't see that one coming," Dex admitted, finally exhaling the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Did you just learn this?"
"Yes," Serena confirmed. "This morning. Before I retrieved your sword."
Gav's arms were crossed, studying Serena with the expression of a man recalculating everything he thought he knew.
"Instead of reloading," Gav began, "after you fire, can you generate a new arrow already in position and loaded?"
A golden bow fabricated in Serena's right hand, vibrating into existence. An arrow fabricated in her left.
She loaded and fired. Before it hit, another arrow generated in its place.
The first arrow hit a bullseye just as she loosed her second. A third was already forming.
She kept going until she had a rapid-pace cadence. Before the first one hit, five would be airborne behind it.
Dex and Gav wore equally stunned expressions. Serena was entirely unaware.
She was too busy wondering if there was a better way to design the bow itself. She was about to ask if any of them had ideas when Hale's voice broke through her thoughts.
"Can you put a sword in my hand?" he asked, looking both excited and urgent. Like a child who had just discovered Christmas was happening early.
Serena grinned. Her eyes flashed gold, and a sword of pure gold magic vibrated into existence in Hale's hand.
Hale nearly dropped it, caught it again, then looked at her like she'd just pulled the moon out of the sky.
"This is the best day of my life," he announced solemnly. "Don't tell Elara I said that."
"I'm standing right here," Elara pointed out.
"I know what I said."
Serena laughed, then looked up at Dex.
"Is there a better design for a bow where rapid fire is optimized?" she asked.
Dex huffed a laugh and dragged a hand through his hair.
"Of course you would ask that after breaking reality."
He tilted his head, studying her with open admiration.
"Yes. There is. And I am both excited and mildly concerned that you are about to invent it."
✦✦✦
Dex picked Serena up, throwing her and catching her around her thighs. Taking her by surprise again. She screamed.
"Dex! You can't keep doing thi—"
Mid-word she squealed in surprise because he adjusted her like she weighed nothing. One moment she was upright, the next she was upside down, dangling over his shoulder with her face pressed against his back.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over how easily I just did that. What were you saying?"
"Dex."
"Serena."
"Down."
"No."
He carried her like that, ignoring the looks they were getting, including from Princess Agnes, whose expression curdled like milk left in the sun.
"Beautiful day for a walk, isn't it?" Dex remarked to no one in particular, adjusting Serena like a sack of flour. "I love this castle."
They got back to their quarters, and Dex threw her on the bed, already on top of her before she stopped bouncing.
"You're mine."
His lips found hers, and their kiss turned deeper. He'd been dying for her all day, and thank gods it was just the two of them in their quarters.
He unzipped the back of her training suit, pulling it off of her, followed by removing his.
His lips found her mark, and he kissed it softly. Reverently.
His face grew serious. "I love you, Serena," he said, pressing his forehead to hers.
"I love you too, Dex," she answered softly.
His heart melted at that.
"I don't like having you out of my sight," he admitted flatly. "You get into too much trouble."
She laughed and the tension in his chest lessened.
Her lips found his, their kiss deepening. Skin on skin.
His hand moved to her heat, rubbing slow, coaxing circles. She groaned into his mouth, not expecting him to do that right away.
He smelled her arousal spike and wanted to see her fully.
He ripped her thong off in one motion and tore her sports bra in half.
"Dex! Is that necessary?" she demanded, exasperated.
Then she blushed, because she was naked. No. She would not get used to that.
Dex laughed, shaking his head. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. You take my breath away, Serena. Every time."
His lips were on hers before she had time to process that.
He slid a finger inside of her, curling it deliberately. Learning her. Memorizing every sound she made. Finding that spot.
She stiffened, breath hitching. But he kept going.
His thumb pressed against her clit, rubbing in tight circles at the same time. Without realizing it, her hips began rolling against his hand.
"That's it," he murmured against her lips. "Let me feel you."
Her arousal spiked in her scent. He pulled away as her heat rose. Just enough to watch her face.
She looked away, overwhelmed, but he grabbed her chin gently and turned her face back to his.
"Look at me."
He kept rubbing in coaxing circles, eyes locked on hers.
"Cum for me, baby. Now."
An orgasm slammed through her and Dex watched her eyes flicker gold, the same shade as her magic, right at the peak.
Her pleasure hit him hard through their matebond.
His wolf surged, catching him off guard, and his fangs were in her neck before he realized what was happening.
Her orgasm extended, her body writhing on his finger as it washed through him. His venom released into her, prolonging her pleasure, stretching it until she was trembling and gasping his name.
It lasted for two minutes.
Her eyes fluttered closed.
Dex released her neck, pushing his wolf down with considerable effort.
"What the hell..." he muttered aloud, annoyed. His cock was throbbing in protest, painfully hard, completely ignored.
"You just had to, didn't you," he growled at his wolf.
Aegon:My bad.
Dex: I was about to—
Aegon:I know what you were about to do. I was there.
Dex:Then WHY—
Aegon:Urges. She smelled really good.
Dex:I'm going to kill you.
Aegon:You can't kill me. I'm you.
Dex:Watch me.
Dex sighed, looking down at Serena's peaceful, unconscious face.
He was not going to be doing any physical activity with her now.
He pulled her against his chest, tucking her head under his chin. All of her was driving him crazy. Her skin on his. Her scent. All of her.
Aegon:Worth it.
Dex:Shut up.
He resigned himself to the world's most frustrating sleep.