Destined for Disaster ✔️

Chapter 22

Ryleigh had set herself down on the grass – which was wet with dew and made cold seep slowly into every nook and cranny of her body. She was sitting a little off the training field, watching the others fight and regretting that she wasn't recovered enough to join them. Not that Austin would have let her anyway, but still.

Austin hadn't wanted her to watch, arguing that it was too cold outside for her. If he got his way, she'd spend all her time in bed. It puzzled her how overbearing he could be, and she wondered if Sky had been right in saying it was his nature. Surely he didn't care about her. She had given him absolutely no reason to. Perhaps it was the mate bond that forced him to feel protective of her. Either way, she wished he'd stop. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was being coddled.

She pulled up her legs and let her chin rest on her knees, watching the fighters. She noticed a fair share of the warriors were women. Whatever she thought of Midnight Moon, at least they gave their females opportunities.

The grass was still cold, but the air was warming up gradually. As time went by, the fighters grew increasingly hotter and more and more shirts were starting to come off, which sparked a heightened interest in Ryleigh. Her eyes sought for Austin and she sucked in a sharp breath when she saw him pulling off his shirt and tossing it aside, his muscles glistening with perspiration.

"Enjoying the view?"

Ryleigh turned her head to see Sky pop up behind her. She smiled, then nodded towards the field. "You're not training today?"

"Just got back from patrol."

She lowered herself down on the ground beside Ryleigh. The grass had since dried in the morning sun so she could sit without soaking her trousers. Ryleigh hung her head back to bask in the sunlight.

"Any trouble on your patrol?" she asked, closing her eyes against the bright light.

"No, we rarely do. We get the occasional rogue, and every once in a while some Golden Dawn youngsters get bold and sneak onto our territory, but we're usually able to chase them away pretty swiftly."

"Nothing unusual then?"

Sky remained silent and Ryleigh cracked one eye open to glance at her. She was looking at her with brow slightly furrowed. "Why?"

Ryleigh shrugged. "I don't know. Always good to check for the unusual, isn't it?" She shielded her eyes with a hand and looked at the fighters. Austin was sparring with Conall and though Conall was definitely the strongest of the two, Austin was faster.

"I always wonder why men feel the need to take off their shirts whenever they can," Sky said, looking at the field with her lips pulled back slightly.

"Probably because they know they look good."

"So do I, but you don't see me parading around naked."

Ryleigh snorted a chuckle. "I don't think they'd mind." She smirked and looked at all the men. "You'd probably win any fight that way."

"I already win anyway."

She laughed – a warm, sparkling sound that reached Austin all the way across the field and made him look her way. Conall punished him harshly for getting distracted by punching him full in the gut, which only made Ryleigh laugh harder. "They do look good, though, you have to admit," she said, her eyes glued to Austin picking up his fighting stance again, shaking his head – he probably hoped he could shake off the mate bond that easily too.

"The mate bond is clouding your judgment," Sky said, cocking her head slightly to the side and following Ryleigh's gaze, though her eyes came to rest on Conall rather than Austin. "But yes, I suppose there are worse things to look at."