Mated to the Warg (Wargs of the Outland, #1)

Voyeur

Rowan's pulse was like a flurry of bats trapped beneath her skin. She jolted every time she thought she heard Thrax. When she'd woken up that morning, her nerves had been taut as bowstrings. That dreadful tightness was only exacerbated when she left the house. And the further she ventured into the village, the more her nerves stretched and frayed until she was sure they'd snap at any moment.

There were so many wargs around. Her eyes darted over every face, her belly flopping like a trapped fish. Every sound was Thrax. Every dark haired male she saw approaching was him. Every yellow gaze sliding over her flesh had her heart lashing with excitement and dread.

A clang at the forge startled a yelp from her lips. The ironsmith looked up, his hammer poised above his low drawn brows. She swallowed and scurried past. A booming laugh made her clutch her chest in fright. But it was just the potter laughing with his mate and warglings by the kiln. When she turned away, it was to see a massive warg on all fours loping towards her. A massive warg with tawny eyes. But they weren't anything like the freckled honey and cinnamon shade she already knew so well. Eyes with the power to singe her flesh and stoke her belly with hot flames. The warg barely glanced at her as he trotted past, his fur thick and shaggy and soot black. Her breath stuttered out as she watched him saunter away. He spared her only a cursory backwards glance, perhaps wondering at her stare.

Gods, she was a mess. Sola, an unmated, mischievous warga, waved at her. She was standing in a small, well-tended vegetable garden that was nestled in a parcel of sunlight below her parents' house. Rowan waved back and strove on, her chin ducked, her gaze distracted.

She was almost relieved to see Thesta descending the last few steep steps of her home. Still more relieved she wouldn't have to climb those steps to visit her...sister-in-law.

"You're up early?" said Thesta.

Rowan swallowed, her eyes flicking around, surreptitiously looking for him. "It's nearly midday," she grumbled.

Thesta chuckled. "Early for you."

Rowan shrugged and folded her arms. "I...I felt like visiting." Truth was, she didn't care to be alone. She had no idea where Meera was. Her friend seemed to be disappearing a lot lately. And, anyway, Thesta was sometimes easier to be around because she didn't know Rowan as well as Meera did.

"I'm just on my way out," said Thesta. "I need some eggs."

"Can I come?"

Thesta's brows shot up. "You want to forage with me?" At Rowan's stiff nod, she laughed. "You know that entails hiking and working, don't you?"

Another stiff nod.

"All right, who are you and what have you done with the real Rowan?"

Rowan pursed her lips, glaring at the warga. "I see you're in a vexing mood."

"I see you're in a mood to be vexed," Thesta retorted with a light cluck. "Come along, then, maybe the exercise will put some apples in your cheeks." The warga linked her arm with Rowan's and cheerfully pulled her along. "Maybe we'll have time for some fishing afterwards."

"Oh, I was so hoping you'd say that," she mumbled sourly.

"You'll love fishing once you get the hang of it."

She answered with a snort. She'd been fishing with Thesta once before and all she'd managed to catch was a snapping toad. With a sigh, she trudged along beside the warga.

"You'll see," said Thesta, "one day you'll bait your hook and catch the fish of your life."

"I can't wait."