His Miracle Mate: Rise of the Moon Children

Chapter 4

I spent the next hour or so dragging Sam around the clearing.

He ducked most of my attacks, while others took him off guard. By the time Vlad told us so stop, my limbs had turned into jelly, and my breathing could wake the dead. I flopped to the ground and lay on my back like a starfish.

The sky overhead was a clear blue. Tree branches danced in the edges of my vision. So pretty.

Ezra's face appeared above me. He smiled and gave me his hand. I let him pull me up and leaned against him.

"That was good," Vlad said. "You got Sam a few good times."

Sam rolled his eyes, but I didn't miss his smile. His shirt and jeans were burned in different spots.

"Sorry?" I said, biting back a smile.

"You just wait, Little Red. Payback is a bitch."

Ezra's responding growl was half-hearted. Vlad let us go, notifying us we would be working on offense alongside defense tomorrow.

It would be a proper fight. I was nervous, but in a good way. I was no longer scared. Sam would most likely kick my butt, but I was confident I would at least score a couple of hits.

After a long day of classes, the evening found me less exhausted than the past few days. I guess I was beginning to build that stamina.

Ezra and I were doing some schoolwork in our campus cabin. I was going over the notes that Blake took for me during the classes I'd skipped, and Ezra was working on his laptop next to me on the couch.

Thirty minutes through our study session, I glanced up to find Ezra looking at me with a slight smile.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. I'm just proud of you," he said. "You did good today against Sam."

My face warmed up. "Well, he couldn't attack me-"

He put his laptop on the coffee table, reached over and tugged on a lock of my hair. "You're allowed to be proud of yourself. You did good. Very good."

I opened my mouth. He was right. I should be proud of myself. "Thank you," I told him.

"By the way," he said, twirling the red lock around his finger. "About the necklace that your parents left you. I think you should wear it."

I frowned. "It's not a good idea if I'm hanging around you guys."

He shrugged. "We'll survive. It'll keep away any undesired presence."

"No. It gives you headaches. I don't like it."

"I'll be fine."

"Ezra..." I said in an exasperated tone.

"Orla..." he mimicked me.

I huffed. "Okay, how about this? I'll wear it whenever we go out."

He pursed his lips. I kept my eyes firmly on his. I wasn't going to budge, and he had to meet me halfway. Finally, he nodded. "Okay. Fair enough." He tapped my notes. "Are you done yet?"

"Mhm?" I looked at my homework. I was practically done with it. All I was doing was going over some material for next class. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Good."

He pushed my notes away and pulled me closer.

"What are you doing?" I smiled, putting my hand on his chest.

He grinned and kissed me. "You know I've been going crazy these past few days. Are you tired?"

Oh. Heat rose to my face. "Not really."