ILLYRIAN PRIDE

CHAPTER 5

If it wasn't for the intense way the mating bond tugged in her chest whenever he was near, she would have thought that whole interaction with Devlon had been a dream.

Or a nightmare.

But it was neither.

Sorcha endured the morning sessions by distracting herself with whichever drills he had them doing that day. When she walked away by the end of the day, she was sweating and limping.

She ate an early dinner standing over the kitchen counter in Nyx' cabin. Since the day the blasted mating bond had snapped for them, she hadn't returned to the barracks. They were suddenly too noisy, too full of other people. She could feel all of the females around her. And she felt about to crawl out of her own skin.

Besides, she couldn't very well relieve the ache between her legs with so many females present, listening to her every whimper.

The cabin granted her that privacy. But no matter how many times she brought herself to orgasm at the memory of his cock in her hand, or the feel of his powerful thigh, it did not seem enough.

She only had to see him. Or hear him. And then she'd be running back to the cabin, desperate to crawl beneath the sheets and block out every thought that wasn't revolving around that stupid bastard.

He hadn't approached her. And she kept her distance. Neither of them had been themselves that day, and truth be told he was too old. He'd told her exactly what he wanted. And it wasn't her.

Besides, Sorcha had the Blood Rite to worry about. And when she wasn't thinking of the Blood Rite, she was thinking of Solstice.

But the time for fretting had come to an end.

Nyx winnowed them just outside the River Mansion's main entrance. She tugged at the skirts of her golden dress, before checking on her braided hair.

Their family was extremely noisy, and Sorcha heard laughter and glasses clinking from the lawn.

It was just a few hours. She could do this.

Think of the food, she bribed herself. Think of the presents.

No matter, her heart still beat wildly. The tempo of it concerned her. Were the fae even prone to suffer heart attacks?

In the end the evening turned out to be fine. The food was a comfort, like a warm childhood memory and catching up with her cousins, Catrin and Christopher was a breath of fresh air.

Her sister, Athena, had kept her distance, but perhaps that was for the best. Lest they ruin another family dinner, and Cauldron forbid Aunt Feyre's birthday.

Uncle Rhys would skin them alive.

She watched as her mother kissed her father on the cheek, which was a rare sight to see, before she turned to open the last present in her lap.

A bracelet blinked up at her; golden, red and silver strands of ribbon.

Sorcha blinked up at aunt Gwyn and Catrin but they both looked pleasantly surprised to see the gift, so she doubted it had come from either of them.

"It's from me." Athena spoke up.

Sorcha clutched the bracelet in a white knuckled grip. Of course, she had forgotten how her sister had also been trained by the Valkyries, even though she chose to remain a scholar and pursue a career in research and books.

During her own time in the Valkyrie units, Sorcha had not been allowed to braid any bracelets. And some of the older priestesses that were currently teaching the novices, told her that she would only be taught that tradition when she completed her training and caught the ribbon.