Des'Tai: Book Two

171: Tyron

I stood there in a stunned silence as Faye threw verbal dagger after dagger in Aja's direction; and even though I knew she was doing it on Eva's suggestion it still set me on edge. This wasn't my Faye, she didn't act or speak like this to anyone, especially if she knew it was going to hurt them.

I'd heard her aim a few digs at Rune over the months, but that was Rune, he deserved at least ninety percent of them. And he always dished it back.

I held a breath, knowing this was all happening for a good reason. Aja's behaviour was getting more and more erratic by the day and her obsession with me was getting a little too close for comfort, even by my standards.

I'd never admit it to her, but Faye might have been right all along about how Aja's crush was more than what it seemed. I thought Lita had been a lot to handle before, but this teenager was twice that and more.

With my tongue seemingly glued to the roof of my mouth, Aja stopped in her tracks and pivoted slowly on her heels to turn back around and face Faye, her brown eyes ablaze with pure hatred and anger. The glare she shot my Mate was enough to make me take a step forward, closing the gap slightly between Faye and I.

Aja fisted at the white material hanging at her side, her knuckles pale. "Huh? You mean this?"

Faye was holding out her tank top. "I don't see anyone else wearing my Ty's shirt, do you? Take it off. Now."

A slow, crooked smile curved at Aja's lips. "And what are you going to do it I don't?"

"Aja..." Eva's voice was low and warning.

"Let me offer you an interesting fact, Faye," Her voice practically dripped with venom as she spoke her name. "The Lifemate Bond disappears upon death, right down to the markings. Poof! Totally forgotten. I'll make sure to look after Ty real good when you're gone, so don't worry your sweet, airless head about that."

I think I could count on my right hand the number of times Faye had moved faster than I'd thought humanly possible. Once was the first time she'd seen me in my Watchers uniform, she'd pounced on me like a tigress on heat, the second was when there was only one chocolate mallow left at the bonfire and she thought Rune was going to get there first – she'd practically pushed poor Nero onto his ass to get to it.

The third was just now. Faye closed the gap between her and Aja quickly, darting across the training grounds at the speed of the elf she was pretending to be. She stopped directly in front of the teenager and it was only then that I noticed they were similar in height, their eyes near enough level with one another.

"I'm only going to say this once, 'cause I'm getting real tired of this bullshit, Aja, so listen closely," Faye's voice had dropped low, her words coming out short and tight through her clenched teeth. "Tyron is mine. He will always be mine. He belongs to me, not you or any other fucking female on this planet, and I'm sick of having to remind all the needy whores like you of that fact." She spat the word back at Aja, just like she'd done to her a few minutes before. "This is where it all ends. You don't talk to him, or follow him around and you certainly don't get to touch him anymore. If you so much as glance in his direction, I'm going to take this shirt and ram it down your throat!"

Holy shit.

I think I was...fuck...yeah, I'm turned on as hell.

"Now take off my man's shirt, or I'll rip it off you myself."

Aja tried to remain steadfast and undeterred, but her eyes gave her away. They flickered quickly across Faye's face, then around at everyone else, before finally landing on her Kieran. "D-Did you hear that? Are you just going to stand there and let her speak to me like that?"

Eva eyed her carefully. "I cannot retaliate when you're at fault, Aja. It does no good to contend with an angry Mate."

A shadow of defeat crossed the young elf's face in a flash, quick enough that I nearly missed it. Then, Eva unknotted the light jacket that she'd tied around her waist and offered it to her Kieran, "Put this on." She told her.

In abrupt movements, Aja began unbuttoning the shirt, ignoring the jacket being offered to her, and tore that white material from her shoulders. She tossed it at Faye's feet, standing in the middle of the training grounds in nothing but her tiny shorts and see-through white lace bra. She made a point of stepping out and facing me head on, making sure I saw just what she wanted me to see.

Much to her disappointment, I kept my gaze trained on her face and no lower.

"I don't want you leftovers, anyway." Aja sneered, mostly at me, then turned and walked briskly away, Eva close at her tail.

Only when they were out of sight did everyone release a collective breath.

"Holy shit, Shorty," Rune blew out a laugh. "I thought you were going to hit her! You could've taken her no problem!"

"Ereiash'demaa," Blaise walked to Faye's side and clapped a hand onto her shoulder, an impressed smile curving at the corner of his lips.

When she looked at him, bewildered, Sybil moved to her other side, an equally big grin on her face. "He's calling you a badass, Faye! We all agree that that was long overdue. Well done!"

"Shorty got baaaaalls!" Rune sang.

Closing the space between us, I waited until Sybil and Blaise stepped back, then bent down to scoop up my discarded shirt. Luckily it was only one of my plain white ones and I had five others just like it in my wardrobe. Catching the movement, Faye took it from me, slipping it out from between my fingers, only to scrunch it into a ball between her hands. "You are never wearing this again."

I shot her a lopsided grin, a burst of pride exploding in my chest. "Yes, ma'am."

For something that had started out scaring me, I was hot as fuck for it now. Something about hearing her refer to me as 'mine' got my motor running haaaaard. To think of that shy human that fell from the sky, now staking her claim on me like a true, full-blooded elven female...Goddess above.

Faye let out a shaky breath. "Was that okay? I didn't go too far, did I?"

I slipped my hand into one of hers. "No, you didn't go too far." But if we didn't get the hell out of here, I was going to.

"Are you sure?" She asked, totally obvious to my sudden sense of urgency. "I said some mean -"

I cut her off. "Faye, no, you were great. Everything is great. We just need to go and -"

"I still think you should have punched her," Rune mused. "Or at least choked her with the shirt because, damn, that would have been fun to watch."

"Stop getting your rocks off on this, Rune!" Sybil shot him a disgusted frown. "This is about female empowerment, not your kinks."

He shrugged. "My kink is female empowerment."

"Oh, please, if they'd started fighting you would have had enough storage for your wank bank for months!"

As Rune rolled his eyes, I tried to subtly tug at Faye's arm, encouraging her to follow me. She looked at me and cocked her head to one side. 'What's wrong?'

'We need to go. Now.'

'Why? Go where?'

I groaned, both aloud and inside my head. 'It's after midday, which means the laundry room is empty...' And I wanted to make good use of it. Bottom floor, door leading straight off the gardens – perfect.