I knew you were spying. He edged farther into the hollow, nipping my jaw affectionately.

Be quiet; I want to know what’s going on. But as I peered at the pale silhouettes of Ethan and Sabine, I rested my head on Shay’s forepaws. He laid his chin on the back of my neck, giving my ear a playful lick.

Why do you care what they’re doing anyway?

Because it’s Sabine and Ethan.

Good point.

Ethan had finally lifted his chin to look at Sabine, whose hands rested on her hips as she watched him.

He sheathed the dagger and sighed. “Fine. What do you want to talk to me about?”

“I’d like you to stop avoiding me.”

“I’m not avoiding you.” He sat up a little straighter.

“Really?” Sabine smiled thinly. “You could have fooled me.”

Ethan stood up and walked along the path away from her.

Sabine’s bell-like laughter rang through the night air. “See, you’re doing it right now.”

He turned, shaking his head. “I’m not much for company. Particularly the company of wolves.”

“I see.” She followed his retreat toward the rosebushes, heavy with red blooms turned black by the shadows. “So that’s why you’re working so hard at it.”

He stopped and frowned at her. “I’m sorry?”

“You’re doing everything you can to stay away from me, even though it’s not what you want.”

His own laugh was harsh, but his words had an edge of fear. “Since when do you know what I want?”

“I know every time you look at me.”

Whoa. Shay scooted closer to the edge of the bushes.

Shhh! I nipped at his shoulder, but a heartbeat later I moved up beside him.

Ethan stood frozen in place. Sabine took another step toward him.

“Spending time with me isn’t a betrayal of your brother,” she said.

He jerked back. “How did you—”

“Tess told me,” she interrupted. “I think she’s concerned about you.”

“That’s none of her business,” he said, voice shaking. “She shouldn’t get involved.”

“I don’t think she wants to get involved.” Sabine’s voice curled like smoke in the night air. “That’s where I come in.”

He stared at her, wild-eyed, looking like a rabbit caught in a snare. She reached out and rested her palm in the center of his chest.

“I’m not so different from you, Ethan. No matter what you might think. Feel how your heart is racing?”

He stared at her slender fingers and nodded.

Her other hand grasped his and pressed it against her breastbone. She didn’t take her eyes off his face. “So is mine.”

A sound emerged from his throat, a sharp cry somewhere between pleasure and pain. Their two silhouetted bodies became a single, dark tangle of limbs when he reached out and pulled Sabine against him, kissing her.

A low chuckle filled my mind. That’s our cue. Let’s go.

But . . . I was staring at the entwined pair, entranced by the scene while knowing it wasn’t my place to watch any more.

Come on, Cal. Shay’s teeth gently grasped the ruff of my neck. Your questions are answered. Would you have been happy if anyone saw our night in the garden?

I fought the urge to snarl at him. I’m coming, okay, stop pulling me. I’m not a puppy.

Behind us, I heard Ethan’s low groan and I flushed beneath my fur.

See. Shay crawled from the brush in the direction of the garden’s entrance.

We stole from the garden on silent paws. When we were safely in the shadowed doorway, we both shifted forms and slipped inside the Academy.

“War makes strange bedfellows.” Shay grinned. “Good for them.”

“I guess.”

“You don’t approve?”

“It’s just a little weird.” I frowned. “A Searcher and a Guardian?”

“It’s not the first time,” he countered. “Monroe and Corrine—”

“Are both dead,” I interjected, still troubled by what I’d seen. I wanted to be happy for them, but the loves I’d seen here had all ended in horrible loss. And the battle of our lives was ahead. I was afraid for Sabine and Ethan. I was afraid for all of us.

“This is different,” he said. “Sabine isn’t stuck with the Keepers. She’s here, she’s safe, and she’s free to do what she wants. Probably for the first time in her life.”

I nodded slowly.

“Still worried?” His mouth crinkled as he watched my furrowed brow.

“I can’t help it.” I remembered Tess sobbing when Lydia had died.

His arms slipped around my waist. My hands came up against his chest, but just to rest near his heart, not to push him away. I curled my fingers in his shirt, pulling him closer.

“What are you doing?” I asked, noticing the sly expression on his face.

“Easing your mind,” he murmured, and bent to kiss me.

“Wait.” This time I did push him back. “We should go—”

What I’d intended to be an invitation to my room died on my lips when he became very still. His arms still encircled me, but I could have sworn he’d stopped breathing.

A sound like the blending of a cough and a growl bounced off the walls in the hallway behind me. Shay’s fingers dug into my hips and I knew who was there, watching us.

“Don’t let me interrupt.” Ren moved toward us slowly, stalking. “Never mind. I’d like to interrupt.”

Shay’s answering growl vibrated through my limbs. Still heady from our covert encounter in the garden, my instinct was to wrap my arms around Shay and warn Ren off with my own snarl. But those were instincts I had to ignore. I twisted out of his grasp, positioning myself between them.

“Truce, remember?” I bared my teeth at them.

“It doesn’t look like he’s playing fair,” Ren said.

“I’m not playing at all.” Shay laughed. “It’s not a game to me.”

Ren bristled. “You know that isn’t what I meant.”

“Stop it.” I put my hands up, making sure neither alpha took a step closer to the other. “Don’t do this.”

“I’d just like to understand what you were doing alone with him.” Ren didn’t take his eyes off Shay.