Hello, my lovelies! I'm so sorry it has been awhile, but work has been grueling as we are short staffed and, you know, we're in a pandemic so that's a thing. I hope this chapter answers any questions you guys have so far and I hope to get some reviews after so I know you all haven't given up on the story. Again, I'm so sorry it has taken me awhile to upload, BUT this chapter as well as the next are already done so I will try to get back to once a week like before! Here is a long chapter from Draco's POV to make up for me being gone for so long! Enjoy, my loves!
Draco POV
Waking up, I squint against the sun streaming through my curtains. Groaning and turning my head to the side, I look down to glance at a sleeping Briar cuddled against the side of my body. Smiling softly, I notice her hand is curled against the side of my stomach while her other hand lays flat, palm down on my chest below her cheek. Her bare body is pressed closely to mine and I can feel every curve. Pushing down my morning arousal, I focus on her peaceful face that is sporting a small, carefree smile.
Lifting my hand, I brush some of the hair that has fallen forward from her face so I can see it more clearly. She lets out a sigh of contentment and scoots impossibly closer to my body. Wrapping my left arm around her tighter, I remember how Blaise's arm was slung over her shoulders nonchalantly after they came running into the room together. I can feel my jealousy rising as the questions from yesterday come flooding back.
Why did Blaise put his arm around her like he has done it before? How were they bonded if they didn't have sex? Is their connection like ours? Is it stronger? Why were there dresses strewn everywhere downstairs? How did Goyle and Pansy come to working together and how much of a threat are they really? Did Goyle succeed in arranging a marriage between him and Briar? Is that why my mother was aware of the situation? What the hell has been going on for the past few months while I was at Hogwarts?
"Mmmmm you're thinking so loudly, my dragon," Briar sleepily mumbles to me. I press a soft kiss to her forehead and run my fingertips down the length of her arm before my fingers intertwine with hers on my stomach. Pulling her hand to my lips, I place a soft kiss to the back of her hand before placing it gently on the bed as I slide off to stand up.
"I'm sorry, beautiful. I'm going to go downstairs for a little bit, but I'll be right back. Try to get some more sleep. You look exhausted," I whisper soothingly. I slide my arm out from under her and watch as she curls to the side to push her face into my pillow with a sleepy smile gracing her face.
"Okay. Don't be too long," she whispers almost inaudibly. I pull the covers to her shoulders to hide her naked body and smile softly as I caress the side of her cheek affectionately. She hums in appreciation before I see her body succumb back to sleep.
Turning, I quietly walk towards my bedroom door where I stripped our clothes off last night. I pick up the clothes and throw all of them to the designated area for the house elf to clean up, but leave the button up I had been wearing on the bed as well as a pair of my boxer briefs Briar likes. Briar doesn't know I noticed she loves wearing my clothes especially when they smell like me so that will be something for her to smile about when she wakes up.
Quickly grabbing a pair of emerald green, flannel pajama pants with an embroidered "S" on them; I find myself halting as I go to open the door. I look over my shoulder at Briar in curiosity as I realize she said I was thinking loudly before. Could that mean…?
I love you, my doe.
I stare at her as she shifts slightly in her sleep.
"Love you too," she mumbles before being pulled back to sleep again. I quirk my eyebrow in interest as our connection supposedly wasn't active while she was bonded with Blaise. I can't help, but feel a bit smug at knowing our connection was still intact. I turn with a smirk on my lips as I walk downstairs and follow the sound of voices to the dining room.
Turning into the dining room, I find the long, black table filled with breakfast foods as my mother and Blaise sit talking. I watch as he laughs heartily and grabs for an apple on the table. Before taking a big bite out of the apple, he passes the sugar to my mother for her tea.
"No! She couldn't believe I took the puppies away," Blaise says while still laughing. My mother shakes her head with a wide smile on her lips as she accepts the sugar. Scooping a generous amount of sugar into her tea, she holds the tea a few inches away from her lips to answer; her eyes wide in shock.
"Oh, the poor dear. That was cruel, Blaise! You could've let her keep Sky at least," she scolds teasingly.
Great, so he's not only bonding with my girlfriend, but he's having a pow wow with my mother too.
While I know it's harsh to be envious of my best friend, seeing him with Briar yesterday had left a bad taste in my mouth. Now that I think about it, the bad feeling swirls in my stomach even worse when I think of how he would be the one designated to protect her with his life instead of me. I already failed her and here he is being trained to be ready to put his life on the line for her without a second guess.
Shaking my head slightly to clear my head, I make the decision it's time to make my presence known so I can get on with getting my questions answered. Walking the rest of the way into the room, I plop down onto a chair across from Blaise and grab a shiny green apple in front of me on the table.
"Who is Sky?" I take a bite out of the apple and stare Blaise down as he smirks in my direction. Crunching on the apple, I feel my bitterness increase at his response.
"It's Briar's puppy child she wanted to raise with you," he says before turning to smirk at my mother. "She said her and Draco would be great parents and I teasingly asked if Draco knew he was going to be a Dad," he says chuckling before turning back to me with a smug grin on his face as he leans back in his chair. "Our girl is quite the feisty one, isn't she?"
I can feel my fists clench at my sides, but try to get into my school persona that father would be proud of. Loosening my hands from their fists, I plaster an arrogant smirk on my face and cross my arms across my naked chest. I see his eyes glance down at the reddish mark Briar's lips left on my collarbone the night before and watch as his smirk slips a little.
"Yes, my girl is quite the feisty one if I do say so myself," I say tilting my head to silently challenge him. I lift my hand with the apple in it and take another bite before continuing on with my words. "Oh, by the way, I was surprised to find out my bond with her was still active? I thought the bond between you two was supposed to cancel ours out?"
I take a bite into the apple as I pretend to be intrigued. I could really care less, to be honest. If anything, I find myself smirking in pride that our connection was so strong that Blaise couldn't cancel it out as her protector.
"It is?" I hear my mother gasp. I glance at her and nod my head in affirmation.
"Snape said that wasn't possible," Blaise grumbles in confusion. I shrug my shoulders in response to his reply. Taking another bite out of the apple, I chew thoughtfully as I study him. After a few moments, I speak up and ask the question I know will provoke him.
"Our bond must just be stronger than a protector's bond, whatever that is," I say indifferently. "So, Blaise, what exactly are you doing here?"
"Draco!" I turn to look at my mother with my eyebrow cocked in question. Her look of disbelief plastered on her face should make me feel shame, but right now my school persona is keeping my jealousy and vulnerability at bay.
"I'm Briar's protector so I stay here to practice with her, Snape, and help around where I'm needed," he says vaguely. My mother huffs and stands to briskly walk out of the room as she realizes this is about to be an ego battle that doesn't include her. I faintly hear her mutter something about Neanderthals before I fire the next question at him.
"And where exactly are you needed outside of the training room?" I take another bite of my apple to keep any smart retorts from slipping out of my mouth. Blaise raises an eyebrow and I can tell he knows how much he's getting under my skin. Blaise and I have always been close friends, but there has always been some sort of competition between us as we're both the only heirs of our wealthy Pureblood families. I'll be damned if he tries to turn Briar into a challenge because there's no way in hell he's going to take my girl. I already have Goyle and Pansy trying to tear us apart, I'm sure as hell not going to let my best friend be added to that mix.
"Well, Briar has been quite sad with you being gone so sometimes I would find her wandering around the Manor at odd hours of the night or morning. Mostly, I'm needed to lend an ear as she talks about what's bothering her and keeping her up, but more often than not, I'm just needed to be a shoulder to cry on. When that doesn't work, I take her for a walk around the property to calm her down. Did you know there's a beautiful meadow a few minutes away from here?" he finishes with a cocky smirk.
Why that little…
"Hmmmm," I say thoughtfully as I reign in my anger at Briar being close enough to touch him, let alone use him as a shoulder to cry on while I've been at school. Not to mention, he went with Briar to OUR meadow?! "How is training going?" I grit out before my teeth rip into the shiny skin of the apple as I can feel my anger rising. I can't let him know he's baiting me as successfully as he is after hearing my special place with Briar has been shared with him.
"Pretty well! Briar is one strong woman. We do physical training as well as mental, but the physical training is hard even for a fit bloke like me. Let me tell you, Briar does it so efficiently that I've rarely seen her out of breath. She has some amazing stamina," he trails off reflectively as if thinking about a situation where she used stamina.
I slam the apple core on the table and lean forward to rest my arms on the table. My mind starts thinking of all the possibilities and I can feel my persona cracking as I think of my best friend and girlfriend in…compromising situations. Crossing my arms in front of me on the table, I can feel my muscles in my arms flexing; begging to punch him in the face again.
"How's your face feeling after that nasty punch yesterday?" I growl my question at him and watch him lean forward with a smug smile on his face. He mirrors my position and places his apple on the table as well.
"Nothing a little potion couldn't heal. Although, I do prefer when Briar heals me. Her tiny little hands wrapped around my injured leg. It's easy to imagine them wrapped around my…" He trails off and I stand up abruptly as I cut him off by slamming my hands onto the table, causing the glassware to clatter against each other loudly. Leaning forward towards him, I can feel my entire body tense up at what he's implying and I can feel my body almost shaking in anger.
"Listen here, you son of a bitch and you listen closely. Keep Briar out of your inappropriate thoughts or I will personally find you and kill you myself. I don't care that you're her protector. I will gladly drop out of school to replace you and do your job ten times better. Dark Lord be damned. The only person allowed to think of Briar in that way is me because I'm the only one she will ever share those moments with if I have anything to say about it," I snarl.
The bastard chuckles and leans back to cross his arms over his chest.
"Yes, if you have a say in it," he says teasingly. I slam my fists on the table again and pull my wand out of my pants pocket where I hid them. Getting into a dueling stance, I see him do the same.
"I swear on everything that is holy, Blaise. If you ever touch her," I start, but he cuts me off.
"Oh, but I already have, my dear friend. Or did you not see my arm draped across her shoulders yesterday?" I let out a sound that vibrates deep in my chest and can only be described as a growl as I feel a nasty jinx coil up on my tongue ready to be unleashed.
Opening my mouth, my jinx is halted on my lips as I hear someone clearing their throat behind me. Snapping my head towards the sound, I see Briar standing behind me in just my button up dress shirt with her arms crossed across her chest. My anger dissipates a little when I see her mused hair from just waking up, but it flares back up as I realize her legs are bare and look sexy as hell in my shirt. My head whips around and I see Blaise appraising her legs.
"Blaise," I growl and watch as his eyes snap to mine. He smirks in response and I find myself raising my wand again.
"Draco Malfoy, you lower that wand right now," Briar snarls from behind me. Blaise's smirk gets wider, if that's even possible, as I lower it slowly. I snap my head to her and watch as she walks over to me with a confused, yet displeased look on her face.
"Good morning, beautiful," Blaise says from behind me as I turn to face Briar. I clutch my wand tightly at his greeting and watch as Briar looks to him, smiles with a head nod, and turns to look at me again as her smile slips from her face.
Standing in front of me, she glances at my wand before gazing into my eyes again. I automatically put the wand in my enchanted pocket and am rewarded with a small smile from her. She scans my face for a few moments and I can feel her presence in my head as she replays the past few minutes. Pursing her lips, her eyes fleetingly look to Blaise before looking at me again.
My head is hung in shame at this point and I can barely look her in the eyes so I'm surprised when I feel her arms loop around my neck to pull me down to her. Pushing up onto her tiptoes slightly, she leans into me and places a slow, yet heated kiss to my lips. I respond eagerly and pull her lip between my teeth as I soothe the bite with my tongue. My hands clutch at the material around her waist to bring her closer. Leaning in again, her lips capture my bottom lip between hers before slowly pulling away. I lean towards her for another kiss, but open my eyes when I feel her arms slide down to my bare chest.
He's goading you, my dragon. Nothing ever happened with us and he will never be more than a brother figure to me. Please, no fighting. I need both of you to win this war.
I feel my shoulders and anger float away from my body as I hear her in my head. I nod my head and watch her eyes widen in shock. She didn't know the connection still worked between us. I send her a small smile and kiss her forehead.
"Yes, our connection is open again, my love," I whisper and watch a huge smile spread across her face. She laughs happily before leaning forward to give me a celebratory peck on the lips. She seems to remember Blaise is here and she pulls back to step to the side so I'm not blocking her view. I wrap my arms around her from the side and stare down at her lovingly as I kiss the top of her head. I feel her lean into me before I hear her voice addressing Blaise.
"Well, now that both of you guys are awake, we can figure some things out?" I pull back and look at her in shock and see Blaise is slightly confused about her not addressing the obvious fight that almost happened between us before. I turn to look at Blaise who is staring at Briar with an eyebrow raised.
"That sounds like a good plan. After you," he says and gestures towards the living room. She releases herself from my grasp and I watch her hips sway away from me and towards the couch. Snapping out of my lust induced gaze at the view of her thighs barely being covered by my shirt, I snap my head towards Blaise to see his eyes fixated on her ass.
"Blaise," I growl. He raises his hands in surrender. While part of me is surprised he listened, there's also a part of me that is grateful he seems to be backing down a little. Whether it's because he's trying to stay on Briar's good side or if he is actually going to respect Briar is with me; that's a question for another time.
Walking to the couch, I go to sit next to Briar who has grabbed a blanket to cover her legs. I watch as Blaise sits on the couch across from us as I sit. Lifting the blanket, I grab Briar's legs and lift them so they're resting over my thighs with her back supported by the pillow at the end of the couch. Draping the blanket over her bare legs, I keep one hand on her thigh as the other wraps around her back in an embrace.
"First thing's first, you two are going to drop whatever ego issue you have with the other. Blaise, you are my protector so I need to be able to trust you and vice versa. I don't need you trying to cause a rift between Draco and me because we already have Goyle and Pansy to do that," she starts. I see Blaise nod in understanding.
"You're right. I'm sorry, Bry. It won't happen again," he says sincerely and I find myself shocked at how easily he listened to her. I guess as her protector though, they need to be able to respect the other's wishes if they want to be compatible enough to protect each other on the battle field.
Turning her head to address me next, I stare into her eyes as I see her opening herself up to me. Her mind is completely open if I feel the need to confirm what she's about to tell me next.
"Dray, over the past few months, Snape told me my connection with you wouldn't be able to stay open as Blaise had a connection with me. Snape performed a binding spell that allows me to let Blaise into my mind and vice versa, but only on the battle field. We do train with it, but it's only open when both parties invite the other into each other's minds. It's not like ours where we can enter each other's minds whenever we need or want to. I'm not sure how our connection is still intact right now so I'd have to speak with Severus about that, but I'm glad it is. I missed having you in my head," she explains. I smile and nod my head in understanding that I don't have any questions so far.
"He had questions about our relationship," Blaise says teasingly. I turn to glare at him and I hear Briar chuckle next to me. I stare at her in shock and slight annoyance.
"Blaise is like the annoying older brother I didn't want. As we got closer during training, I found myself filling the hole Ced left with Blaise. Yes, Draco, he has been there for me at odd hours in the morning to help me through missing you, but it's like a sibling love between us. He's just an asshole who likes pushing your buttons," she spits in annoyance as she turns to look at Blaise who starts laughing hysterically.
"I'm sorry, man. It was just too easy! However, please know I would never look at Briar in that way. I know how much she means to you especially after I saw how you shut down when you thought she was dead. Granted, I thought she was actually dead at the time until Snape recruited me, but I couldn't stand seeing how empty your eyes were as you wandered around Hogwarts. You're like a brother to me, Draco. I know we fight sometimes, but I would never overstep like Goyle has and go for your girl," he finishes. I stare at him in awe and find myself standing to pull him into a hug. He pats my back and lets out a chuckle.
"Thank you," I whisper and pull back to clasp his shoulder. He returns the gesture and smirks.
"You're welcome, although, nice legs, Briar," he flirts. I turn my head and see me standing had moved the blanket so Briar's legs were on display again. She rolls her eyes and covers her legs with the blanket again. I turn to look at him and shove him back in mock annoyance causing him to laugh.
"Jackass," I grunt as I turn to walk back to Briar. Both of them are laughing at my expense now so I crawl on the side of Briar between her and the couch and wrap my arms around her so my head can rest on her chest. Her arms wrap around me and I snuggle in, breathing in Briar's scent; vanilla and sunshine.
"Awwww, he's like a little puppy, Briar! You don't need Sky," Blaise teases and I stick my tongue out at him before nuzzling back into Briar's chest.
"Hey! I was devastated I couldn't keep Sky," she grumbles and I hear Blaise laugh. Letting the corners of my lips pull into a small smile, I feel Briar's fingers combing through my hair soothingly as they banter back and forth. Waking up this morning, my most prominent thought was I was going to lose my girl to my best friend. My most prominent thought now? How grateful I am for the both of them as the war comes closer and closer. My last thought before Briar's fingers lull me into sleep is how much she has changed my life in the past year and how grateful I am to have her here with me.
I'm grateful for you too, my dragon.
I lean up to place a kiss on her neck next to where I marked her the night before. I can feel her release a slight shiver and hug me closer before I give in to my exhaustion of not sleeping the past few nights. I promise myself I'll only sleep for a little bit and then speak with Briar about what happened the past few months and hope she can help me with my task because I was running out of time and ideas.
Briar POV
"He's just the cutest little puppy," Blaise teases. I roll my eyes and continue to run my fingers through Draco's hair as he sleeps.
"Oh shush, you. He must be exhausted after trying to finish his task. Snape told me he has barely been sleeping because he's been trying to get it done as quickly as possible. He doesn't want blood on his hands," I whisper quickly.
"Briar…" Blaise trails off.
"I know," I breath out. "I know eventually he's going to get blood on his hands in the war, but I don't want him to kill Dumbledore if he can find a loop hole. I don't know if he'll survive it. He has the biggest heart, Blaise." I find myself smiling as I say this.
"What has he tried?" I look away from Draco's peaceful face and meet Blaise's eyes.
"Snape told me he tried to use the Imperio Curse on Katie Bell to get it done with a necklace Snape gave him, but Katie ended up almost dying. Snape gave him a bottle of poisoned ale to try next and hopefully that does it. He told me about him crashing Slughorn's party, Blaise." Blaise nods his head.
"I overheard you two. Briar, you have to understand that Draco hates asking for help. He wants to finish this task and prove himself. His entire life has been about proving himself so I get that he told Snape he was chosen and he didn't want help. It's part of why he immediately tried to fight me when he thought I was going after you. He's in a constant state of trying to prove he's good enough because of his father. Now, was sneaking into Slughorn's office to plant the ale in his office during a Christmas party the best idea? Merlin no, but I do get what he was aiming for. I just wish the stupid bloke hadn't become a Death Eater. This situation would be so much easier," he concludes. I find myself nodding my head before I look down at his face. He has a slight frown marring his handsome features.
"I just want this to be over. Every night I have to sleep without him by my side is another night I worry he won't be coming back to me. I know this is war and there will be casualties, but if he's one of those casualties…" I trail off and swallow a lump in my throat as my watery eyes pierce into Blaise's brown eyes.
"We will protect him. You have my word, Briar," Blaise promises. I nod my head and sniffle slightly causing Draco to stir slightly. I quickly start to hum a lullaby my mother used to sing to me and run my fingers through his hair and down to his cheek to lightly caress it. A small smile graces his lips as he snuggles in closer to me.
"Bry," he mumbles sleepily. I smile knowing he's dreaming of me as I slip into his mind untraced. I see us in the meadow laughing and having a picnic before I pull out of his mind.
"He's dreaming of us," I whisper in awe before turning to look at Blaise. He smiles at me in response.
"That boy is head over heels in love with you, Briar. I'm not surprised you're always on his mind, even in sleep," he whispers humbly.
"I feel lost when I'm not with him. I feel like a part of me is missing when he's not next to me and I can't keep him safe. I don't know how I'll focus in battle if he's not near me. It's one of my biggest fears," I whisper.
"That's one of Draco's biggest fears," Narcissa says from behind me. I turn my head in surprise and see her smiling softly at the view of him snuggled into me.
"Me not being with him in battle?" She shakes her head and looks me directly in the eye.
"No, the war and you being involved in general. He's afraid you won't survive while protecting Harry because he thinks he'll do something stupid and put you in danger again," she summarizes. I nod my head in understanding as I've had that same fear as well.
"She'll be protected. I have her back and we both know Draco will do everything he can to protect her during battle as well," Blaise says to comfort us. I nod my head in agreement and look to Narcissa to see she's staring at Draco again.
"I haven't seen him snuggle into someone since he was a little boy. The last time he cuddled me while he was asleep was when he was five. It was the night before his father brought him hunting for muggles for the first time," she says with distain dripping from her lips at the last part. "After that, something in him changed and he seemed scared of getting attached to anyone. He stopped showing his emotions as much and was always matter of fact. Cold almost. You changed that and I can't thank you enough," Narcissa whispers gratefully as she makes direct eye contact with me. I give her a watery smile.
"I can't thank you enough for bringing him into this world. Before him, I was a loner with one friend who, unfortunately, is now dead. I was afraid to get attached in fear they would be used against me by Voldemort once I had to complete my task. Draco was the one to remind me love is strength, not weakness," I whisper.
"You taught me that as well, my love," Draco whispers. I turn my head to look down at him in shock as I didn't realize he had woken up. He pulls himself up slightly so his head is level with mine and only a few inches away.
"Hey, I'm sorry if we woke you," I whisper as I can tell he's still waking up. He shakes his head and kisses my forehead lightly before yawning loudly. I giggle and kiss his nose in response which earns me a smile from him.
"I'm glad I woke up so I could be a part of that conversation. What did I miss?"
"Oh, just Briar professing her undying love for you," Blaise teases. I blush because it's not exactly a lie and hide my face in Draco's neck in embarrassment as he chuckles.
"Well, I can't complain about that," he says teasingly. I nudge him in annoyance which pulls another chuckle from him and his arms wrapping around me.
"Briar, before I forgot, I wanted to ask if you chose a dress?!" I turn to Narcissa and nod my head.
"The long silver one for sure. It will look amazing with your hair and complexion," I conclude. She claps her hands excitedly and smiles.
"Thank you! I knew there was something about that one," she says more to herself than anyone else.
"Dress for what? I was wondering what all of those dresses strewn in here before were," Draco questions.
"Your mother has that Christmas ball to attend, remember?" I watch him nod his head.
"Oh yeah! I can't believe it's been a year since our first Christmas together. I can't wait to see your face when you see your presents," he says enticingly.
"And I with yours," I say with a smile on my face. I caress his cheek and watch him lean into my palm.
"I'm going to barf," Blaise mocks in jest.
"Oh, sod off, you ass," I tease before sticking my tongue out at him. He playfully puts his hand on his chest and looks to Narcissa in horror.
"Do you hear how I'm treated, Narcissa? I don't know how much more my ego can take," he says dramatically. Narcissa chuckles and rolls her eyes.
"Your ego can take a few more hits, that I'm sure of," she smirks and watches as Blaise's shocked face turns to me. I burst out laughing and am brought back to reality when I can feel Draco's apprehension in my mind. I turn to look at him and see him studying my face in concern.
"What's wrong, Dray?" I try to smooth his worry crease between his eyebrows causing his eyes to meet mine.
"Speaking of egos…Goyle?" I freeze and feel my shoulders stiffen as I have flashbacks of that day in the meadow. I try to push the memories away and I can feel Draco caressing my hand in a soothing manner. His hand grounds me enough for me to pull out of the memory long enough to hear the beginning of Narcissa' explanation.
"That little snake has been sending me owls weekly demanding I give him Briar's hand in marriage. He can't come forward about her being alive because he knows that will put the possibility of a marriage contract at risk. Your little groupie has been harassing me too, Draco," she huffs in reference to Pansy.
"They both know I'm alive, Dray. I was able to get into Pansy's mind when she was here. They have help from someone who promised me to Goyle and you to Pansy. I couldn't see who it is because they had blocks up and it was just a quick glance into her mind, but Goyle's mind had the same person in his memories as well when I read him in the woods that day he…" I trail off and feel him rub my arm again. I look up and find his worried eyes are looking into mine with concern. He turns to my mother.
"Is there any possibility…" Narcissa cuts him off.
"Never. There is no way either of them are getting to you two. It would have to be over my dead body. Now, I don't want you to worry about those two psychopaths anymore. Christmas is in a few days and it will be the second time we don't have to worry about Lucius ruining it so I say we celebrate and have a family day and spend the day together here in the Manor!"
Looking at Narcissa in awe, I smile thinking of all of us as a mini family and find myself feeling happier and more carefree in the past few hours than I have in the past few months. Agreeing wholeheartedly, I relax into Draco's body and enjoy the conversation of all of us planning Christmas in a few days. After replying I want to find a way to see Molly and Sirius for a little while and figuring that obstacle out, I take a deep breath and realize this is the first time I haven't had to worry about fighting for my life in the upcoming war.
I know this feeling won't last so I try to stay in the moment and soak up the last seconds of carefree happiness with the people I love.
A/N WOW that felt so good to get back to editing and writing. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I hope I get some reviews! I can't wait to see you what you guys liked and disliked about this chapter because you all keep me going! The next chapter is already finished, but needs some editing so I will be releasing it on the weekend or early next week so keep an eye out! Goodnight, lovelies!
UPDATED CHAPTER! I added some from Briar's POV. It was originally part of another chapter, but I thought it flowed better with this chapter so enjoy the addition while I try to finish editing the next chapter!