bottom of the cliff within seconds, the bora’s wails still ringing in my ears, tearing at my soul. Although the bora would have ripped me to shreds and the young one had attacked me first, it was still a living, breathing creature with a family it was only trying to protect.
Taylor lets go of my hand, noticing the blood from where the bark dug into my palm. He turns his own hand over, looking at the red there, then looks to the top of my arm, scrutinizing the wound.
“I’m fine,” I reassure him with a small smile. “Just a scratch.”
I look over at Josh who cradles a still unconscious Sarah in his arms. He looks down at her, examining her face before looking up to the top of the cliffs. Blowing out a breath, I follow his gaze and listen for any sign the creatures are above us. We ported quite far into The Deadlands, so I don’t think the bora would know where we are, but it’s always safest to make sure. With no sound reaching us, we’re confident nothing has followed our trail and start toward home.
“Alex? You and Finn stay here a little longer to make sure we are not being followed.” He nods and turns to set up a post with Finn, both of them effortlessly shifting into their wolf.
Taylor walks next to me, constantly scanning the forest as he shoves the now useless port stone into his pocket. I see him looking at the wound on my arm again subtly, but I don’t call him out on it. He trains us to the best of his ability to keep us safe, so he takes it personally when one of us gets injured.
Shame we can’t protect ourselves from trees though.
“What was that young bora doing on its own anyway?” Colten muses aloud behind me. “That young they don’t leave their family to pee on their own, never mind wander so far away.”
I was wondering the same thing. It’s so out of the norm. I can’t imagine why it did that, or why the rest of its family didn’t notice sooner. They are notorious for protecting their young.
“Maybe something spooked it,” Hudson suggests. It would make sense, but what could have spooked only one bora? A family of bora can be up to twenty large. They are ruthless together and have no sense of self preservation when protecting their family, making them dangerous. Most times it’s better to run than take them all on.
A throat clears, bringing my attention to the omega male. The hood of his cloak is still down, making his dark hair hang loosely to his jaw. He looks me in the eyes briefly before dropping his gaze to the floor. “We have been in The Deadlands for hours, and it has been restless. Edward told me there wouldn’t be an issue, but we fled from many creatures and barely had any time to stop and catch our breaths. It wasn’t as safe as what Edward told me that area would be.”
Looking at him closely, I see the tiredness in his eyes, the exhausted slump of his shoulders I didn’t notice before. “I’m sorry you’ve had a hard time. Activity has been increasing in The Deadlands, and it’s worrying.”
The Deadlands has its fair share of deadly creatures. They aren’t usually this aggressive or sighted as close to the edge of the cliffs as they have been these last couple of weeks. I have people checking the perimeter weekly to see if any creatures are trying to come down into the valley. Thankfully, they haven’t.
A couple of years ago, several families of bora came down the cliffs from The Deadlands. The bora and the creatures of the Eridian massacred each other over the span of thirteen days. It disturbed the animals we hunt, and food was scarce for a while. We also worried they would manage to get through the protective barrier around Eridian. While the lilk trees’ invisible barrier stops strong magic from being used inside its circle and creatures from passing through, if a lot of creatures try to pass through at once, the barrier can weaken enough for them to slip inside.
I breathe out heavily, remembering the last time some of the creatures got through. We lost some good people that day. And that’s why I now have someone checking the cliffs and The Deadlands regularly. If we see any creatures getting too close, we try to divert them or regrettably, put them down if we cannot change their course.
Since starting the patrols, we haven’t had any incidents like that again.
“What’s your name?” I ask the omega, shaking off my memories as we walk. The only reason I’m bringing him to Eridian is because Edward trusts him enough to escort Sarah to us, and he needs rest before he travels again.
“Ellian,” he says, tipping his head down in a show of respect.
“Well, Ellian, we will take you to our home and give it a few days for things to settle. We will get you back to where you need to be, after some rest,” I smile, reassuring him.
He gives me a gentle smile back before averting his eyes. “I have no doubt.”
Taylor makes a grunting sound, and I look at him out of the corner of my eye. Lifting an eyebrow in question, he shakes his head and continues forward. I guess he’s not happy with us bringing Ellian back with us. But Edward always chooses those who do not live close to The Deadlands or the home where they pick people up to bring to us. Ellian will need rest before he will be able to port to another location from The Deadlands and spend days traveling again to his distant home.
Making our way through the forest silently, I sneak glances at a still unconscious Sarah in Josh’s arms. She doesn’t even twitch as we walk, and Josh doesn’t seem bothered by the added weight, walking as if he’s not holding another person. She must not weigh much at all. We will remedy that in time.
Finally reaching the lilk trees, we cross the sightless barrier into Eridian. I sag in relief, pressing my palm to the tree as I pass. We all made it back, safe and alive. We head straight for the healer’s cabin, Josh plowing forward in his haste to get Sarah there, his brows scrunched in worry. The oak wood cabin is to the left of the gathering, central to the other cabins around it. We reach it soon enough, and Anna opens the door for Josh to pass through as he nears the door.
“I’ll take Ellian to one of the spare cabins,” Taylor says. He motions for the omega to follow him as Ellian looks around our home with wide eyes. I don’t blame him, others did the same thing when they first came here.
Seb winks at me, sauntering off toward the gathering, whistling as he goes. He’s probably going to find any leftovers. He eats like a bottomless pit.
“Hope all goes well with Sarah, Rhea. Come find me later?” Colten calls out. I turn to catch him wiggling his eyebrows at me, which earns him a slap on the back of the head from Hudson.
“Come on, pup, leave them to it.” Hudson grabs his arm, moving him along. “Leave the flirting to Sebastian.”
“Stop calling me pup,” Colten growls, trying and failing to get his arm free.
“Stop acting like one then,” Hudson chastises.
“I didn’t do anything!” They continue to bicker as they walk off, and I turn, heading inside the cabin.
I walk down the narrow hallway and to the first room on the right. Herbs and medicines assault my senses as I walk into the room and see Sarah laid out on the bed. The white sheets are a stark contrast to her dark hair fanned around her head on the pillow.
Anna flutters about, grabbing supplies while she barks out orders. “Take off her cloak and any other clothes. I need to see her injuries after I get some fluids in her. Grab some warm water and towels as well.”
I go to do her bidding as I watch Josh out of the corner of my eye. He removes the pin on her cloak that keeps it together before slowly moving the material to either side. He sucks in a sharp breath, his nostrils flaring as he takes in her small camisole top that is covered in blood.
I knew I smelled blood in The Deadlands, and I’m sure he smelled while he was carrying her, but seeing it is much different.
He looks up at me, his gray eyes filled with pain, and I know without words what he needs me to do. I go over to him, giving his hand a squeeze as he clears his throat and moves away from the bed. I take over, slowly cutting and peeling away her bloodied clothes as he goes to grab water and towels.
Anna comes to stop next to Sarah, gathering her red curls in a bun atop her head to keep it out of her face. Looking down at her, she shakes her head, sadness in her eyes as she glances at the bloody clothes I put to the side.
Josh comes over with towels and water in a bowl, setting them down on the table next to the bed. Anna takes out a clean sponge from the cabinet above the table and dips it into the water. Wringing some of the water out, she brings the sponge to Sarah’s slightly parted lips. Squeezing gently, she pushes the sponge slightly into her mouth, so the water trickles down her throat.
I grab a sheet while Anna works and cover Sarah’s body from the waist down. My eyes land on the deep slash across her abdomen, blood oozing from the jagged stitches that had been put there carelessly. By Ellian or Sarah herself, I don’t know.
Josh stands back, still as a statue to give Anna room to work while I help her clean up Sarah, assessing the injuries on her body as we uncover them. Most are deep and infected, which takes a lot for a shifter. She must have been unable to shift to heal herself to prevent infection, and I dread to think what they did to stop that from happening.
I refuse to acknowledge the thought right now.
Sarah groans softly as we roll her to the side so Anna can see her back. I shush her gently as Anna stills, flicking her blue eyes up to mine briefly, before prodding at Sarah’s back. I peek over to see what she’s doing and cringe at the sight.
Letters have been carved into Sarah’s skin, making crude lines along the whole of her back. They’re weeping and raw, the skin around them puffy and red from infection. My heart pangs at the pain she has gone through, the pain she is still in. My whole body itches at the thought.
Anna grabs a bowl of salve. It’s made with plants that we collect from the Eridian Forest, making sure we always pick the ones aged to get the most from its healing properties. She grabs a yellow fettle leaf, thick and wide, and lathers the brown colored salve onto it with a spoon. She places the leaf, salve side down, onto one of the wounds on Sarah’s back, then continues the process until her back is covered completely. We wrap a bandage like cloth around her to keep the leaves in place, securing it with knots as gently as we can.
“Ease her onto her back, please?” Anna whispers.
I do as I’m asked, gently rolling Sarah onto her back and taking a peek at her face. Her mouth twitches as if she can feel the pain, her brows furrowing as her breathing picks up a little before settling again. She can’t escape this, even in her sleep, and the thought saddens me.
We get to work on the slash across her abdomen, picking out the old stitches and adding salve into the cut as Josh watches on silently. Anna starts stitching the wound closed. I watch her hands move through the process with precision, always amazed by her speed.
Flicking my eyes to Josh to see how he’s holding up, I see him watching Anna’s movements intently, his eyes never leaving her hands as she works.
He hates seeing anyone in this state, hates feeling helpless. It brings back memories we both try to forget from a long time ago, when I was on the ground and Josh didn’t know what to do. It’s not something we want to relive, but we can’t turn our back on helping others in need because of our past. I refuse to.
Sarah starts to stir as I’m cleaning her hands with a damp cloth, trying to get the dirt and blood from the sides of her broken fingernails. She whimpers, and I see Josh’s leg twitch out of the corner of my eye. Focusing on Sarah, I see her eyelids flutter and then she opens them slowly, blinking a few times. Her fingers twitch in my hand and she looks toward me, a crinkle in her brow. Her eyes go wide next, her breathing increasing and her gaze flies around the room until it lands on Josh.
“It’s okay, Sarah,” I tell her soothingly, running my thumb over the back of her hand.
She ignores me, moving to sit up and wincing at the sudden movement. Josh takes a step forward, but stops when she releases a long, piercing shriek. She hops off the bed clumsily, causing me to move back to give her some space as she backs away into the corner of the room. She grabs the closest thing to her, a small sharp blade that is amongst other equipment that we use to cut through skin. Holding it up and pointing it at each of us, she warns us without a word. I have no doubt she would use it in her desperation, but I can’t let her take it that far.
“Josh, please leave the cabin, I’ll update you later,” I tell him down the link, my eyes moving from Sarah to him.
He looks over at Sarah and clenches his jaw. Taking a deep breath, he looks down to the floor before he nods once. Heading toward the door, he closes it gently behind him without looking back.
Sarah relaxes slightly when she hears the door close, but she still aims the blade at me and Anna.
“Why don’t you put that down and hop back into bed?” Anna asks, gathering the sheet off the bed and holding it out toward her.
She looks at the sheet confused before noticing her naked body and jolts. Red tinges her cheeks, and she steps forward slowly, grabbing the sheet with a shaky hand and wrapping it around herself.
“You’re safe here, sweetheart. We promise you that,” Anna murmurs gently to her.
She looks at Anna. Her lips tremble, and her eyes fill with tears. The blade in her shaky hand clatters to the floor, and she follows it, exhaustion winning over her will to stay standing.
I dart forward, wrapping my arms around her as gently as I can, and guide her back onto the bed. When she’s settled, I pull a chair from across the room and take a seat next to her, grabbing her hand softy before I bring my eyes to hers.
“I know you’re scared. I know you’re hurt. But please, let us help you. Edward sent you here because he trusts me. He sends all manner of people here who need some help, and we make sure whoever he sends gets that help,” I assure her, rubbing circles on the back of her hand.
She nods at me, her breathing now steady and calm. My body relaxes with relief. It won’t be an easy road for her to walk, but we will be here to do everything we can to help her along the way.
I clear my throat and extend my free hand. “Hi, I’m Rhea, Alpha of Eridian. I would like you to tell me what you can. It doesn’t have to be everything at once, but I would like to know who did this to you, and anything else you are willing to share at the moment. If you don’t want to tell me anything, that’s not a problem. We can take our time.”
Tears spill over her eyes, and she takes a deep breath. She shakes my hand and then brings the sheet closer to her body, wanting some form of protection.
Then, she opens her mouth and speaks.
