furs for Darius, passing them to him as I move about the cave. It’s awkward, and the tension is high, but I haven’t got the energy to make the walk back home and be free from his presence. I could just make him stay outside, but I’m not an asshole like he would be. Eridian is safe, there are no signs of this man anywhere, and although the air still seems to be disturbed, there is no sense of anything wrong at the moment.
I ignore my cheeks heating as I bend, shuffling my furs around until I’m satisfied with them. I always make sure they are just right. I can still slightly smell Darius’ scent on them from the last time we were both here, and I’m not sure if I’m comforted by that or not. Mostly not after the weird moment we had outside and the tingling in my arm. I try not to think about what that could mean, though it’s not far from my mind.
He makes his temporary bed close to the entrance into the cave, taking a space against the dark rock wall. I move over to the tables I have here and rummage through a pack, taking out some dried meat and a water skin. I shuffle over to him and hand it over without a word after taking some for myself. We sit down and eat our bland meal in silence, him on his bed and me on mine, the cool night air flowing from the opening at the top.
Not a wisp is in sight as I grab some old wood off to the side before sitting more comfortably on my furs, pulling my blade out from my boot. The moonlight shining through gives me enough light to work. Darius watches me intently as I begin to carve, mindful of keeping the shavings on the ground rather than in my bed. I’m rounding the back of the carving when he speaks.
“Did you make all those as well?” I look over at him and see him nodding toward my many carvings in the crevasse of the rock wall. I nod and continue to scrape my blade against the wood, making indents the best I can. I hear him shuffle around before he gets up and walks toward my carvings, causing me to pause and watch him.
If he breaks them, I’ll break his neck.
“There’s a lot here,” he muses, and I grunt in response, never taking my eyes off of him.
He reaches a muscular arm up and takes one I did of Josh years ago, and I bristle at him touching my things without asking. “I thought Josh was your mate when I first saw you both.” He turns the carving over as he studies it. “You fucked him?”
I tilt my head at him, wondering why he’s asking all of a sudden. “Why does it matter?” I shrug and place the wood and my blade down. Getting up, I walk toward him, taking the carving out of his hand before gently putting it back in its place.
“Just answer the question, Rhea,” he says in a low, demanding tone, and I look at him. Why does he want to know this so badly when according to him I’ve spread my legs for anyone and everyone?
After a moment, I answer him truthfully. “I have been intimate with Josh,’ I pause, my eyes widening in surprise as he growls. “He was my first and only. Until you.” The words hang in the air between us, my eyes never leaving his as they flash to black, and then settle again.
He scoffs at me. “No way.” When I continue to stare at him and say nothing, he looks at me more closely. “Why be with me then, if he’s the only man that has ever touched you?”
I sigh, looking back at my work I’ve done over the years, letting it ground me for my answer. “I wanted to see if that was a way to get you to be… considerate of keeping Eridian out of your mouth when you take me to the Highers.” Also, because for some reason my body reacts to him in a way it hasn’t for anyone before. I don’t tell him that pesky bit of information though.
“You fucked me in the hope that I wouldn’t tell the Highers about Eridian, but not to try and convince me to leave you here?” He shakes his head a little and folds his arms. “It was more than that, and we both know it.”
I do. “You followed me here, you came to me.”
“I did.”
“Why,” I ask curiously.
“Because no one touches what’s mine.” He says it without any hesitation, without a hint of doubt that his words are not true.
Shaking my head at him, I look toward the wall. “I did want you at that moment,” I admit. “But I also did it for that reason.” I wave a hand at the carvings of my pack, mainly of Kade and Josh. He looks over them. “I know I’m going to be taken to the Highers either way, so I thought why not give in and also try and keep this place safe.” I cock my head at him. “Which obviously hasn’t worked. You’re right about one thing, I do manipulate when there is a good reason to, well… try to.” I laugh, but it’s hollow, and his brows pull down. I pick up a carving of Kade, looking over his face and running my finger over the smile I carved there.
He moves a little closer, his eyes on me as I turn the figure over in my hands. His scent wraps around me and I want to keep it to myself, lather my skin with it so it’s always with me.
“Have you ever loved someone so much, with all that you are? So much that you would do anything you could to protect them?” I ask, turning toward him. I watch him swallow, looking at the carving in my hand before his eyes come back to mine. “I don’t mean just saying you would, I mean you would. You would sell your soul, stain it, abuse it and hurt it beyond repair. Just to keep those you love safe?“ He watches me intently before finally looking away.
“I did at one time,” he says quietly, shocking me that he told me something personal. Who was it? And why not anymore? Did he have a mate? I clear my throat over the jealous growl I want to release.
I give him a small smile, looking down at the carving of Kade before handing it to him. He takes it from me hesitantly, our fingers grazing as his eyes ask a question he doesn’t voice aloud. I take a breath and prepare to ask him something I know he will probably deny. But I have to try, I see no other way.
“You have part of my world in your hands,” I whisper, watching as his fingers squeeze tightly around the carving, looking it over. “I will do whatever it takes to protect it. I have done whatever it takes to protect it.“ I pause to swallow my pride. “Will you help me protect it?” I ask him, my enemy, and maybe the only one who can help. I know something is wrong, I can feel it in the air, and I don’t know if I can keep everyone safe on my own from whatever is coming. He also has me in a chokehold. He can hold Eridian over my head, and I will do anything he demands to keep it safe. It’s why I’m going to the Highers without question, we’re outnumbered. We can’t just keep them here as prisoners, I don’t think we have the strength behind us to even consider it. They are Elites, trained and deadly. We are just average. I thought about every way I could to try and get them to listen, him to listen. This is my last resort… damn near begging.
“You want my help?” he asks, his eyes flicking up to mine. But surprisingly, there is no smugness there. I nod. “What do I get in return if I don’t tell them?” My hands shake at his question, but I continue on.
“I will gladly accept more people into Eridian, without a fight, if you and I can assure that the original pack members are safe here. I will make sure it’s a peaceful transition with the members already here. They can help build new homes and teach them the land, and we can make sure they live together peacefully. That is something only I can do smoothly. It will be a disaster if anyone else attempts it. They can be safe here, away from danger, away from the Rogures. There is so much more room in the forest for them to create a life without damaging what’s thriving inside of it.” I take a breath before straightening my spine. “My problem is not sharing Eridian, Darius. It’s sharing it with the wrong people. The kind of people who hide beneath their flesh of lies and strike behind closed doors, revealing who they really are to those that are in no position to get away from the monster beneath the surface.”
He twists the carving of Kade over in his hands, feeling the smooth edges that took time and care to make. He tosses it in the air, and I hold my breath before releasing it when he catches it. He says nothing for so long that I feel he’s just going to shrug off my suggestion. But then he speaks.
“Do you know these people? Hidden monsters?”
I look at him closely, wondering if I said so, he would feel something about that. The Elites are meant to be protectors of all of Vrohkaria, but I’m a speck on the map of life, my ability to breathe is no more important than others, we are all equal. We all end up in the dirt.
“Maybe,” I whisper, not exactly telling him yes or no. I look away when his stare feels too close, too forceful in his search for the truth.
“I will take you to the Highers for trial to set your punishment for what you did in The Deadlands. That won’t change.”
My shoulders slump. He won’t help me. “I know,” I tell him, biting my lip as it trembles.
“However,” he begins, and my eyes go back to him. “Those fucking eyes,” he mumbles. “I will keep this place quiet if your pack will welcome others and help those that need sanctuary to live peacefully away from the rogures. It will helpful as I don’t have time to fuck around here dealing with those issues. Instead, I can continue to look for a way to stop the rogures while protecting those that need it by bringing them here. I will make sure those that come here are not dangerous, but you will have no say in how many there will be.” I blink a few times when his words register. “Make no mistake though, little wolf, I might have agreed to this, but you are still under my paw.”
“You really won’t tell the Highers about Eridian and take them to Fenrikar?” I breathe, my chest blooming with hope.
“No,” he says gruffly.
“Why?” I ask.
“They couldn’t give a shit about the victims of the rogures while they sent me here on this goose chase, and I can’t help them and take care of the rogures. There are only so many of us.” I search his eyes for any sign of deception, but all I see is truth.
I let out a shaky breath, looking down to avoid his eyes as I try to keep my body from dropping in sheer relief. He’s actually going to keep them hidden, they will be safe. When my reaction is more controlled, I look back up and hold my arm out to him. He looks at it for a moment before lifting his own and clasping mine in his, forearm to forearm. He grunts, and I shiver as those tingles start up again.
“Do you vow it?” I ask him.
“I vow it.”
“I agree to the conditions of the deal before Zahariss,” I say in a rush, hardly believing this is happening.
“I agree to the conditions of the deal before Cazier,” he vows, making me look at him curiously. I thought he would vow it on Vrohkaria, like everyone else does with the Highers vow, but it seems the Highers have pissed him off before he came here.
“It’s a vow before your Gods, not mine,” he shrugs, answering my unvoiced question. I nod and he gives my forearm a gently squeeze before releasing me. Ignoring the loss of that connection, I move toward my bed.
I lay down, finding a comfortable position facing the entrance and covering myself with the light furs. My body relaxes for the first time since I received the letter from Edward, exhaustion finally catching up with me as Runa curls up inside of me. My lids are just closing when I’m sure I still see Darius at my wall of carvings, looking intently at one of them before my eyes shut altogether and blissful sleep takes me away.
Running, running, running. My heart beats wildly in my chest as I head through the woods, my small legs moving as fast as they can to get back home. Tears drip from my face, and I choke back a sob, my hair flying around me as the small stones and sticks dig into my bare feet.
A twig snaps behind me, and I whimper. I push off a tree as I pass it, willing myself to go faster, to get away. A demented growl sounds behind me, and I begin to shake from the fear that they are going to get me. They’re going to catch up to me, and they scare me. I didn’t mean to hear anything. I didn’t know they were in our woods.
“Get back here, now!”
I start crying harder when their shouts get louder. I want my mommy and daddy. I want to go home. I want–
A blur ahead of me and off to the side has me nearly tripping over my feet. A huge, dark wolf comes out of the trees. It has a strange tail, almost like there are two of them. It’s the largest wolf I have ever seen, and its head turns toward me, its gaze focused on me before it turns toward the way I came. It starts prowling in that direction, ignoring me as it passes by and I let out a frightened squeal. It growls deeply from somewhere behind me, and I panic, not daring to look back.
Snarls and growls reach my ears and my heart feels like it will stop, a small cry escaping my lips. Keep going, keep going! I see a figure coming from the same place the wolf had, and I bit my lip to stop me from screaming. The dark shape moves closer and closer, and I don’t stop. I just keep running so they don’t get me.
Running back home to safety.
Running back home to tell my parents what I heard.
I just didn’t know it would change everything.
My body jolts, and then I feel strong arms sliding around me, encasing me in warmth. I think I mumble something, my eyes still shut, and the arms around me squeeze tighter. “Shhh,” a voice says from somewhere. “Settle, I got you.” My body relaxes, sleep claiming me again as I feel a soft touch against my forehead.
My eyes slowly open, blinking away the morning light surrounding me as I shake off the dream, the nightmare that changed my life. I groan, my muscles sore as I lift my hands above me to stretch. I immediately freeze, arms up in the air as I try to make sense of the heat next to me.
Turning my head to the side, my eyes widen as I take in the half naked male laying down next to me, hands behind his head and eyes on me. I gape at him, wondering if I’m still half asleep. It isn’t until he rumbles in a gravelly voice that I know that I am not, in fact, dreaming.
“You’re finally awake.”
I bolt up to a sitting position, glaring down at him, and a sinful smirk spreads across his mouth. “What are you doing in my bed?” I ask, ignoring his naked chest and sleep tousled hair.
“You were tossing and turning in your sleep, murmuring some shit.” I blink, and then my eyes double in size. Shit. Did I say something to him? Anything about Sarah? Edward? “You wouldn’t shut up, so here I am.”
“Here you are,” I say slowly. Darius climbed into my furs with me because I was having a nightmare, and wanted to… Comfort me? My brain is still trying to play catch up when he nods, bringing a hand to trail a finger down my bare arm, his eyes heating as he watches goosebumps appear.
I grab one of those skillful fingers, bending it back as I dig my nails into his wrist with my other hand. “Darius?” I purr. His eyes trail over my face as I lean toward him, my lips hovering over his. His pupils dilate at my closeness, and I internally smirk.
“Yes, little wolf,” he murmurs, bringing his tongue out to lick along my lower lip. I suppress the flare of desire coursing through me because he needs to realize something. No matter how my body reacts to him, he needs to know one thing.
I lower my face further, my lips brushing against his as I speak. “Just because we made a vow last night, and just because we fucked before then, doesn’t mean you can invite yourself into my bed and touch me like you think you have the right.” I bend his finger back more, not stopping until It’s close to breaking and he releases a small grunt. “Think twice before coming into my bed uninvited, Darius. I used you when we fucked, just like you used me. Don’t think for one second you can come to me unless I allow it.”
With a look that I’m sure would shrivel his balls if he was any other person, I jump to my feet before going into the pool. I ignore his deep, amused chuckle and let the water cool my skin up to my knees. I would bathe, but I’ll do that when I reach home. When I’m alone, without temptation. Getting naked again in front of Darius is not a good idea.
“You’re feisty this morning,” he acknowledges, and I sigh in response. “Don’t tempt me to tame that wildness, you know how I like to play with you, and playing with you has become a favorite pastime.”
My body heats at the thought of him holding me down as he fucks me. Instead of giving in, I watch as wisps come out of the trees spread around the cave, floating around me in greeting before heading over to Darius. I look at them from beneath my lashes as he holds his hand out briefly to them, getting to his feet and showing me what the Gods gave him. It’s really fucking unfair that the only attraction I have ever felt to someone is to him.
I heave out a breath, hands on hips and lifting my face to the morning light. Closing my eyes, I let my senses flow, making them go wide. I pause, noting a familiar feeling just outside the cave. I hop out the water quickly, not bothering putting my boots on as I make my way to the tunnel that will lead me outside.
“Solvier is here,” I tell Darius in a rush, not waiting for him to catch up.
I quicken my steps through the tunnel, the only light coming from the veins of ulcalim ore running through it. We could mine it and use it for weapons, but with it being white and glowing, it’s not a great color for camouflage. I round a narrow section of the tunnel and shield my eyes from the glare of the sun when I reach the end, my bare feet hitting the dirt beneath me. Solvier sits there, waiting patiently for me and I go to him, wrapping my arms around his neck as I always do before stepping back.
Golden eyes watch me as I ask, “Did you feel it?” Darius appears at my back, the heat of his body seeping into me as he barely leaves any space between us.
“I did. It won’t be long now,” he answers, tilting his large head, his ears flicking as if he hears something.
I look over my shoulder at Darius, seeing his eyebrows scrunched together, letting me know Solvier is speaking to the both of us. I look back at him, pinching my lip with my fingers before asking. “Won’t be long for what?” I shuffle on my feet waiting for his reply, unsure why he seems so solemn.
“For everything to begin anew, and to right a wrong.”
