Chapter 17: Aislin

Chapter 17: Aislin

Running through the forest, I expected to see the titanic body of Everett March barreling behind me any moment. I’d hear his feet pounding the earth, his bulk breaking through the bushes, and I’d feel his eyes on the back of my head like vicious arrows. But to my relief, the entire run from Eastpeak back to Grandbay, I was alone.

Some part of me hoped that Everett would have woken shortly after I left and hunted me down. Then he could have confessed to my face that he’d been lying to me and using me, and I could have given him a piece of my mind about it. But it was probably better that never happened, or I might have broken down into an emotional mess, and I didn’t want to give Everett any more chances to get close to me.

Clouds spanning the sky made the night darker than usual. Raindrops trickled sparsely through the forest canopy, hitting leaves and shrouding my journey in a persistent low shudder of noise. I descended Everett’s mountain and shot westward, sticking close to the southern perimeter until I left Eastpeak and hit the reassuring scent of my own pack. I had only been gone a day, but it felt like a lifetime. By the time I plunged into my own territory, I felt safe enough to throw my head back and howl, alerting my packmates to my return. Gavin’s voice echoed back at me, and then Billie’s. I changed direction and went straight for them, wanting nothing more than their comforting familiarity.

As soon as I saw Gavin’s massive timber form, and Billie’s lithe yellow build beside him, I cried out in wolfish relief and threw myself at them. Gavin pushed forward to greet me first, then Billie, but it didn’t take long before the three of us were entangled in a lively and emotional reunion. My chest pounded from the strain on my lungs. I collapsed into the grass and rolled over, whining and pawing at Billie who crouched above me, licking my maw. Gavin loomed on my other side, snuffling his nose through my fur. No doubt he could smell Everett all over me. While in wolf form, I’d let him draw his own conclusions. Once I rolled back to my stomach, Gavin growled and grabbed my muzzle, reminding me of his anger. My ears went back in a show of submission. That was good enough for Gavin, who released me and stepped away, leaving me and Billie to frolic under the mild rain.

Sometimes, we had to smother our natural animal instincts when our human lives began to dominate us. It was nice to return to what made us shifters, forget our human habits, and embrace one’s primal urge to roll around in the grass. Even without words, I could tell they were both relieved that I was okay.

My return had interrupted their patrol. Without checking the rest of the perimeter, Gavin and Billie accompanied me back to the pack cabin as I carried my duffle bag in my teeth. After running all night with it, my neck started to ache. It was nice to finally sit and rest once we reached the cabin and I underestimated exactly how sore I’d be from the run. While Gavin and Billie transformed, I panted, slammed with fatigue. I watched them reunite as humans, helping one another get dressed, and was struck by painful jealousy once more.

Dripping with rain by the time I entered the cabin, I collapsed on the sofa and closed my eyes while Gavin and Billie stood expectantly in front of me. “Well? What happened?” urged Gavin.

“You wouldn’t believe that fucking prick,” I said.

“Try me.”

I leaned my elbows on my knees and breathed in. “Remember how I said over the phone that I was staying to figure things out? Yeah, no. He kidnapped me. Then he threatened to make sure I said the right thing to you on the phone.”

Gavin’s eyebrows rose. “He kidnapped you?!”

“He took me with him and the rest of his pack after the Inkscales chased us, but when we got to his place, he wouldn’t let me leave.”

“Why?” asked Billie.

“He wanted me to get my chest healed, obviously, because he can’t stand the minor inconvenience of not being able to breathe sometimes,” I said sarcastically, then sat up. “Oh, but that’s not all! He was also planning to use me to get to Muriel.”

“What!” Gavin and Billie both exclaimed.

“I saw some of the texts he exchanged with that Sebastian Hicks asshole. Everett was trying to butter me up so I’d tell him where Muriel is. They already have a van waiting to take her away.”

Gavin growled defensively, bristling, and balling his fists. “How dare he?”

“I know. You’d think by now Eastpeak would’ve given it up, but we can’t even trust them.”

This time, Gavin shook his head. “No, how dare he use you like that. Under the pretense of trying to grow your fated mate bond.”

“Oh.” I fell quiet, dismayed once again remembering the intimacy I shared with Everett just hours ago. “Yeah…”

“What did he do to you?”

My eyes stayed downcast.

“He tried to have sex with you, didn’t he?”

“We did have sex,” I said. “It was amazing.” The lack of color in my voice betrayed how I really felt about it. “Then just a few minutes after, I found out about his plan.”

A rumble spilled out of Gavin as he paced across the living room, fighting his anger. Had Billie not been here, I imagined Gavin would have grabbed something and thrown it or flew over to Everett’s place and tried to kick his ass. Instead, he just stopped and breathed in and out through his nose. “What kind of bullshit lies did he feed you, Ais? Did he say he cared about you or something? Why’d you let him do that?”

“It’s the fated mate bond. I could barely resist him being that close to me,” I defended. “You know what it’s like.”

“Did he sweet talk you or something?”

“Yeah, we actually had a really nice day, for the most part.”

“So he manipulated you.”

I opened my mouth with the impulse to challenge this claim, but Gavin was right. That was exactly what Everett did, and I was stupid enough to fall for it.

Billie looked uncomfortably between us. She probably didn’t anticipate Gavin being so protective over me, and I hoped she didn’t suspect something. There was nothing—despite my envy, at this point, Gavin was more like a brother than anything else.

“I’m going to call him and tell him to stay the fuck away from Grandbay,” said Gavin.

“Don’t,” I blurted.

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to give him more reasons to hate me. It sucks enough that he just used me, Gavin. I’m embarrassed that I ran off and tattled to you, like… like I can’t defend myself.”

“You shouldn’t have to. This has gone too far. He abused your fated mate bond to try to steal Muriel from us, and I’m not having it,” snarled Gavin.

“Just don’t, please,” I said. “We’ll cut contact with Everett and the Mythguard. That’s all we have to do. We’ll just focus on our plan, okay?”

He sighed loudly, but the pleading in my voice must have been enough to persuade him. Gavin shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, grumbling, then finally stopped in front of me. “Muriel’s at your parents’ place. Go see her.”

Hesitating, I merely stared back at Gavin, unsure if I was ready to concede to healing.

“Now!” Gavin snapped.

I shrank back and nodded. Gavin’s wrath was not to be underestimated, especially since I knew he was still sore about me disobeying him the other night. Lacking the energy to argue further, I got up and dragged my feet back outside. Gavin clearly still had work to do with Billie, so I had to once more transform, my body haggard and tired, and haul my duffle bag all the way back to my apartment.

When I arrived home, I just wanted to sleep. Clearly nobody else had been in my apartment, because when I stepped inside, the lingering notes of myself and Everett from our visit yesterday morning was the prevailing smell that clogged my throat and strangled my heart. Fury blossomed inside me. He’d tainted my only safe space with his stink. Stomping into the kitchen, I grabbed a bottle of odor eliminator and aggressively doused my living room, the hallway, and my bedroom, choking out the smell of Everett with that of crisp, clean linen. Bastard, I thought miserably, later throwing my duffle bag onto the bed and sitting there, dwelling. Then I took a shower too, because I could still smell Everett’s sweat and sex on my skin, and only after it was washed away did I finally feel like I was starting to escape the remnants of him.

By 6 a.m., I took off in my car to my parents’ house. The light in the living room was on. My parents usually woke early, and they were prepared for my arrival after watching my car pull into the driveway. The front door opened before I even reached it, and my mom pushed onto the front steps, pulling me into her arms. “Oh, Ais! We were so worried!” sighed my mother, clutching me close. “You reckless girl, going into Dalesbloom. You could have died. We could have lost you! I don’t know what we would have done if something happened to you…”

“I know, but I’m fine, Mom,” I grouched, extracting myself from the hug. “Look, is Muriel here?”

My mother withdrew with her hands still on my shoulders. “Yes, she is. Why?”

“I need some help with something.”

Worry immediately intensified on her face. “With what?”

“It’s just something in my chest…”

“Oh, you still have that cough, don’t you? I thought it sounded bad after your spar with Niko,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah… I just want her to help me with it, okay?”

“Of course. She’s in your old bedroom.”

I followed her into my childhood home. The smell was the same as it always was, that signature European musk that was nostalgic and all-encompassing. The carpet felt the same under my toes. The walls, the same shade of pale yellow that held me growing up. But even this couldn’t soothe my discomforts, standing alienated outside of my old bedroom while my mom knocked on the door. “Muriel?” she asked, “Are you awake?”

The bed creaked with the sounds of someone sitting up. “Yes, Gretel. Come in.”

My mother opened the door and gestured me inside. In the dim dawn light, there was Muriel with her wavy silver hair tied up and a gossamer night gown draped over her narrow shoulders. Her eyes crinkled with warmth for me. “Good morning, Aislin.”

“Hey.” I glanced at my mom, silently willing her to leave me alone. I didn’t mean to come off as cold or bratty, but my bad mood definitely yielded a frown from her before she left me in the room with Muriel. Sighing, I stepped closer to the bed. “I’ll take some of that healing magic now, if you don’t mind.”

The unicorn peered up at me, her violet eyes gentle, yet knowing—like she wasn’t looking at me, but straight through me, reading my deepest intentions. All the same, she continued to smile with understanding. “Your chest doesn’t sound as bad as it did before.”

“I think it’s been healing, but I can’t risk agitating it worse. I just want it dealt with.”

“Was this your own decision?”

My lips pursed as I glanced away. “Yeah.” Eventually it would have been, anyway. I’d been living with this shit for over a week now, and it didn’t make my life any better, even if being a nuisance to Everett was marginally satisfying.

“Okay. Sit beside me,” she offered.

I settled beside her and gravity tugged me closer to her than I would have liked. The aura around her was supernaturally disarming, as I imagined it was for all unicorns. That was one of the many special qualities of the rarest breed of shifter. Perhaps why they were so highly coveted among certain groups. Imagine how nice it would be to employ a unicorn to keep you company at all times, granting you inner peace and attentive healing whenever you felt even the slightest bit under the weather. Many unicorns had been enslaved for their restorative properties. Even now, my misgivings toward Muriel were pacified beyond rational reason. I fidgeted with my hands and looked down at the light pink carpet under my feet.

Muriel leaned toward me, placing her fingertips on the skin bared just above the collar of my t-shirt. I jumped a little when she touched me, to which she softly said, “Sorry,” and paused until I was better prepared for her. The older woman brought her head closer and listened to the whistling in my lungs. Then she closed her eyes and the tingling began.

Her magic probed at my skin, warmth sprawling across my chest and sinking in past my flesh and my hard sternum into my lungs. The healing magic flooded every bronchial branch into my lungs, suffusing the microscopic alveoli that filled with air as I breathed, searching each one for damage and hastening their recovery. The air that filled my pleural space and prevented my left lung from expanding somehow instantly diffused, and for the first time since the fight with Dalesbloom, I could take in a deep breath and finally feel like I had enough air. “Keep breathing slowly like that… in and out,” guided Muriel. I did as she instructed, and she made sure that her healing magic reached every inch of my lungs, granting me the ability to respire as I once could.

Then she sighed and sat up, closing her eyes with a smile. With each use of her healing magic, it seemed to sap a little more strength from her, as if the wrinkles on her face deepened and she became a little older. Muriel opened her eyes again, looking tired. “How do you feel?”

“Much better,” I said. There was no rasping noise in my throat anymore, no more phlegm and blood clawing up my trachea. “Thank you.”

“Is there anything else you need help with?”

My ankle still throbbed from the healing cut, but I wasn’t going to bother her with that. “No, that was all.”

Muriel held my gaze, analyzing me, once more looking deep into my soul. “Everett will no longer feel the pain either.”

His name made me bristle. “I don’t give a shit about him,” I muttered. “I only did this so I could feel better.” And with that, I rose to my feet.

The unicorn merely watched me skulk to the door. “I want to help the wolves of Grandbay as much as I can. If there’s anything you should need of me, Aislin, please remember I am here to serve.”

“You don’t serve anyone,” I drawled. “Careful about what ideas you put in peoples’ heads.”

Muriel smiled. “It seems to be all I know how to do.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant, but the distance I’d placed between myself and her allowed me to be on edge again, like I usually was. With a lingering look, I finally tore myself out of my old bedroom, said goodbye to my parents, and went back home.

The five hours of sleep I got wasn’t enough. My shift that evening sucked, but at least I wasn’t wheezing anymore. I thought I could maybe make the best of it—it was a slow day and I was restocking shelves, keeping my mind busy—until a curious smell came creeping in. Somebody had whisked it into the store, stirring the air as they walked by. I inched toward the storefront and saw him.

That motherfucking prick, Everett March.

Ducking out of sight, I called up security to have them deal with him instead. I wasn’t in the right emotional state to talk to him. I was working! Moon Goddess knew that if I had a chance to say one word to him, I’d probably scream it, so it was better that he just fucking disappeared before I got myself fired. I glared at him, and the moment he caught my eye as the security guard ushered him away, I lit up in flames.

I’d given him what he wanted, getting my lungs healed. There was no chance I’d let him take advantage of me again and I wanted him to know that. Eastpeak had lost its chance to salvage their alliance with Grandbay.

We were ready to sever our ties.