Chapter 20 - Linnea

Everyone is antsy. With everything ready, Aris ordered everyone to return to their cabins to rest before the attack. Ado, having rested up already, is on watch outside, though he disappeared into the trees the moment Aris gave him the order. Bigby pulled Aris aside and said something to him, which seemed to convince him to rest as well. Now I'm in bed with Aris tucked in firmly next to me, snoring like a train.

Even if he wasn't, I wouldn't be able to sleep fully. As gently as I can, I wiggle out from under his arm, standing.

"Linnea," he says, his voice gruff. Of course, I wasn't going to get away with getting out of bed. He reaches out like he'll just pull me back in and tuck me under his arm if he gets ahold of me. I haven't felt his eyes leave me since we had sex, and I know he's protective of me, but I need a moment away.

"Just going to the bathroom," I lie, and Aris nods, rolling over and burying his head in the pillow. The snoring resumes, and as quietly as I can, I slip out the front door of the cabin. I know it won't be long until Aris realizes I'm gone, but I need to do something useful with myself.

Of everyone here, I'm the one who's spent the most time in bed. I catch sight of the deer carcass, hung up and gutted next to the fire pit, and decide I'm going to try and cook something up other than the dry, practically inedible leather they've been making the past couple of days.

I see Ado on the perimeter, slinking through the trees, and he connects with my gaze, nodding at me once. I register the respect there and feel surprised at it. But I am Aris's mate, and I suppose that does gain me some respect, even if Aris doesn't love me.

The thought sends a spear through my heart again. How embarrassing, to admit something like that when he wouldn't tell me he loved me back.

My migraine has gone away almost completely, that near-constant daily ache dulled to the point where I've almost forgotten about it a few times. For the first time in my life, I wish I might actually get another vision, if only to tell the team when the rogues might attack.

Knowing Varun, he's got something particularly nasty hidden up his sleeve, and my stomach whirls, anxious at the thought. I remember throwing up earlier and resolve to myself that I won't get sick again—I need to have better control over my faculties.

Wading out into the woods, I start to look for the mushrooms my dad used to take me out to find. They're a little pungent, but if I can find enough, I can make a stew. I might even be able to find some canned or powdered milk to make a cream sauce to put over the venison.

My mouth is watering, and I realize I'm really hungry—a deep-seated gnawing for food that I haven't been paying attention to with the other things going on. It spurs me on, and I delve further into the woods. I let out a happy little squeal when I find my first mushroom. I strip off my jacket and make it into a makeshift bag, tossing the mushroom in.

"Aris would not be happy to see you out here on your own."

I jump, flying backward, my heel catching on a rock, sending me hurtling to the ground. A hand reaches out and, with more strength than I thought, grabs my arm, hauling me back up to my feet.

Eva stands in front of me, looking unimpressed at my near-fall. I turn, grabbing my jacket and cursing when I realize the mushroom has fallen out, rolling somewhere into the undergrowth.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," I say, straightening up and fixing my jacket-basket.

Eva grins, and I take a step back, not liking the way it looks on her. Where smiles on most people soften a person, hers looks more like a grimace, making her features sharper.

"If you say so," she says, winking at me. "What are you doing out here, alone?"

"I'm not alone," I say, nodding in the direction I last saw Ado. "Ado's out here."

"Do you think he could protect you if a rogue caught you out here?"

I blink, "Yes?"

She takes a step forward, making a point in how close she is to me. I can smell her perfume, a strong, sharp chemical odor miles away from the floral perfume I usually wear.

"If a rogue was this close to you," she says, her voice a little higher than a whisper. "Aris would be without his mate. He would die a slow, painful death after you."

"Jesus," I say, taking another step backward and not losing my balance this time. "Had anyone ever told you that you're intense?"

She throws her head back, cackling loud enough that a bird takes flight above us. When she meets my eyes again, I see a strange, desperate glimmer in hers.

"Yes," she says, then waves her hand toward me, gesturing for me to follow her. "You are looking for mushrooms, right? Come with me. I can smell them."

Shaking away the strangeness of the interaction, I follow her quietly, noticing that we're getting further and further from the cluster of cabins. But, true to her word, Eva is able to point out the mushrooms with startling accuracy, and soon my jacket is heavy on my arm with the weight of them.

"What will you make?" she asks as we pick our way back toward the clearing. The sky has started to darken again, the setting sun painting the sky in a deep indigo.

"I was thinking of a stew. Or maybe venison with a cream sauce."

"That sounds good," she admits, and I wonder if she's as hungry as I am for something other than dry, tough meat. "There is corn meal in my cabin. Can you make cornbread?"

I blink against tears, remembering my mom's cornbread recipe. She was from a Southern pack, having moved back with my dad when they met on vacation. She said every woman should know how to make cornbread from scratch.

Wiping at my eyes, I clear my throat. Why am I suddenly so emotional? The mating and blood-bond situation is scrambling my emotions.

"Yes," I say, and my voice comes out warbled. "I make really good cornbread, actually."

Eva laughs, "And so humble, too."

When we return to the clearing, Aris is bursting through the cabin door, his eyes wild and searching.

"Oh, no," Eva says, reaching over and quickly taking the mushrooms from my hands. "You have angered your man."

"He's not—" I start, but Aris has reached me, grabbing my arm and pulling me back into the cabin surprisingly quickly.

"You said you were going to the bathroom," he growls the second the door closes behind us.

"I… Was. But also to the woods."

He boxes me in against the wall, putting his arms on either side of me. It's hard for me to focus when his scent is all around me. He's soft and warm, and I wonder how long ago he woke up.

"You went far," he says, his voice still low and rough from sleep. His gaze is piercing, a mix of concern and anger. "I felt it. It woke me up. I thought the rogues had gotten you."

"I didn't go far. Besides, Eva was with me. To protect me."

"Do not trust anyone but Bigby and me," Aris says, his eyes darting back to the door, his voice dropping even lower. "Don't go alone with anyone but the two of us."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, thinking of the way Eva had grinned at me in the woods. "You don't trust your team?"

Aris glances at the door again, drawing me further into the cabin.

"There's a traitor in our team. I can feel it. I just don't know who it is."

I cover my mouth to keep from gasping. Remembering walking out of the cabin, meeting Ado's eyes. I could have been alone with the traitor at any point.

"But you left me alone with Percy," I point out, and Aris looks pained.

"I could see you the whole time," Aris says, shaking his head, "and I can't fathom it being him. It would be devastating."

"It's always the person that would hurt you the most," I say, offhandedly, thinking of movies with betrayal. Aris gets a dark look in his eyes, glancing at the door again. I blink, realizing I've just suggested Bigby could be the traitor. He and Aris are closest. That would be the betrayal to hurt him the most.

"It's not Bigby," Aris says, shaking his head. "Besides you, Bigby is the only one I can be certain of. Our bond is too strong—I would sense the betrayal in him. I know him, inside and out."

"Wow, kinky," I say, unable to help myself. Aris raises his eyebrows, his eyes dropping to my lips.

"Very funny," he says, tracking my tongue as I lick my lips.

"How do you know I'm not the traitor?" I ask, tipping my head up against the wall and gazing up at him. Even as exhausted as he clearly is, he's unbearably handsome, his hair falling over his forehead, his dimples popping on either side of his grin, and his strong jaw with a trace of stubble. He must have shaved at some point, and I didn't notice.

"I know," he growls. "You—I actually do know you inside and out."

"Aris!"

"You brought it up first," he grins, leaning in closer to me. My body heats up immediately, my heart skipping in my chest. And then I remember him standing there, staring at me blankly after I told him I loved him.

"I'm going to make some venison," I say hastily, ducking out from under his arms just before he could catch my lips with his. Aris stares at me, stunned, as I dash back outside. Eva is sitting by the fire and Percy is returning from the river with a large pot of water. When he sees me, he grins.

"Is this water enough for you? Do you know how to cook something edible?"

"I'm going to try," I laugh, directing him to set the water on the fire and asking him to fetch another batch. After the water boils, I use it to clean the mushrooms, then I take them into our cabin to slice them. Luckily, Aris has disappeared somewhere.

It may be childish for me to hold his not loving me against him, but I don't care. It hurt, and I can't imagine being with someone who doesn't love me back, mate or not.

I find a can of evaporated milk in the cabinet and return to the fire pit, placing a skillet on the grill and dumping in the mushrooms. An hour later, after fighting with Percy to keep him from continually stoking the flames, I'm serving up venison with a creamy mushroom sauce and fire-baked cornbread. My seasonings were limited to salt and pepper, but the team members moan into their bites like they're at a five-star restaurant.

"This is amazing," Percy moans. "This is the best thing I've ever put in my mouth. And I've—"

"Very good," Ado adds, cutting Percy off and earning a glance from the others. I get the feeling he doesn't speak much, so I take the two words as the highest compliment.

"It's good to have something other than tree bark," Eva says, sending a pointed glare in Bigby's direction.

"That is the safest preparation," he defends. "Be glad nobody got sick. That meat was practically sterile due to my cooking."

"I got sick, alright," Byron mutters. "Sick of eating it."

Aris laughs, and when I look over, I realize he's practically cleared his plate of the food. So, he liked it. I ignore the warmth that spreads through my chest at the thought that he likes my food. Not like I'll be cooking much for him if he decides to jet off to D.C. anyway.

"You know," Percy says, taking another huge bite of cornbread, "This reminds me of—"

The rest of his sentence is swallowed into a gust of cloud and smoke as I collapse, cradling my head in my hands. I feel Aris's arms around me immediately as I whimper, the pain coming in waves so intense it feels like my head is splitting into two.

The first image comes in strong, as if I'm standing in the room. It's a man and a woman looking down at a little bundle. I look closer, trying to see who it is—they're both smiling proudly, and the woman is rocking the baby, singing softly under her breath. They're standing in a kitchen, with warm sunlight streaming in through the windows.

"No need to run from the big bad wolf," she sings, and I gasp, putting my hand to my mouth. The man and woman don't seem to notice. They can't see or hear me. I stare at the man's broad shoulders, his full, dark beard, and sparkling eyes as he takes the bundle from the woman.

The woman is me. Her hands linger on the baby as she passes it over, her song never stopping, her smile wide and soft. I look to the man. It's Aris.

We're going to have a baby? I desperately try to take in the background of the vision to figure out where we are, but it's already fading out. My body lurches in desperation—I want to stay with them, with the baby. I want to know if it's a boy or a girl. I want to touch their little fingers, feel them curl around my hand.

But the vision is gone. I wait to come back to my body and prepare to have to pretend I didn't just see what I did. How can I lie to Aris about this?

The vision doesn't end, however. It morphs into something else, the soft lighting of the kitchen melting away to the cold, unforgiving glow of moonlight. I see animals—wolves—racing through the trees. In a flash, I recognize one of the areas Eva and I had just been in, collecting mushrooms.

My body snaps into place suddenly, coming out of the vision with a ferocity that makes my head ache, but I don't have time to focus on it. When I open my eyes, the entire team is staring down at me, concern etched on their faces.

I'm cradled in Aris's arms, and I fight against him, turning just in time to vomit into the grass without getting any on him. He holds my hair back, and when it's done, I just barely manage to get a whisper out before collapsing.

"They're coming. Now."