38. Aizor

Chapter 38

Irushed across the forest floor holding a long, thick tree trunk across my shoulder and slammed it forward, impacting it with the side of the tree. My mate was inside; this I knew. And I was going to destroy the tree to rescue her.

The tree shuddered but the slight seam of a door didn't budge.

Pivoting, I trotted some distance away again and turned, racing toward the tree once more, battering the door. I kept doing this, over and over, until sweat dripped down my face, my muscles screamed, and the trunk started falling apart. Undeterred, I ripped a new trunk from the ground and roared as I stomped toward the tree with it braced on my shoulder.

Before I could fling it toward the trunk, the center of the seam split, creating an opening.

My Vanessa, my glorious, beautiful mate, stepped outside with a smile on her face.

When she held out her arms, the trunk tumbled from my arms, landing on the ground with a heavy thud. I rushed toward her and swept her up, holding her close.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine. Perfectly fine."

Relief made my limbs tremble.

"No one is ever going to steal you from me again," I growled into her throat.

"You're my hero," she declared, kissing my face and my neck.

"Who do I need to kill? Name them, and I'll sever their head from their body and mount it in front of our home."

"Let's skip the head severing, let alone the mounting, okay?"

"How did you get here?"

"Nevarn brought me."

I snarled. "I'll kill him!" Glaring around and hefting my crystal sword, I tried to find him. "Nevarn? Come out, you coward. Show yourself so I can slice your belly wide open, stomp on your guts, then rip your arms from your shoulders."

Vanessa snorted. "Boy, when you go all in, you go all in. No ripping arms off people or slicing into bellies either."

"He harmed you."

"He didn't." She leaned back in my arms. "He didn't steal me."

That soothed my rage, though only somewhat. "What happened?"

"I was on the path, trying to lure Franklin close for treats when someone came up behind me. They pushed me, and I fell over the side of the cliff."

"I found tracks, signs of this. Did you see who did it?"

She shook her head. "No, but it wasn't Nevarn."

"Surely not one of my clan?"

"I don't know who it was."

"I'll track them down and rip offtheirhead."

"And I'll cheer you on while you do it. Well, not rip off their head. But if it was someone in your clan, punishing them will be enough for me."

"You're too kind. Too gentle." I smacked my fist on my chest. "I'll handle this in the way I see best."

She sighed. "I understand what you're saying. I'm a pacifist, though I'm not squeamish. I might look away while you do it, however."

"You don't need to watch." I spun her around in my arms. "I'm glad I found you, mate."

"Me too." Her smile faded. "When I fell, I must've hit my head because the next thing I knew, I woke with a broken arm. A bone was sticking out and it was bleeding like a stuck . . . Okay, I'm going to scrub that image from my mind as soon as possible. The thing is, I was horribly injured and in incredible pain. Nevarn found me and brought me here where his god healed me."

"Nevarn helped you?"

"Strangely enough, yes. He said he and his clansmen have been spying on our village because they were afraid you'd kidnapped me, that I wasn't your mate." She rubbed her mark.

"I will kill him!"

"He now knows he's wrong, and I bet he won't encroach on Indigan territory again."

I grumbled. "Are you sure I can't rip off his head or at least one of his arms?"

"I'd rather you didn't. I'm friends with their god, and I don't believe she'd be happy if you did something like that. She might actually defend him."

"I don't wish to offend his god."

"Then let it go. When I return to visit Helena, I'll mention your concern about Nevarn. She'll speak with him, and I bet you anything, he and the members of his clan will leave us alone." She held out her arm, turning it this way and that. "It looks as good as new. We're going to have coffee together."

I lowered her feet to the forest floor but held onto her hands. I couldn't bear to let her out of touching distance. "You and Nevarn are going to have coffee?"

"Not him, the god, Helena and me. We're going to visit and have girl talk."

I couldn't understand much of what she said, thoughgodstood out. "There are no crystal structures in this forest. No gods."

She tugged a hand away and patted the tree. "This is their version of a crystal structure. Nevarn's clan uses these trees for houses."

I peered up at the canopy that swayed in the breeze. Birds swooped about, and the chitter of a drettire echoed through the woods to my right.

"When I come back to have coffee with Helena, I'll introduce you." Vanessa frowned. "But we have an urgent matter we need to take care of right away."

Pain arched through my chest like I'd taken a spear through the heart. I knew exactly what she meant. "If you plan to leave me, you don't need to go to the island gods. Remain here, and they'll take you."

"Can I . . ." She shook her head and gave me the sweetest smile. "That's the thing. I need to get there before they send me back. I'm staying with you, Aizor. I love you, and there's no place I'd rather be than by your side."

"Mate." I cupped her face and curled forward to kiss her. "Precious mate."

She looked toward the sky. "How long will it take for us to reach the island? I have to be there before sunset."

The sun hovered on the horizon. I swept her up again and pivoted, bolting toward the lake. "Hold on to me, mate, because I'm in love, which makes me the fastest male in the Zuldruxian world."

I would run forever if it meant Vanessa would remain with me.