CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I figured it was time to see the wolf up close – to verify it was Elias I had been dreaming of all this time.

“I can’t,” Elias sighed. “My senses and abilities are very much dulled from the wolfsbane. It may be a few days before I can shift again, if I’m lucky.”

I slumped my shoulders. “I see.”

Elias gave me a sly smile. “As soon as I can shift again, I promise I’ll show you. You deserve to see…all of me.” He reached a hand to my neck and pulled me in to kiss my lips tenderly. My body ached for him again immediately.

I placed a hand over his chest as he kissed me, and was met with textured skin. I pulled away from him to look down and see the scar. There were so many of them, all over his chest, his abdomen, his arms. Most of them were deep lines, lacerations made from silver blades. But some of them looked like they could be burn marks .

“Does fire hurt you?” I asked, running my fingers over one of the marks.

He chuckled. “I still feel pain from all wounds. But I think I know what you’re asking. I can heal from fire just like any other injury.” He looked down to where my hand trailed the scar. “This isn’t from fire, though. It’s from boiling water. I think the reason the burns never healed properly is because the wolfsbane that was in my system for so long prevented a lot of the healing.”

My breath hitched at the thought of all Elias had been through. Centuries of torture. Being stabbed, beaten, and having boiling water thrown on him. A small sob caught in my throat.

“Hey. Hey,” Elias said, gently rubbing his thumb over my cheek. “It’s okay. I’m okay. The scars don’t hurt, I promise.”

But the memories did, I was sure.

“What about you?” he asked, sweetly caressing the skin around my bandaged neck. “Does it hurt?”

I let out a breathy laugh, pulling myself out of my dark thoughts. “You tell me,” I replied. I reached up and pressed firmly on the center of the bandage that covered the wound inflicted by Volund. Sharp but bearable pain shot through it. At that exact moment, Elias’s eyes widened and he pressed his hand to his own neck.

He pulled his hand away to inspect his fingers. “I felt it. But more so than before.”

A sense of awe struck me. “Are you sure?” My heart sprang wildly as this confirmed it further. Confirmed that our bond was completely set. That we were mated for life.

Elias nodded. “When Horus’s blade sliced you, I felt the slight burning of it. It hurt, but not as badly as a wound like that should. When your head was splitting, I felt a dull headache. But this feels…sharper. More real. I can feel what you feel completely, instead of it being numbed. ”

“But watch what happens when we’re touching.” I placed one hand on his bare chest, energy flowing through my fingertips, then reached for my wound with the other. I pressed again. This time, the sharp pain immediately dulled instead of lingered.

Elias furrowed his brow. “Extraordinary,” he whispered. “The bond stops the pain.”

“Did you not know a mating bond could do that?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. I hadn’t met too many lycans who found their fated mate. Those I did meet, I never asked them about it. So some of the things that happen with a bond are still a bit of a mystery to me. I never cared to know because I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to find my mate.”

“Hm,” I mused, then leaned forward and planted a short kiss on his soft lips. “I guess you thought wrong.”

Elias grabbed me around my waist and lowered me onto my back, his face hovering over mine as my head hit the pillow. His beautiful golden eyes narrowed with his smile. “And I’ve never been more glad to be wrong. You are my mate, and I am never letting you go,” he said with a deep, possessive voice that heated me all over again.

He lowered himself until his gorgeous, naked body pressed against mine, and kissed me so passionately I almost came undone. Shit. I could make love to this man all fucking day.

I gently pushed on his shoulders and he immediately stopped and looked at me, his features feigning confusion. “As much as I want to set our bond again and again, we need to get dressed before poor Nadia walks in on us. She was very excited to see you.”

Elias laughed – a low chuckle that lit me from within. “We can’t set the bond again, it is already set,” he said as he pushed himself off of me and reached for his pants that waited for him on the floor.

“You know what I meant.” I rolled my eyes jokingly. I watched as the beautiful god-like man before me finished fastening his pants. “ Elias, what happens to your clothes when you shift?”

He looked up at me, startled by the question. “They shift with me.”

“How? Wouldn’t they just rip off your body as it transformed?”

He laughed. “I don’t know how the magic works, Aura. No one does. From what we always understood, our clothes are an extension of our body, and the magic sees it as such. So when we shift, whatever we are wearing shifts with us, then returns when we shift back to human form. Even our packs and our weapons.”

“Fascinating,” I answered.

Elias handed me my own clothes – at least, the ones I borrowed from Magda. I began dressing, Elias watching me with lust in his eyes.

“I wish the wolfsbane didn’t affect your shifting,” I said, trying to distract him before he ripped the clothes right off of me again – as much as I wanted it. I got out of the bed and reluctantly finished putting my pants back on.

Elias shrugged. “It’s highly potent to lycans. One concentrated drop mixed in with my food could dull my powers. Another drop could deplete them for periods of time. Any more could make me extremely sick, or worse. Add it to my bloodstream, and it intensifies. When I used to run from the Sprathian kings, it would only take one stab from their warriors’ knives to take me down.”

This shocked me. “You were just stabbed four times. Wouldn’t that be enough to kill you?” My heart raced as I thought about how I almost lost him.

“Maybe,” Elias answered. “But the kings of Sprath have been feeding me wolfsbane nearly every day for centuries. I may have developed enough of an immunity that this past encounter didn’t kill me.”

“Or maybe a really good healer saved you from the brink of death,” a low, female voice interrupted. Elias and I both shot our heads towards the door where an older woman – maybe in her 60’s – stood with her arms crossed. “It’s not easy stopping wolfsbane from circulating any further in a lycan’s body. You best thank your mate for bringing you to me just in time.”

My own blood froze. “You…how do you…”

“She’s a witch,” Elias said, no hint of shock on his face. “I don’t need my full senses to smell it on her.”

I looked over at him, trying to decipher if he was deeming her a friend or foe. “I thought you said witches were rare.”

“We are,” the healer, presumably Willow, interrupted. “But we’re not extinct. Not like these other fools. I thought lycans no longer existed before you showed up here, and my magic could feel yours. You’re damned lucky I remember how to slow wolfsbane poisoning.”

A tense silence filled the room before Willow spoke again. “Any other lycans out there I should know about?”

“No. I’m the last.” Elias’s tone was so cold, a shiver ran through me. My heart suddenly felt heavy and I couldn’t tell if it was from me, or if I was feeling Elias’s emotions through the bond.

“Thought so.” Willow seemed very insensitive for a healer. But, she saved Elias’s life, and for that I was forever grateful.

“And you,” she pointed a bony finger at me. “Three broken ribs and a chunk of your neck missing. You fight a bear or something?”

“Broken ribs?” Elias gave me a look of concern. “I didn’t hurt you when we…you weren’t in pain, right?”

My cheeks reddened. “No, not at all! I actually completely forgot about my ribs until now.”

“Bones are easy to mend with the right magic,” Willow answered. “It’s deep cuts that I find harder. Too many tendons, ligaments, muscles to put back together. The hole in your neck will take another session or two to heal entirely. Otherwise, you can let it heal on its own just fine.”

I instinctively reached my hand up to touch the bandage once again. “ Thank you…Willow, right?”

The witch grunted in confirmation as she strolled over to a lone dresser that sat against the wall. She pulled open a drawer and grabbed a few vials that she gently set atop the dresser. She closed the drawer then brought the vials over to Elias who stood a few feet from me.

“You’ll want to drink one of these every day for the next few days if you want all of your abilities back by the time you get to Zolmara. It’s not every day an immortal gets to return to our old kingdom. You’ll need your strength to get past the wards.”

“Wards?” I asked.

“Yes,” she grumbled. “Zolmara was the City of Immortals, centuries ago. It’s where lycans, witches, and mythics all originated from. But after it fell, we put wards around it to keep people out.”

“Wards are like magical protections, spelled by witches,” Elias added.

“I even put wards around this village, many years ago. Just enough to keep out prying eyes. Sarai can’t use her magic to find you here.”

“But why do you want to keep people out of Zolmara?” I asked.

Willow scowled. “Because terrible, terrible things happened there, girl. And it’s best the world forgets.”

I crossed my arms. “Why is that for you to decide?”

She shook her head and waved me off, then began handing Elias the vials. “It was decided centuries ago, and that is the way it will remain.”

“How did you know we were heading to Zolmara? And how do you know about Sarai?” Elias interrupted, suddenly seeming wary.

Her mouth turned up in a smile. “I’ve been around a long time, dear. Much longer than you and most other immortals that are still living today.”

That must explain how she looked so much older than Elias or Trybe. Maybe they did age, just extremely slowly.

“You’re a prophet,” Elias said, almost breathlessly. Willow nodded as her smile faded. I gave them both a confused look.

“A prophet?”

“A rare type of witch with the gift of foresight,” Elias answered. “New witches stopped being born with that ability centuries before even I was born. Prophets can see bits and pieces of the future and put it together to create prophecies – predictions – that always come true.” Elias looked up at Willow. “You saw us coming, didn’t you?”

“I saw enough,” she answered, crossing her arms again. As the witch looked at me, her gaze softened. “My visions showed me quite a bit about you, Aurelia.”

“Me?” I took a step towards where she and Elias stood. “Why me?”

She shook her head. “There is other magic at play here I can’t quite get past. It seems you were meant to find out on your own.”

“What do you mean?” My heart began pounding heavily under my chest. “What magic?”

Elias, likely sensing my distress, closed the gap between us and took my hand in his, calming me.

Willow closed her eyes and shook her head again slowly. “Get to Zolmara in one piece, and you’ll see.”

Zolmara will have the answers you seek . The words of my uncle began swirling through my mind.

“Please—”

“Hush,” Willow interrupted. “We have company.”

Within a split second, someone knocked on the door. “Aura? May we come in?” Magda’s voice rang out from the other side.

“We brought you some more food! You didn’t eat your breakfast!” Nadia added.

“Come in darlings, I’m just finishing up,” Willow responded.

The door creaked open and the red-haired sisters stepped in, the older carrying a dish filled with fresh food.

“Elias!” Nadia squealed. She immediately sprinted into the room and threw herself at him. He caught her in an embrace, and I swore I felt a sense of joy through our bond.

“Hello, little one,” Elias laughed.

Nadia pulled herself away. “I’m so glad you’re awake! Isn’t Willow the best?”

The witch snickered. “Nothing a little tender love and patience can’t fix.” She looked up and winked at me. I assumed this was her subtly confirming that they didn’t know she was an immortal. “I’ll leave you all alone to enjoy your reunion.”

“Thank you, Willow. We owe you everything,” I replied.

“You’ll repay me one day.” As she walked past me to exit, she whispered quietly to me, “I’m sure of it.” She continued on and patted Magda on the shoulder as she passed her and walked out the door.

Magda stepped further into the room and placed the dish onto the dresser. “Hi, Elias. Glad to see you’re looking better.”

Elias bowed his head. “Magda,” he greeted.

She gave a wry smile. “I’m sorry, Aura. I couldn’t get Nadia to let it go. She really wanted to come see you two. And when we saw you hadn’t touched your food, we thought we could bring you something.”

“Now that Elias is awake, we can bring him some too!” Nadia added with enthusiasm.

I smiled gratefully. “You’re too kind, my friends. Really. You’ve done more than enough already.”

“Well, I also came to ask, since Elias is awake…on Daegon’s behalf… Well, he wants to know how long you’ll be staying.”

Elias looked at me and raised a brow.

“Gabriel’s father.” I told him. “I’ll fill you in later.”

“I’m sorry, Aura,” Magda continued. “He’s worried whoever attacked you will come here. And based on your…social status… I’m thinking he might not be wrong to worry?”

I raised my hand in understanding. “Don’t be sorry. His wariness is valid.” I turned to Elias. “Do you think you’re ready to continue our journey or do you need more rest?”

Elias, who had slipped the witch’s elixirs into his pockets without my noticing, nodded. “Thanks to the healer, I think I can manage.”

Nadia, still clinging to Elias, whined in frustration. “No, don’t go! You only just got here!”

“You sure you don’t need one more night of rest? You were so sickly-looking last night…” Even Magda seemed apprehensive about us leaving so early. It warmed my heart.

“I appreciate your worry,” Elias answered. “But Gabriel’s father may be correct. The longer we stay, the more danger you are in.” He shot me a knowing look.

He was right. Even if Sarai couldn’t locate us with her magic, Volund and his dirty crew could still be tracking us, and the whole village would be in danger.

Nadia sniffled as she buried her face into Elias’s shirt. Magda stepped towards her and nearly had to pry her younger sibling off of him. “It’s alright, Nadia. We’ll see them again.”

Nadia wiped a tear before a look of realization hit her. “Mags, are you going to invite them?”

Magda blushed. “Oh, of course.” She cleared her throat and looked at us. “If it’s not too much trouble, I wanted to ask…would the two of you be willing to come to mine and Gabriel’s wedding in two months? If you’re in a position to do so, of course.”

I smiled and looked at Elias who tilted his head in a slight nod. “We would love to come,” I said truthfully. But in all honestly, I wasn’t sure what two months from now was going to look like. Would I be back in Rimor, bound to the kingdom by my father’s overprotection?

No. Things would have to be different by then. Much different. I would have my answers, and I’d be damned if I let my father lock me up again after all of this. And on top of that, I would have Elias to support me.

“We will certainly do our best,” I finished.

“Yay!” Nadia clapped excitedly. “Mags, did you ever think a princess would be attending your wedding?”

The older sister laughed. “I can’t say that I did.”

After a moment of Magda sharing the details of the wedding and Nadia enthusiastically telling Elias all about their village while we finished the plate of food, the sisters brought us to Daegon.

The village chieftain stood from his chair as we entered his home. He looked Elias up and down.

“Glad to see you’re doing better,” he said gruffly. “Are you well enough to leave?”

“Father…” Gabriel said, also standing from the table they had been sitting at.

“No, it’s alright,” I answered. “We do not want to overstay our welcome if it puts your village in danger.” I turned to the chieftain, putting on the role of confident princess. “This is a very special place, Daegon. Elias and I are forever grateful for your hospitality. But we will be leaving within the hour.”

“Thank you,” the chieftain replied genuinely.

“I just ask, if you have the means and willingness, to let us leave with some supplies. Ours were left behind at the attack.”

Both Elias and I left our packs at the site where Volund had intercepted us. My bow, the book, and all of our money and supplies were gone. We now had nothing but the clothes we wore, and my mother’s knife. “I promise we can repay you with gold, if you can see it in your heart to let us revisit someday.”

Daegon huffed. “What gold do two nomads have, especially after losing everything they carried?”

I had forgotten I told him we were mere travelers.

“Father,” Gabriel said, putting a hand to Daegon’s shoulder. “I trust that they’re good for it.”

The chieftain eyed his son for a moment before letting out a sigh, clearly caving. I only hoped I could find a similar trust and confidence in my own father someday.

“Fine,” Daegon said. “We will supply you with clothing, food, and each a weapon of your choice. But I expect similar items returned with interest.”

Gabriel shook his head in disapproval, but I thought it was a reasonable deal.

“Of course,” I answered. “Your soon-to-be daughter invited us to her and your son’s wedding.” Daegon’s gaze shifted to Magda who stood behind me. “If we can make it, we’ll repay you then.”

Daegon frowned and took a deep breath. “Fine,” he said again. “Gabriel, go gather the supplies for your…friends.”

“Yes, father.” Gabriel walked past us and left, not before planting a kiss on Magda’s forehead.

“I promise we will not return until it is safe to do so,” I assured Daegon. “Thank you, again, for everything.”

He only nodded in reply.

With that, the sisters, Elias, and I left and waited for Gabriel. I looked around, still amazed at the size of the unknown village that belonged to no kingdom.

Within half an hour, Gabriel returned with two packs. “The only thing left to grab are some weapons. My father said it was your choice. ”

I looked at Elias who gave me a knowing grin. I turned back to Gabriel with eagerness. “Do you happen to have a bow?”