Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

The rest of the night was merciful. I didn't sleep and neither did Alek or Anika, though they graciously didn't ask why I had yakked into the fire or had blood on my hands which I'd wasted half a canteen of water removing. Kohen resumed his spot at his campsite, watching me like a bird watched prey.

By morning, we were all ready to get a move-on and start some actual creature tracking and hunting. Alek knelt on the ground and poked a piece of animal poop. "Cougar or lion up ahead. This scat is still warm."

"Gross," Tetra commented.

"I want it," Anika stated quickly.

Alek flicked his gaze at her. "A lion? That's… powerful."

She glared at him. "You don't think I can take it?"

Alek tipped his head to me. "Our future empress should have first choice."

A lion would be amazing and make my father proud, but if I fought with a creature right now, it would take me out of The Wilds and into a week's worth of healing. I'd be hobbling out of here with my newly bonded, not permitted to stay and keep an eye on Tetra. I needed to make sure she bonded first.

"I'll pass on the lion," was all I said.

Alek raised an eyebrow as if surprised by my response, but nodded.

We pressed on and I sidled up to Tetra, noticing her limp was worse today. "How you feeling?" I asked her.

She'd been quiet all morning, kept to herself, didn't eat much. She was more academic and had aspirations of becoming a physician for the Fleet or something along those lines. She'd never wanted to be a field-rated imperial soldier.

"I'm… adjusting," she lied.

I let the group go on ahead and pulled back to talk privately with her.

"I never should have invited you to the Lottery to support me," I confessed.

She chewed her lip, looking down at the ground in shame. "Aisling, about that… I… told the guard to put my name in."

It was like I'd been punched in the gut. "W-what do you mean?" Maybe I wasn't understanding her correctly?

She swallowed hard, meeting my gaze. "At the Lottery, the guard said he had orders to throw my name out and… I saw everyone walking in, strong and able-bodied, and I suddenly felt like I was just as capable as them!" she snarled. "So I told the bastard to keep it in. But I never thought my name would be chosen."

"Oh, T." I pulled her in for a hug.

She squeezed me hard, sniffling a little, and when I moved away she wiped her eyes.

I grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to meet my gaze. "You are just as capable as them! And that fiery spirit is what will bond you to a creature," I assured her.

It was true. Physically she was weak yes, but I'd seen her through so much. The death of her father, being bullied at school, daily pain. She was the strongest woman I knew.

She released a steady breath. "I should have taken the fox."

She should have, but she wasn't ready then. It would have killed her.

"Guys!" Dev snapped from up ahead, and we rushed to catch up.

There were sounds of snarling and grunting, and by the time I reached the group Anika was locked in battle with a medium-sized lioness.

Holy crap!

That took some serious balls, balls only Anika seemed to have.

The lioness swiped at Anika's face, dragging three lines across her cheek and causing her to cry out in pain.

"Go for its eyes or paws!" I shouted, trying to help her.

The lion would tear her face off before backing down. If it thought it was going to lose something valuable, it would submit.

At my advice, Anika pivoted, bringing her dagger down and sinking it right into the lion's paw. It screeched, but the bond started. Beautiful colors began to filter from its body and create a cocoon around them both.

We all whooped and cheered, and that's when Tetra released a bone-chilling scream from behind me.

I spun, my blade already pulled and ready to cut down whatever had scared her, but I froze when I saw the small black wolf, with green glowing ember marks, had batted at her bad foot.

Fresh streaks of blood filtered down her calf, and I moved to protect her, but Alek grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back. "Blood has been drawn. You know the rules."

Don't make me watch her die! I wanted to scream as terror gripped me.

"Tetra, you have to fight it," I managed to get out without falling into sobs. If one human in this world could make me cry, it was the little blonde right in front of me, gripping her cane like an axe. I hadn't even gotten her a bow and arrow. She had her cane and a hunting knife and a lot of sass. It would have to be enough.

The wolf was staring her in the eyes, and she right back. When I noticed she wasn't looking away and neither was the wolf, I started to feel slight hope.

"I'm good," I told Alek, who let go of my arms.

They were locked in a dominance stare, neither backing down.

"Tetra, this is a good match. Whatever strength you have inside of you, he sees that," I told her. The staring was a good sign. If she was able to hold this wolf's gaze for this long, it meant they were on even territory for a bonding.

"She," Tetra corrected me, pulling the twelve-inch hunting blade out from her pack slowly.

Holy crap, this was happening.

She already knew it was a she? I had heard that wolves sort of imprinted their name and gender on you before the bond while the rest of us had to wait until during or after.

With a warrior cry that would have made Elaine proud, Tetra burst from where she had been crouched, dragging her twisted foot behind her, and grappled with the wolf head-on. She was playing this smart, on her knees where she could move freely without her affected limb getting in the way. With her cane, she cracked the wolf in the jaw and it snarled, snapping at her wrist and taking it into its mouth, shaking it like a ragdoll.

Tetra wailed, but used the concealed knife she had in her other hand to swipe out at its ribcage. I noticed that she was holding back slightly, not wanting to kill the animal, which meant the bond was about to start. She had already felt something on a deeper level with it and didn't want to end its life, only prove her worth. The wolf went berserk then, snapping out rapidly, biting her anywhere it could.

"Tetra, fight! Show your strength!" I begged, feeling like I would go out of my mind if I had to watch my best friend be mauled to death by a wolf.

Tetra used the hilt of her blade to crack the wolf across the face, and then dropped the knife to the ground in a gesture that said she would fight it no more. She wanted the wolf to live.

This could be seen as a weakness. All I could do was hold my breath.

The wolf tumbled to its side from the blow, and with her bloody arms Tetra grasped the wolf's neck and yanked her upright, standing much like Meera had. The wolf dangled from her arms like a baby cub, and a starburst of color exploded from it and wrapped around my best friend.

I fell to my knees in relief, feeling like I might just have to break my no tears streak right here and now, but I held it together.

Beside me, Alek and Roc began to chant Tetra's name, and laughter bubbled in my throat.

She did it. She was going to be okay. I'd gotten her through The Wilds just as I promised her mother I would.

I glanced behind me to see that Anika was alive as well, and bonded. She lay on the ground with her creature, stroking its honey-colored fur and tracing the red glowing marks that ran along her back. They were both panting, bloody but not broken.

I looked back to Tetra and she was back on the ground now with the wolf curled in her lap. She was stroking her fur and smiling down at it.

"You okay?" I took a step closer and the wolf snapped its head in my direction and growled, its hackles rising.

Tetra bopped her on the nose like a mother cub. "She would never hurt me," she taught the wolf.

With that, the wolf lay back in her lap and I sagged in relief.

Tetra peered up at me with tears in her eyes. "Aisling, nothing will prepare you for it. It's not like the books. It's so much… more."

My heart beat wildly at her declaration. She looked like a changed woman. Was that possible?

"What's her name?" I reached out and gave the wolf the back of my hand. She sniffed it, probably smelling Tetra, and licked it once.

Touching another person's creature without permission was frowned upon, unless in a fight or something like that. It was beyond rude.

Tetra smiled. "Ariyel."

"Hey." Roc tapped my arm. "This is great news for Tetra and Anika, but I just saw a crocodile heading this way, so unless you guys want to tangle with that, we gotta move."

I frowned. A crocodile was literally my worst nightmare of a creature to bond with, and if it drew blood I'd have no choice but to bond or kill it.

"You gonna be okay?" I asked Tetra, not prepared for just leaving her behind.

Tetra rolled her eyes at me. "I'm bonded now. I'm safe. Ariyel wants to go outside The Wilds. She's been waiting her whole life. I'm gonna leave now." With that, she picked up her cane and stood. "You don't have to worry about me anymore."

She leaned forward and pulled me into a hug. I inhaled her lemon and honey shampoo just in case it was for the last time, and nodded.

Tetra pulled back and peered into my eyes, her mouth pressed into a firm line. "Come back powerful, future empress." She mocked my father's voice and saluted me.

I smiled. "See you soon."

With that, she turned and limped out of The Wilds, and it felt like she took a hundred-pound boulder from my shoulders with every step she took.

"Let's move!" Kian barked.

I spun around to find that Anika and her lioness were gone as well.

We were now an alliance of six.

Over the next several hours we tracked three creatures. One was a rabbit so we let it go, but the others were decent, and Nikhil and Kian successfully bonded with a coyote and a rhesus monkey.

Alek, Roc, Dev, and I were all that remained and the sun was setting. We'd passed a few groups through the day, and sadly over two dozen dead bodies. We'd had to kill a handful of creatures that tried to attack us and were too weak or undesirable to bond. We were bruised, bloody, and battle weary. I felt the exhaustion of being awake the past few days pulling at me. At this point I wouldn't mind the risk of dying if it meant I could get a few hours of sleep. Going into a third day tomorrow was not ideal for bonding. I'd be tired and slow, and I was regretting not taking on the lioness that Anika had bonded.

As we were scouting for a place to make camp, we stumbled upon Kohen and some of his alliance. It looked like they'd been whittled down to about nine people. Each one of them was in rough shape, and Kohen was favoring his left leg. I hadn't allowed myself to even think about what had happened in the woods last night, but seeing him and the bandage on his neck brought it all back to me.

I killed an imperial soldier. Not just one but two.

Kohen embraced Dev and they started trading stories. He inquired about Nikhil, Anika, and Kian, and grinned when he heard they were alive and successfully bonded.

I swayed a little on my feet and Alek reached out to catch me. "Whoa, you okay, Aisling?"

I widened my eyes, hoping the mere act would keep them open. "Just tired. I'll make coffee. Why don't you set up camp?"

Kohen cleared his throat. "You guys mind if we bunk together tonight? We could use the extra lookout. Sleep in shifts? A few from each team awake at a time?"

Alek and Roc flicked their gazes to me. Could this be an elaborate plot to get Kohen close to me while I was vulnerable and kill me? Maybe. But he had plenty of chances already and he hadn't. My mind was fuzzy. I wasn't thinking straight.

"I don't care," I said.

Alek nodded. "Just stick to your side of the fire," he said, and stepped in front of me protectively.

Whoa. Okay. Didn't expect that from him. It was kind of cute and funny at the same time. I could definitely take care of myself. I wished Tetra had been here to see it.

"Understood." Kohen had his team set up camp on the right side of the fire that Roc was currently building, and we set up on the left.

I started to brew some coffee when Alek walked over to me and took the thermos from my hands. "Let me take first watch, you need sleep." He stared me up and down as if telling me I looked like a sleep-deprived zombie.

I feared if I didn't get just a few hours of sleep, I wouldn't survive the bonding to a powerful creature. If there was anyone in this group I trusted to watch my back, it was him, though I knew Elaine would have counseled me to trust no one.

My gaze flicked to Kohen and Alek lowered his voice: "I don't trust him. I think he's been tracking us by day to meet up at night."

I'd considered that and I agreed with him. It was too coincidental he found us each night for camp. "Because he wants to keep an eye on his family." I flicked my gaze to Dev, who was speaking animatedly to Kohen about Anika's bonding.

"Maybe," Alek agreed, "or maybe he wants something else." He looked at me.

I sighed, too tired to care.

"I won't let him get within ten feet of you," Alek promised.

I nodded and rolled out my sleeping bag. I was in the nauseated zone of sleep deprivation where I felt like if I didn't crash soon I was going to hurl.

"Wake me in four hours. I'll take next watch. Don't let me sleep longer than that, do you understand me?" It was an order.

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a grin, a flirty grin.

Interesting. I'd never considered Alek as a romantic partner before. The last year of my life had been consumed by Jace.

But I was too tired to care or even process that. The second I crawled in my sleeping bag, I was out.