Chapter 34

S carlet's shoulder hurt as she came awake. Soft hands and the familiar scent of herbs kept her relaxed.

"There, there, you're alright now, child," Grandma said softly. "Wake up now. I want to know everything ."

Scarlet wiped her eyes with her free hand, pushing her wet hair out of her face. Grandma gently rubbed another bloody spot from her face, and Scarlet turned her head away with a groan. "Leave me alone. I hurt everywhere."

"Oh stop your grumbling and get up. You have a big goose egg on your head and your shoulder is pretty mangled, but I have a potion and a hot bath waiting for you."

The last she said in a sing-song voice, and Scarlet's eyes opened as she looked around. She was in her room at Hartsgrove Manor, and a steaming copper tub sat in front of the roaring fire. The servants must've just left, yet she didn't see Wulfric.

She frowned and asked, "Where's Wulfric? The Growler?"

Grandma pulled on her good hand, and Scarlet rolled to her side, holding her shoulder and arm tight to her body. The pulsing pain was familiar, and she knew it was dislocated. She sat on the edge of the bed, breathing deeply as she waited for the nausea to wane.

The door opened softly but she didn't turn around. A soft warmth spread through her body as shuffling steps came closer.

"Ah, there you are. I had wondered how long it'd take you to get up all those stairs," Grandma said.

"Don't sass me, girl. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be at the exact time I'm supposed to be here," said the soft, raspy voice.

Scarlet's eyes tightened as she heard the woman draw closer. "Lailant?" she gasped through the pain twisting her shoulder and stomach.

A soft hand settled on her shoulder, and the warmth spread from there. "Aye, bite down on this, as it's going to hurt more before it gets better."

Scarlet opened her eyes, saw the old woman holding a hairbrush, and opened her mouth. She bit on the carved handle, and the woman's hand tightened on her shoulder. Her nails bit in as if there was no shirt or vest to protect her.

The pressure increased in waves, and she whimpered. The warmth that had felt so good just moments before turned to racing fire in her veins, and she screamed. Her body shook and she jerked back, but Grandma held her in place on the other side. The woman put all her weight onto Scarlet's shoulder and it popped, sending pain exploding up the side of her neck to her head.

The waves of fire settled from a hurricane to a gentle trickle, and Scarlet took a shuddering breath. The pain in her head remained a steady beat but she blinked as the women's hands let her go. Bright spots made her vision swim, and then a vial was thrust into her good hand.

"Here, drink quickly now," Grandma said softly. Scarlet's hand shook as she drank, and Grandma wiped the dribble off her chin and took the empty vial.

"There, now you can remove those stinky clothes and take a nice, hot bath. Won't that feel good?"

Scarlet groaned, and the medicine woman shuffled to the settee beside the window to sit. "Talk while you bathe. What's happened? Olive told me of her vision, but did it come true?"

Grandma hovered as Scarlet unlaced her vest, helping her remove it without needing to lift her shoulder. The slightest movement to remove her shirt made her stomach lurch but the pain was a manageable dull ache now. Grandma unlaced her boots while she sat breathing through it.

When she was finally sinking into the hot water of the tub, Grandma grabbed a pitcher and gently poured the water over the back of her head. Scarlet sighed and tipped her head back, drawing her knees to her chest. Her bad arm tucked to her side, she hugged her knee with the other and told them a quick summary of the past few days. Gods, had it really been less than a week that she'd known him?

"I assume Grandma told you that I went with the Growler to his tribe to ask the Elders for help reversing the curse. Their spell didn't work, but after completing the mate bond on the night of the full moon, I woke up partially shifted into a Growler."

Grandma sighed in relief and scrubbed soap into her hair. "So you went through with it. Thank the gods."

"Yes, I did. No point in refusing when refusal would mean death." The soothing fingers along her scalp, especially at the base of her antlers, made her entire body relax.

"But you're not just a Growler, are you?" Lailant asked. "You still have antlers and ears and that nose—"

"Right," she swallowed hard as Grandma poured water over her head. "I ran with the pack that night, killed a boar and an ice monster, then woke up the next day right back to what you see now."

"An ice monster, you say?" Lailant asked, her eyes growing narrow as she stared across the room tapping her chin.

"Yes, we brought it with us. The Growlers couldn't identify it, but maybe someone here can," Scarlet said.

Grandma set the pitcher down and grunted as she stood. "That's good. Lailant and I will go look at it shortly. Something tells me you didn't take it well when you realized the antlers were back. What did you do?" Grandma asked as she walked to the settee and sat beside Lailant.

Scarlet took the cake of soap in her good hand and said, "That was when I asked the Elders to do the spell and try to reverse it. It didn't work, but made me shift into first a rabbit and then a deer."

Lailant chuckled. "I bet that was a sight to see, a rabbit and deer in the middle of a Growler camp."

Scarlet glared and rinsed the soap off. "Don't laugh. I was more terrified than I'd ever been in my whole life."

Lailant's brows lifted but it was Grandma who asked, "Even more than when you were first cursed?"

Scarlet frowned as she held her bad shoulder close and stepped out of the tub, drying off with one hand. "No, I suppose that was worse. After all Wulfric was still there, and I knew he'd keep me safe from the other Growlers. Of course, it took him long enough to do it, but still…"

She pulled fresh clothes from her dresser, and Grandma helped her put the shirt on without moving her shoulder too much. The women remained silent while she dressed, and Scarlet thought back to those first shifts. She'd been so scared, but somehow had known Wulfric was close and would help.

She trusted him, wanted him nearby in a fight. Her throat tightened in surprise. For the first time since losing her dad, she didn't mind traveling with a partner.

When she was dressed, she turned to the settee and frowned. "Grandma?"

Olive sat crying silently, Lailant's arm around her shoulders. She waved a hand. "Oh, I'm fine. I'm sorry, child, I'm just so happy."

Scarlet's brows rose as she strode closer and dropped onto the couch on the other side of Grandma. She patted her knee with her good hand, unable to put her own arm around her as it was her bad arm.

"Why?"

Grandma's green eyes shone with tears as she turned and cupped Scarlet's cheeks in her hands. "Oh my darling child, don't you know what this means? You can shift into a Growler, rabbit, and deer, right?"

Scarlet nodded, but Grandma didn't let go of her face.

"It means that you're a full druid now," Grandma said, tears filling her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.

Scarlet's eyes widened, and her chest grew tight as it swelled. She'd been so mad as a child when she couldn't do any of the druid things her grandma and mother had tried to teach her to do. None of the magic had worked for her. Then when her mother had died, she'd turned to her dad and learned everything she could about being a Ranger.

He'd taken her on missions, taught her how to hunt, live off the land, and follow orders on missions. But the Rangers had only welcomed her because of him. They'd always been wary around her, whispering behind her back about being a druid. She'd gone to the Hunters after his death, trying to find her place. But she'd never quite fit in.

And now, after all the pain and sacrifices and heartache, she was a druid?

"This doesn't make any sense. How can I be a druid now?"

Grandma sobbed, and Scarlet drew her awkwardly to her shoulder. She met Lailant's smiling eyes over Olive's back.

"Either the mate bond magic, the Growler spell, or both unlocked a piece of yourself that had been lying dormant all this time," Lailant said matter-of-factly. "You're no longer more connected to man, but are more connected to nature now."

Grandma cried, "It's as the dream said. I was so afraid to hope, but it's true. You've always been one of us, but now you'll be able to come to the annual meetings and actually feel the goddess at the pilgrimage, maybe even hear her, and—"

"For gods sake, Olive, don't overwhelm the girl," Lailant said, pushing to her feet. "I'm going to leave you two to talk and go check on that Growler of yours. I need to see how much he remembers and see what this prophecy business is all about."

The door clicked closed behind the medicine woman as Scarlet held Olive, her throat still too choked on emotion to speak. Her body hummed with nervous energy. She had so many questions, but the most pressing thing making her antsy was the need to tell Wulfric.

She wanted to run down the stairs and tell her she really was a druid now. Finally, she belonged somewhere. She frowned, unsure of how he'd react. Would he be excited or would he remind her that he wanted her to go back to the Growlers with him when all of this was over?

Grandma leaned back and wiped her cheeks. "I'm sorry, child, it's just… your mother would be so proud of the woman you've become. She already was, I'm sure, but do you know what I was thinking the whole time you were telling us what happened the past few days?"

Scarlet shook her head, still unable to speak.

"I was thinking… you seem so much more settled now. Less angry at the world. Less jumpy, like you're content to be where you are. I haven't seen you like that since she died."

Scarlet sat back on the settee and blinked. Grandma looked so much like her mother, like herself even. It was why Scarlet spent so little time on her appearance or looking in a mirror, why she didn't bother with makeup or fancy hairstyles like Eirwyn or the other nobles or women in the villages.

Grandma cupped her cheek and smiled. "I think being mated suits you, child, and that ? That's what your mother always hoped for. That you'd find someone to love and be loved unconditionally in return. You did it. You found someone to share your life with the way she did with your father. You opened yourself up to him, and I—I'm just so happy."

Grandma stood, wiping her cheek again. "Here, let me bind your arm until the healing potion finishes." She grabbed the gauze from the vanity, and Scarlet scooted forward on the edge of the seat to let her work.

Was this really what her mother—of course it's what she would've wanted. Scarlet remembered the way her parents had looked at each other. It was the same disgusting way Knox and Eirwyn looked at each other, like they were the only two people in a room.

Her chest grew tight, but thankfully Grandma didn't press her on it. She cleared her throat. "I—uh, I need to check on Wulfric. Make sure Knox hasn't killed him."

Grandma chuckled and nodded. "I'm sure we would've heard things breaking by now if he had, but very well."

Scarlet slipped her feet into a different pair of boots that didn't lace up, Grandma pulling the sides up over her calves with a grunt. Then they both turned to the door to go downstairs. She had so much to talk to him about, and she wasn't sure what he would say.