7. Anna

7

Anna

Three hours in, I knew we weren't all going to make it.

Despite bringing me along to lead them safely through the woods, Jax and his wolves continuously charged ahead of me and tried to make their own path. With every step I took, my knee grew worse and I slowed. Patience was not their strong suit. Alphas tended to rely on the power and loyalty that was always at their side, but we were traveling through a territory that didn't give a damn about any of that.

Immediately, I could see the path he was trying to take. The most direct one. Four times, I cleared my throat delicately and purposefully turned to force us to wind a little wider around the mountain. On the fifth time, he roared.

"We need to take a break, and you need to cool off," I announced in a steady voice as I sat.

"How dare you talk to me like that," Jax snarled. "I am your alpha."

"You are, and you're going to lead us all to our deaths. You want me to get you safely through Wisteria Woods, you're going to have to listen to me."

"We are not at Wisteria Woods yet, and at the rate we're going, we won't get there until tomorrow."

"Wisteria Woods is the entire ring of forest around the peak of the mountain, where the Darkwyn coven make their home. There are two well-traveled paths to the woods, which is where you keep trying to take us. Those are also the most heavily settled areas with rogue wolves. If we take two extra days and move to the dark side of the mountain, we'll have an easier track to the coven."

Jax stared at me for a moment, his nostrils flaring. "No," he said finally. "It'll take too long. We can handle some rogue werewolves. You have an hour to rest your fucking knee, and then we move."

He shot me a look, daring me to argue, but I just averted my eyes. Everyone immediately began to move away from the small clearing, either eager to explore or just wanting to get away from me. For most of this trip, they all acted like I didn't exist.

That was just fine with me.

Saul came and sat next to me. Immediately, I stiffened. "Jax has asked me to look at your injuries. I will not touch you without permission," he said kindly.

Knowing that Jax was watching, I stretched out my leg and rolled up the leg of my green cargo pants. "It has gotten better."

"May I?"

I nodded, and he gently pressed two fingers to my ankle and then to my knee. "It's still holding heat. Have you been taking any anti-inflammatories for it?"

"The Fanged Smile is a bar, not a pharmacy."

"I have some with me now. Will you take it?"

Shaking my head, I gently pulled my leg away. "Better save it for later. We have a hard journey in front of us."

"Very well. I have an inflatable pillow. If you elevate the leg when we stop, it should hurt less." He dug around in his bag until he found what he was looking for. After blowing it up, he handed it to me. Leaning back against the tree, I propped my leg up.

"What is that?"

Too late I realized that when I adjusted, the hem of my shirt had risen up. Hastily, I reached for it. "Nothing."

"That is not nothing. I'm to treat all your injuries, Anna. Not just your leg. We are relying on you to keep us alive. Let me see it."

At his hard voice, I sat back up and lifted my shirt. "I don't know that there's anything you can do. Most of it has healed."

What he'd seen was the burn Danny inflicted less than a week ago. There were a few more matching, but older and healed. He probed at it gently. "This had a blister?"

"Yeah. It popped the other night." When I'd tried to escape, but I didn't say that.

"It needs to be bandaged. Did the manager do that to you?"

"Does it matter?"

"I won't mourn his death quite as much."

"Wait, what? Danny is dead? When?" In surprise, I jerked my leg under me and hissed in pain. Saul tutted and gently straightened my leg and propped it on the pillow. Not used to the gentle touch, I tried not to shudder.

"Yes, Danny is deceased." The healer pulled out a bandage from his bag and motioned me to sit-up. "Carefully, now."

"How did Danny die?"

"I'm not privy to the details."

"Do you know when he died?"

"Three nights ago." Saul sprayed my burn with something cold and started to wrap the bandage around my midriff. When he touched my naked skin, I shoved his hands away.

Pausing, he lifted an eyebrow. "You may do it yourself."

Grateful that he wasn't going to ask any more questions, I slapped the bandage on myself and pulled my shirt down. My mind whirled. Danny died that night he'd chased me into the woods.

What the hell had happened? Was Jax going to blame it on me? That was two managers of The Fanged Smile that had died.

"Did you ever come into the restaurant? You look familiar."

"No, although it is probably because you may have met my twin sister. We looked alike."

A face rose in my mind, and I closed my eyes. She'd been half-dead when my father had dragged her to the settlement four years ago. I'd always assumed she'd been the reason Jax came to the camp and killed my father, but no one ever said anything. Part of me worried that she'd died nameless.

And I'd never done anything about it.

"You remember her." His voice was still soft, but flat. I met his gaze and nodded. "When she made it back, she had clothes that didn't quite fit her and injuries that had been hastily bandaged. I did the best I could, but she died within a few days of returning."

Wishing he wasn't sitting so close, I stared into the ground. Jax had returned. I could feel his presence, but I still couldn't see him. "I've been at The Fanged Smile for three years. If you wanted details, you could have come to me."

"I wasn't ready. Did you know her name?"

"Cora."

Saul tensed, and I squeezed my eyes shut, but he didn't touch me. "He'd ripped up her back," I continued. "Dragged her unconscious to the settlement and told me to fix her. That's what he always made me do. Fix them when he was done with them. I did my best, but she'd fought him pretty hard. She was already near death. There were three juveniles in the settlement.

All under the age of ten, and my father was distracted. He kept leaving during the day. I didn't know what he was doing, but I thought she was my best hope at getting help for the children. We both knew she wouldn't survive long, but she said she could get back. When my father returned that night, I told him she'd died trying to escape and one of the other wolves had dragged her body away. He believed me, which was odd. I guess he was distracted. Two nights later, Jax arrived."

It took a few seconds before Saul spoke again. "She was so near death; she couldn't speak when she returned. Jax followed the tracks she made."

I looked at him. He deserved the truth. "I probably could have saved her. Her life would have been a nightmare, but she was strong. The strongest he'd ever taken. She could have survived and escaped. If it weren't for me, she might still be alive."

His gaze met mine. "I've already come to that conclusion."

"Saul." Jax called from behind us. "Jenson needs a word with you.

The healer withdrew, and I watched warily as Jax sat down next to me. "Worried that you've made a mistake?"

"I already knew that everyone here hated me. It doesn't surprise me that the man tasked with keeping me alive would hate me as well."

"I'm the one tasked with keeping you alive," Jax said harshly. "Tell me how to manage the magic, and you can leave right now."

"It doesn't work that way. Every trap is different. We're stuck with each other," I lied.

"Tell me why you're risking your life to do this?"

"Your job is not to ask questions," he said after a moment. His words echoed my father's and I flinched involuntarily. "What?"

"Nothing. I get it. Speak only when spoken to. Don't worry. I'm pretty good at that."

He stared at me for a good hard minute before he rose and left me alone to my thoughts and my pain.