13. Rhyson

13

Rhyson

"And here I thought my father and Larson told you everything you needed to know about me," she said tonelessly. "You only care now because someone thought you did it. Don't pretend to care otherwise."

"I do care. I am your…" I cut off before I said king. "I do care."

"No. You don't."

Hofter returned before I could press the issue. I paid close attention to the instructions on both the salve and the morning sickness medication. Watching him rub the stuff on her knee made my wolf howl with fury inside, but I just clenched my fists and stood still. He was a healer. She was hurt.

And she wasn't mine.

Afterward, Maya looked relieved, making the guilt wedge even further inside me. How long would it have taken her to admit something was wrong? When her knee gave out in the middle of an attack?

We were going to have to talk about that.

But not now. Not in front of strangers.

I thanked him stiffly, and he smirked my way, as if he knew what the effect of him touching her had done to me. Maya didn't even look my way as we exited, and we walked silently back to the group. They'd finished eating and were sitting around a strange grouping of sticks in the grass. Nash was standing over them, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he tossed a rock. It landed in one of the interlinked rings, and he swore. "This is impossible!"

"Not impossible." Charles chuckled. "It just requires skill. At its core, it's a game of magic. The idea is to get an element in each of the rings while not allowing them to destroy each other. Fire too close to earth would burn it, just as water too close to fire would extinguish it. Those of us who don't have magic have simplified the game a bit, but it's still quite difficult. Ah, they have returned. How is your knee?"

"Better. He's amazing."

Tessa frowned. "You should have let me go with you."

"He said to give this to you." Maya handed over a sheet of paper. "It's the ingredients for both the salve and the morning sickness tincture, but he said it can be difficult to make in the wild."

Her eyes skimmed the paper and brightened. "Oh, this is brilliant. I really must go talk to him, but first, dinner. I am starving."

I glanced up, startled to see that it was getting dark. "Dinner? We just had breakfast an hour ago."

My healer shook her head. "You've been with the healer for hours. Duke checked on you multiple times."

Had she lost her mind? "I never saw him." I glanced at Maya, who looked equally confused.

"I didn't go in. Charles warned what might happen if I interrupted their healer, and I know what a bear Tessa can be if she's interrupted. I just glanced through the window to make sure that the two of you were there and safe. We declined lunch because we were waiting on you."

My own stomach rumbled, giving credit to their story, but even Maya was glancing around with a worried look on her face. "How long do you think we were in there?" I asked her gruffly. I hated that I was relying on her for anything.

"Not all day. Something weird is going on. Do you think the healer drugged us? Or was it magic? They did say that there are witches here."

Nodding, I turned to Duke. "We're leaving. Something isn't right here."

"Nash and Dante are already scouting out the cabins. I'll grab them." He turned and stopped short. I inhaled sharply. Sera stood right behind him. How the fuck had I not noticed her? Instinctively, I stepped in front of Maya.

"You're not leaving, are you? Hofter can be a bit thorny. I hope he hasn't offended you. I was just on my way to check on you when I learned that you were still there."

"We were there for one hour," I growled. "And the entire day is gone. Care to explain that?"

Her eyes widened, and then she winced. "Oh, I am so sorry. Was there a charm hanging above his door? An hourglass, perhaps? Or a sun and moon? He's been experimenting with both, but he should not have had them hanging with strangers."

"What do you mean?"

"As a healer, Hofter struggles to handle others' pain. He internalizes it, but it wears on him. Because of this, he's been working on some magical charms that alter a patient's perception of time. Hours of pain will only seem like one to them. I am so sorry. I'm going to go speak to him right now. If you'd like to come with me, you're more than welcome. I promise that we are not trying to play any tricks on you."

"Maya is not in intense pain. There was no reason for us to be there for hours," I growled.

Tessa cleared her throat delicately. "Forgive me for interrupting, but based on these ingredients, I would say that Maya has been hiding a great deal of pain. It has a building effect, but if you're already feeling relief, then it probably has been several hours with at least two or three applications."

Furious, I turned to her. "You do not hide pain here, do you understand?" I snarled. "Any weakness at all that I don't know about could get us killed."

"You were the one who told me to come along," she said under her breath. "I'm happy to go my own way."

"You're not fucking going anywhere." I turned back to Sera. "While we are here, there are to be no magical charms."

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "I apologize, wolf, but I will remind you that you are in our home. We should not have practiced magic on you without your knowledge, but we will not abide by your orders."

Starkly, I realized what Duke had been trying to tell me all along. I would be without power here. If I revealed my status, it would be the death of us all, but even so, these were not wolves. They were not under my command.

I hadn't even realized how used to the power I'd grown in such a short period of time until it was no longer available to me.

Tessa and Duke stared at me, awaiting my orders. "You are correct," I bit out. "I would appreciate it if no magic were practiced on us while we are here."

"A reasonable request. Does this mean that you will be staying tonight? We have several accommodations. I believe two of your wolves are already examining them," she said pleasantly, as if we hadn't just had a tense standoff.

It was late. I wasn't sure if we were safe here, but I knew the risks of leaving. Plus, I wanted to make sure that the salve on Maya's knee was going to help her. I nodded shortly.

"Wonderful. Dinner should be ready shortly. Did you want to accompany me to speak to Hofter?"

"I'll speak to him at dinner. I trust he'll be there." Before she could refute me, I took Maya's arm and steered her away. "Take me to the others," I directed at Duke.

We found Dante and Nash arguing about the two sleeping accommodations. One was for wolves and one was for humans. Juniper was making the final call, and I agreed with her. The cabins were easier to protect than the wolf dens. There were two beds in each cabin, so we paired off with Dante and me in one, Nash and Duke in another, and the three women sharing a cabin.

We returned for dinner. Hofter was there, and he bowed to us. "I am truly sorry for any discomfort that I have caused you. I forgot the charms were there when you entered. I have removed them and will leave them down for the duration of your visit."

After a moment, I bowed my head and accepted his apology. It seemed plausible enough, and as far as I could tell, the only thing it had done was keep us here overnight. I was still a little on edge that something would happen tonight, and I would regret it.

Hofter explained that he was not a trained witch, but had some affinity for the craft and tried to hone it where he could. He had more talent for healing than anything else. He'd bought the amulets from a witch and was working on the spell coating them to suit his needs.

Witches. This mountain was so much more dangerous than I'd first anticipated, but I would not back down.

Maya seemed so much more relaxed than usual, smiling and quietly chatting with the humans around us. None of the conversations were relevant, but I couldn't tear my eyes off her.

After dinner, I gave my wolves their instructions. The huts were close enough that two guards could be posted at all times, shifting throughout the night. And when I walked into my hut, I was met with my temporary roommate snarling at me.

"What the fuck is this?" Maya demanded. "You don't expect me to sleep with you, do you?"

"Yes. I do."