17. Maya

17

Maya

For ten hours, we traveled up the mountain and didn't see a single wolf. As soon as we stopped, I shifted back into human form and shivered. My wolf was liking her freedom a little too much, and I was having a hard time retaining control when she was out.

Tessa shifted with me, and we dressed. Pulling the cream out of the pack, she gestured to my knee. "It's starting to ache again, isn't it? You should have let him break it so it could mend properly."

I settled on a wooden log and took the cream while she started to make a fire. "Said by a woman who's never been under the hand of a man." I tried not to moan as the cream started to warm up my knee. "I can't think of any situation where I would willingly let another man break a bone in my body."

Looking up, Tessa frowned. "Who hurt you, Maya?"

"Nobody here." I used less than the recommended dose because I wasn't sure how long I needed to use it for, and I didn't want to run out. "I need to move around a little now that I'm human. Anything I can do to help?"

"A little more kindling for the fire won't hurt. Stay where I can see you," Tessa warned. When I shot her an annoyed look, she grinned. "I might be a submissive wolf, but I still have my marching orders. And I can fight when I need to."

Bending down, I grabbed a few sticks, and ran my hands over them to see if they were dry. "It's not that you're submissive or that you're in charge of me. I'm used to both. I left for my freedom, but I just traded one jailer for another."

"Rhyson isn't a jailer, Maya. He's trying to keep you and your baby safe."

"Until he decides the baby isn't his and it's not worth his time."

"Is it not his?"

"Does it matter?" I reached down and picked up more kindling. "I get the feeling he's not all that interested in being a father, which is weird. Men of his status always want heirs."

"He's complicated," Tessa admitted with a smile. "But he's a good man. A good wolf."

We had different opinions on that, but I let it go. "When did his brother die?"

"Two years ago." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Marrow was a good alpha."

"Of Summerset?" I guessed. "Wait, were you their healer? Are you all from Summerset?"

"Not Duke." Her gaze moved down. "He traveled with Rhyson. Has been with him for years. But Juniper was Marrow's third, and Dante and Nash were guards. They all took Marrow's death hard. It took a lot for Rhyson to tear them away from Rune, Marrow's son and the new alpha, but he promised them revenge."

Two years ago. That meant his brother died before Rhyson became king.

Holy shit, did Rhyson become king just to avenge his brother's death?

It was hard for me to understand anyone going to such lengths for family. No one in my family would lift a finger for me.

What was the point of the crown? It wouldn't do him any good here.

But it did give him access to information.

I glanced over at Tessa again. "You loved him."

"No. Yes. I don't know. We thought…we thought maybe in time the mating bond might snap into place. It was important to him. He'd fallen in love with Rune's mother and thought she was his mate. As soon as Rune was born, she left. He wouldn't be with anyone afterward unless the mating bond was there."

"Wolves get together all the time without a mating bond and have successful relationships. Most don't even believe in mating bonds anymore."

"Well, Marrow did." Tessa swallowed hard. "We thought…well, we'd known each other for years, and then one night, when I was patching him up, we started to look at each other differently. He said that if we let our guard down, then maybe it would happen. A week later he was dead."

Well, shit. No wonder Tessa was out here, seeking vengeance. She thought her mate was dead. If the bond had snapped into place before he died, then Tessa would barely be walking.

I sure as hell didn't want to use the word lucky in this situation, but she was here now.

A shout caught my attention, and I whipped my head around. "What was that?"

"That's Dante. Shit," Tessa whispered. "Shift."

A crashing noise grew closer. It sounded like trees were being uprooted and thrown across the woods. I swallowed hard. "It takes too long. If I get caught mid-shift…"

I'd be dead.

Behind me, already a wolf, Tessa growled. I moved closer to the fire and watched as trees started to part.

Suddenly, a wolf flew through the air and landed in the fire. "Nash," I swore. Grabbing his paws, I hauled him out of the fire and tried to beat the flames off him. He groaned.

"He's not dead," I told Tessa, and hissed as the remaining flames started to burn my palms. Stripping off my shirt, I beat at him until the flames were gone. The crashing noise grew even louder.

No other wolves were coming out, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I desperately wanted to tell Tessa to fall back, but we'd never be able to drag Dante's wolf with us. If I left him here, he was a sitting duck.

Suddenly, a wolf broke through the woods. Opening my mouth, I screamed in horror, and it was just enough to stop the wolf from its rampage.

Unfortunately, his attention was all on me.

It was a wolf. Well, it had a wolf's face and muzzle, and a wolf's body. Except it was running on two legs and looked to be fifteen feet tall.

It was a monster.

With its attention focused on me, I grabbed a log from the fire and quickly moved to my left. "Hey there, handsome fella," I said after a quick check, and desperately wished I could unsee the enormous dick dangling between his legs. "You looking to ask a girl for a dance?"

Opening his mouth, he roared. Tessa moved to stand protectively over Dante. My heart pounded in my chest. Where the hell were Rhyson and the others?

Dead?

"I don't suppose you brought me some flowers? I'm a difficult girl to woo. I want moonlight. Sparkling diamonds. Picnics by serene lakes."

His mouth curled into a snarl. Shadows shifted behind him. Wolves.

God, I hoped they were our wolves.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I've got a long list of suitors. Let's see what you've got."

He charged, and I waited until the last minute before I jumped to the side and struck him in the knee with the log. Claws raked against my arm as he fell, but I brought the log up again and hit him full in the face. Fire singed him, and he roared. Rhyson and Nash jumped him, and I turned my back.

I returned to the fire, and Tessa was back in human form, looking over Dante. "How is he?"

"A few broken bones and burns that'll heal in a few hours. Since he's not awake and telling me what hurts, I don't know if there's anything else." She glanced up. "Your hands are burned and you're bleeding. You should shift."

"In a minute."

"Not in a minute," Rhyson snarled from behind me. "Now."

He sounded weak. I wanted to turn around and check on him, but I just knelt down and started to shift. When my wolf finally came out, I wanted to bury myself inside of her and hide. Pain. God, I hated pain. Shuddering, I let the magic of the shift start to heal me.

"When you're human again, you can tell me what the fuck you were thinking," Rhyson snarled behind me. "Baiting a monster? Have you lost your fucking mind?"

"Rhyson," Tessa screamed. "Behind you!"

I whipped my head around to see the monster rise and shake off Nash, Duke, and Juniper like they were gnats. With a roar, he jumped over Rhyson and scooped me up.

Shit.

Before I could blink, he was crashing through the woods with me in his arms, and Rhyson and his crew were left behind.