Chapter 47

Igroaned and rolled over when I could hear Leodos and Esylle calling my name. It was so weird. Oris said something about a hangover, but I wasn't expecting to feel this bad. My head cleared up, and I wasn't feeling silly as soon as I shifted. Oris explained the shift sobered us up long enough to get away if we were in danger, but we still had to deal with the after effects. He also said it wasn't perfect and if you were too drunk to shift, you were fucked.

Leodos could keep his potato water far away from me.

Oris and I had washed in the tide pool after we mated so no one would smell it. I hadn't marked up his chest and back too bad. Hopefully, the scratches would be gone. We could have run back to everyone, but we stayed up for a few hours chatting and snuggling until I fell asleep in his arms. It was nice.

I could hear that Leodos and Esylle sounded panicked and worried as they called my name, so I went to step out of the cave so they could find me. As soon as the sunlight hit my eyes, my headache got a hundred times worse, and I wanted to go back into the darkness of the cave.

Leodos spotted me and ran over. Esylle wasn't far behind. I was shocked when Leodos yelled at Oris and not me. I could have said no when he mentioned shifting and leaving. I held my head as soon as he started yelling because it felt like there were two tigers fighting inside.

"If you did anything to hurt her, I swear, I will find a way to make you pay for it. You knew she was drunk!" Leodos yelled at Oris.

"I'm fine now!" I said.

"No, you're not. You're paying for it now. We've been searching for you since it was light enough to find you. Everyone is upset he took you when you were like that."

"I'm not."

"There's still so much you don't understand. I don't want to hear anything from you!" he snapped when Oris tried to say something. "I'm going to cook you something when we get back that will make you feel better. When we get there, just lie down."

"Will you stop acting like you did something bad to me? If you can cook something to make me feel better, then I appreciate it, but I wish you would stop looking at me with that look on your face."

"The fact that you won't tell me what happened last night tells me I did something bad to you. I'll explain it to you when we're alone again."

I didn't particularly want to have that conversation, but I guess I was going to have to. Everyone always got mad at the guys instead of me. It was usually me that instigated everything. Oris suggested he would help me, but I could have told him no. I didn't want to.

Last night was amazing. It felt different than with Sono but it still felt good. I didn't regret it and I had a better reference to reach for when I was trying to make the heart flower. Maybe I was greedy, but I was also curious what it would be like with Neptis.

When we finally got to the clearing, everyone else was angry with Oris, too. Terros pulled him away to lead him to the other Theran because everyone was yelling at him. Sono and Neptis were the only ones who didn't seem pissed at him. We'd washed the scent of mating off of us, but they seemed to be the only people here who knew I'd sober up when I shifted and even if I didn't, Oris wouldn't take advantage like that.

Leodos set me down and told me he would be back with something to make me feel better. I curled up on my side and Esylle put her hands in my hair again. I actually liked it when she did that and didn't shake her loose this time..

"Oris shouldn't have taken you away from us when you were like that. Are you going to tell me what you did all night? I may not be able to stop myself from hurting him if he harmed you in any way."

My head was still screaming, and I just wanted water and quiet.

"Why is what I did all night so important to you and Leodos? I've already told both of you he didn't hurt me."

"If he did what I think he did with you, since you refuse to talk to us, I don't think you understand how he hurt you."

I could feel my fire rising because Oris would never hurt me. Neither would Sono or Neptis. I could just feel it. Even when Oris choked me, he wasn't trying to really hurt me. It was some kind of sexual thing that I really liked. I don't think anyone got that.

"If you don't want me taking your fire away, sit down and calm yourself," she warned.

I could feel Esylle tugging at the heat flowing through my veins and sat back down. I was about to say something not very nice to Esylle when Leodos finally appeared and began making a fire. He looked at our tense faces and asked what was wrong. Esylle tried to explain.

"Go easy on her," Leodos said, which surprised me since I expected him to yell. "That wasn't just any spirits I gave her. It was Demon Rage. I'm sure she feels awful right now. I'm not sure which of us feels worse."

"That was mango-flavored potato water." I sulked. "It was delicious, but I feel like shit right now."

Leodos brought me a mug full of dark liquid. I didn't want to make him feel any worse, but I had to ask him what this was going to do to me before I drank it.

"It will settle your stomach and make your head stop hurting. I've spent this entire journey trying to protect you and the one who harmed you was me."

"Listen, you didn't hurt me. Oris suggested I shift and run because the shift would sober me up. It's some kind of defense mechanism for the tribes if they get cornered when they are drinking. Unfortunately, it doesn't work if you are too drunk to shift and it doesn't do a fucking thing for the hangover. You can confirm that with anyone here. And this drink tastes like dirt and shite, but it is making me feel better."

He put his arm around me and held me tightly. "I never thought our situations would be reversed and you would be the one trying to calm me, Imp."

"I don't want to talk about what happened last night anymore. I don't want to keep saying you didn't hurt me. I had fun with Oris but what happened is between him and me. It's honestly none of your business."

I saw Volaris open his mouth and Leodos stopped him. "You know you can't make her do anything. She's not going to talk about what happened no matter how much you press her. You may get an answer about last night if you ask Oris."

Nope. I spent all night with Oris. Oris would never tell.