Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

T he moment Erec stepped out of the tent, the bitter winter air flushed the prickling heat from his skin, but it did little to refocus his thinking or stop the erratic pounding of his heart. The desire to turn around and rejoin Astrid in her bed rushed through his veins, spreading fever and making his head fog.

Go back.

Erec hesitated. Maybe he should listen to himself. His instincts had never steered him wrong before. They’d helped him survive on his own all these years. What was really stopping him? Besides the fact that he was an orphaned rogue wolf with no territory and no home. Nothing to offer any mate, let alone Astrid, the daughter of Boden the Warrior and the alpha of one of the largest and oldest packs among their kind. She deserved better than him.

His stomach sank at the truth of it. He was a nobody. Even before Mikel had found him, no one had even known he’d existed. He would be a burden to a mate, especially Astrid.

But the curse… The sky spirits didn’t care who he was or wasn’t. If they didn’t meet their mate before the next Blue Moon, they were both dead. And if he and Astrid were supposed to be together, this could save them. He could save her.

Would she even want him, though? She had kissed him back at the pomple tree and just before in the tent, but both times he had pulled away and left her. Erec wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to speak to him again because of it.

He cursed. Had he ruined his chances? What if she refused him, even if they were destined for each other, and chose death over being with him?

No, that was absurd! And a little too overdramatic.

He sighed. The only way to possibly save himself and Astrid was to not push her away. He had to stop resisting the invisible link and the constant pull between them. Being with her, kissing her, touching her, was as easy and as natural as breathing or shifting. Like the wolf in him, it was as if she was a part of him he couldn’t ignore. Erec had never experienced this with any other woman. Even now, with the canvas of the tent separating them, her wolf called to his, coaxing him to come back and finish what they’d started.

Could this be it? Had he found his mate? Had fate really led him directly to the one? Or, he should say, had it led Astrid to the snow pile where he had been buried so she could pull him out?

He chuckled. He didn’t know the sky spirits had such a strange and twisted sense of humor.

Erec turned around, reaching for the tent’s opening. He would go inside and explain it all to Astrid, if she wasn’t too mad at him to listen. A flutter of hope skimmed his insides. Maybe things didn’t have to end so badly for the two of them. Maybe they could survive this and…

“Erec. There you are.”

When his name reverberated against his eardrums again, his mind caught up with the present. He had come outside for a reason. Henrick had been looking for him.

He spun around to find Henrick standing beside the sputtering fire pit. As his gaze danced between Erec and the tent, surprise transformed his sunken and dirty face. His nostrils flared, most likely taking in the scent of Astrid clinging to his skin.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said in a teasing whisper. “Did I interrupt something?” His lips split into a large grin, flashing perfectly white teeth.

Yes. Erec’s wolf growled, but he shushed it away and replied with a simple, “No,” instead. He didn’t know much about Mikel’s young ironworker. Erec hadn’t exchanged more than a few words with him when he was in Mikel’s pack, but the alpha had always admired him. Then again, Mikel was the type of person who found good in everyone. Even in Erec.

So far, what he knew for certain was that Henrick seemed to have impeccable timing.

His penetrating stare hinted that he didn’t believe Erec’s innocence.

Erec forced away any emotion from his face, afraid embarrassment might slip into his expression. “You needed me?” he asked.

“Er—yes.” Henrick nodded toward where Claus and Kalle were set at the edge of the campsite. “I was going to take the next watch, after the young one. Is there anything I should be wary of with Jerrick’s pet?”

That took Erec aback. After being starved and left to freeze to death, Henrick still wanted to offer his help? He should be exhausted and resting with the others. It was a wonder that he even had enough energy to stand on his own two feet.

He was beginning to understand why Mikel admired Henrick.

“You shouldn’t overextend yourself. You’ve been through a lot. I can take the next watch,” Erec told him and glanced over at Claus, who was lounging against a tree and chatting away about nonsense. Blood from his missing ear smeared across the rough bark and dripped down the side of his face. He, though, appeared unfazed by it and continued to talk to Kalle.

Kalle never looked away from Claus, but his annoyance showed in bluish veins that pushed against the skin on his neck.

The oddness of the scene itched at Erec. Something wasn’t right. He had expected more from Claus. A struggle. A fight. Something. The man was acting like his imprisonment was a retreat. There was no fear in him. The only time he’d seen any hint of it was when Bec mentioned Boden’s name. Erec was guessing that Boden’s reputation was the reason Jerrick hadn’t attempted an attack on the west-side pack yet, too. It was the only leverage they had right now, and they had to keep it that way.

Claus’s bizarre behavior nagged at Erec. Where was the bloodthirsty beast that had slammed into him the night of Mikel’s death and had fought him before in the woods?

“I’ll take the next watch,” he repeated. He could use the time to get some answers from Claus.

And what about Astrid?

Damn. There went that plan.

“All I did in that cage was stand around and wait. I can’t do it anymore.” Henrick rubbed his bearded cheek. “I’m not used to doing nothing. Give me something to do or I’ll go mad.”

Erec heaved a sigh. Maybe he should let Henrick take the next watch. Then he’d be able to talk to Astrid about the two of them and possibly beating the curse. He was sure he’d have time to get his answers from Claus later on. “Do you still have that knife I gave you?”

Henrick pulled the blade out from his waistband to show him.

“Good.” He pointed at Kalle, whose face was growing redder by the second, and Claus, who continued to blabber on. “By the looks of it, you’ll either end up killing him or yourself by the end of the night.”

Henrick let out a loud, wheezy laugh and slapped Erec’s shoulder with his calloused hand, like a friend would. Erec tensed, not sure how to respond, but Henrick’s laughter was so exuberant, even as raspy as it was, a smile crept across Erec’s lips.

“You’re a funny one,” Henrick croaked out between chuckles. “Mikel never mentioned your humor.”

Funny? He had been serious.

“But Mikel did mention you were a fighter. Said he’d found you in the middle of the woods alone. You’d managed to keep yourself alive, even as young as you were,” Henrick went on. The cheerfulness dropped from his tone, and his expression turned grave. “I saw you fight Claus in the clearing to save the girl. I thought I knew what Mikel had meant, but I saw it for myself then.”

Erec remained quiet as Henrick’s large hand came back to his shoulder and squeezed it hard. “Thank you for saving us, my friend,” he said and offered Erec a tender smile.

Friend? A soothing warmth trickled into the center of Erec’s chest. Except for Mikel, he had never had a friend before. He’d always been alone.

When Henrick released his shoulder, he stepped back. “Keep the knife close while watching the loon. Got it. Anything else I should know before taking over?”

Erec was still having a hard time finding his words. He stood there for a long moment. “Er—yes,” he got out finally. “Try not to kill him. Or cut out his tongue. We need him for information.”

Henrick let out another hard laugh, his head thrown back and his shoulders bouncing. “There it is again! That humor!” He walked off toward Claus and Kalle before Erec could say anything more.

But I was serious… Erec shook his head.

Then, remembering Astrid and the explanation she deserved from him, he turned around. He grabbed the tent’s flap and lifted it away.

A strip of silver moonlight cut the darkness in half, revealing a lock of red hair. “Astrid?” he whispered. “It’s me…again.”

No answer.

“Look…I wanted to say that I’m sorry and—”

A soft snore came from the shadows. Erec pulled the flap back more, allowing the light to spill into the tent. Astrid was curled on her side under a pile of blankets and furs. She was completely still except for the small movements of her chest, and her eyes were closed.

Asleep. He had missed his opportunity. And just when he had built up enough nerve, too.

Another snore slipped past Astrid’s lips, and he smiled. She was beautiful. Even lost in sleep. He longed to crawl under the blanket and wrap her up in his arms, feel her small body curled against his as she dreamed. But he couldn’t. Not yet, anyway.

It looked like he would have to speak to her in the morning. For now, maybe it was best if he followed Astrid’s lead and caught up on his rest. His shoulder did need to heal. Reluctantly, Erec closed the tent’s opening, spun around, and walked over to his own tent on the opposite side of the campsite.

A steady snowfall began to tumble from the gray-streaked sky, slowing the group’s pace. The large clumps of white fluff would have annoyed Erec any other time, but now, he prayed for it not to stop. They needed the extra coverage for their tracks and for their scent trail. They didn’t want to lead Jerrick right to Svanna Rock, so a snowstorm was just what they needed.

They had been traveling for hours. It was already midday, and Erec still hadn’t managed to make his way toward the front of the group to pull Astrid aside and talk to her. He wanted to blame it on everything else besides his own fear. He’d come up with some wild excuses during the trip, but they were all lies. Not only was Erec afraid of what Astrid might say, he was afraid of what came after. She could reject him because he wasn’t exactly the pick of the pack. But if she accepted him and he was right about the two of them being mates, then he had another issue to work out.

He had accepted long ago that he wouldn’t live past this coming Blue Moon. Surviving the curse had never been an option before, and now that it was, he didn’t know what came next. He’d been alone for so long. Being responsible for someone else’s life, especially the way he lived, was terrifying. Constantly moving place to place, fighting off bears and other wolves and scavenging for food? It was no way to live. And Boden hadn’t been too keen on keeping Erec around, so he doubted he’d want him as a son.

Erec was getting ahead of himself, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t push all the muddled thoughts out of his mind. He was scared of being wrong and of being right. Did that make any sense at all?

You can’t run away this time.

He grunted. Even his conscience thought he was a coward.

Erec peered around the many bodies ahead of him. He found Astrid walking alongside Stefan’s mother near the middle of the line, her hair dusted with glittering snowflakes. His pulse raced a little faster. The sight reminded him of last night, when he’d seen one of those auburn locks in the tent before realizing she’d fallen asleep. And then even further back, when he had kissed her, their bodies just inches away from each other.

Why was this so hard for him? If they were destined to be together, wasn’t it supposed to be easy?

If he was right about this, it could save Astrid from the curse. It could save them both.

One foot at a time, Erec marched forward. When he reached Astrid’s side, she turned to him and his heartbeat faltered. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Everything he wanted to say— poof . Gone the moment her green eyes found his.

A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth, and Erec swallowed roughly, scrambling to find his words again.

“Yes?” she asked.

He hesitated. “Can I speak to you?” Nodding toward the back of the group, he added, “Alone?”

“I’m talking to someone, if you can see—” But when Astrid looked back to Stefan’s mother, she had already hurried her steps to give them some privacy and then waved for them to go.

Astrid’s shoulders slumped, and she sighed. “Like last night? Your version of ‘talking’ seems to be a little different than mine.”

Ouch. That stung.

“This will be a real talk. Nothing else. Promise.”

She eyed him suspiciously, saying nothing for a long moment. Then, she stepped out of the line. “All right.” She waited for everyone to pass before taking her place again at the very rear of the group.

Erec came to her side. Before he could even utter a word, Astrid whirled on him. “You need to explain what’s going on,” she said in an angry whisper. “You keep saying one thing and doing the opposite. What do you want from me, Erec?”

Her harsh tone took him aback. “No, it’s not like that,” Erec said, making sure to keep his voice low, too. He slowed his pace, adding more distance between them and the others. As hard as it was going to be keeping the conversation private with wolf shifters around, the more space separating them, the better. “I’ve been thinking…”

Her brows rose. “Uh-oh.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

To his surprise, she laughed, bringing the youthful gleam back to her face. That was a good sign. At least she wasn’t too mad at him.

“That was a little harsh, wasn’t it?” she said.

“Yes, it was!” He smirked. “But I guess I deserve it.”

“That and more.”

“I get it.”

Astrid blew a snowflake off the tip of her nose and crossed her arms. Keeping her gaze low, focused on the footprints in the snow, she said, “So…what do you need to tell me?”

Erec’s chest squeezed. He stared at her for a while, searching for the right way to tell her everything he’d been considering the night before. “The curse on us…” he decided to start with but then paused.

“What about it?”

“I-I’ve been thinking. What if we—you and I—what if we’re meant to be together? Mates? We’re both at our final Blue Moon. What if we’re supposed to break the curse for each other?”

She halted, her boots sinking in the snow. Surprise flashed across her youthful features. “What?”

He had done it now. No going back. “I wasn’t lying before when I said being with you felt different.” He let the words spill out, afraid that if he even stopped to take a breath, he might lose his nerve again. “I wasn’t lying when I said I couldn’t control myself, either. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, and it had me thinking…maybe this is what it’s supposed to feel like when—when— ”

Astrid’s eyes widened. “You think we are…you and I are…?”

Was it really that ridiculous of a thought? It had made sense to him yesterday. “How does someone know they’ve found the one, anyway?”

Astrid was quiet, and with each second that ticked by, Erec’s stomach twisted tighter and tighter into a knot. Had he made a mistake?

Finally, in the softest whisper, she said, “I’ve been thinking about it, too.”

His heartbeat faltered. “Really?” he blurted out, but quickly washed his expression clean of any shock. He settled for expected satisfaction instead and smirked. “Oh?”

“It’s the only explanation I can come up with,” she muttered. “Even now, I want to be mad at you, but I feel like I can’t. No matter how hard I try, I can’t. And I am trying. Believe me.” A smile lifted her lips.

Erec smirked. “So what now? We meet under the Blue Moon in a few weeks and hope for the best?”

“I guess so. I don’t think there’s a way to know for sure.” Astrid squeezed her arms around herself, and Erec wondered if he should reach out to touch her or do something comforting, like someone in love would do. This all was so strange. So surreal. Both of them understood there was a possibility of being each other’s mate, but neither of them had mentioned anything about love. And didn’t true mates have to be in love to break the curse?

Loving Astrid would be easy for anybody. She was intelligent, compassionate, and full of life. Erec wasn’t sure what it was his heart was telling him about her, but he did care for her. More than he had ever cared about anyone, and that counted for something, right?

But love? True love? He didn’t know.

Erec lifted his hand, wanting to touch Astrid’s shoulder and maybe draw her in close, but right before his fingertips could make contact, a rumbling growl echoed ahead of them, followed by a clamor of angry shouts.

Astrid’s head snapped up. “What’s that?”

Erec squinted through the blurry snowfall. He could make out his group in the distance. They had stopped walking and were gathered together, staring at something ahead.

A slew of curses filled the air.

“That sounds like Bec,” Astrid said. “Something must be wrong.”

Erec’s thoughts flew to Claus, and his heart dropped. “Stay close to me,” he told Astrid and hurried to catch up to the commotion. Tiny red drops colored the snow at his feet, making an ominous trail for him to follow. Not good.

“What’s going on here?” he shouted as he pushed past the mass of spectators. The bodies parted to allow him through. In the center, Erec spotted Claus sitting against a tree, like he had been last night, but this time, he was laughing half-hysterically as Bec and Kalle struggled to lift him up onto his feet again.

The air was thick with the scent of blood. As Erec had expected, the drops in the snow led right to Claus. His right hand was covered in red. So was the trunk he leaned against and the side of his face.

How was he still bleeding? With their quick healing, his wound should have been at least scabbed over by now.

“He’s been stumbling a lot,” Bec grunted as he tried to heave Claus up with little success. “It may be from the blood loss.”

“And he hasn’t been much help, either,” Kalle added. He winced as Claus’s laughter shot up an octave.

Henrick stepped forward and grabbed onto Claus’s arm, too. The one in Bec’s hold. “Let’s do it together.”

Erec took Kalle’s side, and all at once, they pulled Claus to his feet. He wobbled a bit but locked his knees once he was upright. He stopped laughing, and his eyelids drooped with exhaustion.

“If he falls again, we may have to drag him,” Bec said. He wiped the sweat from his bald head. “Please tell me we don’t have much farther to go.”

Erec peered into the woods. In the distance, a pink light flashed, like a beacon signaling them home. “Almost there,” he said, “but we should put something against Claus’s ear to stop the bleeding. Remember, we need him alive. For now.”

In one swift motion, Bec ripped off a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around Claus’s head. The fabric barely covered the gaping hole and it was soaked with blood in seconds, but it was better than nothing.

“There. Perfect,” Bec said. “Let’s keep going.” He nodded for Gunnar and Darek, still in their animal forms, to lead them. Everyone fell back into place and started the trek again.

Erec stayed in the back with Astrid.

“How do you know we’re close?” she asked him. “How can you tell?”

“Svanna Rock is a hard place to forget.” He pointed to the crystal-like rock jutting out of the snow ahead of them. It gleamed a pinkish purple. “See that there?”

She stared ahead. “That pink thing?”

“Those are the stones that make up Svanna Rock.”

“How is it glowing pink like that?”

“It’s something embedded in the stone,” Erec explained. He’d visited this place many times over his years of traveling. “They absorb the light during the day and then release it at night. Wait until the sun goes down. It’s quite a sight.”

The biggest grin appeared on Astrid’s face. “That’s amazing.”

The closer they got to Svanna Rock, the thinner the forest became and the more pink stones peeked out from the mounds of snow. Excited whispers fluttered back and forth between the survivors.

The woods opened up to reveal hundreds of massive crystal pillars, each one standing over twenty feet tall and shining a soft pink. Naturally, they had formed a circular wall, protecting anything that was inside from outside threats. Like the west-side pack from Jerrick’s men.

Erec heard Astrid’s sharp intake of breath beside him.

“You’re telling me it looks better than this at night?” she gasped, her gaze full of innocent wonder. “It’s beautiful!”

“Oh, yes. Much better.” He chuckled, enjoying her reaction. “Welcome to Svanna Rock.”

When Astrid turned to him, with her cheeks tinted pink and her green eyes sparkling, all the air seized in Erec’s lungs. The snowflakes collected in her red hair shimmered, and her smile radiated. Svanna Rock was a breathtaking sight, but it was nothing compared to the woman standing next to him.

Something brushed against his palm. Erec looked down to see Astrid’s fingers sliding in between his.

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Welcome home.”