Chapter 60 Chapter 60
Tiana
I raised my face to him, looking through the tears that blurred my vision and then I saw Zane’s face. But there was no mockery in it, instead, there was some tightness around his eyes confusing me.
Only then did I pay attention to the way he was holding my foot, like it was some fragile joint that could shatter at any moment.
“There’s an herbal balm,” he continued “It’ll help with the pain and swelling.”
His hands moved quickly, applying the cool salve to my ankle with touches surprisingly gentle and seemed at odds with the man I knew him to be.
When he finished wrapping the bandage, he sat back slightly.
“You need to rest,” he said. “Stay off stressing your legs completely for at least a day. Longer if possible.”
“I am fine, I already feel better now.”
“I was telling you, not suggesting to you what you should do.”
A bob went down my throat as I turned my eyes away.
“You’re going inside the tent. Now.” He added.
Before I could protest, Zane slid one arm under my knees and the other around my back—just as Kaius had done—and lifted me.
I did not even bother fighting it. I stayed in a somewhat comfortable manner as he carried me to our shared tent, ducking through the entrance and setting me down carefully on the bedroll. “Sleep,” he commanded. “I’ll wake you when it’s time to move.”
Then he was gone, the tent flap falling closed behind him, leaving me alone with the feel of his touch still burning against my skin.
I must have slept, because when I opened my eyes again, the light filtering through the gap in the tent had changed. It was darker now, and I guessed it was evening because no way I was going to believe I had slept till morning. Had I gotten too comfortable?
My ankle throbbed with a dull, persistent ache, but the sharp agony from before had faded to something almost manageable.
I shifted slightly, testing the limits of movement I could manage and…
I heard a voice cut through the relative quiet of the camp. Or maybe it had been there and I was only just noticing now.
If I think deeply, it could have been those sounds that woke me up, because some conversations had been playing in my sleep.
The voice came again.
“Who sent you?”
Nervously, my heart immediately kicked into a faster rhythm.
“I’ll ask again.” Zane’s tone was cold, coming after about a minute from his previous question “Who. Sent. You.” The stress on it was loud enough to make me clutch tighter to my blanket.
Then a voice I did not recognize followed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just a traveler.”
“Liar.”
The word cracked like a whip in the air.
Fear twisted in my chest. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
I pushed myself up slowly, careful not to jostle my ankle, and crawled toward the tent entrance.
Through the small gap where the canvas flap didn’t close completely, I could see the clearing.
A man knelt in the dirt near the fire. His hands were bound behind his back and his face was bruised and bloodied.
I was right, he was not someone I recognized.
And standing over him, radiating lethal intent, was Zane.
The other warriors stood in a loose circle around them. Kaius to Rowan and the others. All watching silently, while waiting for Zane’s instructions.
What had happened within a few hours of my sleep?
“I am going to give you a last chance,” Zane voiced out again, his voice more controlled than it had been. “Tell me who sent you, and I’ll make this quick and your punishment lighter.”
The man’s lips twitched and I noticed it was about forming a smile. Which should not be a proper expression for an ordinary traveler right?
“Go to hell, Alpha.” He yelled.
Then he lunged. Despite being bound and on his knees, he made an attack on Zane with desperate violence. Instantly, I noticed a glint in his hands. Perhaps from a hidden blade? My wolf went into overdrive and for a second it seemed as though my breath had disappeared.
Luckily and due to his good skills, Zane was faster.
He stepped towards the side, dodging the attack with fluid grace, and at the same time, his hand shot out to catch the man’s wrist.
A sharp twist from Zane holding the man’s hands and the blade clattered to the ground.
And then Zane’s other hand came up, gripping the man’s head.
In one swift brutal motion, the crack of bone breaking echoed across the clearing, and in the next second, the man’s body went limp, falling to the ground in a heap of lifeless limbs.
My breath ceased at that instant and I went numb. All of my life activities were struggling to process what I had just witnessed.
What was weird was that it seemed like I was the only person experiencing this moment of lifelessness. Not Zane, not Kaius, not Rowan, not the other wolves with us.
Zane stood over the corpse, his chest rising and falling in the most normal way possible. There was no trace of emotion or a tinge of weakness in his build.
“I hope whoever sent him, will learn a lesson with this whenever he gets the message.”
“Yes, Alpha.” The wolves echoed.
I was still shaken in my bones that I barely registered anything else going on.
All I could see was Zane. Standing there. A killer.
No, not a killer to put it that way. An Alpha. Doing what Alphas did to protect their packs.
But the distinction felt meaningless in the face of what I had just seen.
This wasn’t the first time I had witnessed Zane take a life. Eight years ago, when he had come to save my pack from that gruesome attack, I had seen him fight and kill.
I had already been traumatized by the attack and was desperate to survive. And he had been saving us. He was our hero wreathed in blood and violence but ultimately good.
Maybe it was why this felt different.
Because now I was bond to him, and just hours ago, he had touched me with surprising gentleness.
Yet, still the very man that could snap a neck without flinching.
My hands began shaking again.
Through the gap in the tent, I saw Zane lift his gaze and found mine.
Reflexly and still shaken, I pulled back quickly, almost hurting my legs but I was too disturbed to focus on it. My palm rushed to my palms, as I let out short and sharp gasps to steady myself.