Chapter 43 CHAPTER 043
Ari POV:
My body ached when I made an attempt to roll on my side. It felt like a thousand needles were sticking to my bones. My lungs were on fire and my head was swimming. The first thing I noticed was the sound of the river still flowing aggressively. Thankfully, the current had washed me to land where my body felt terrible.
I looked beside me. There was a reason why I ended up in the river again.
"Right. Stone." I remembered he came to save me from the Rogues.
Did he drown in that river? Did something happen to him? I managed to stand, pressing my palms to the wet sand as I steadied myself. Where could he be?
My fingers trembled as I wiped the water from my face. The cold air kept seeping deeper into my bones while I dragged in each shaky breath. Then I saw a dark shape sprawled near the rocks, half-submerged in the river. "Stone?"
My pulse spiked.
I stumbled toward him, ignoring the way my bare feet slipped on the wet stones. His body was still, and his chest was barely rising. Blood darkened the water around him, swirling in lazy ribbons downstream. The gash along his flank was deep, and I could see the ragged edges. It was where the rogue’s blade had bitten in.
I crouched beside him, pressing my fingers to his neck. His pulse thudded weakly beneath my touch.
"You idiot," I whispered, though I wasn’t sure if I meant him or myself.
A distant howl cut through the trees.
My head snapped up. The rogues. They’d track the blood.
I grabbed Stone’s wrist, my fingers slipping against his wet skin. "Come on," I hissed, tugging, but he didn’t budge.
I gritted my teeth and hauled harder, my muscles screaming. Inch by inch, I dragged him up the bank, his dead weight scraping in the mud. My breath came in sharp gasps as my vision blurred.
In no time, I came across a place where a cave mouth loomed ahead. It was a jagged maw in the cliffside. I barely made it inside before my legs gave out, collapsing beside Stone’s still form. The air was warmer here, though it reeked of dead animals, bats and moss.
I tore a strip from my already ruined dress, pressing it to his wound. The fabric darkened quickly as the blood seeped through.
A low growl rumbled beneath my hands.
I froze.
Stone’s eyes snapped open, and they were feral.
He moved faster than I could blink. One moment I was kneeling beside him, and the next, my back slammed into the cave wall. As the tiny rock pieces on the wall bit into my skin, I cried out, but his claw was already at my throat, the tip pressing just enough to draw blood.
"Why?" His voice was loud and rumbling, toned with something darker than anger.
I swallowed against the pressure at my neck. "You—I was just...let me explain."
His grip tightened. "You ran."
"I didn’t—"
"The evidence says otherwise. Imagine my surprise when I found Sierra unconscious," he snarled. "And she told me you cracked her skull open. I almost didn't believe her, until I found out you ran."
My breath hitched. "What? No—she helped me—"
"Liar." His pupils dilated, indicating he might transform at any moment. And that scared me more than anything.
A fresh rivulet of blood trickled from his wound, staining his shirt. The angrier he got, the more his muscles tensed, and with the veins throbbing at his temples, the gash pulsed more with blood.
"Stone," I gasped, my fingers twitching toward his injury. "You're bleeding worse. Just—let me fix it first. We can talk after."
His claws flexed against my throat, then retracted with a frustrated snarl. He shoved away from me, staggering back against the opposite wall. "Fix it then," he spat, though his glare said he still didn't trust me.
I edged forward cautiously. When my fingertips brushed his side, he snarled, jerking away like my touch burned him. "I said fix it, not grope me."
"I can't if you keep flinching!" I snapped. A reckless confidence surged in me, or maybe the river water had drowned my survival instincts, because I grabbed his wrist and yanked him down to sit. To my surprise, he let me.
"Take your shirt off," I ordered, already tearing another strip from my ruined dress.
Stone arched a brow but he obeyed, peeling the soaked fabric over his head with a wince. The midnight moonlight from the cave entrance spilled over him, and my breath caught.
Every ridge of his muscle was carved like the gods themselves had chiseled him. His broad shoulders tapered to a waist ridged with scars, his abdomen flexing as he breathed. Everything about him looked tight and impeccably cut, and the bronze tone of his skin made my heart flutter even harder. My gaze lingered too long on the trail of dark hair and v-line leading below his waistband.
"See something you like?" Stone’s voice dripped with dark amusement.
My face burned. "I—no, I was just—"
"You can touch that too," he growled, shifting just enough to make the thick outline of his erection obvious against his trousers.
"I meant your wound!" I nearly screeched, pressing the fabric to his gash harder than necessary. He hissed but he didn’t pull away.
As I worked, my fingers skimmed the planes of his chest, tracing his battle marks and feeling the heat of his skin. My pulse thundered in my ears, louder than the river outside.
Stone watched me, his breathing uneven. "You’re staring again."
"I’m not."
"Liar." His hand engulfed mine, pressing it flat against his pectoral. "Feel that? Even when you betray me, my wolf won't stop calling for you. I wonder how long it's going to take for you to realize where you belong. With me."
The cave suddenly became hotter as our breaths mingled. I could smell his sweat filling my lungs, and by gods, it only made me want to bury my face in his chest.