36
“What?”
He moves toward me, and when I raise my upper lip in a snarl, he stops. "Your mate is not well."
“I can see that. I have to get her to a healer…”
“A healer can’t fix what's wrong with her.” He points at Sophia’s neck. “You can. She’s not wearing your mark.”
For a moment, I don't follow, and when I do, I feel irritated. “That’s because I am wearing hers.”
He looks at me like one would at an idiot. His gaze is pitying, with a hint of disgust. “She still needs yours.”
His voice is confident.
“You expect me to take advice from somebody who doesn’t even know who he is?” I scowl at him.
He shrugs. “I promised to save her if she rescued me. I did my part. Let her die if you want. She’s your mate, not mine.”
When he turns around, I feel uncertainty creep in. “If-if I’m already wearing her mating mark, why does she need to wear mine?”
He stops in his tracks and looks of his shoulder. “Balance. The mark of a female does not provide the balance.”
Right now, I am willing to try anything. “Are you saying that if I give her my mating mark right now, she’ll survive?”
“Why do you think she’s in this condition to begin with?” The man looks mildly annoyed. “Why take a mate when you can’t even protect her?”
His words make me flinch, and I look down at Sophia. Her skin is clammy, her color almost gray. She's struggling to breathe.
Why didn’t anybody tell me I had to give her my mating mark as well? Surely somebody must’ve known!
I’m not going to waste any more time. This is the only chance I have. Even if I don’t want to listen to this man, there is no way I can get her to a healer in time. Tilting her head back to expose her neck, I sink my teeth into the spot where my mark should always have been.
When I pull away, there’s no change in her color.
But then, I feel a throbbing sensation inside me. The thread that binds us is glowing brighter and brighter.
Sophia is breathing better, but she doesn’t wake up. There is something else I notice. The bond between us is enveloped in something sturdy now. My head lifts to look at the man standing across from me. He was right. But how did he know what to do?
“Do you also have a mate?”
The man’s hand automatically goes to his neck and he looks shaken. “I don’t know. I don’t remember anything.”
“Were the witches holding you captive?” I question. “You said that Sophia had to rescue you.”
“I was…” He looks around once again, as if very unsure of himself. "I don’t remember anything but being restrained. They used my blood. They tried to use me for other things, but I killed one of them. Then they only used me for my blood.”
“What were they doing with your blood?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. All I remember is that room, that stone chamber. I begged them to kill me, but they wouldn’t.”
From the state of him, he’s probably been the witches' captive for years. And they probably only fed him enough for him to keep alive. Were they planning to do the same to me? Where did Sophia fit into their plan? Had she also been restrained?
I look down at my mate. Her color is returning. Our journey to the Central Alliance will undoubtedly be dragged out now, but I’m not going anywhere till she’s recovered. And I’m sure as hell not staying in this place.
My mate in my arms, I begin walking. The man starts to follow me.
“Where are you going?” I come to a halt, turning to stare at him.
He shrugs. “I don’t know.”
"Surely you must know something.”
He hesitates. "I was a…”
He pauses, his expression strained as if he’s trying to think. “I was a mercenary. I know that…I think. But I have no place to go.”
He had saved Sophia’s life, but our experiences with people joining us on our journeys had not exactly turned out well in the past.
“I’m sorry.” I take a step away from him. “I can’t risk my mate's life any further. Thank you for saving her, but you’ll have to find your own way to wherever it is you’re going. Even if you don’t know where it is.”
The man stares at me, his feet glued to the ground, and he looks lost. If Sophia had been awake right now, she would’ve taken pity on him, and asked him to join us. It’s the same way we welcomed Tina into our fold.
My heart hardens.
I don’t waste any time and begin walking.
When I look over my shoulder, he's still standing in the same spot, in the middle of all that carnage, looking lost.
Sophia’s injuries are severe, but not life-threatening. While she’s unconscious, I find a small brook and use the clear water to clean her wounds. She has plenty of them. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like she had been restrained in the same manner that I had been. There are no marks on her wrists or her ankles. Iron restraints leave their marks.
I want to go hunt for some meat for her, but I can’t bear the idea of leaving her alone. All our belongings, including the rock that Brian gave us to find our way to the Central Alliance, are back at the village. I don’t want to return there, either.
For now, I’ve settled into my animal form, and lie wrapped around her, trying to warm her up. Despite how alert I felt, I must have been more tired than I realized, because when I open my eyes, Sophia is looking at me from across the clearing.
She’s already started a fire, and there is a large, skinned boar roasting on it.
I shift back instantly. “You went hunting?”
Sophia blinks. “Hunting?”
Her voice is clear, with no trace of the weariness that I had been noting for the past two days. “The meat was already cooking when I woke up. I thought you…”
The look on my face has her going still.
I am on my feet and by her side in a heartbeat. Grabbing her by the upper arms, I study her, my eyes roaming over every inch of her. "Are you hurt anywhere? Did he do anything to you?”
“Who?” Sophia doesn’t free herself from my hold, but she looks confused. “Who are you talking about, Alex?”
My mouth is dry, my heart pounding. “When did you wake up?”
"Just a few minutes ago. I felt so much better. I’ve been so tired lately, and when I woke up, it felt like my body just recovered from a long illness. The meat was already cooking, so I thought you’d put it on and fallen asleep. I was just watching over it for you.”
I release her, looking around. “It must’ve been him.”
“Him?”
How did that man get past me? Even if I was asleep, my wolf is always alert. For him to be able to sneak past my wolf's defenses means he’s more dangerous than I thought.
“You rescued a man, Sophia.” I look at my mate.
For a moment, she gazes at me, an uncomprehending look in her eyes. And then, my words finally seem to register with her. I see the color drain from her face, and when she staggers, I catch her.
“I thought…I thought it was all just a bad dream." She looks down at her feet. “My injuries…there are no injuries on me. I was badly injured in the dream, I mean, in the…" She's struggling to form the words. When she looks up at me, devastation is all over her face. "I thought I was going to die. Are you saying none of it was…”
“It wasn’t a dream, Sophia. We walked into a den of dark witches. They must’ve drugged us. I woke up chained in a cave.”
Sophia presses the heels of her hands against her temples, looking unsettled. "That's why I couldn't find you. I was in another hut. They wanted something from me. They pretended you were out hunting or something. But I knew. I knew you wouldn't leave me alone like that."
Her hands drift down to settle on my chest. “That field …Alex, that field has dead people buried in it. I tried to get away from them, and I found a cave. They hurt me when I was running away."
Her words are stumbling over one another.