Chapter 40 The Long Ride
Rhea POV
The courtyard was chaos. Wolves shouted orders, saddles creaked, and armor clanked as if the entire kingdom were marching to war instead of escorting one girl and her overprotective mate to a temple.
Rhett was the worst of them.
He was a storm trapped in human skin, checking gear, retying straps, and barking orders like the gods themselves were watching.
“Rhett,” I said, leaning on my saddle, “if you touch that bag one more time, I swear to every deity still alive I will set it on fire.”
He didn’t look up. “You’d have to shift for that.”
The jab hit home. My chest tightened. He must’ve felt it through the bond because his shoulders dropped. “Sorry,” he said quietly. “Didn’t mean...”
“Yes, you did,” I muttered, forcing a half-smile. “And you’re right. I haven’t.”
I hadn’t shifted since the night I died for the last time. Since the gods dragged me back burning. Every time I felt the heat coil under my skin now, I tamped it down. Because what if it wasn’t wings of flame that came out next time? What if it was something worse?
Rhett came over, his voice softer. “You don’t have to prove anything.”
“I’m not proving. I’m surviving.”
Kaen stirred under his skin. I could feel it, the low hum of the Alpha’s wolf, watching me with wild, golden patience. The way Rhett’s pupils flared told me Kaen didn’t like the scent of fear on me.
Rhett cupped my chin. “You’re warm.”
“I’m always warm.”
“Too warm.”
“It’s called being reborn in fire, Rhett. Comes with the territory.”
He sighed and brushed a thumb across my cheek. “You make it sound simple.”
“It’s not,” I admitted.
He looked like he wanted to say more but didn’t. Instead, he turned and barked an order to the guards. “We ride north within the hour. Double the flanks.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not glass, you know.”
“No,” he said, glancing back at me. “You’re a miracle, and miracles are rare enough to guard with teeth.”
I wanted to laugh, but the way he said it made my throat sting.
The horses stamped restlessly as we mounted. Rhett helped me into the saddle even though I didn’t need it. His hand lingered on my thigh just long enough to make me forget the cold.
We rode out through the main gates, the pack’s sigil fluttering overhead, a silver moon over a wolf’s eye. The Wildlands stretched beyond, endless and wild, dotted with pine and frost.
The Temple of the Lunar Mother lay 24 hours away. The full moon would rise in two days.
Rhett rode close, scanning the trees like something might leap out and steal me at any second. Kaen was wide awake now, I could feel it, a presence at the edge of my consciousness, protective and suspicious.
He broke the silence first. “You’re quiet.”
“Thinking.”
“About what?”
“Maris.” The name came out softly, like I’d been holding it in too long. “It’s been weeks. I keep wondering if she’s alive. If she even knows I am.”
Rhett’s jaw flexed. “We’ll find her.”
“How?”
He looked over at me, his eyes dark. “After the ceremony, I’ll send scouts through the old rebellion trails. Someone will have seen her.”
“You’d really do that?”
He nodded. “You think I can rest knowing there’s someone out there who matters to you?”
That shouldn’t have made my heart hurt the way it did. “You can’t protect everyone, Rhett.”
“Watch me.”
I didn’t answer. The road was long and gray beneath us. The world felt half asleep, the birds gone silent, and frost glinting on the edges of everything.
Hours passed. My body ached from the saddle, but I didn’t complain. Wolves weren’t built for comfort, and I wasn’t built to show weakness.
By midday we stopped by a stream to water the horses. I crouched beside the icy water, my reflection rippling, a woman with pale skin and ember-lit eyes that didn’t belong to any species.
Rhett knelt beside me, close enough that his shadow merged with mine. “Does it hurt?”
“What?”
“Carrying them all.” His voice was low. “Four heartbeats. Four lives. You burn and breathe and don’t break. I can feel it every time you look away.”
I swallowed hard. “It doesn’t hurt,” I said. “It scares me.”
He nodded, understanding. “Kaen says you smell like fire and lavender.”
I blinked. “Is that supposed to be romantic?”
“He says it makes him want to roll in the dirt until the world smells like you.”
“Charming.”
Rhett smirked. “He’s a wolf. Subtlety isn’t his strong suit.”
I laughed, and it felt good, like air after drowning.
We rode until sunset. The cold deepened, snowflakes beginning to fall, soft and slow. When Rhett finally called for camp, I slid off the horse with a groan of relief.
He was beside me instantly. “You’re tired.”
“I’m human,” I said. “Humans get tired. You should try it sometime.”
He smiled faintly and brushed snow from my cloak. “You forget, you’re not just human anymore.”
“That’s the problem,” I whispered.
We sat by the fire as darkness swallowed the forest. The guards set a perimeter, pretending not to notice how close Rhett was sitting to me. The flames reflected in his eyes, gold and alive.
He handed me a canteen. “Drink.”
I did, and warmth slid through me. Not just from the firewater but from his gaze, steady and unrelenting, too full of things I wasn’t ready to name.
“Tell me about her,” he said quietly. “Maris.”
I smiled a little. “She’s chaos wrapped in kindness. Used to steal rations from the officers and give them to the kids in camp. Once punched a general for calling me half-blood scum.”
“Sounds like someone worth finding.”
“She is.” I stared into the fire. “When I died, I think she felt it. I just hope she didn’t do something stupid trying to get me back.”
Rhett’s voice softened. “You came back. That has to mean something.”
“Maybe. Or maybe the gods just like playing with matches.”
He reached over, catching my chin and forcing me to meet his gaze. “Then let’s burn their hands next time.”
I smiled, the firelight painting him in shades of gold and shadow. “You make rebellion sound romantic.”
“Everything’s romantic when you’re involved.”
I shook my head, trying not to laugh. “You’re impossible.”
“Persistent,” he corrected.
I stared into the flames, watching them bend toward me as if reaching. Every flicker whispered the same thing: Remember.
But I didn’t want to. Not yet.
“Rhett?”
“Yeah?”
“If I lose control… if I burn again...”
He cut me off. “Then I’ll burn with you.”
No hesitation. No fear. Just truth.
Something inside me cracked open then. The bond between us pulsed once, deep and steady, as if even the gods were holding their breath.
I looked at him and saw not the king or the wolf.....but the man who’d carried my corpse through fire and refused to let go.