78- The Claim of Blood and Bond
POV Edric Eldoria:
I turned to Lunara, touching her gently. Her pain reflected in me.
“Are you all right?” I whispered, as if I didn’t have the courage to ask.
I licked the wounds on her back, running my tongue along their length. The taste of her blood hit me, leaving me even more dazed. Then I moved down, focusing on the shredded calf. That part of her body needed more attention.
I pressed hot kisses and rough licks against the torn flesh, letting my saliva work with its healing power. I felt her pain ease as her body began to close the wounds, her skin slowly regenerating, her body relaxing little by little.
The desperation I felt was almost tangible. I couldn’t calm myself— not even when she breathed in relief, nor when the torn flesh began to change, forming a new layer that sealed the open wound.
It had been a very, very long time since I had felt so vulnerable. Not since I found Catalina dead on the banks of that damned lake Lunara loved so much.
If I weren’t immune to love, I would have said I was falling for the she-wolf— that what I felt for her went far beyond protection. But loving another would mean raising doubts about the depth and importance of my feelings for Catalina, and that was never in question. It never would be.
I knelt beside her and pulled her into my arms, holding her close. She didn’t moan when I turned her onto her back, laying her across my lap. That was good— it meant she was healing fast, that she was going to be fine.
I brushed her hair from her face.
“How are you feeling?” I pressed, my voice rough.
“Much better,” she replied, though her lips trembled.
“What the hell were you doing in the middle of the forest?” I roared, feeling the weight of desperation crush me.
A broken sob escaped her lips.
“I was… I was… trying to mark the territory.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“You were marking territory for Alessio? Is that what you wanted— for him to find you? Is he the one you think about when you suddenly grow sad?” I shouted, trying to hide the fury and resentment in my voice and failing miserably.
I hated that she still had feelings for him— that she still cared for that bastard, even after everything he’d done to her. But most of all, I hated that she still planned a future with him.
She swallowed hard and shook her head. A few drops of sweat rolled down her forehead, catching the dim light.
“This has nothing to do with Alessio.”
“Then what does it have to do with, Lunara?” I barked. “Because every chance you get, you wander off alone into the forest. I just don’t understand how you haven’t run to him yet, because you’ve certainly had plenty of chances.”
“Because I don’t want to run to him,” she said softly, “but away from him.”
“By wandering alone out there?”
She took a deep breath, as if deciding whether or not to tell me something.
“I have a sister,” she revealed, and I saw relief flash in her blue eyes.
I raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
She straightened up, nestling closer against my body.
“I have a younger sister. Her name is Elowen, and she ran away with me on the day of the disaster. When she found me in the forest, we had been separated because of my heat. I distanced myself from her, afraid the wolves would find me by scent. Elowen is only twenty; she hasn’t gone through the transformation yet, so she passes unnoticed by them. But I don’t.”
The information caught me off guard.
“And why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“I was trying to be accepted in Eldoria— to build a home for the two of us. I didn’t say anything about her before because I didn’t trust you. I didn’t want you to use her against me as a weakness, the way Alessio tries to— by hunting her.”
I slid my thumb along her arm in slow, idle circles, a gesture both tender and unintentional.
“You were looking for your sister,” I stated, my lips tightening. “That’s why you came to mark the territory. That’s why you get sad sometimes.”
It wasn’t a question, but she still answered.
“Elowen is my only family— the only one I have left. It’s my duty as her older sister to protect her and try to find a home for both of us. She’s lost everything, just like I have.”
I couldn’t quite tell what I felt about her confession— relief, because it wasn’t Alessio she thought of when she grew distant; or anger, because she hadn’t trusted me enough to share something so important.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Because I was afraid you would go after her. She can go unnoticed by Alessio’s males, but what guarantee did I have that yours wouldn’t find her?”
“The most I would’ve done is bring Elowen here as a prisoner as well— but only to keep her safe with us. Our lives are bound together, Lunara. I couldn’t let her go. If I had known about your sister, I would have made her one of Eldoria.”
“And that’s exactly why I never said anything. Elowen has the chance to be free. I would never want her to be a prisoner, the way I am.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, breathing heavily.
“Why are you telling me this now? What’s changed?”
“I… I don’t know,” she stammered, confessing in a whisper.
She sat up slowly, blinking as if testing her body. She tried to stand, and I helped her up by pressing a hand against her back. Her legs were steady beneath her when she looked at me.
“There’s something wrong with me,” she admitted.
I scanned her quickly, searching for any visible wound, but there was nothing— only the mark of teeth on her neck. My wolf stirred, restless, at the sight of another male’s claim on our mate. I held my breath before I lost control again.
“You’re not bleeding.”
She shook her head and swayed, dizzy.
“It’s not that,” she denied, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. “Something’s wrong inside me— as if… as if everything’s wrong.”
She blinked, and then the greenish-emerald glow spread through her eyes, consuming all the blue.
“Lunara?”
She raised her fingers to the wounded part of her neck, touching it, and shuddered.
“The mark. Take this mark off me!” she screamed, curling in on herself as if the bite on her neck burned with unbearable pain. “Take it off! Take it off now!” she repeated, hissing the words, begging for it.