Zev pulled his wrist from Dimitri, wincing as those strong teeth jerked out of his skin. Dimitri closed his eyes, trying to breathe deep, desperate for more, but grateful for what had been given.
"I heard you. How is that possible?"
Dimitri shook his head. Even that slight movement sent his head spinning. He had grown dizzy with pain and lack of sustenance. "I have no idea. Maybe desperation on my part."
Zev wrapped a strip of cloth around his wrist and knotted it tight. "Stay alive, at least until I hear personally from the council. Like I said before, none of this makes any sense, and the council is all about logic." He glanced in the direction Gunnolf had gone. "I don't like this set-up at all."
Dimitri raised an eyebrow. Tiny beads of blood dotted his forehead as he worked at keeping very still. The grass continued to move up his thighs to his hips, curling around the hooks and dropping the small droplets of salve over the wounds there. Nevertheless, the silver in his body burned like a raging inferno ceaselessly until at times he forgot even the basic mechanics of breathing.
"There are too many of us here," Zev said, his voice pitched very low. "This forest is an outpost, one reserved for the wolves in the wild and basically used for extremely sensitive meetings or private camping when one can't take civilization one more moment. We don't keep large packs here. There are no women or children. This is the base camp of an army."
Dimitri went still inside. Skyler had no idea of the size of the camp or the trouble she would be walking into. He kept his features absolutely expressionless. It was imperative that no one know she was even in the forest. She might be a few hundred kilometers away, but for the Lycans, that would be considered too close.
He liked Zev. Even respected him. But he didn't trust anyone with Skyler's life. "Perhaps your council has decided on treachery and plans to attack the prince."
"That would be suicide and you know it. They went to that meeting in good faith."
Dimitri sighed. It was becoming difficult to talk. The sun was rising, filtering through the canopy. This time of day was manageable, but it signaled hell was coming.
"I suppose my sentence, after giving their word that they wouldn't kill me, was also a sign of their good faith."
Zev frowned. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and let out a soft sigh. "I think the entire world's gone mad."
"Just so you know, the only one likely to come after me is my brother. He will have his lifemate and some of his friends along, but he probably won't have the prince's approval."
Zev stiffened. "Fen. Fenris Dalka is your brother. He's Sange rau, too. He must have been Carpathian before he was Lycan."
"An ancient warrior, and not Sange rau. He is Hän ku pesäk kaikak. His skills have always been the thing of legends." Dimitri tried a faint smile but it came out more of a grimace. "You've seen him in action. He isn't going to be happy about this."