Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,27

the rocky path.

Rounding a curve, Er’it feared the worst when he didn’t see her. Head whipping left and right to catch some sign of his little Omega, any break in the trees she might have used to get away, his attempt to slow Kal earned him a bone-deep rumble. The Phylix continuing his mad dash, his dark gaze remained centered on something only he could see in the swirling landscape rushing by them.

Then, she appeared.

Bare feet slapping the ground, arms pumping, Aida ran as fast as she could, the fact that she didn’t waste her time looking back giving Er’it an odd sense of pride. Focusing on her path, Aida ducked her head and put on a burst of speed that would do her little good. Still, she tried to keep ahead as Kal’s long strides brought them up behind her.

Even with no sign of the lumbering form following them, Er’it decided to take no chances. Wounded as he was, sapped of his magic, he’d be hard-pressed to fight them all off even with Kal. Groaning as he leaned to the side, he snagged Aida beneath the arms and hauled her up and over Kal’s back, shouting in a mix of pain and fury when her kicking caught the arrow in his thigh.

A well-placed slap on her perfect ass and Kal’s trumpeting got her still, though she groaned and whimpered as Kal’s ground-eating run jostled her across the wide girth of his back. Held in place with Er’it’s weight over her back, one hand snug between her thighs to grip her leg tight, they fled.

The sun was high when Kal slowed to an unsteady walk, foamy sweat coating his neck and flanks, skin shivering despite the heat of the sun. Er’it sat up, biting back his groan of pain. Patting Kal’s shoulder, he urged the Phylix to stop. They had gained enough ground for now. There were no signs of being followed by the men on the road, and Er’it needed to do something about the arrows using him as a pincushion.

“Do not dare run,” Er’it said, not having the energy to add a furious snarl. Holding her by the arms, he slid Aida’s limp body off Kal’s back. He eased her to the ground until she stood on her own despite the agony ripping through his shoulder and leg, knowing she’d break something if he just let her fall in her current state.

As she stood beside Kal with shoulders hunched and body trembling, Er’it looked her over. Sobs silent, she held the torn edges of a snug tunic closed as best she could, which wasn’t well at all. It was not his shirt she wore but another’s, as were the tight-fitting trousers, something he would never allow her to wear. Scratches marked the golden perfection of her skin where it showed between the ragged threads.

“Did they touch you?”

Seeing her sink deeper into herself, making herself even smaller, Er’it roared and fell from Kal’s back. He took hold of her shoulders to shake Aida once, twice, scrambling her brains about her skull if the way she swayed and stumbled said anything.

“Answer me!”

“I-I don’t…”

“Did they touch you?” Er’it roared in her face, his hand tangled in her hair to force her to look at him. The red-rimmed blackness of her gaze went liquid with her tears, starshine glittering like cut precious stones.

A fresh wave of misery flowed down her cheeks, leaving pallid tracks on her grit-smeared face. “They… They tried, but I—”

Er’it found the snarl he had spared her earlier. Baring his teeth, he turned and began to stalk the way they’d come, sword held low at his side. He’d kill them all, gut them all, spill their innards out over the earth, and suck as much power as he could from them for the sole purpose of tying their souls to something foul and putrid.

He made it all of ten steps, ten times as many as he should have tried for. Stumble sending him crashing to the ground, he couldn’t stop the shout of pain this time.

“Er’it!”

Her shriek pierced through the pounding in his skull. Blinking hard, the vision of her swam before his eyes. Her delicate hands fussed at his shoulder before a low whine slipped over the pout of her lips when she spotted the bolt in his thigh. Line forming between his brows, he caught and held her fingers, squeezing them hard enough to make her wince, though it was more to assure himself he wasn’t seeing