I held him tight in my arms, as much as I could when he was a wolf and not a man, and I ground out, “Whatever you want of me, I offer it freely. Just don’t let him leave me.”
I knew the instant it happened—when my offering was granted.
I shuddered, hearing his heart against my ear, hearing his breathing strengthen. His body began to twitch, and he started to move and shuffle around like he was coming out of unconsciousness.
Within seconds, he was back to being a man, and he was in my arms and I could hold him with ease.
“Thank you,” I murmured to no one, to the air, to the spirit, Lidai, or the totem, whoever was fucking listening and in charge of this place.
My throat grew tight with tears, and I fought them, struggling before I let them fall.
As they brushed his skin, he rasped, “What happened?”
Didn’t he remember?
“We were attacked by a pack of natural wolves,” I rasped uncertainly. “I-I froze. You saved me.”
That was an incredibly simplistic answer, but it was all I was capable of.
He lay there, his heartbeat stronger but still weak, and I knew that even if she was healing him, it wasn’t like she was clicking her fingers and returning him to normal.
We lay there in silence, and I let him recuperate, let her work her magic on him, and only when I felt certain he was strong enough to get onto his feet, did I whisper, “Come on, let’s get you into the water. Clean you up some.”
He hummed under his breath, prompting me to look at him. He was covered in blood, his flesh torn a thousand different ways from teeth and claw marks, and his skin was ashen from what he’d endured, but he was alive.
My mouth trembled as I saw he was half dozing, and I decided to let him rest. The water would clean him up, but if he needed to sleep, then he needed to sleep.
He’d saved me. Saved us. And in turn, I’d saved him.
I got the lesson.
I did.
But I knew I’d just given a supposedly benevolent being leverage over us, and that filled me with dread.
Sabina
When I next awoke, it wasn’t on the forest floor. I wasn’t in the middle of a circle stained with blood, and it wasn’t with a slain wolf a few feet away.
It was in the clearing of the totem circle.
I didn’t remember falling asleep, but when my eyes drifted open, I felt the magic resettle into me, and when I peered up at the bright blue sky through the canopies, I saw Eli and Ethan staring at me, studying me like I was a specimen in need of evaluation.
I reared up, almost smacking into them. Their speed saved me from a headache as I gazed around, looking for Austin.
When I found him?
He was naked.
His skin was just as torn as it had been earlier.
His body reflected the fight he’d been in.
Me?
I was naked, covered in his blood, and…
Releasing a shaky sigh, I covered my face with my hands and rasped, “How long were we gone?”
“A handful of minutes,” Eli replied softly, his focus on me absolute.
“You knew we weren’t here?”
“You were here, but you were unconscious. We couldn’t wake you up.” Ethan grunted. “Scared about a thousand lives off me.”
I gulped. “We just appeared naked and bloody in the blink of an eye?”
“Pretty much,” Eli grumbled. “It happened slowly, like it was blurred, but you were half undressed one second, and then like this the next.”
His leather shoes creaked as he rocked forward, and I peeked at him, the way he was so composed when I felt anything but.
Fuck, I needed that composure.
I hurled myself at him, uncaring that I was going to soil him, unconcerned that I was covered in all kinds of crap I needed to wash off, and that I was getting him stained with all the funk. I just needed his arms around me, I needed to know that everything was going to be all right.
When he embraced me, when I was tucked in his hold, I took a deep breath and let his scent fill me.
“You scent of him. He claimed you?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?” Ethan questioned, and I saw he was kneeling beside Austin who was as still as a…
I couldn’t think it.
But fuck, he looked like he was dead!
Tears beckoned as my fear for him grew, even though I could hear his heartbeat like it was on a loudspeaker