ever heard the likes.” Still muttering under her breath like an old woman, L turned on her heel to join her family on the porch. Wolfe and I waved one last time and then I walked away with him in a mixture of reluctance and anticipation.
We’d been walking an hour and still Wolfe hadn’t said a word.
The tension between us was thick and uncomfortable; even my gums ached with it. I concentrated on watching where I was going, thankful to Sarah who had healed my new blisters again. I’d probably have a few by the time we got off the mountain, but maybe not so many. My feet were already feeling harder and stronger.
That morning, as I’d pulled on L’s trousers and shirt, I realized how much weight I’d lost since I’d left Silvera. My calves and thighs had slimmed with muscle; my stomach was flatter from eating sparingly and walking the hills. Still, despite our similar heights, L was wiry and I was curvy; she wore her trousers tight, and on me, they were indecent. I’d forgotten all about propriety up in the mountains without anyone from home to see me. But now that Wolfe was around, I was painfully aware of how revealing these clothes were. I’d put my borrowed coat on over the top of the trousers and shirt before Wolfe had seen them. I wouldn’t be removing it.
The silence continued between us, Wolfe keeping a careful distance, enough for me to know he wasn’t speaking to me, but not enough so he couldn’t keep an eye on me. I kept waiting for his explosion of indignation and anger, and when it didn’t come, I was strangely peeved.
The tension only grew thicker as the afternoon wore on and we found ourselves at the outskirts of Shadow Hill. Before I could warn Wolfe, he turned to me with a finger to his lips, hushing me. He knew about Shadow Hill. Either the Mosses had warned him, or he may have already met Brint in Hill o’ Hope and Brint had warned him.
We moved around the outskirts of the town with stealth, the voices in the distance making my heart pound. I grew unbearably warm under my coat. It was with a sigh of relief when we made it past the Hill without incident and carried on at a quicker pace down the mountain. Again, we were making good time.
An hour or so later, I heard the trickle of the stream in the distance and something about the wood seemed familiar. I shivered. We were close to where I’d been taken by the mountain man. Without explaining, I picked up my feet, almost running to get away from the spot, my skin crawling, my neck prickling. I felt as if his shadow were watching me, taunting me. I trembled in revulsion and began to run. The sounds of Wolfe’s running footsteps grew louder and closer, but I couldn’t stop.
Abruptly, I was forced to a halt, Wolfe’s hand catching my arm and dragging me around to face him. His features were fierce with anger, the golden striations in his blue eyes prominent with passion. “What the hell were you thinking?” he yelled, not caring if his voice carried now that we were miles from Shadow Hill.
I struggled to get out of his grip. “I just felt like running.”
“Not that, Rogan.” His jaw clenched. He looked close to violence. I struggled harder to get away from him, but he only pulled me closer. “I’m talking about you running off from Arrana, alone, without an escort—about lying to me and making a fool of me—of nearly getting yourself raped and killed!”
Like always, his overbearing attitude caused my knee-jerk reaction—to dispute him. “Nearly. Nearly, all right. I managed well enough without you, Wolfe.”
“Well enough? Jonas told me how he found you, Rogan, and he spared me no details!”
“Will you stop yelling? Are you trying to get us into bother?” I hissed, glancing around to make sure we were still alone.
“Stop trying to wriggle your way out of discussing it.”
Using all my strength, I tugged out of Wolfe’s grasp, my cheeks hot with frustration and anger. “Did you ever stop to consider I might not be ready to discuss it?”
Wolfe’s expression changed instantly. Concern softened his features. “Rogan …”
I shook my head.
“Fine. But what about my first question? You ran away, Rogan. From me. You knew I would come after you and as far as you knew, I had no way of knowing which