by KT Strange
His voice croaked. He was trying to speak. I moved closer, my ear brushing his mouth.
“M’sorry,” he mumbled, his lips barely moving. Horror, guilt, and shame melted over me.
“No, no Eli, no,” I said, my words panicked and fast. “You didn’t do anything wrong. There were so many of them. We’re fine. You’ll be fine. It’s okay.”
There was a low murmur from the wolves that stood watch as Eli’s blood poured out of him. How dare they look at him after what they’d done to him, taking him within an inch of death.
I lifted my face to stare at them, filled with anger. They were nothing like my pack, nothing at all.
“Are you happy now?” I half-sobbed. “He’s one of you!” I wiped the tears off my face and bent to him again, wishing for the fifty-millionth time. “You did so good, Eli,” I promised him. “So good. The best.”
I closed my eyes hard as his hand shifted along my back, like he was the one trying to comfort me. My shoulders shook and I bit back a hard sob. I didn’t want him to know how scared I was, that he was going to die in my arms in the middle of nowhere, and for what? Running away from beating the shit out of Jake Tupper? For me?
Nothing was worth this.
A low snarl broke out, dragging my attention away from Eli for a moment. Three of the wolves, in human form, were arguing. One of them shoved another, and then stormed toward me. I froze, but he bent down, his eyes soft.
“Here,” he said, as he tugged his shirt off. “Put this beneath his head.”
Eli made a panicked sound at the back of his throat as I warily took the shirt, folding it up gently, and lifting Eli’s head to cushion it.
“We have a healer with us, but it’s some distance,” the wolf said.
Go fuck yourself, I didn’t say, but damn how much I wanted to.
“You did this,” I said instead. The man’s silence said everything that he wouldn’t.
“Absolutely not!” a voice burst out from the edge of the circle. I looked up. Most of the wolves had edged back, the shifted brethren disappearing into the woods along with some of the ones in human form. A man was arguing with the alpha, pointing at us, his crest of dark hair lit from the moon above. “You let him live and she will infect us all with her magic—”
The alpha turned his gaze on me, his eyes angry and hard. The man beside me tensed, getting to his feet.
“Redric,” he said, holding out a hand as if to stop him. “We do not kill our own kind—”
“Is he really our kind if he’s with her,” said the dark-haired wolf standing by the alpha. He snarled at me. “I’ll rip your bitch’s heart right out through your throat, storm witch.”
Eli growled, his eyes rolling as they tried to focus.
“Shhh, shh, don’t, Eli, stay still,” I hushed him before growling at the wolf who was threatening me. “Go fuck yourself,” I said, finally losing my temper. “You’re the one who’s nearly killed him. Either help or get the fuck out. If you come near me, so help me—”
The wolf tilted his head, a smirk sprawling across his lips.
“Oh?” He asked, and then took a step forward. Redric, the alpha, moved to grab him by the arm, but wasn’t fast enough. My lips parted, air filling my lungs, and my fingers rose, arm lifting. Lightning crackled down from the sky, twirling around my hand, lighting up so bright I had to shut my eyes.
It shot off like a cannon, the boom deafening me.
At the same time, the ground under us shuddered, and Eli groaned. My eyes opened. Beside me, the wolf helping us grunted in surprise. The ground around us had thrust ten feet in the air into aa thick, uneven wall. It circled around us entirely, hemming us in.
The alpha and the other wolf were nowhere to be seen, presumably behind it. A scorch mark on the dirt that spread out along the wall of hard soil showed where my powers had hit the earth and stopped short.
“What the fuck?” I gasped.
Seven
Darcy
“Be calm,” the wolf beside me said, and I let out a short bark of laughter.
“You are kidding right?”
He shook his head and bent down to Eli.
“Can you speak, wolf?”
“His name is Elias,” I choked out, needing this man to know Elias, really know him.
Elias groaned, his eyelashes fluttering again. I clung to him, wishing more than ever that I could pour my powers right into his body, knit back flesh to bone, purge him of every pain and stop his labored breathing.
“Elias,” the strange wolf said. Eli’s eyes opened, focusing for a moment on my face. His breathing was shallow. “He’s lost too much blood. We need to get him to the heartstone, and our healer. It won’t be the same as his own pack’s heartstone, but it should be enough to help-“
“Will it save him?” I asked, my voice trembling. “How do I know your pack isn’t going to finish murdering him?” I was feeling some measure of safety with the thick wall of earth ringing us and keeping any would-be attackers. How long would we be safe though?
The wolf eyed me a mixture of discomfort and resignation.
“There are no guarantees in life,” he offered. I glared hard.
“Well you’re going to have to guarantee this,” my words were clipped; short and heated. Eli’s hand reached up, wrapping around my arm.
“Darcy,” my name was weak and whispered on his lips. “Relax…”
I swallowed back the lump in my throat.
“Only you would tell me to relax right now while you’re bleeding out in the middle of the forest,” I whispered to him. His lips, bruised and swollen at one corner, tugged into a slight smile. The wolf at my side sighed.
“I will carry him,” he said. “My name is Ryatt, hunter for Dragonpack. You must trust me, or we will lose him.” He didn’t move, eyes steady on me.
It was up to me then. I gulped down my feelings.
“Alright, but how are you going to get us out of this?” I asked, gesturing to the ring of earth. It stood, oblivious to the rain that pounded it, its ragged edge defying the weather that should have seen it crumble to the ground. Ryatt wiped some droplets of water out of his eyes.
“It won’t be an issue in a moment,” he assured me, gathering Eli up in his arms like a rag doll. I rushed to help him, cradling Eli’s head in my hands as Ryatt got to his feet, holding Eli close to his chest. Eli let out a soft, pained cry and my stomach twisted hard. His arms dangled, limp and useless. I should never have come with him.
If we survived, this moment would haunt me for the rest of my life.
“Can you manage?” I asked. Ryatt shot me an amused glance before his face sobered.
“My pack-mates will help me.”
“They don’t seem all that willing—”
“I am Redric’s brother. They will help me, or pay for their insolence,” Ryatt said, a mantle of calm and power seeming to resonate from him. He held Eli like the injured wolf weighed no more than a child. My gut was telling me to trust him at the same time as my nerves were screaming at me.
Ryatt opened his mouth and let out a long, low howl that rose at the end, making me shiver as I stood beside him. A few heartbeats later, the wall of earth began crumbling to the ground. It started slowly at first, but then before my eyes, it melted, going half-liquid, sluicing down in a quick slide.
When I gaped, Ryatt let out an amused snort.
“Have you never seen earth magic before?”
“Of course I have,” I said defensively. But my sister had never been able to do anything like that. “Wait, you have a witch with you?” Anger and confusion warred in my stomach.
“Not exactly.” He stepped over the ring of earth, now only inches off the ground. Beyond it, there were a few wolves remaining, all in shifted form. Redric was nowhere to be seen, but a sandy-reddish colored wolf padded toward us, its tail wavering slowly. “Where is she?” Ryatt asked the wolf.
The wolf jerked its head toward the woods.
Before I could even ask
who they were talking about, she emerged from the trees. Her presence was so overwhelming as she came into my sight that my legs shook, and I fought to stay upright.
Her skin was like burnished gold, her hair long, sleek, and black, falling around her shoulders to her hips. Eyes the color of dark wood observed me from a round face, and above sharp cheekbones.
I knew what she was without needing to put a word to it out loud, because it practically screamed inside my mind.
“Don’t be intimidated,” Ryatt said, which was a sad joke because how could I not be in the presence of a fucking dragon. She may not have been in her shifted form, and would appear to any mundane as a human, but I could almost sense the scales right under her skin, the coil of power inside of her. She stepped toward us on bare feet, paying no mind to the ripped ground. No wonder Dragonpack was so strong and numbered so many. They had their dragon with them.
As she came closer, the scent of ripe berries and hot stone, tickled at the back of my throat. She was an earth dragon, preferring low mountains and verdant fields to the high, icy mountains where snow dragons resided, or the sandy deserts and rocky volcanoes where the fire dragons lived.
Never in my life would I have imagined actually seeing a dragon with my own eyes. Reclusive to a fault, rare in these times where mundane humans stretched their presence in every corner of the world, they were more mythical than even unicorns.
She reached out for Eli, and I let out a sound of warning.
“Don’t,” I said before I could stop myself. She glanced at me, one perfect, dark eyebrow arching as if to say you dare instruct me, human?
Standing my ground, I tried not to wither under her gaze. Ryatt sighed.
“He needs care, and sooner rather than later. Where is Redric?”
“Licking his wounds,” the dragon said, her voice grating across my senses, the power reverberating right up my spine. Eli, in Ryatt’s arms, moaned and turned his head. “I will take him. Let me—”
Ryatt lowered his armful of Eli and the dragon took him, the delicate muscles in her bare arms barely flexing as she took his weight fully.
“No—”
“Be easy,” Ryatt said, grabbing my hand and pulling me back before I could reach for Eli. “She can travel faster than we can.” The dragon surveyed me for a moment, her lips pressing together.
“You will not rest until you have my word,” she said, “but he does not have time for a full agreement.”
My thoughts fluttered for a moment. Dragons made an agreement, promises, that were etched onto their hearts. It was a ceremonial thing, I remembered from Daria lecturing me, vaguely.
“I—”
“You will have to trust my word is good, witchling,” the dragon said solemnly. “He will not come to harm while I stay near him. I will meet you both at the heartstone. Ryatt—” she paused and her thin mouth curved into a smile. “Give her a ride.”
Her eyes fell shut and, withEli in her grip, she blurred and then vanished with a pop. A noise of surprise creaked out of my throat. The wolves, five of them, stood, watching the spot where the dragon had been. I barely noticed them as panic gripped my heart.
“Well,” Ryatt sighed. “She has spoken and I do not often find it wise to disobey her. Nothing will happen to your mate, and she will not leave his side until we are there to see to his needs. Will you ride me, so we can return to the heartstone without delay?”
“Wait, what?” I blinked at him. He stepped away from me, stretching his back, looking like he was preparing for something.
“Sit near my shoulders,” he said. “You are not so heavy that you will hurt my back, but it will be easier for you to hang on. Make sure to grab the fur off my ruff.”
I felt my eyes widen as he bent down and shifted right in front of me, his skin twisting and blurring, stretching and shrinking. I pressed my fingers to my mouth in shock as he went from upright to down on all fours, lifting his shaggy head. In wolf form his eyes were a clear silver, his fur dark red tipped with black.
“Holy fuck.”
He lifted his head at my curse and shook himself out, fur rustling. One of the other wolves picked its way across the ground toward me. Out of instinct, I moved closer to Ryatt, my hand landing on his fuzzy shoulder to steady myself.
It was one thing to trust my guys implicitly, knowing they’d never hurt me, but these were strange wolves, and I couldn’t just just erase the kind of violence I’d seen from them in the last half-hour. My heart was thumping in my throat as I stared at the sandy-colored wolf. It took another step, coming within inches of me. Ryatt glanced at it and let out a gruff snort. The other wolf pranced away, circling around, its tail waving like a flag in the air.
Ryatt let out another sound, this one more amused, and he thrust his shoulder under my hand. I nearly fell off my feet, and I glared at him.
“Hey!”
He stared at me, tail wagging slowly. Well, standing there like an idiot wasn’t going to get me any closer to Eli.
“I can’t believe I’m going to ride a wolf,” I muttered under my breath. Ryatt ducked his head and shook it hard. Gingerly, I placed both my hands on his shoulders. He braced himself, lowering his body until I could swing one of my legs over his back. Before I got fully settled, he stood up, lifting my feet up off the ground.
Clinging to him hard, I wished for a moment that I had a saddle or stirrups to stick my feet into. I hunched forward over his shoulders, as he took a slow step, than another. The sway of his body under mine was uncomfortable, but better than walking to wherever the heartstone was.
The wolves around us watched for another moment before breaking their formation as they trotted toward the tree-line. Ryatt continued his purposeful walk, his stride long and lanky. I lifted my legs as best I could, wrapping my arms around the barrel of his chest. He was huge, almost like a pony. Hopefully I wasn’t hurting him as I clutched his fur for my life..
It was obvious he was being careful to let me get used to the feel of riding him like a hobbyhorse, but as we approached the trees and the wolves ahead of us disappeared into the woods, the urgency was getting to me.
“It’s good,” I said, my voice low. “You can go faster.”
Ryatt’s ears flicked back to me then forward again. He lifted his head, his muscles bunching under me, like he was gathering himself. I held my breath and ducked low against his shoulders and neck, closing my eyes.
He sprang forward, the jarring motion nearly unseating me. We hit the ground and whipped into the forest. My eyes popped open and I yelped as we careened toward brush. Ryatt’s body lifted under me, and we were airborne, clearing the down brush and trees just in time. My heart was in my throat, beating hard in my ears as we hit the ground again. Sparks of pain flared along my back, nearly breaking my grip on him. I doubled down, hanging on tight.
He was so fast, and the wolves in the distance grew larger as we caught up to them. I closed my eyes tight again, and prayed to anything, anyone, that I’d make it to the heartstone in one piece.
Eight
Darcy
The journey took forever, at least in my mind, and Ryatt only slowed when we hit the edge of a clearing. In front of us, lay a lake of black, inky water, at the base of a mountain that soared high into the air
The wolves around us let out soft barks and yips, milling into the clearing. The shore was dotted with what I realized were wooden cabins, only large enough to hold one or two rooms. Smoke curled out of chimneys, the scent of burning wood hanging in the moist air.
Ryatt stopped short, pulling up and sitting down abruptly in the thick grass. I tumbled down his back with a yelp, catching myself on my forearms. He snuffled me, his nose right in my face as if checking to make sure I was alright. I glared at him and shoved at his snout. He jerked back, tail waving slowly back and forth. My muscles felt like they’d all been yanked in the wrong directions and I clenched and unclenched my hands, which had cramped up as I held onto Ryatt’s fur.
“Where’s El
i?” I asked, rolling up onto my knees and scrambling to my feet. Ryatt lowered his head and then began trotting off to the edge of the clearing. There were other wolves around, but they kept their distance, and there were the definite shapes of men, and some women, clustered around the small cabins. They watched us, the weight of their stares pulling heavily at my shoulders. How many wolves did Dragonpack have? My mother would have absolutely come unglued to know that such a huge pack still existed at all.
On shaky legs, I followed Ryatt to an opening at the edge of the woods. There was a smaller clearing attached to the larger one, and in the middle of it, the sharp thrust of a rocky outcropping nearly fifteen feet high, covered in moss on the north side. If I hadn’t felt its thrumming power myself, I wouldn’t have thought it was anything special.
As it was, I could feel the steady, even current of energy emanating from it. My attention was dragged from the heartstone, the first I’d ever seen, to the crumpled figure at the bottom of it. Eli.
The dragon was with him, kneeling by him, her shoulders pulled back as she stared up at the heartstone. My feet took me across the clearing, leaving Ryatt behind. I skidded on the wet grass, almost falling as I pulled up next to the dragon. She didn’t look at me, her fingers resting lightly on Eli’s forehead. He lay, his face to the sky, his breathing labored.
“Eli,” I whispered. He twitched and groaned. He was naked from the waist up, although the worst of his deep bite-marks and injuries looked like they’d stopped bleeding. In one case, it looked like they were slowly healing.
It still made me want to vomit, what they had done to him. With shaking fingers, I reached out, taking his one good hand in mine. It was all I could do.
“He is strong enough,” the dragon said, her voice quiet and soothing, like water over rocks. “He will open his eyes soon, when the pain has receded some. This heartstone does not recognize him, but it is enough that he is even near it.”