Benjamin froze up, but I got to business when he didn’t answer. I had enough experience taking care of myself, and it was the same except now I wouldn’t be hurting myself. He watched in disbelief as I gathered my needle, thread, and damp cloth. His sitting up wasn’t enough, so I forced him to roll over onto his stomach but he seemed unable to talk for several minutes as I knelt on his back to get to work.
“This isn’t proper,” he scowled after a few minutes. I rolled my eyes.
“Nor is getting bit by a dog,” I pointed out to him. “You’ve got a fever and it’s going to get worse.” I paused, glanced around, and stripped the man of his belt. My fingers were cold so he shivered when I touched his bare skin, and I held back a smile. This was serious, I reminded myself, he could still die if I didn’t take care of him fast. “Here, bite this. And don’t scream.”
He paused. “Are there people around?”
I shook my head before recalling he couldn’t see me. “Not for miles. Some black bears down by the stream, but I don’t think they’ll bother us. Now hold still.”
The smell of gritty iron filled my nostrils. All blood was the same, sending signals to my brain causing my mouth to water. Pausing, I took a deep breath and then shook my head. I had to ignore this, the other part of me. Gritting my teeth, I concentrated on working through his muscle. There was dirt to dig out, and after a few loud groans, he fainted. It was probably for the best. Luckily, he remained still after that and I finished stitching him up.
When he was as good to go as he possibly could be, I wiped away more dirt and wrapped a damp cloth around his forehead. He rested on his side and I came and went often, wondering when he might wake up again.
It took hours. He groaned, glancing around and looking to his shoulder. “Are you a witch?” He said when he finally opened his eyes. “Who are you, really?”
I was cooking the two rabbits I had caught and was instantly flustered because, again, I hadn’t heard him awaken. I nearly dropped my stick in the flames and regained my balance. My hearing was beyond exceptional and I stared aghast for a minute before finding my voice. “I- no, of course not. Witches are nonsense, stories for children in the dark.”
He wasn’t satisfied with my response and Benjamin was a curious man. He tried to get up, but the fever was worse so I hurried over and pushed him down. “Where did you come from? Where are we?” I fixed the blanket over his chest as he stared at me.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere, Benjamin. And I came from the north.” I contemplated on knocking him out over the next couple of minutes with his barrage of questions, just for some peace. However, I came to the reasonable conclusion it might further damage his health. I didn’t need to do another disservice since I was keeping him alive, so in his delirium I chose to continue answering his questions honestly.
He was blunt. “You’re not human?”
I raised my eyebrow curiously. “I am. Mostly, anyways.” I wondered how he could tell.
“Your eyes are so blue. Like a frozen lake. Eyes of a siren. Are you a siren?”
Someone had read too many tales in the dark. I laughed at him as I walked around the grove, restless for the rabbits to finish cooking. I glanced at him again, wondering why I felt the need to be here. The answer may have been in his dark eyes. They were filled with pain, and a quiet strength that told me he wasn’t about to give up.
I prodded the meat once again, wishing for it to hurry up. They were fine now, tender and bloody, but I couldn’t eat them this raw if he was going to be watching. “They’re like witches- just stories in the night. Benjamin, you should be an adult and stop listening to what they say around the fire.”
“Do they tell stories of you around the fire?”
I smiled at that. Everyone had stories, and I had heard them all whether good or bad. We used these myths and morals to help guide our paths, but rarely expected them to actually be part of our life. “Yes, yes they do.”
“Because you came from up north?”
I gave him a look. “Not particularly,” I said.
He wore a grin I didn’t take seriously, most likely because of the delirium. Still, it showed off his white teeth and it was a good smile. His eyes trailed down my face, and I suddenly liked the way he looked at me. I rose my eyebrow when he found my eyes again.
Always another question with Benjamin. “What are you thinking?”
My smile began to drop as I glanced around the grove, realizing something. “I’m thinking I could almost smell wolves.” I turned away with a serious frown. After another moment, I waited but it didn’t grow any stronger. It could be an old scent, or someone could be passing by. I wouldn’t have expected anyone so close. Usually territorial, they had little reason to be on the move or away from their own home. It was too distant to know if they were my kind. But I knew it could mean trouble either way if the scent grew any stronger. For a minute I considered my options, whether to stay or go.
“You can smell the wolves? How?”
“Because I’m their sister.”
He wasn’t sure what to make of that and he struggled to digest this concept. However, in a moment, it was forgotten with his fever and he was asking other questions. “Why are you alone?”
“Because it’s safer. At least for some of us,” I told him pointedly and he winced. I gave him more water and by then, he was exhausted and slumped back down. He seemed to be trying to sleep but it wasn’t working. Eventually he opened his mouth again, unable to take the silence as I finally had my rabbits cooked enough to begin eating.
“Are we near town?”
I grabbed the meat and set it on a flatter rock outside of the flames, and began tearing at it. A small portion sat to the side for him, but he appeared ill when he looked at the food, so I decided to wait awhile before taking it to him. “No, miles and miles away. You must have gone a long ways injured… How’s the pain?”
He yawned. “What pain? Am I dying?”
“Benjamin,” I gave him a coarse look and he frowned at me.
“Who’re you? What happened?”
Groaning, I ignored these questions. I shook off the food and walked over to him, waving a hand. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Four,” he mumbled, squinting. There was only one finger and I rolled my eyes. I carefully pushed him back down and that was enough to quiet him for some time. Fading in and out of consciousness, Benjamin struggled to stay awake and continued to ask questions that turned into gibberish. A few I answered, but often there was no time as he instantly fell back asleep or became distracted by the trees.
For the next few days, Benjamin’s words made no sense as he tossed and turned. The storm had passed, but I began to wish for more in the hopes it might cool him down. There was no chance of his survival if I left, so I stayed close, struggling to make sure we both lived on wild rabbits and small pools of water. I wasn’t sure if he’d be safe if I ventured too far.
Soon I had stripped him down to the waist and washed his chest and arms every few hours to keep him cool. If he grew any hotter, then there was no chance of him coming out of this alive. The commitment I had made turned into something bigger than I had expected, but I tried to concentrate on him instead of my own discomfort. He would shiver, and once even wrapped me in his large arms pulling me to his hard chest. For a minute or so I stayed, wondering about his story, before I freed myself.
Time passed and it was soon the day of the full moon. I had barely slept due to keeping Ben alive and because of the frenzied itch beneath my skin. It always grew stronger the bigger the moon grew, and it was getting harder to concentrate on other things. All I wanted to do was run and jump and hunt in my changed form.
Fortunately, Benjamin’s fever had broken. He was more alert, and was building his strength by slowly walking around the grove when he had the energy. The questions had slowed down as he worked on his recovery, and I continued doing what I could to help him out. I had considered leaving him, since the itch grew str
onger and once the sun began to set it would be much harder to control myself.
By the rising of the sun, I was wondering how he might fare if I left. He could do laps around the grove now and rarely needed my support.
Everything changed at noon. We were suddenly in trouble. The scent I had smelled a few days ago returned on the wind, and it was much stronger than before.
“They’re coming,” I muttered, trying to place the exact location of the howl I heard in the distance. I had just made him a sling and filled up more water in the skins when I froze, listening. Benjamin watched and touched my hand, making me jump.
He couldn’t understand. “Who?” Ben stood up, and I was reminded that he was taller than I had expected. I had thought our heights would match but it turned out he had me by six or more inches. Even with the injured shoulder, he stood straight and broad.
“A wolf pack.” It was already distinct, the alpha and his three followers. Their scent was clear and if they were this close, then by now they knew I was one who changed skins. Ordinary wolves would never cross me.
Closing my eyes, I considered my options. My heart hammered in my chest, waiting for action. I could leave him, and there was the chance he might be safe. Even if he told others of my existence, they would never believe the ramblings of a sick man. If he went his own way, my scent would be wrapped around him and there was a slim chance that this pack wouldn’t bother him. If he came with me, I would be greatly slowed down but it would be our best chance for survival. Two was always stronger than one.
Inwardly groaning, I hurriedly moved and gathered our things. I found his knife, lying in the grass nearby. He grabbed it as I wrinkled my nose in consternation. “Protection. It’s the only reason I’m not dead.” I glanced at his shoulder pointedly and he gave me a sheepish one-shouldered shrug. “I worked with iron and built this myself the morning my shop was burned down.”
“You burned your shop down?” I gave him a strange look, realizing how little I knew of him.
He dropped the knife back down in my palm. He trusted me. “No, the sheriff did. He never liked me,” Ben added after a split second with a grim expression. His eyes dropped to the long dagger. “Fat lot of good it did me.”
So he had been a blacksmith, from the sounds of it. My eyes fell to his massive shoulders and arms once again, and I recalled the moment I had spent caught up in them when he was feverish. It was hard to tell if it was the itch of the moon or something else, but I found myself wishing I was close to him once more.
I picked up my sack. “Did he have a dog, perchance?” The face he made told me it was the truth. Hefting my things over my shoulder, I pointed out the path that led us away from both the nearby town and the approaching pack. “This way. And there’s no time to be clumsy,” I added, referring to the three times he had tripped over roots this morning.
“Everything’s clumsy compared to you,” he pointed out, drawing close and stopping before me. If I took a deep breath, I knew my breasts would reach him. It was a strong temptation I couldn’t hold back, not with the full moon tonight. I could feel the power in the air, the song of the wind. His dark eyes watched me and we both had a silent understanding. “I’ve never seen anyone move like you.”
A ghost of a smile reached my lips. He had a way with words. “There are few of my kind but none are like me.” I gave him a wink for emphasis.
“There are others?”
I nodded, and hurriedly moved away because it was difficult to stay focused when I stood so close to him. We stepped out of the grove and slowly stepped through the trees as I scouted out our path. “Which is why we need to go. Not all of us need a pack.”
“Lone wolf, huh?” He asked and the corners of his eyes softened. I realized that the rock I stood on made us equal in height, and that I liked it. I turned from the path to watch him as he looked me up and down thoughtfully. “And there are packs?”
I nodded carefully and reluctantly turned my back to him. We had to go if we wanted to live. Still, I heard the unanswered question waiting at the tip of his tongue. “Unfortunately... Some adopt a mindset that others of us don’t approve of,” I said. My words were rushed as I tried to force our bodies to do the same. “They have less qualms about death. If you’re lucky, you won’t ever have to face them.”
We hurried as fast as he could manage in his weak state. He made it worse with a string of questions but my answers were short and few. I tried to look on the bright side, however, for he was a good distraction to keep me from worrying more about tonight. I considered how I could resist the change, but I hadn’t stopped it during a full moon in months; it left so much energy cooped up in my body that I always needed some sort of an outlet. I tried not to think of it for now. After all, we had a bigger problem.
The winds were strong and I smelled the nearby pack as they gradually drew closer: it was apparent that now we were their prey. I forced myself to remain calm as we went slowly, still needing to pause for Ben to catch his breath. We had gone several miles by the time the sun was setting, but I knew they were getting closer. They were teasing us, getting ready to box us in. Even though we made fair distance with Ben growing more haggard with every step, they could have overtaken us by now.
We had just begun moving again from a short break when he came to an abrupt halt. I looked to him in disbelief, but he was just looking around curiously. We had left the forest behind and waded through several fields of grass for most of the day. Now, the land was becoming trickier with hills and mounds before us. We would eventually have to climb one and I was beginning to wonder if I might have to try and carry him up one of them.
“What is it?” I asked impatiently, glancing around. It was getting darker and colder, and possibly soon wetter. We had clear skies for days but now the clouds had spent hours gathering above us. Things just kept getting worse.
Ben pointed towards the mountains on our right: small and infinitely steep, so overall unpromising. I told him so but he shook his head.
“I know those mountains,” he assured me. “As well as I know iron. We’re passing through a field and there’s going to be a small road nearby. I’ve taken the path to gather some good ore around it. I’ve climbed them before and could still do it now. Just on the other side is a cave, and we could hide there. They wouldn’t go up, would they?”
I hesitated, watching the land around us grow quieter. The rodents were burrowing underground and the birds had long since taken their flight. They knew what was coming our way and made the smart decision to hide. Perhaps we could do the same, and be hidden before the storm hit.
Maybe we did stand a chance. “Not usually, not if they don’t know the mountain…” I couldn’t tell precisely where he pointed, but he seemed confident. He stood straight and gave me that self-assured grin and I felt compelled to follow him. I prayed to the moon for aid as I nodded and began marching. With our arms wrapped around each other’s waists, we struggled on.
We had made it to the base of the mountain when they came. It turned my blood cold as they crept out from the shadows. They had stayed downwind long enough until just over the rise, and there was no time for us to move or prepare. The first two appeared before us, and I knew the two other stalked us from behind to trap us in.
I wasn’t as careful as I thought I had been. We had become the hunted. This was reason I avoided packs and no longer worked with them. We were meant to live in groups, but too many had gone back to the archaic ways of violence and bloodshed. They thought their shifter blood made them better than every other species, and loved any opportunity to revel in the proof; to them, this meant taking down anyone they wanted.
My mind ran a thousand miles a minute as I tried to figure out what we could do.
The weather was about to get monstrously worse, I didn’t know my surroundings, and I was with an injured human. Benjamin was shivering, and I handed him my cloak and sack. He stopped when he finally spotted them, grabbing my elbow and preparing to shield my body with h
is. I stopped him immediately, because he stood little chance in good condition, and even less now.
Our strangers drew closer, no longer attempting to hide.
They were naked, their bare bodies proud even as they were whipped by the harsh wind. Their leader growled a harsh greeting, as his female changed violently into a dark wolf with red eyes, ready to attack. I held back a snarl of my own, sickened to the core by the sight of her eyes. She had feasted on the flesh of her own kind, and that made her a monster not a hero. Her hackles rose as I slowly pulled myself from Ben’s grasp, and tugged carefully at the strings of my skirts. I told myself to be calm as I listened to the breathing of the other two behind, still attempting to formulate a plan that didn’t include bloodshed.
Ben squirmed, but I gripped his arm tightly to force his silence. My skirts dropped and I did the same with my shirt, taking a deep breath. My bare body would signal I was ready for a fight, ready to defend my human. I kept my eyes glued to the female, knowing she was the key threat. The Alpha’s female always fought for more power and more control, twice as violent as her mate. She was the true threat, and it was clear she was itching for a fight.
Our only hope was through words. “We’re just passing through,” my voice rang out in the emptiness, willing to talk if they were. I forced the humbleness out of my throat in the hopes it would save Ben’s life. Our kind respected strength and bravery. “If we’ve trespassed, we did it without knowledge. We are no threat.”
That made him laugh loudly, squinting his own red eyes at us as he drew closer. They always grew redder the more ripe and human their meat. I gritted my teeth, because the itch was growing much stronger in their presence and it was hard to keep control of all my faculties in the cold. I could feel Ben’s eyes travel from the strangers to myself, but he couldn’t understand. The Alpha walked forward and I watched him carefully, slowly separating myself from Ben in case I had to make the change.
BOX SET: Shifter 4-Pack Vol 2 (Wolf Shifter, Dragon Shifter, Mafia, Billionaire, BBW, Alpha) (Werewolf Weredragon Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) Page 138