"Next time, lead with 'I got shot. I got bit,'" Grady said, his voice hard as he limped behind us.
I heaved a stuttered sigh. "Can we just settle for no next-times?"
We entered the cabin then, and all of its familiar sounds and smells took off the slightest edge of my pain. I didn't think I'd be in this place again for a long time.
"Grady, get the medkit." Archer settled me on the couch and gently peeled off my coat and the rest of my layers until my top half was completely bared.
Maybe I should've felt self-conscious, but I was too tired, too hurt, too relieved, and too sticky with blood to care. Besides, both of them had seen me naked before, and none of them said a word about it as Grady came back down the hallway, carrying Sasha. My pain combined with seeing through her eyes as he bounced her along slammed my eyes shut. The rocking, involuntary movement made my stomach roil, and I thought I was going to be sick.
Archer examined the bullet damage in my shoulder with gently probing fingers. “It just grazed you.”
Grady let out a low whistle. "Lucky."
"Who did this to you, Aika?" A hint of the growl I’d heard while he faced off with the wolves tinged Archer’s voice.
I shivered despite the crackling fire. "The same man who shot my baba and came in here to steal the package. He told Faust he worked for my baba and was making the delivery for him."
"Let me guess,” Grady said as he opened the medkit. “This guy got your money."
"Yes.”
Little paws and a wet nose nudged my hand dangling off the couch from where I lay, and I opened my palm to invite Sasha’s welcome-back licks.
“I confronted him...” I continued, “and I may have shot his finger off with an arrow."
Grady grunted. “Well, that’s a sure way to get shot at.”
"He asked me how many fingers he was holding up, so I gave him my god damned preferred answered." Gentle pressure from soft bandages pushed against both sides of my shoulder, and I hissed through gritted teeth.
"And that's when he shot you," Archer said, his breath feathering my lips.
"Yes, so naturally I ran so he wouldn't do it again. Apparently he’s made himself a few friends, and they all chased me back into the Slipjoint Forest to get me."
The sound of tape ripping almost drowned out Archer’s sigh. "Jesus, Aika. Drunk men and guns against a woman who'd just hurt one of their own. Do you have any idea what they would've done to you if they'd caught you?"
I knew he wasn't asking it because he thought I was stupid. He asked it because he hated to think it, just like I did.
"The bald man made it clear what he would do to me, what else he would do to me." I couldn’t think about what would’ve happened if I hadn’t gotten away. I did. That was all that mattered. Still, though, I knew just how lucky I was.
Grady huffed a breath and then began to tape me up. "So how did you escape?"
"Through the window in the room Faust kept me in for hours and hours. I told him about the fake poison, made it seem even deadlier and everything, and he said his supply was already full until winter was over."
"Shit," Archer said, releasing his hold from my other shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"So what are you going to do with no money?" Grady started to pace with his long, limping strides, the floorboards groaning under his muscled weight. "Go back to your family and hope for the best this winter?"
A sense of hopelessness flooded down on top of me, so heavy and defeating that it took a moment to draw another breath. "That's just it. Most of my family is in Old Man’s Den."
Grady stopped pacing. "I thought you said—"
"I did. I ran into Lee while I was there. He'd come from the direction of the brothel smelling like alcohol, surrounded by men who were trying to get him drunk. He said…he said Jade was in there too."
"Didn’t you say she was only fifteen?” Archer asked.
"Yes." The word hissed out as my whole being deflated. "I don't know what happened after I left home with the package, but maybe it was the bald man who took them with him. And my baba… I have no idea if he's even alive—" My voice seized altogether.
Archer brushed his fingertips over mine and squeezed. I squeezed back, thankful for the comfort.
"It's just a rumor," Grady started, so low I could barely hear him over the crackling fire, "but I've heard you can sell people to the whore house in Old Man’s Den. For money."
My whole body compressed into a block of ice. What he'd just said cut through my mind with too many sharp edges. "What?"
"I'm not saying that's what happened,” he said, limping back and forth again. “But it's possible."
"What?” I said again, more like a whisper. How could someone sell another human being? That was beyond my scope of horrors. Suddenly the air in the cabin was too heavy, too punishing, but I knew if I moved from this couch, I'd drop before I made it outside. "Lee and Jade. I wanted so badly to go back for them, but…" I shook my head hard, scattering the tears that had started to fall. "I wasn't even sure I'd get back to Slipjoint Forest safely."
"You did good by running," Archer said, his voice firm. “You couldn’t have saved them anyway since you were shot.”
He was right, but it still didn’t change the fact that I’d left them twice now. Jade was tough. She could handle a lot, but being sold like a piece of property to a brothel? I knew Jade almost better than I knew myself, and underneath that fierce exterior was most definitely a terrified fifteen-year-old girl who would never, ever let her brother wander free without her to get drunk with a bunch of strangers. She loved him. We all loved each other in that complicated way families do.
Which firmed my decision.
My stomach made a steady climb up to my throat, but I forced it down with a swallow so I could say my next five terrifying words: "I have to go back."
Archer groaned. “You were just shot and barely made it back here.”
"Fuck no," Grady rumbled. “I have no interest in seeing Faust’s pack at our doorstep again after they chase you out.”
"Even if you did go,” Archer started. “They're not going to accept you with open arms, or open hands, what with the missing fingers and all. Besides, if they're selling people now—"
"I saw a wolf there. A pup. I could see through its eyes."
Silence. Even Grady stopped his pacing.
"You…what?" Archer said.
"I saw a wolf pup, actually saw it through its eyes, and its reflection stared back from the window behind me. Red eyes, similar markings as Sasha, but a little bit bigger. Is it one of your pack?"
Grady wheezed like I'd just punched him in the stomach.
Archer's throat ticked, and I was afraid he might start to gag or be sick. He snatched back his hand from mine as if I'd burned him and stood without a word. In the next seconds, the door burst open and he walked out. Just walked out without shutting the door behind him against the wind and snow.
"Grady, is he—"
"Every detail," he demanded, his voice catching slightly as he shut the door behind Archer. "Give me every detail about that wolf pup."
So I did, about Faust holding it by the scruff of the neck and how I couldn't shoot it. Its markings. Its smell. Everything.
"Where do you think they kept the pup?” he asked. “There at the place you tried to make the delivery?"
"I think there, yes. It didn't take long for Faust to go get the pup."
"How long?"
My blood simmered at his rising voice. "Less than two minutes. Now, tell me what’s happening."
"That still doesn't mean the pup was there to begin with."
"Maybe not, but the tavern I went to is Faust and Gabriel’s domain since it’s always where we go to make the delivery for them. Plus, there are several side rooms to keep a wolf in.”
The floorboards creaked while Grady seemed to consider that.
"Talk to me,” I told him. “What did I say to make Archer leave like that?"
He was qui
et for so long, I didn't know if he was going to answer me, just the drag-thump of his pacing which grew more frenzied by the minute. He was an animal caught in a cage, desperate to find some of his pack but stuck in here with me where I demanded he explain shit.
Exasperated, tired beyond belief, I let my head fall back on the cushion and gave up on him.
"Ever hear of the game CKR?"
I sighed. "A game? No? I don't have time for games."
"This isn't one you want to play. It's Faust's favorite game… He cornered some of my pack into it with poisoned arrows aimed at our heads. All of us were in human form except for three pups since they couldn't shift yet."
Three pups… I sat up and waited, a twinge of dread pressing into me at the sound of his voice, so full of loss and pain.
It took a moment for him to start speaking again. "The pups belonged to our alpha's sister, a respected woman in our pack. She was already dead by then, as were her mates."
"And Timothy? Your alpha?" I asked.
"He was there. Weak. All of us were from the effects of the poison. Faust explained the rules of CKR and chose Archer to play it."
I sucked in a slow breath and shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "How do you play?"
"Faust told Archer that the C was for catch. Archer could choose one of the pups for Faust to throw. If Archer caught it, he got to keep it.”
My jaw dropped into my lap. I was already so done with this game.
“Archer chose Sasha to catch because she was the runt, and at the time…he didn’t know the rules for the rest of the game. He caught her easily enough."
I took a slow breath. "And the K?"
Grady swallowed loudly. "Archer had to choose a pup to kill."
My stomach twisted. "Oh god," I whispered. "And did he?"
A loaded silence, and then, "Yes."
Nausea bubbled up into my throat. Archer's shaking hands, his haunted silences while he seemed to be hundreds of miles away. It made sense now. How could he ever come back whole from that? Three pups, the very last of their pack, and he'd been forced to kill one.
"The pup was a male, Brennan we called it. Archer refused to kill him at first, so Faust shot Timothy with poisoned arrows over and over again until he did."
"Oh no." I could hardly hear myself over my cracking heart.
"R, the last part of the game means release. Faust told Archer to release the third pup into the Crimson Forest and leave it there."
CKR. Catch, Kill, Release.
All those choices Archer had had to make. Impossible choices of which pup lived and died and was left out in the snow to die. The weight of those decisions crashed down around me, and I couldn't even stand it even though I hadn't lived it. How were these two men still upright, still functioning after such an ordeal? Especially Archer, who was so sweet and protective and funny and smart. How could he possibly be so resilient?
I buried my face in my hand, my other one wrapped around Sasha, and allowed myself to crumble for Archer, for Grady, for Timothy, and for the three wolf pups who hadn't deserved such a cruel game. If I had known this while sitting across the table from Faust, I would've put an arrow through him. How could someone be that monstrous?
"The wolf you saw in Old Man’s Den… It could be little Ronin," Grady rasped. "It could be that when Faust ordered us to leave after the release of Ronin, he picked her up for himself…"
"Why?" I whispered through my fingers.
"The man's a psychopath. He doesn't have a heart, so he must've taken her to find the ruby caves once she's old enough. Female shifters in our pack inherently know where the ruby caves are. His pack isn’t from anywhere around here originally, so my guess is his pack had trouble reproducing and heard about the ruby caves somehow."
"‘Shifters can only conceive in the ruby caves,’" I said, repeating what Archer had told me.
"Right. After we left there, we holed up for a night, and the next morning, Timothy was gone. Left, not dead."
Archer would disagree. I didn't have the heart to point out that maybe Timothy had left in order to die since he'd been shot again and again with poison arrows. Besides, according to what they’d told me, quite a bit of time had passed since then, about a year and a half. Any number of things could have happened between then and now.
I swiped at my cheeks. "I'm sorry." It sounded ridiculously hollow and didn't convey at all what I truly felt, but that was all I could choke out. Not another declaration for us to go rescue everyone we loved from Old Man’s Den. Nothing. I just couldn't find the words now.
Neither could Grady, it seemed. He hobbled toward Sasha, toward one of the last babies of his pack, scooped her up without a word, and hugged her to his chest as he walked her back to her room.
The kind of love these two men felt for her… Well, in some small way, it made her the luckiest wolf pup in the world.
Chapter 13
I came into consciousness ever so slowly, one aching body part at a time. Warmth enclosed me from all directions—the furry blanket, the blazing fire, and the column of hard muscle I'd tucked myself against on the couch. Archer, sound asleep from his heavy breaths. I couldn’t remember him coming back in last night, but I was glad he'd parked himself next to me. He'd wrapped his arm around me and held me tightly to him while we'd both slept, and I felt so safe next to him. I wished we could sleep like this more often.
My hand was splayed across his bare chest, the steady thrum of a heartbeat beneath my palm. I traced it lightly and pretended I could move the pieces of his broken heart back together. No wonder he'd left last night after I'd brought up Ronin. After thinking he'd killed not one but two wolves while playing Faust's fucked-up game, I couldn't begin to understand the shock. The guilt. I didn't know how he was feeling, but I wanted to let him know he could talk to me.
My fingertips roamed his perfect dips and peaks. I wondered if he felt like this all over, if he would mind if I found out. I pressed my lips to his skin, feeling that rising ache between my thighs as I did. I stretched a little higher and kissed a sharp collarbone.
Archer's breathing grew ragged like I was stirring him awake. That fueled the tingling heat pooling low, and I ground my thighs together, my hips shoving forward into his side just a little. My own breaths grew heavier as I kissed my way across his collarbone. If he woke up soon and saw me like this, what would he do? Take me right here even though Grady was surely lurking nearby?
The front door blasted open then, bringing the sharp cold with it. I jerked back and yanked the blanket higher around me while the air cleared the strong opiate tea haze from my brain and all my naughty thoughts about Archer.
"You're awake," a cheerful voice said.
I froze as a pair of wolf eyes swept from Archer standing by the door to me and…Grady. I'd been kissing on Grady, who now sat upright and scrubbed his hands down his face. How long had he been awake?
I surged to my feet, my whole body flushing hot, and then I stumbled, still tipsy from Grady’s opiate tea he’d made me. How had I made that mistake? They were two different men, two different scents I should've immediately recognized. But I guessed my lips didn't care.
"Archer, you came back," I blurted, thinking I should say something, anything before Grady could.
"Yeah, Sasha and I were outside playing and…"
I crossed toward them and threw my one good arm around him and the pup both. As soon as I did, the embarrassment faded some, and all I felt was the two of them wrapped up tightly against me. Archer pressed me in close, careful of my shoulder, his big arms able to hold Sasha and me both. If he’d seen me with Grady, he didn’t say a word.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered into Archer's coat.
"Grady told you." He didn’t sound mad—not that he would—just his usual good-natured self, which made me wonder yet again at his strength.
"Yes." It took me a long while to be able to work up the courage to say anything more than that just yet, so I kept standing there holding them. Making Arche
r relive this again and again by talking about it weighed heavily on my shoulders, but of course we needed to. If we were going to go get the other wolf pup, then we were running out of time before winter.
Grady brought it up first though. "It could be Ronin, Archer. It could be that Faust took her with him so he could use her to find the ruby caves.”
Archer dropped a kiss on the top of my head and stepped out of my arms. "Even if that's the case," he said, his voice low, "what do you propose we do about it? They know our faces. They know our scents. If we step foot in Old Man’s Den, that's as good a declaration of war as any. A quick one that won't do anyone any good, least of all Sasha and Ronin."
I stepped back toward the couch, my legs slightly wobbly, and dropped onto it. "I also need to go back to Old Man’s Den to get Jade and Lee. I have a funny feeling the town won't accept me, either, but…unless someone locked it again, the window to the tavern where I saw Ronin would be a great way to slip inside."
"Well,” Grady started, “if we make a big enough distraction that's away from where we need to go…"
I snapped my fingers. "A fire. A big one. It would draw the men out of the brothel and the tavern. And that's when we would sneak in. We could cover our scents with star anise, since it smells really strong, and wear some kind of disguise."
"And then what?" Archer asked, incredulous. "Where do we go so Faust and Gabriel won't find us? Where does Aika go so the bald guy won't find her?"
"You're right.” I blinked toward the door and mentally kicked myself since I hadn’t even thought of that. “He could come back here any second." Probably was already on his way. If he’d been smart and gone back to town for someone to sew up his missing finger first, that is.
Archer plopped down next to me with Sasha, nearly squishing me between him and Grady. Sasha blinked up at me, and I crushed my eyes closed at the frightening sight.
"Not to mention we also have winter to worry about," Archer said.
"What if you go south?" I took Archer's hand and squeezed. "With me? We could probably make it to Margin's Row before winter hit."
Winter's Edge (The Crimson Winter Reverse Harem Series Book 1) Page 11