The pack will provide. We need a healer and Alpha Ronan is a fair Alpha. We butt heads from time to time but that’s to be expected with alphas. I might be hard-headed but I’d never lose my head enough to challenge Ronan. I wouldn’t trade places with Ronan for all the gold and glory in the world.
To be an alpha is one thing but to betheAlpha?
No fucking thank you.
I’d last all of a day before I lost my mind. Being indoors and listening to petitions and negotiations to keep the peace, and all while being ready to take all challengers? The latter I can do with no compunction, but the former? I’d rather lick one of the by now no longer drunk but hungover hunter’s asses. Right on cue, one of them throws up. I hadn’t heard much from them in a while so we were due for one getting sick, I suppose.
I glance over to see it’s Lucian’s hunter. I slow and signal to him that I’m taking the omega with me. The omega. I look at her. She looks tired. No longer just hurting but on the verge of collapse. I can see it in the heavy way her feet move and the slump of her shoulders. She’s pale too. Definitely exhausted by now.
Need to get her in bed and fed. Somewhere safe. Now.
My wolf throws himself forward. He’s pissed that I’m not taking care of the omega he views as his. Ours. His message is clear. If I’m going to fall down on the job then he’s willing to step up. I push him back and veer off to the right. We’re close to the Keep now but where the others will head straight in with the hunters to lock them up for the night, I’m taking the omega to the visitor’s quarters. It’s late. Ronan won’t have time to see her. At least that’s what I tell myself but a healer?
Ronan would make time for a healer. He’d think she was a blessing. Luna sent.
I don’t take her that way, though. I’m not ready for the Alpha to meet her. Not until I’ve spoken to him about her. My wolf is already too protective, too territorial over her. If I don’t hash this out with Ronan we’re going to be one wrong look from Ronan away from a challenge.
And like I said, I have no plans to be Alpha.
Chapter
Nineteen
CORDELIA
Ithink I’m going to faint.
I’ve only ever passed out once and it was after I didn’t eat for three days as punishment for sassing one of the females with rank. I got put on kitchen duty that week and it was the dead of summer so passing out pulling bread from the ovens was expected. At least that’s what I told myself after crawling my way out of the kitchens to lick my wounds. Now though? I don’t think I’d live it down. I have to survive the scary energy rolling off of Thorne long enough to get an audience with the Alpha. If I pass out I look weak. And if I look weak then I can kiss my shot at proving I’m valuable to the Alpha bye-bye.
I shake my head and give myself a mental slap. Do not pass out, I order myself. My wolf is there. She’s helping as much as she can, but even that’s not much right now. We’re both running on fumes. My legs feel like overcooked noodles and I almost slip as we approach the massive castle in front of us.
It’s more intimidating up close and I have to fight to keep running. Not from tiredness but because I want to get a better look at the beautiful structure. It’s like something out of a fairytale. This moment isn’t like I daydreamed about all the times I thought about coming home, it’s not even close to whatI dreamed while escaping Frostclaw. It’s so much…better. I cannot ruin it by giving up just because I’m tired.
New directive: Do not faceplant in front of the fairytale castle.
I grit my teeth and keep up as best I can. The burst of energy I had earlier is gone but I keep my legs under me. When we finally stop at the massive doors leading to the castle I have a stitch in my side and I’ve had to force down my urge to be sick. It’s then that I notice we’re alone. The Defenders and the hunters are gone. When did that happen? I start to look behind me for them but Thorne’s voice focuses my attention back on the doors.
“This is Bloodstone Keep.”
“It looks like a fairytale castle,” I tell him honestly. “Straight out of a picture book.”
To be expected, the big shifter grunts in response as he walks to the side of the door and pulls on a chain there. A bell sounds overhead. Once, twice, it rings before there’s a creaking sound and the doors open in front of us with a lurch. I watch as they slowly move but my escort barely waits for them to open enough for him before he strides through them. I follow behind him but I’m not running anywhere anymore. Besides, if I don’t run, I can finally take my time and look around. I make sure to walk extra slowly to get a good look.
Bloodstone Keep is breathtakingly beautiful.
Now that we’re past the doors I finally understand the beauty of it. It’s not so much a moonstone fairytale castle but a collection of buildings in a circle. In front of us there’s open space, grass and trees dot the open area like a park of sorts. It’s pretty. Calming in a different way from the forest. The forest is wild and alive, the energy of it grounds a shifter but here?
It’s tranquil.
Peaceful.
I take a step forward and inhale deeply. The rain’s slowed. It’s just a pitter-patter, a whisper of sound on the rooftops around us and the grass and trees of the open space. When I look up I see Thorne’s Embrace’s branches reaching sky high. The sky settles heavy into the branches and anchors me in place. Yes, this place is tranquil. I feel utterly safe there. Like nothing in the world could hurt me.
Thorne doesn’t say anything but I know he’s impatient. I can tell when I hear his footfall heading away from me that he’s ready to go. Already on the move without me, even though I’m in his charge. I take another deep inhale and then turn to follow him. All the the while I keep looking and taking it all in.
Stone buildings of varying sizes rise up around the clearing with the biggest of them all in front of us. It’s what made me think it was a castle in the first place. Two towers flank it like sentries. The building's doors are thrown wide open. Warm firelight dances in the doorway and beckons us forward. I bet it’s warm and dry in there. I pick up my pace at the thought and silently pray that once we go through those doors we’re staying put until the morning. I want to ask Thorne how much further we have to go but I don’t dare signal to him that I’m tired.
I wrap my arms around myself as weariness rolls over me and every step I take feels like I’ve got cement blocks strapped to my feet. I look down at my feet and frown. They may as well have cement blocks on them. They’re caked in mud. No wonder they’re so heavy. I stomp them on the ground in the hopes of shaking loose some of the mud. A little falls off so I do it again. I’m so focused on my feet that I nearly crash into my escort. He’s stopped walking and turned to face me. Probably on account of my stomping. That means I end up with a face full of his well-muscled chest. Memories from the meadow come alive the second we touch. Oh no.
