Page 69 of Blood & Claw

His belly growled then, demanding food. They couldn’t delay though. They’d eat on the road.

He looked over his shoulder at the tall, slender figure who’d followed him across the yard. Ailsa looked almost frail in the silvery morning light, her expression strangely cowed.

For the first time since their meeting in Farnoch, she appeared vulnerable.

He really needed to take better care of her.

Darach’s gut tightened then.

The woman had no idea just how desperate he was. This job wasn’t like the others he’d taken over the years. It wasn’t just Kayla’s life but his own at stake here.

This chase couldn’t go on for much longer. If it did, the beast would have him.

He flashed his companion a tight smile. “Ready to go hunting?”

Ailsa lifted her chin, her black eyes narrowing. Her fragility vanished, and the indomitable young woman stood before him once more. “Aye.”

Rùn’s hooves beat out a hollow tattoo on the frosty highway.

Clinging to Dale’s waist, Ailsa watched the bright morning fly by.

They’d walked for a short spell as they left Rhu, eating a few mouthfuls of bread and cheese, before Dale kicked the stallion into a brisk canter.

And now they were on their way.

Ailsa was grateful. Not just because each stride brought her closer to Kayla, but because it also meant she and Dale had a clear focus once more.

Last night had forced them to stop—to take a breath.

Maybe that was why the dream had come. Now, she dreaded nightfall and the depraved urge that might return with it. The sunlight made her feel better. It chased away the darkness and made things seem more manageable.

She had managed to get some sleep the night before; even so, her body felt leaden this morning. Initially, she’d thought it was a reaction to just how upset she’d been, yet as the morning wore on, a familiar dragging ache settled low in her belly.

Damn it.

Of all times.

Her moon flow was on its way.

Although it never lasted more than three days at most, it always brought terrible cramps, backache, and a lingering nausea.

She usually knew when to expect her moon flow, but after her life had been upturned, she’d lost track of such things. Traveling on horseback, in close quarters with a man who both aggravated and unsettled her, while dealing with cramps and bleeding like a stuck pig, was the last thing she needed.

They stopped mid-morning, not far from a hazel thicket, and she ducked behind the trees to check.

Indeed, it had begun.

She cleaned herself up, folded the only rag she had, and pushed it between her thighs before pulling on a pair of leggings to keep it in place.

Emerging from behind the trees, she found Dale waiting astride Rùn, bristling with impatience. “I was going to come fetch you,” he said with a scowl. “Why were you so long?”

“Women’s business,” she replied brusquely.

His expression softened slightly before he reached out to help her up behind him. “Are you in pain?”

“A little,” she admitted, surprised by his concern. “But I’m used to it.”

He grunted before urging his stallion into a trot and then a brisk canter.