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Twenty-Five
Baine
The crackling of a fire woke me. Opening my eyes, I realized I had fallen asleep in my wolf form, something that had not happened since I was a youngling. The human I had carried sat across from me on the sand, nibbling on a crab leg.
“You’re awake,” he said and tossed a crab over. “Figured you’d might be hungry.”
I sniffed at the dead crustacean before my hunger took over and I bit into the shell, crushing it between my fangs.
“There’s a good pup. Knew you’d like that.”
I growled at the word pup, and he laughed.
“Sorry. How about I call you wolfie? I need to call you something.”
The smirk on his face reminded me of another human. The similarities too close to be a coincidence. Between the red hair, the slender nose, and wild blue eyes, I felt like I was staring at a male version of Rosalie.
Could they be related? I needed to know.
The human sighed. “Well, you got us to safety, and I thank you for that. We’re too far from the base camp, but we are closer to my home.” His gaze lifted to the sky, and he smiled. “I think you may have just given me my freedom. They’ll never know I survived, and I can go home. Oh, is Rosy going to be pissed at me for being gone so long. Wait until you meet my sister. She’s going to love you.”
At the mention of a sibling, I shifted, all pretensions gone.
His eyes widened and he froze mid-bite, the crab leg an inch away from his mouth. “That’s a neat party trick.”
“Is your sister Rosalie Hawk?”
Flames ignited in his eyes, all playfulness gone. “How do you know my sister?”
“I don’t have time to explain. She’s in danger and we need to head to Farrow’s Gate.” I stood, stretching out my limbs and cracking my neck. Staying that long in wolf form always made my muscles sore.
“Hold on.” He tossed the crab into the fire and stood. “Why is my sister in Farrow’s Gate and not at home? She would never leave our firehawks.”
“We don’t have time.” I turned to leave, and he grabbed my arm. I stilled, glaring at the human.
“You need to start talking.” His grip on me tightened and if he wasn’t Rosalie’s brother, I would’ve forcefully removed him.
“Fine, but then we need to go. I’ve already been gone too long.” As quickly as possible, I re-told the story of how she arrived at Farrow’s Gate, the problem with the snakes, the flock, the marriage, and how Kelia had come to take all the prospects away.
When I had finished, he rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “I need to go home.”
“Didn’t you hear me? Rosalie is in danger.”
“Yes, but you said Kelia left and Lord Demious was protecting Rosy. We’ll check there first before going to the Borderlands. Even if Kelia managed to get my sister, no one is going into battle. The darkthings decimated the base camp. Thousands of soldiers wiped out. The magi won’t risk anymore until the final push. We have time, but the firehawks don’t. They’re integral to the North and not just because of the plague snakes.”
He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “We need to pass that way anyway to reach Farrow’s Gate and if Lord Demious is as powerful as you say, he can port us to the Borderlands faster than we can travel.”
“Very well,” I grumbled, not happy with this plan. Though, knowing how important the fowl were to Rosalie, I needed to make sure they were safe.
“There’s a good lad.” He playfully smacked my cheek, and I grabbed his throat.
“Do not touch me again,human.” Gripping his throat, I applied pressure.
“Understood, personal space. Got it.”
Releasing him, I sighed, already annoyed.
“You know,” he said as he held his hands over the fire pulling the flames into his palms until the entire fire vanished. “It would be a lot faster if you gave me a lift.”
