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Chapter 19
Back inside my cabin,I locked the door behind me and turned to find three men studying the place. A strange sensation swirled in my stomach at the familiarity of being home, yet sharing it withshifters.
Nero ran a hand across the wooden walls while glancing up at the beams overhead. He strolled to the stone fireplace in the living room. Pinecones littered the mantelpiece. I’d had this thing about collecting them when I was young and couldn’t bring myself to throw them away, as they reminded me of myparents.
“So, this is my little abode,” I said. “It’s nothing special, but perfect for me.” Downstairs had the kitchen, bathroom, and a resting room, while on the second floor were thebedrooms.
“I love it,” Nero said, picking up wood from the pile next to the fireplace. “Now to get this place warmedup.”
Oryn glanced upstairs, gripping the timber banister, as if ready to launch himself upward. “Only two rooms upthere?”
I looked up at the spare room that used to belong to my grandma, and how I used to tippy-toe past her room when I’d woken up in the middle of the night. But she’d always heard me and would join me in the kitchen. Those nights we’d end up cooking a feast with leftovers and tell silly jokes. The best memoriesever.
“Do I need more rooms?” I returned to the kitchen and lit the stove, ready to make a huge pot oftea.
“If it bothers you, Oryn,” Nero called out, chuckling, “take the spare room. I’ll be bunking with my littlelamb.”
Oryn shook his head and scaled thesteps.
Dagen inspected the paintings of the forest on thewalls.
“Those are mine,” I said. “I’ve been practicing in my sparetime.”
“Love this image. Reminds me of you.” He pointed to one with my grandma walking into the forest wearing her red cape. Within the shadows, I’d drawn three wolves watchingher.
“I adore thatpiece.”
Dagen offered me a knowing smile. “You havetalent.”
With everyone settled on the couch, the rest of the afternoon flew by. A fire roared, and I had made garlic toast and roasted vegetables, followed by honeyed oats. No complaints from the guys, either. We all sat there, spoons clinking bowls and lipssmacking.
“Okay, I’ll be the first to say it,” Nero said. “For food with no meat in it, this isfantastic.”
“See.” I nudged him with my shoulder. “You can still eat well without killing ananimal.”
“Not sure I’d go that far.” Oryn stood and collected our plates before heading into thekitchen.
“So what’s the plan?” Dagen swiveled at the end of the sofa to face me. “If the priestess is after you, her guards will return to yourshop.”
The meal in my gutchurned.
“We can’t stay here forever,” hesaid.
“Agreed.” Oryn strolled in. “We’ll run tests on the river water all night if that’s what it takes. I can’t let down my pack.” His voicestrained.
I rushed after him and grabbed a bowl from the kitchen pantry along with a bottle of vinegar. “Let’s do this. Whatever ittakes.”
All three joined me, their arms filled with the jars we’d brought from the store. I ignored the question of what would come next. Focus was the game plan. Help Oryn’s pack. Worry about everything elselater.
* * *
Iyawned,my eyelids heavy as I sprinkled the last batch of dried leaves into the bowl of vinegar and tainted water. I didn’t even bother to look at thelabel.
The men had fallen asleep. Oryn was on the sofa, Nero on a nearby chair, while Dagen slept on his back on the floor in front of the fire. The desire to crawl over and join them tugged at me. But instead, I stared into the bowl of water with floating particles. No reaction to any of the samples. Nothing at all, like all the other tests, and it killed me not having a cure for Oryn. His pack would continue to attack each other until what? They turned on the other wolves and butchered them too? What if they entered Terra? They’d kill so manypeople.
An invisible vise squeezed my chest. I could barely get a breathin.
I didn’t have time to sleep or pretend things would be all right because they wouldn’t be. What I needed were more samples to test. I picked up a candle and match, then marched outside into the night. I didn’t want to wake any of the guys for protection. They deserved a rest, and I’d be back in notime.
