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“Go away.” I replied, running my hand through the fur blanket on top of me. It was so soft, like the doe skin boots my father had given me the fall before he left for the battlefront and the castle.
“Arrow, please.” The words were spoken in a whisper and the tone was worried, sad even.
I frowned, refusing to open my eyes and face whoever the voice belonged to. There was no need for worrying. I was safe and warm in this bed that smelled so much like home and yet I couldn’t stand the tone of sadness. Why was he so sad? Did he lose someone too?
The blanket began to vibrate and after a moment a deep growl rumbled from it startling me. My eyes flew open and the first thing I saw was the sky complete with fluffy looking grey clouds. The next thing was my hand next to my face buried in russet colored fur. Lifting my head, I found that my pillow was made of the same material. It was beautiful. I stroked my hand through the strands marveling at how warm and inviting it felt. Then I felt its intake of breath.
I jerked up thinking that a mouse or rat had somehow entered my bed. A scream built in my throat until the enormous creature raised its head and I came nose to snout with a wolf. I swallowed the scream and instead looked around for the source of the voice.
A man with silver eyes flecked with bits of green was on his hands and knees staring at me with barely contained fear and anger. The wolf turned its massive head toward the man and growled a warning at him. The man’s jaw tightened at the sound, and he seemed to be visibly vibrating as he struggled to contain his wolf. I stroked the wolf’s fur trying to get it to calm down or possibly distract it from looking the alpha in the eyes.
“Einri?” I asked, trying to make sense of, well, everything.
“Stay calm, Arrow.” Einri instructed but he needed to take his own advice. I was perfectly fine laying under the wolf, whereas he looked like he was a hair's breadth away from losing control.
“I think it’s you who needs to calm down.” I muttered, scratching the wolf behind the ears. “Thank you for letting me rest. I think it’s a good idea for you to go before you make him anymore riled.”
The wolf returned its stare to me and within those hazel eyes I could see it questioning my sanity.
“He won’t hurt me. It’s you he’s worried about. I’m completely safe with him.” I assured the wolf though for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why the wolf would even care. “Go on and find your pack. I’ll be fine here. Promise.”
The wolf huffed again, sounding annoyed before it rose to its feet, looked menacingly at Einri, then turned and trotted off into the white landscape.
Perplexed by the wolf’s odd behavior and that it actually listened to me meant I wasn’t prepared for Einri to launch forward. I flinched, as anyone would, at the sudden movement but the next second,I was pressed against his chest, his arms squeezing the breath from my lungs. I hesitated then melted into his warm embrace.
“You scared me, Arrow.” He muttered into my ear. I didn’t know what to do or say. Up to this point Einri and I’s relationship had been full of distrust and hostility and forced alliance. But the way he was holding me firmly against him said something completely different.
“I’m sorry.” I replied, my voice muffled by his shoulder.
He pushed me back then cupped my face with his hands, forcing me to meet his silver eyes, and what I saw in them made my heart skip and my breath stutter in my chest. Longing like I’d never seen before stared back at me while worry followed just as intently. Something had changed between us. My eyes searched his face before they dipped to his lips, and I couldn’t look away. We were so close I could feel his breath flutter on my lips and the want that flared in me was enough to make me gasp and cling to him.
He bent down, bringing his lips closer to mine then stopped and hovered there. My hands fisted the collar of his shirt, ready to pull him the last couple centimeters. I wanted to feel his lips against mine, noneededto feel them. The intensity of my need and desire scorched a path through me and I thought I would catch fire.
“Einri! Oh, thank the maiden you found her!” Brex’s voice called, snapping us to our senses.
His arms dropped down to his sides and his eyes glowed for a moment before returning to normal. I released his shirt reluctantly, then opened my mouth intending to ask him what had just happened, but Brex dropped to her knees and pulled me into a hug. By the time I was able to extricate myself from my loyal handmaiden Einri had retreated, his emotions bottled up tight once again.
My eyes kept drifting to Einri as we walked nearer and nearer to the snow-covered mountains, my thoughts jumping this way and that, never landing on anything for more than a moment. He and Will walked together, and I assumed that he was taking time to teach Will more about his new wolfy instincts. Apparently while I was in my fog, Will struggled more than most people realized, myself included. I could still feel the fog in my peripheral, but it wasn’t as overwhelming today. The guilt, however, …
Will abruptly left Einri’s side and walked over to me. “We should be hitting the foothills tonight or tomorrow.” He commented, chewing on his lip. “Einri’s worried about the medical trip, he says that they should have returned by now.”
As if we needed any more reasons to worry. Since we snuck into the castle and freed the Greenwood, the constant worry, other than over me, had been the Thimmarian army, and possibly even the Bruralian army catching up to us. It would take a couple days for them to get mobilized, but with the Greenwood being such a large party, we didn’t have much luck at being able to increase the distance between us. We just couldn’t move fast enough. Our only hope was in escaping to the Ice Lands and putting the mountains between us. Or perhaps the two armies intersecting. The latter option was probably too much to hope for, though.
But once we crossed the mountains, we had no idea what to expect. One step at a time, I reminded myself.
“If I send more people to search for them, I risk losing them too, or even them crossing paths unbeknownst to each other.” Einri commented over my shoulder, and I jumped. The damn man was too quiet for his own good. Or my heart’s.
“All three are competent and capable.” I supplied, hoping against hope that I was right. “Maybe they just need some extra time.”
Einri nodded, thoughtfully. “You’re right. I’ll trust them to handle themselves, but if I don’t hear from them in the next couple of days, I’ll send someone to look for them.” He decided with a self-satisfied nod.
I tried not to smirk at the motion, but it had caused an adorable strand of hair to fall over his forehead, and the sight sent a blaze of heat down my back. I shook myself lightly, and Einri caught the motion, fortunately misunderstanding the movement.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll be back before that happens.”
I nodded, lips pursed. No way was I going to correct him.
“It seems you have an admirer.” Brex commented as she joined us, and I looked at her, curiously. She motioned with her head to the right of the company, and I could just barely make out the russet coat of my wolf friend as it slunk through the foliage beside us. It stayed far enough away to be barely discernible, just on the edge of eyesight.
