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I really, truly did not want that, and as suspicious as I was of the Wood creatures, I felt I was better off trusting him. They could have killed me ten times over by now instead of curing the infection.
I carefully settled on my stomach again, hating the way the blankets reeked of my stale sweat, and turned my head so I could see as much of the Beast as possible.
He carefully peeled back the quilt to expose my naked back. A growl rumbled between us as he gently prodded me.
“You must tell me who did this, Salem.”
Why did he care? And more importantly— “What is your name? You know mine when you have no reason to.”
The Beast’s lips curled back, making me think of a smile. “I am Torr, my fierce one.”
I added his name to my mental list. In the span of one week, I’d learned more details of the Beasts than I had in my entire life. “Torr… I will not tell you who did this.”
He let out a satisfied rumble when I said his name, but it almost immediately became a snarl. “And why not?”
Despite the attitude in his voice, he was still gentle as he touched my back. I heard him rustling, then felt the first cool bit of glop being smoothed over my burns. I had to hold back a sigh of relief at the instant numbing of the pain.
“Because I think you’re planning on interfering, and he’s mine to kill, not yours.” I couldn’t exactly look Torr in the eye while laying on my stomach, but if these Beasts were going to interfere with my life, I was going to have to put my foot down. “And because this is an unequal exchange of information. You still haven’t told me why you saved my life.”
His laughter was so deep it literally echoed through me. I felt rattled by it.
“Because you are the one promised to us, and I have come to collect.” He smeared more of the poultice on my shoulder blades, easing the stinging wounds. “I have had enough of Vostok stealing what is rightfully ours.”
“I don’t understand,” I whispered. “How could I be promised to you? I’m human. I’m just like them.”
I stared at my clenched fist. The fingers that tore away to become claws when I unleashed the unholy monster within my soul.
“No,” Tyr said quietly, as though reading my mind. “You are not. The little man in the big house has kept you away from your home, but you have finally proven yourself and broken free. The Wood welcomes you back home with open arms.”
I wanted to snort with laughter, imagining Father Borodin’s expression if he was called a little man to his face, but what the Beast had said quieted any humor in me.
The Wood was my home? The place I’d been taught to fear and fight all my life?
“I’m the Vessel. I exist only to stand against you.”
Tyr made a disparaging noise of disgust. “They have filled your head with so many lies.”
His claws were still on my back. My heart was pounding so hard, I knew he could feel it, too.
I had never been touched with such gentleness before.
“Sleep, Salem. The time for stories will come when you are healed.” He stroked my hair. “I will be right here to protect you.”
With a full stomach, it seemed my body was fully determined to fall into blackness once more. And strangely, when Torr told me he would protect me, I absolutely believed him.
Putting all of my trust into the Beast, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath of his comforting, smoky scent, and allowed myself to sleep.
Chapter Nine
The next timeI opened my eyes, I was alone in the knothole, but Torr’s smoky scent remained and the bedding next to me was still warm.
I blinked at the rumpled blankets. I’d slept harder and deeper than I ever had before, right next to a werewolf.
Maybe the Father and Augur were right about me.
And the Beast had kept his promise to watch over me.
The sky outside the door was gray, the shade of approaching evening. I stretched my limbs, feeling much better, but wrinkled my nose at the smell.
