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RORY
When we reachedthe bottom of the cliff, Amarok continued carrying me piggy-back style until we found a small, fresh-smelling creek and a tree dotted in some kind of fuzzy black berries. They didn’t look appealing, but food was food.
I drank from the creek when he told me to drink, and ate the berries without complaint. They were surprisingly delicious, and I had a lot more of them than I initially planned.
“Okay, I’m full,” I told Amarok, after rinsing my hands in the creek and drinking a little more water. “How far is your pack?”
“It’s a five-day run. Two days through the Fractured Peaks, and three in the Broken Woods. We can stop halfway and spend the night with another pack to shower and eat, if you’d prefer. You’ll ride on my back while I run in my wolf form, but it will be more tiring than you expect.”
If Ipreferred?
Damn, life in Evare was already so much different than life on Earth. I hadn’t been allowed to have opinions in years.
I hesitated to answer.
My initial reaction was to tell him he could choose, but…
Did I have a preference?
“What will the other pack be like? And what’s your pack like?” I asked the questions quickly, not wanting to give him time to change his mind.
“My pack is small and quiet, but there are five other women from your world there. There are two mated couples, but everyone else is unmated. The pack we would be visiting is loud and boisterous, full of those who have been mated for a long, long time.”
“And mated is like married?” I asked.
“Yes,” Amarok confirmed, his gaze lingering on my face.
It took me a minute to work through my feelings.
I didn’t love loud and boisterous, but after a few days of running, Iwouldprobably want a shower.
And if I had to stay with a pack permanently, I was glad it was the quieter one. Having other women from Earth there too would be good, probably. I wasn’t great at making friends, but maybe I could learn. Or relearn, I supposed.
At twenty-three, I should’ve been in my social prime, shouldn’t I?
I guess I didn’t really know.
But Allen had slowly convinced me to drop all of my friends, so it didn’t particularly matter. I would figure it out, if just to spite him.
“And you and me are considered… mated?” I asked carefully.
“Halfway mated. To seal our bond, you would need to bite me as well.” He gestured to his neck. “There’s no rush. We’ll have an eclipse in a few weeks, and our bond will break then, but we will restart it afterward if you’re willing.”
Oh.
Well, that didn’t sound so bad at all.
I’d be tied to Amarok for a few weeks, and then I’d be… free?
Shit, the idea was unreal.
I wouldn’t even know what to do with myself, especially in a new world.
“What if I’m not willing?” I asked, wrapping my arms around my middle. Though logically he hadn’t given me a reason to think he’d attack me, some part of me still believed it might happen.
His lips curved upward, just the tiniest bit. I couldn’t help but feel a little attraction to him when I saw his smile, but ignored it thoroughly. “Then I’ll sit outside your den until I’ve convinced you to.”
My throat swelled. “Like a jailer?”
