To Live Among Wolves (Legends of Arcadia Book 1)

Chapter 17

I hadn’t talked to Eden after our trip to Rauha. I’d gotten myself tangled in cleaning up after the Festival of Kings, preparing for the waterfall freezing over, protection plans with the Guardians for the border of Arcadia, and everything in between. I wondered what Eden would find to fill her time.

After planning another trip to re-supply and listing out what needed to be collected in the nearest towns, I was famished. I had sat down for lunch to study the Compendium when Nash burst into my room.

“I was thinking,” he threw himself on my bed like it belonged to him. “Now that Eden is basically Queen, she needs protection when you’re not around.”

His words had the skin on the back of my neck tingling. Did he think that I hadn’t already considered that?

“I mean,” he went on, “she’d be fine on her own if she could shift. But since she’s human, I wondered if I couldn’t be of service somehow. I could escort her, assist her with anything she needs, be a guard of sorts to keep her safe when you’re busy with King stuff.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You want to be her personal guardian?” The thought of him with her all the time didn’t sit right, not after her dream. “You want her alone.”

“What?” Nash scoffed. “No, I don’t.”

I tilted my head. “I saw the way you looked at her that first day.”

A muscle in Nash’s jaw tensed, but he said nothing.

“So you admit it then?”

“Yes. I mean, no!” Nash covered his face. “She’s beautiful, of course, but I wouldn’t… I couldn’t–”

“Then why do it, Nash?”

He sat up, tucking one foot under his other leg. “I’m dispensable.”

Dispensable. The word was harsh, but he was right in terms of hierarchy.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “So you would take all of that responsibility on yourself? And if anything were to happen to her, you and you alone would answer for it.”

“Yes.”

I sighed, my chest tightening at the thought of harm coming to her. Nash was right. Eden needed someone when I wasn’t around. “If you allow anything to happen to her–”

“I will lick the Glade floors clean for eternity. I know. I promise to keep her safe, Silas. I promise on my own life.”

“One I’ll hold you to.”

Nash visibly relaxed. “Good. Now that it’s settled, I need to ask you a question.”

I dropped my head back. “What more do you want, Nash?”

“Why is Eden near Feru Falls?”

I stiffened. “She’s where?”

It didn’t take long for us to arrive at the Gateway, not with the fear coursing cold in my veins. I had no control over what happened to her outside of my domain, and I hated to think of what might happen if she wandered outside of it.

The borders of Arcadia were walled high. Our peaceful land rested in a valley between mountains, a place no mortal human had yet discovered. Other forest-dwelling animals came and went. They weren’t difficult for us wolves to manage. But if Eden found her way out, what then?

Nash and I found her studying next to a stack of books with her back against a rock face. She sat mere steps away from the cleft in the stone wall surrounding the kingdom. Steps away from the door to the outside, to danger, to Nyx.

“Eden,” I called out, coming to a halt. Nash nearly collided with me.

“Oh, hey.” She smiled but arched an eyebrow, tucking a strand of her wild hair behind an ear. “Is something wrong?”

Curiosity bloomed in her like a flower caught in spring rain. Clearing my throat, I turned my eyes down. “No, I… It’s just that… Well–”

“I asked him if I could be your guardian while he attended his duties as king,” Nash interrupted. “We wanted to tell you in person.”

“Guardian?” Her smile faltered.

“Not that you really need one,” I started. “But considering last night…”

I could hear both Nash and Eden’s heartbeats quicken for different reasons.

Nash stiffened. “What happened last night?”

I watched Eden, wondering what she would say. I wouldn’t betray her trust, but Nash would find out. He would have to know.

After a moment, she swallowed. “I had another dream about Nyx.”

“Another?”

“This time, he threatened to take down Arcadia,” I explained. “In the little time alone I’ve had today, I’ve been trying to come up with a way we can deal with the situation with the least amount of death.”

My mind flashed back to Nash being mentioned in Eden’s dream. Something about it bothered me, but I couldn’t put my paw on what.

I met Eden’s gaze. She seemed so concerned, so worried. I hated seeing her stressed.

“You have to be careful, Si,” Nash started. “This isn’t us playing Alphas anymore.”

“You don’t think I know that, Nash?” I snapped. “I’ve been playing Alphas for the past year not knowing what the silva I’m doing.”

Nash swallowed. “Sorry, I didn’t–”

“Just stop.” After a deep breath, I turned back to Nash. “Look, you’ve been gone. I’ve done my best here. You’ve made it quite clear you’re disappointed in how I’m doing, but I’m the Alpha here. I will figure this out. And if I fail, I take the blame. Me, alone.”

Nash nodded. I couldn’t read his expressions as well as I used to. Too much time and too many things had passed between us.

Is he angry? Is he going to run again?

Eden cleared her throat. “You won’t be alone in it. They’ll blame me as well, considering it’s my fault that…” She inhaled but didn’t finish her sentence. She fiddled with the pages of the book in her lap.

“We’ll figure it out.” I knelt in front of her. “We’re doing this together.”

She still gazed down at the book.

I lifted her chin and smiled at her. “We’re going to be fine.”

Though they were my own words, they were far away and cold like the winter threatening the world outside of Arcadia’s walls.

Do I really believe what I said?

Will we figure it out?

“Eden,” I murmured. “I have to go back. But–” I sucked in a breath. “Please don’t go too far from Nash. He’s sworn his life to protect you. I need you safe.”

She nodded, though I could hear her fear, her heartbeat hammering and echoing even in my ears.

I walked away before I could change my mind.