Chapter 25 Aerin
AERIN
Aerin thought she knew heartbreak. Aerin thought she knew rage.
But when Emrys collapses, she realizes she doesn’t know anything.
She feels foolish, ashamed of her own naivety.
Aerin thought she’d show up here, find Emrys, and take him home.
Easy. Aerin never once imagined the level of torture inflicted on him by Elara.
He is a mere shadow of the Wolf she met in this grove nine years ago. Then he had been strong, a force to be reckoned with. Soft spoken but fair and firm.
In this form he’s hardly larger than a shifted Fawn. Aerin stands, easily lifting Emrys with her. She carries him back to the safety of the cave, her own body shaking. Magic buzzes under her skin begging for release. Churning like it wants to blast the world apart.
“You realize this is a Wolf, right?” Malice asks, a mild level of disgust in his voice as his heavy boots nudge Emrys’s front paw. Aerin glares at him over her shoulder, tears still glistening in her eyes, blurring her vision but not her rage.
“Be very, very, careful what you say about him, Malice,” Aerin grinds out. She tries to even her breathing, not wanting her bonded-mate to become her punching bag. The only one who deserves the brunt of her anger, and her magic, is Elara.
Malice shrugs, moving across the cave to her backpack.
“Do you have first aid stuff in here?” he asks, rooting through the bag.
Aerin strokes Emrys’s ears as Malice gathers the first aid supplies, laying out alcohol, gauze, and a wrap. Emrys appears weak—small, fragile, and unhealthy looking. Barely clinging to life. And Elara made him this way. Aerin would rather die than leave Emrys in these chains for one more day.
She lets her thoughts circle around all the ways she wants to rip Elara into pieces.
Killing her is a mercy Aerin will not grant her.
No, Aerin wants to destroy everything Elara loves.
Then she wants to strip her skin from her body slowly, layer by layer.
Only to allow her to heal before she does it all again.
“Princess,” Malice says softly, crouching down next to her. He snaps her out of the fantasies of Elara hanging from chains in the Royal dungeons, handing her the alcohol.
Aerin moves the fur away only to realize the leg is broken. The sight of the bone makes her queasy.
How long? How long has Emrys been limping around on a broken leg? How long has Elara been torturing him like this?
This is Aerin’s fault.
But she’s going to fix it.
“The alcohol won’t help anything. He needs magic to heal. He needs magic from the Alpha,” Aerin says, pushing to her feet.
“You don’t intend to approach an Alpha, do you?” Malice asks, incredulous. Her pause is his answer. “Aerin, Wolves are not to be messed with. We shouldn’t even be with this one now,” Malice warns, shoving things back in the backpack. His words hold a finality, as if he’s ordering her not to.
“I’m not just going to approach the Alpha, I’m going to challenge her,” Aerin declares. She knows enough about Wolf law to know if she challenges Elara for Emrys and wins, he’ll never have to suffer at the hands of her magic again.
Gently lifting Emrys in her arms Aerin stands. The Wolf lays limply against her, but the faint beat of his heart thumps against her. She knows, at least, the Pack magic won’t allow Emrys to die like this.
“Princess.” Malice catches her arm. “I can’t allow you to do that.” Malice looks like he wants to drag her back to Valtara.
“You would underestimate me again? After all the good it’s done you so far?” Aerin asks, raising an eyebrow at him. Malice opens his mouth, then snaps it closed again. “You can help me, or you can stay here. I’ll come back when it’s done.”
Aerin leaves the cave holding Emrys’s limp body in her arms. She hears Malice sigh heavily, letting out a low “fuck” before the sounds of his steps follow behind hers, deeper into the woods.