Chapter 6 #3
“You need to lie down,” I tell him, pulling out my mortar and pestle. “That wolfsbane is going to spread fast.”
“I’m fine,” he grunts.
“You’re not fine.” I grab several herbs from my dwindling supply—silver-root, moonbell, and the precious healing moss I’ve been hoarding. “Wolfsbane thrives on how strong you are. It’ll kill you within an hour if we don’t neutralize it.”
He tries to push himself upright, but the movement makes him hiss in pain. “I don’t need—”
“Please, just let me help you.” I start grinding the herbs with urgent efficiency. “I know what I’m doing. I can get the poison out, but I need to work quickly.”
He watches me silently, though his eyes are narrow in suspicion.
“This is going to sting, but it’ll draw out the poison.” I add a few drops of water to create a thick paste.
I move toward him with the mixture, but his hand shoots out to grab my wrist in an iron grip. His touch sends an unexpected jolt of electricity up my arm.
“What are you doing?” His voice carries a note of authority that suggests he’s used to being obeyed without question.
“Trying to save your life.” I meet his eyes steadily. “The wolfsbane is already in your bloodstream. I can see it starting to affect you. Your pupils are dilating.”
He studies me with those intense, cobalt blue eyes, and I can practically see him weighing his options.
“Considering you just saved my life, it would be pretty stupid of me to try to hurt you, don’t you think?”
“You don’t know me,” he says, his fingers still firm around my wrist. “I could be worse than the men I killed.”
“Maybe. But you’re not the one who threw my cat against a tree.” I keep my voice gentle but urgent. “This paste will draw out the wolfsbane, but I need to apply it directly to the wound. The longer we wait, the less effective it’ll be.”
His eyes search my face for a long moment, but the suspicion in his eyes does not fade. “If you’re lying—”
My patience finally snaps. Without warning, I smack him on the back of the head with my free hand. Not hard enough to hurt him, but enough to get his attention.
“Cut it out!” I snap, my voice sharp with irritation. “I’m trying to do what I do best here, which is keeping people alive. You can either let me help you, or you can sit there and argue while the wolfsbane kills you. Your choice.”
He blinks in shock, clearly not accustomed to being smacked by anyone, let alone a fever-weakened woman he just rescued from certain death. “Did you just hit me?”
“Yes, and I’ll do it again if you don’t stop being difficult.
” I glare at him, my earlier gratitude battling with newfound frustration.
“Look, I appreciate what you did for me, but right now you’re bleeding and poisoned, and I’m the only one who can fix you.
So, either trust me or don’t, but make up your mind fast.”
For a moment, we just stare at each other. His expression is caught somewhere between surprise and ire. Then, slowly, he releases my wrist.
“Fine.”
“Finally.” I carefully pull his shirt away from the wound, trying not to notice the impressive muscle definition beneath the blood. “Now, hold still.”
The gashes are deep, four parallel cuts across his abdomen where Kane’s claws connected. The edges are already turning black from the wolfsbane.
“This is going to hurt,” I warn him, scooping up a generous amount of the paste. “I’m sorry in advance.”
“I can handle pain.”
“I’m sure you can.” I press the mixture gently but firmly into the deepest cut.
He arches against the tree with a sharp intake of air, his jaw clenched, but he doesn’t pull away.
“You’re doing great,” I murmur, working the paste into the other wounds with careful efficiency. “We’re almost done.”
His fingers dig into the ground, but he doesn’t utter a sound. When I glance up, I find him watching me with an expression I can’t quite read.
“You know what you’re doing,” he observes, his voice slightly hoarse.
“I’ve had a lot of practice taking care of myself.” I apply the last of the paste and sit back on my heels. “There. That should start drawing out the poison within a few minutes.”
I start cleaning my hands on a spare cloth and look around at the dead bodies in the clearing, finally letting the shock settle in. They came here to do one thing.
“Alpha Gareth sent those men here to kill me,” I mumble. “I’m not safe.”
“Your alpha sent them?” the man asks slowly, his eyes pinned on mine in a way that makes me feel something twist in my chest.
I swallow. “Yeah. And I’m sure he’s going to send more. Alpha Gareth doesn’t believe in leaving anything unfinished.” Weak laughter bubbles out of me as I sink onto my backside in the dirt. “I knew he hated me, but to actually try to have me killed?”
Then again, should it surprise me? He was going to send me to the Blue Crest Pack to die a painful death, after all.
I exhale slowly before turning my attention toward the stranger who rescued me. He doesn’t say anything, just sits there watching me.
The brooding type, huh?
But he is very skilled.
An idea is forming in the back of my head. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but it might, and I’m too desperate not to give it a try.
“From your clothes, it looks like you’re a mercenary.”
He blinks now. “What?” His eyes dart down to his dark outfit. “Why do you say that? Have you met many mercenaries before?”
I shrug. “No. But I’ve heard that rogue shifter mercenaries roam the forest. And mercenaries usually wear black clothes, right?”
He stares at me before slowly murmuring, “I suppose they do.”
“So, are you a mercenary?” I ask bluntly.
Before he can respond, I quickly add, “I don’t have a lot of money, but I can give you everything I have.
” I reach into my bag and bring out a small pouch.
Emptying the coins from it, I count them.
“Seventeen silver. You can have all of them if you can protect me till I reach Turnville. It’s a human settlement. ”
His brows arch, nearly disappearing into his hairline. “You want to pay me to protect you?”
“Yes!” I nod, my head bobbing up and down enthusiastically. Leaning forward, I lower my voice. “There’s someone or something stalking me in these woods, so I really do need a strong bodyguard.”
“But you’re a shifter, aren’t you?”
I pause at his question, and the hand clenching the coins lowers to my lap. “Yes and no. I don’t have a wolf.”
He stiffens, and I immediately get to my feet. “If that’s a problem for you, I understand. I can find my way there—”
His arm shoots out, and his hand wraps around my wrist again, his eyes flashing strangely. “Did I say it was a problem?”
My lips press together into a thin line. “I just meant…I mean, I know shifters don’t like latent shifters, and I—”
“I don’t have a problem with what you are. You saved my life. I know how to repay a debt.”
I study him. “So, you’ll agree to help me?”
He nods.
I hold out the coins to him, only for him to shake his head. Before he can utter a word, I say fiercely, “I know the danger I’m in. Trust me. You deserve these for what’s to come.”
For a moment, I think I see a look of amusement in his eyes. But when I blink, it’s gone.
“Alright. But you can hold on to them till I get you to your destination.”
“Deal.” I pocket the coins and look around. “What do we do about the bodies? Should we bury them?”
A cruel glint enters the eyes of the man I’m paying to help provide me safe passage. “No. Let the wild animals feast on them. They don’t deserve a burial.”
I’m not a harsh person, but I can’t find it in myself to disagree.
Not this time.