Chapter 9
Asterion
This ridiculous human could die from grass.
Fates have mercy, why would they give me a mate that is so fragile?
At one point, her scent sweetens and then abruptly sours when I throw her over my shoulder, and for some reason, that bothers me more than it should.
I should not care what has caused her scent to wilt like rotten strawberries, yet it is all I can think about as I hike along the overgrown mountain path.
We continue to trek in silence, her small fits of sneezing the only noises until her stomach takes up gurgling next to my ear.
When I can no longer ignore it, I find a section of path wide enough for us to sit and rest on.
I drop her down off my shoulder unceremoniously, hearing her growl of protest as she lands on her behind in the dirt.
“You couldn’t set me on my feet?” She glowers at me.
“Why would I do that when this is more satisfying?” I snort, dumping the pack at my feet before rifling through it for some of the dried meat and the skin of water, thrusting them into her lap. “Eat.”
She looks as if she might argue with me, but her stomach growls again, and she closes her mouth as her cheeks turn pink.
I hum to myself as I watch her take a bite of the dried meat, and satisfaction at seeing her eat something I have made with my own hands courses through me.
I take a bite myself, keeping my eyes on her as she takes a sip of water, a trickle of it escaping her lips and running down her chin.
The dried meat turns gluggy in my mouth as my saliva dries up, my eyes focused on that bead of water on her skin.
Heat fills my core, and I fight the urge to lean over and swipe it away with my tongue.
“What are you looking at?” She wipes her chin with her shirt and glares at me. I force myself to swallow, shaking my head to loosen up some sense. The mate bond is causing all sorts of chaos, my mind and body completely at odds with one another.
I do not answer her; instead, I snatch back the water skin and the remainder of the dried meat and pack them away.
“Hey! I wasn’t done!”
I almost give in and hand it back to her. Filled with the need to see her belly full and sated like any real mate of mine should be. But I hold fast, slinging the pack back over my shoulder.
“Up.” I gesture to my shoulder.
“Nah-uh. No more. I’ll walk.” She folds her arms across her chest where she sits on the ground.
“You are too slow. It will take us twice as long.”
“Oh no, that would be such a shame—” An eyebrow disappears behind the violet hair that falls to her eyes. She tries to hide the hint of a smirk at the possibility of making the journey more difficult than necessary.
“I wish to be rid of you as soon as possible.”
I tug at the rope binding us together to get her to stand.
She lets out a hiss, quickly getting to her feet.
The motion reveals where the rope has rubbed her skin raw, the milky white of her stomach now tinted with a pink line where it has sat around her middle.
I take two steps toward her, grabbing her around her biceps and spinning her to check the skin of her back as well.
She gasps as I lift her shirt, the skin there redder and more tender than the rest. I place a hand against the mark, feeling the heat emanating from it.
A deep grumble rolls through me. She risks an infection if this continues to get any worse, and as much as I absolutely want to be rid of her, I cannot bring myself to cause her more harm.
I should not care, but I am not a monster despite what she might think, even if I should wear the face of one. Do I untie her and risk her escaping?
“Fates,” I curse under my breath, tearing a long strip of fabric from my loincloth and wetting it with water from the skin.
“What are you doing?” she asks over her shoulder as I reach around her to untie the rope that binds us together, the scent of her in my nose again as I step in close.
I grab the wet strip of cloth and begin carefully wrapping it around her middle.
She lets out a hiss and grabs my wrist to halt me when the cold cloth touches the rawness of her wounds.
We both tense at the contact, eyes meeting in a flick of surprise before we both pull away, and pink creeps up the sides of her neck to stain her cheeks.
The physical contact ignites the mate bond inside me, heat unfurling low in my gut.
I clear my throat. “I need to tie it off.” I gesture to the ends hanging loose at her sides.
“I can do it.” She steps away from me, tying the cloth herself. One step separates us, and yet the distance feels like the span of the universe. We are but two planets unbalanced and adrift. One touch and I have been tipped off my axis.
I pick up the abandoned rope from the ground, one end still securely tied around my waist, and contemplate my choices. I can let her walk freely and trust that she will remain at my side, or I can choose the opposite, securing her to me once more.
She cocks that pesky eyebrow while she watches me weigh my decisions. I close the distance between us, looping the rope around her wrist and securing it with a knot. Her face instantly falls, replaced with a glower so deadly it could cut.
“Shall we then?” she snaps, tugging the tie at her wrist. She turns on her heel and storms off, continuing her way up the mountain until the rope pulls taut.
“Are you coming or not?” Her words are sharp as she stands ahead of me with her hands planted on her hips, chin pointed high.
“I don’t want to be stuck here with you any more than you want to be stuck with me.”
Good, I think. We are at least on the same page. Perhaps I was too hasty in my decision to tie her back up, but it is done now. I will take her back to the Drakons, and she will no longer be my problem.
“Well? We don’t have all day.”
I nod, more to myself than anything, satisfied with my plan to continue.
She takes that as my agreement and turns her back to me before storming off as I follow along behind her.
I am quick to catch up when one of my steps is two of hers.
However, I do not miss the way her fists clench at her sides.
She is furious at me, as she should be. I have only caused her harm thus far, and I have no intention of doing anything otherwise, mate be damned.
I rub at my sternum and try to ignore the tender ache that has formed there.
I do not want a mate, and I especially do not want her.