Chapter 8
A tree appeared just as the sun kissed the horizon. If they wanted a good look at the landscape before they made camp for the night, it was going to be a bit of a scramble over. There wasn’t time to figure out the best way to get their bodies over this wall, and it turned into more of a heave-ho situation.
“If you put both hands on my butt and give me a boost, I think I can grab this branch,” Vallie called down.
Lambda took a breath. He felt extremely uneasy this close to the wall, like a bug had gotten loose in his insides and was crawling all over him.
Laying his hands on Vallie’s butt did help a bit though. Touching her in any way soothed him. He was doing this for her. For her family. It would make his mate happy, and he was able to keep her safe this way.
She was strong, her muscles flexing beneath his fingertips as she ascended the tree. He gripped her flesh, taking care that she didn’t slip. She grabbed the lowest branch and pulled herself up, while he pushed from below.
“Got it!” she cheered. “Can you get up?”
Lambda looked behind him one last time, prayed to the Moon Goddess he survived the next few moments, and climbed up the tree and out onto the branch.
“That looked much easier for you than for me. We are the same height,” she complained.
“Wolf strength,” he mumbled. “Hold onto my forearms and I’ll lower you down.” Lambda hooked his legs around the branch, then grabbed onto Vallie. “I’m going to go very slow. Please don’t let go until I tell you to.”
“Got it,” she answered, her fingers pressing into his skin.
He went as slow as his muscles allowed, until they both hung below the branch—him upside down and her right side up—and her feet were dangling two feet above the ground.
“Let go,” he said. She landed with a thud but stayed on her feet. Lambda pulled himself right side up, shook his head a few times, then hopped off the branch and landed beside her.
The silver gleam of the wall shone in the setting sun, bathing him in light. It was like every inch of him was submerged in silver.
“Oh no,” he mumbled before the earth came crashing up to him.
*
“Lambda!” Vallie shrieked. “What the fuck just happened!” She fell to his side and shook him a few times. Did he just die? Did the wall kill him? Fuck! She hadn’t thought that the wall could do physical damage to the wolves.
“Lambda, come on,” she yelled, her face inches from his. His eyes fluttered a bit. Good. Not dead at least.
“Lambda,” she slapped his face lightly, “Wake up.” He roused, staring at her.
“Get me away from the wall,” he managed before passing out again.
“How?” she shouted.
What the hell? Vallie was standing in dragon territory, in fading light, and her wolf shifter mate just passed out on her. Also, this man definitely outweighed her by over fifty pounds and now she had to move him?
“Damn it,” she shouted. She grabbed the pack and strapped it to her back, then took hold of each of his ankles and pulled.
He barely moved.
She had no idea how far she needed to get him from the wall, or how far she’d be able to drag him, but there was a copse of trees about fifty meters away that would be a good spot to hide while she figured out what to do next.
“Do not die,” she commanded her unconscious mate. “I will be really fucking pissed if you die,” she reiterated. She bent her knees and pulled. “Good god, you are very heavy!” she shouted at Lambda. She heaved again, this time causing his body to slide a bit.
“Ok. I can do this.” She squatted again and pulled with all her weight until he shifted.
“Vallie, you’ve got this,” she said to herself.
This time, she managed a bit of a rhythm. She didn’t stop—squatting, pulling, taking a step, dragging him over uneven ground toward the trees. She continued this until the ground slightly declined.
She turned around, tucked his feet under her arms, and dug her own feet into the ground. “Ok. Again.” She walked forward, making some good ground, and after a few feet, Lambda grumbled.
“Oh, god,” she dropped his feet and fell to his side, “tell me you are waking up. This is very hard.”
Lamdba opened his eyes. “Where are you trying to get me?”
“Those trees.” She pointed in the distance.
“Ok. I’m going crawl there. Take the pack.”
“What the fuck is going on with you?” Vallie demanded.
“Not now. I need to get there.” Lambda shifted to his hands and knees and slowly crawled in the direction of the trees.
What the fuck was going on with the wolf who just lowered her entire body from a tree?
Vallie did as she was asked, though. She picked up the pack again, slung it over her shoulder, and walked next to him. He was breathing hard, like he’d just run a crazy far distance at full speed.
When they finally got to the trees, Lambda collapsed again. It was dark now, and Vallie realized there was no hope of figuring out what which way to start off until she got a good look around in daylight. She’d been too preoccupied with Lambda’s near death and fragile state to think about anything else.
She shivered. Now that the sun was down, the temperature was doing the same.
“Fuck,” she mumbled. She opened up the pack and found the extra shirt. She pulled it on over her head and stuck her hands in her armpits.
She really wanted a damn fire starter right now.
She eyed Lambda, sleeping soundly now on his stomach with his arms and legs spread out like a star. He looked like he’d been dropped from the sky.
What a first night with her mate. Hell, Tella had been fed and tucked in to a warm bed. Vallie wasn’t sure if this wolf was ever going to wake up.
And if he didn’t, what the hell was she supposed to do? Leave him here? Go get Verona and hope that her half-starved sister and her could somehow fling his heavy ass over the wall? Shit, they couldn’t get over the wall without him.
“And I’m really fucking cold!” she hissed. She kicked the pack and stood up, jumping up and down a few times. Damn these cold, spring nights. What she would give for a sticky, summer evening right now.
She looked at Lambda, snoring softly. He had insisted he’d keep her warm. And without sex. Maybe wolves did run a little warmer than humans.
She shrugged and laid directly beside Lambda. She curled around his body, hoping to get a small burst of warmth, but was met with what felt like a roaring fire.
“Holy shit, you are warm,” she mumbled and pressed her face against his back. She stuck her hands under his shirt against his skin and they were warmed immediately. She slid her boots off and poked her feet under his legs.
“This is amazing,” she whispered. She tucked her shoulder under his armpit and, as her adrenaline crashed, quickly drifted off to sleep.
*
Lambda woke up encircling the best smelling thing he’d ever smelled. He moaned and pressed his face further into…
Vallie’s breasts. Lambda was nuzzling Vallie’s breasts.
“Shit,” he mumbled, trying to pull away before realizing he couldn’t. Their legs were intertwined like wild vines and her hands encircled his neck and his were around her waist. There was no way he could remove himself without waking her.
So, he didn’t. He laid back down, his head tucked against her chest, her hands down the neck of his shirt, and stayed still.
By the Moon Goddess, this was nice. Right. So, fucking perfect. It’d be even better if they weren’t about to storm Balaur and probably die. At least he got to sleep in her arms once before that happened.
“Are you alive?” Vallie mumbled from beneath him.
“I am.”
She squirmed a bit, pulling at the back of his head until he looked at her. “What the fuck was that? I thought you were dead.”
Lambda rolled off her to his own back, thinking she would want space, but she immediately laid over his chest. He must have made a face because she quickly said, “I’m not ready to be cold yet.”
He nodded. “It’s the wall. I didn’t know how I was going to react to crossing it. I’ve never met a wolf who’s crossed it. Glad it didn’t kill me after all.”
“You thought that was a possible outcome?” she shrieked.
“Yes?”
“Fuck, Lambda. From now on, don’t do things you think might kill you.”
“We’re doing that right now.”
Vallie rolled her eyes. “Other than save my sister.” She peeled her body off his and sat beside him. He immediately wanted her back. He wanted her skin against his, her body close. It had been the best feeling in the world.
“I’m going to go take a piss behind some trees. You might be my mate, but I’m not cool with you watching me pee, ok?”
“I’m fine if you’re never cool with me watching you pee.”
“Good,” she called over her shoulder and she sauntered off.
Lambda tried to sit, but as soon as he did, he got very dizzy. Shit. The wall definitely hadn’t worn off. He couldn’t feel it pressing down on him anymore, like he had when they were next to it, but it might take some time to get out of his system completely.
“So, what’s the verdict? Are you ok? Can we get back to saving Verona?”
Lambda shook his head. “Not yet. I feel like I need the day.”
“Do you want me to come back for you? I can handle going by myself, that was the plan before I met you.”
“Absolutely not. Tomorrow morning, I promise I’ll be ready to go.”
Vallie scrunched up her mouth. “Fine. One day, that’s it. You can’t walk tomorrow, I’ll grab you on the way back.”
Lambda nodded because he knew there was no way he’d let her go alone. He’d crawl all the way to Balaur if he needed to.
But he really hoped tomorrow the wall would be out of his system. If he had to protect his mate from dragons, he wanted to do it on his feet, not his knees.
“You want an apple?” Vallie asked as she rooted through the pack. She pulled out the canteens.
“Yes, please.” She handed him a canteen and an apple.
“You good to eat that or should I feed it to you?”
“If you want to hover over me and feed me an apple I won’t stop you,” Lambda laughed. “But I think I can do it.”
She snorted and took a bite of hers. “You know, it’s actually kind of pretty here. I was taken through the territory on my way in during a horrid winter storm. Spring isn’t too bad.”
“Added bonus that there don’t seem to be any actual dragons living around here.”
“Yeah, dragons don’t do wilderness living. They all live in stone keeps.”
“Hm.”
“Care to elaborate on that grunt?” Vallie teased. She leaned against the trunk of a tree, stretching her legs out long until they almost rested against his side. He wanted to pull her feet to him, cuddle her some more, but he held back. The sleeping together had been for warmth on her part. He wouldn’t take advantage of her. Especially when she had set some pretty strict rules.
“I could never permanently live inside. I love my townhouse. I love my bed and my kitchen and my shower. But I also spend about fifty nights a year in the woods. Hunting, sleeping under the stars. The wolf inside me is a big part of me. I couldn’t shut it away in a stone keep.”
Vallie didn’t say anything for a few minutes, just crunched her apple. “Am I going to get to come?” she said finally, breaking the silence.
“Hunting?”
She shrugged. “More the sleeping under the stars part. I don’t mind being outside. Especially in the woods. So peaceful compared to the city. I like really being able to hear everything, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.” He chuckled. “A lot of birds out right now.”
“It’s nice,” Vallie continued. “In Maidenhead, there aren’t any birds anymore. The smart ones left, and the stupid ones were eaten. In Balaur, there were some, but it was hard to find joy in birdsong, you know?”
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Lambda said quietly. “That I didn’t find you earlier. That you were held prisoner for so long.”
Vallie put her hand up to stop him. “Not your fault. And if you had shown up in Maidenhead claiming I was your mate, I would not have believed you.” She shrugged. “Here’s a thing about me. I don’t like to live in the past. Mind in the present, eye on the future, you know? You can’t change what happened with the dragons any more than I can change what happened with your parents. Right now, we need to save Verona. Next week, we’ll be spending our time together doing everything we’re putting off now.” Vallie crossed her legs and looked up at the sky. “Man. It’s wonderful being able to look at the sky whenever I want. Beautiful.”
“Our first night together ended up being under the stars.”
“Maybe I won’t spend our second night worried that you’ll be dead when I wake up.” She giggled and nudged him with her foot. “I’d like you to hang around for a bit, Lambda.”