Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
ROWAN
Evie lay curled atop me, her fingers gently caressing me in her sleep. She’d be mortified if she knew. It wasn’t her fault. I was very caressable.
I walked much slower than I should have, but she’d never trusted me quite this much, and I wanted to drag this out for as long as I could. She wasn’t wearing a watch, and she’d left her phone in her backpack. Evie wouldn’t know how long I took to get to the location.
Her warm breath rustled the fur on the back of my ruff. She wasn’t a petite woman, but she was still small, her bones delicate and fine. The silk of her hair slid over me, swaying with every step I took.
We were making progress, but I wasn’t fooling myself. Caelan would arrive soon enough. He wouldn’t be able to resist drawing Evie back into his world.
And tearing her away from mine.
I wanted to fight, rage against that happening, but unlike Caelan, I would never trap her, never cage her, never force a choice on her she wasn’t ready to make. If she came to me, she’d do it with her eyes and heart wide open.
Otherwise, she’d always harbor doubts and look at what those had done to her and Caelan.
She wasn’t ready to hear all the things in my heart, nor was I ready to tell her. The beast in me had known long before the male. And I still wasn’t sure what I thought of the truth burning like a supernova deep inside me.
Evie wasn’t perfect. I wouldn’t be in love with her if she was.
She could be rash, prone to anger, sometimes vengeful when wronged, and furiously vicious when cornered, but none of those traits were flaws in my eyes.
She’d been closer to death these last several months than she ever had, and she deserved peace.
Even her bastard father had said so during his secret visits.
I’d never had much contact with Evie’s mother, but I knew they had a complicated relationship. Things seemed like they were thawing. I could only hope Cliona was not as hard on her as her father planned to be.
Evie shifted, her fingers sliding through my fur. She turned and slid her cheek against me, and it took everything I had not to shift and ask her to do that again, to my other form.
Get a grip.
I navigated a steeper area of the path, careful to keep balanced so Evie wouldn’t slide off.
We were almost to the area, close to the border of Donovan’s old lands.
She couldn’t risk crossing over. Not while things were so up in the air with the other Lords, none of whom had contacted me since I carried Evie out of Joy Springs.
They were planning something. The bastards always were, but I couldn’t find enough energy to care. If she ventured off my lands, I wouldn’t be surprised if the other Lords, or Caelan himself, would be waiting there to snatch her up.
So we’d agreed to get as close to the border as we could, close enough so she could still access those other lands and siphon some of her ever-growing power away.
When she was done and we were back at the Keep, I’d continue showing her all the reasons she should stay here.
And stay with me.
Evie slept for two more hours, so long even I was surprised by it, but I did nothing other than lay on the ground and let her rest. She was safe and warm, and I gladly would have laid there for another five hours if it meant having her so close to me for a little longer.
She stirred, her face rubbing against my ruff. Evie gasped in surprise and stilled.
“Rowan?” Her voice was husky with sleep.
I tilted my head up.
“Are you okay?”
I nudged the gloved hand dangling off the side of my body.
“I am so sorry,” she breathed, sliding down my side to the ground. Once she was a few feet away, I shifted.
Evie jerked her eyes away and waited for me to dress. Another thing to adore about her. She was uncomfortable around shifter nudity, though I’d heard the tales of her power drunk and glorious in her nakedness. Oh, to be a fly on the wall on that day.
“You were tired,” I said simply.
“Yes, but you were stuck there for…”
“Not that long,” I lied. I pulled on thermal underwear and jeans, followed by a warm flannel and gloves because I had no idea how long we’d be out here for.
When I finished, Evie pinned me with those stunning eyes. “You should have woken me up!”
“No,” I said and grinned when she squawked in indignation.
From the pack I pulled two thin wool blankets and handed her one.
She took it with a nod of thanks. “You can’t be close when I sink into my power. My magic is too volatile these days.”
“Again, the answer is no.”
When she opened her mouth to argue, I shook my head. “I’ll be able to protect myself, and you won’t hurt me anyway.”
Evie blinked. “I—I wouldn’t know if I would!” she protested. “My Chimera form is volatile. I have a good hold on things, but—”
“You’re scared.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “Wouldn’t you be?”
“No. Your magic is a part of you. I might turn into a bear, but I don’t suddenly turn into a ravening beast and want to eat my friends.”
An odd expression crossed her face.
“Do…you?” I ask hesitantly.
“Not anymore.”
A surprised laugh cracked from me. “Explain.”
She fidgeted, wrapping her fingers around each other. “When the Chimera magic was first burning through me, I tried to eat Hazel.” Evie grimaced.
I pressed my lips together to keep from crowing with laughter. “I assume Hazel was just fine?”
Evie huffed. “She had one of those cattle prod things that shocked the shit out of you and knew how to use it.”
I belly laughed.
A reluctant smile tugged on her lips. “I twitched for two weeks straight until I learned friends are not food.”
I bent over, howling with laughter. Evie smacked me in the shoulder, but she was laughing, too. “It’s not funny, you ass.”
“It’s hilarious,” I said with a wheezing laugh. “Now I’m even more comfortable sitting close. You’ve obviously learned your lesson.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is there a shocker in that pack?”
I widened my eyes in mock innocence. “I would never.”
She harrumphed and started looking for a spot to settle down. Snow covered the ground, so nowhere was ideal. We’d both have frozen asses when this was over.
Evie finally gave up and plopped right in the middle of the small clearing. “How deep is this snow, do you think?”
“We’re higher up in elevation, and it’s been colder than usual here.” I searched around for a long stick and stuck it down into the snow. “About a foot,” I said when I pulled it out and peered at the snow left clinging to the branch. “But the ground isn’t frozen very far down.”
Evie squinted at her gloves then up at me. “I should warn you about something.”
I sat down beside her, about two feet away. “Still not going to move away.”
“Sometimes when I go too deep…” She paused.
My eyebrows lifted.
“My clothes disintegrate.”
I couldn’t help the slow grin that crept onto my face. “In that case, I’m definitely not moving away.”
Evie cracked a laugh and closed her eyes.