Chapter 10
Tore Hansen
“Iwas totally okay riding on my own.” Effie smiled up at me before wiggling further back and pressing her perfect ass against me.
I nearly let out a growl at that but instead just tightened my hand on her hip, trying to ignore how turned on I was from the simple press of her body. This woman drove me absolutely crazy.
I had absolutely no doubt that she was fine riding by herself, but if I was growing tired after hours of riding through the countryside, I had to assume she was as well—especially since neither of us were seasoned horseback riders.
Both Caedmon and Ryder had far more experience than we did, especially Caedmon who’d been taking lessons since he was very young.
So I reasoned that they could handle leading Effie’s horse while I focused on our mate.
Plus, I hadn’t realized how long this journey would be. After hours on the road, we had only been through the first three towns out of six, and it was already early afternoon already. The realm seemed far larger than the map portrayed.
“Seriously,” Effie said, her tone making me realize I’d never responded back to her, caught up in my own thoughts.
But if I told her I was worried about her, she would probably worry about all of us and how Ryder and Caedmon were doing as well.
Actually, she was probably already worried about that, so if I admitted worry, she’d just worry even more.
So instead I offered my other reason for pulling her onto the horse with me, one that wasn’t even a lie. “I know, lil bit. I want you close though. Way too many men looking at you.”
I tightened my grip on her as a town became visible in the distance, her eyes filling with subtle heat at my tone as she bit down on her lip, trying to hide a smile.
She nodded and looked back towards our destination as I caught the faintest scent of her desire on the wind, my cock hardening more than ever.
It was a real fucking issue, the men in these towns.
In each of the three we’d gone through, every single eye had been directly on Effie.
I didn’t blame them—Effie was impossible not to look at, and I knew she didn’t even notice their attention—but I did feel the now-daily violent urge to remove the ability of those other men to see her…
but I kept that to myself. My mate may be willing to deal with some levels of violence, especially when it came to Hastain, but these were ‘innocent bystanders.’ Supposedly.
“I don’t know if they’re staring at us, and I don’t think it’s because of me if they are,” she countered.
Dakota offered a literal bark of disagreement from where he walked ahead, causing me to smirk.
“No, I’m serious. I mean, the five of you are intimidating, and we’re all strangers to the land.
I’m sure we don’t look like we fit in. I’m not sure I would be able to help but look if a dangerous-looking group like ours walked by. ”
We were dangerous, but I understood her point.
“Doesn’t explain why they keep fucking looking.” Ryder narrowed his eyes at the people coming out of their houses in the upcoming village, all of them curious about who was approaching. At this rate I was worried we wouldn’t get to the base of the mountain by nighttime.
“They seem nice,” Effie said, causing me to bury my nose against her hair in an effort to keep my mouth from opening to offer my thoughts on the towns.
She wasn’t wrong…mostly. I just didn’t trust them, and the risk to Effie was far too much.
We didn’t know these people or what they were capable of.
Honestly though, most of the towns did appeared rather calm and amicable.
We hadn’t had any animosity directed towards us, just farmers and shop owners curious about who we were and where we were going.
There was also the occasional group of children that would follow behind us, giggling and trying to ask us questions.
Even I had to admit that part was sort of funny, especially when one of them asked if Dakota and Julian were our pet wolves.
I don’t think they found it nearly as funny as I did though.
I also couldn’t help but notice that this place was severely lacking in technology, and while most of the people appeared to be human, there was a strong signature of magic that seemed innate to the land.
So while I wasn’t very concerned about the individualistic threat, the signature of energy that filled the shadowlands had me feeling on edge.
Effie was right that they should be worried about the threat we posed.
For the longest time following my sister’s death, I felt uncomfortable at the prospect of the violence I enacted and how easily it came—how easily I had hunted down and killed her mate. Still, no remorse filled me at the memory.
Blood coated the granite counter of the bar I’d followed the bastard into, the one where he’d been hiding. He’d known that I would come looking for him, that I would find him for what he’d done. That the pain he’d caused my sister and our family wouldn’t go unpunished.
I don’t think he’d realized that it would mean the end of his life, but I felt no guilt about that—just like he’d felt no remorse over killing my sister.
What did I feel guilty about? My mom sobbing into my father’s chest as the two of them looked at the carnage I’d caused.
In their eyes, this made the situation worse.
They believed he should have faced ‘just’ punishment, that two wrongs didn’t make a right.
But a bastard who would kill his own mate was a ‘wrong’ that needed to be removed from existence.
My mom was also crying because she worried that this would mean losing her son when the rest of the pack found out. We were supposed to be better than this; we were supposed to be more civil. The pack would worry how this would reflect on me as the future alpha…I just didn’t give a fuck.
Standing from my seat at the bar, I turned to face my parents, but it wasn’t just them anymore.
The majority of the pack was here, at least the adults, staring on in shock and fear.
Where was this reaction when my sister had been murdered?
What, because they hadn’t seen the carnage themselves, it was easier to ignore?
I hoped they had this shit imprinted in their brains and saw it every single night before they went to bed.
This was minuscule compared to what Isabella had gone through.
“Tore…”
“No.” I held my father’s gaze. “No. Everyone here knows the truth. He murdered her—mutilated her. He deserved far more than what I gave him, and so much fucking more than whatever punishment you would’ve decided on. If you don’t agree, that’s fine, but I won’t listen to anyone’s bullshit.”
Having said my piece, I left the bar and walked home, wanting to wash his blood from me. My time on the pack lands was limited. Politics would weigh heavier than truth in the morning, and it would win out over the actions I’d had to take to right the wrong.
I was a violent creature; I knew that now—and I didn’t plan on changing.
It was something that I’d felt a nagging sense of shame for at first, but over time had diminished, largely because of my pack mates, especially Dakota’s easy acceptance of violence, and even Julian. Hell, especially Julian.
When I met Effie, it had only solidified what I knew to be true—what you were willing to do to protect someone you loved changed everything.
“Tore?” Effie’s voice was soft as she intertwined her fingers with my hand that had moved to splay over her abdomen possessively.
Looking down, I noticed that the late afternoon light was highlighting her features and the faintest pink in her gaze.
Shit. How long had I been trapped in my memories?
How many towns had we gone through? I was relieved to see my mate was safe, but it made me uneasy that I’d been so focused on the past that I’d forgotten the present.
“Trapped in thought,” I explained, glancing around at our surroundings. We were approaching the base of the mountain fairly quickly. “Sorry, lil bit.”
“Just was worried,” Effie admitted, her brow dipping. “I called your name a few times.”
Fuck.
“Everything’s fine,” Ryder called out from in front of us. “The other towns were peaceful—no one seemed as interested that we were passing through. Word has probably traveled throughout the day.”
Holy shit, I was zoned out for that long?
“What were you—”
Effie’s words were interrupted by Julian’s sudden shift back into human form. He stood frozen on the path ahead, staring up at the mountain and skies with concern marring his expression.
“What?” I asked, on alert, my gaze darting around to try to locate the potential threat he was sensing.
“There’s a storm coming. Coffin agrees. I don’t see shit, but I can feel it.”
“We should find shelter,” Effie said without hesitation.
Inhaling, I tried to smell moisture in the air, but there was absolutely nothing. Still, Reaper’s warning rang in my ears, so I quickened the pace of our horse. “Let’s try to find shelter in one of the caves—just in case.”
“Maybe a slightly elevated one,” Caedmon agreed, his gaze on the horizon.
We began to travel up the base of the mountain without delay, the shallow incline leading to a series of caves that seemed to be there for this exact purpose—shelter from the realm’s storms. And not a moment too soon, because just then the sound of thunder bellowed in the distance.
Swearing, I slipped from the horse and led the creature into the largest of the caves, retreating as far back as we could.
Moments later, the rain began to pour from the heavens.
“Good timing,” Dakota mused once he’d shifted back, the others already tying up the horses and unpacking our things.
Effie moved closer to me as thunder and lightning filled the sky and wind began to howl past our cave, moving east to west so that it was blowing against the cave rather than pushing the rain into it.
I brushed my lips over the top of Effie’s head as I looked around the cave.
It was relatively clean overall, with the exception of some rocks and branches that had probably been brought in by animals.
“I’m going to get a fire going,” Dakota said, he and the others gathering the scattered branches. The skies outside were growing so dark that we wouldn’t be able to see well if it continued to darken.
“We should plan on staying the night,” I said, everyone responding with various sounds of agreement. Continuing on wouldn’t do us much good anyway since night would fall soon. We didn’t need to explore an unfamiliar territory in the dark.
“I like the idea of stopping and getting some rest,” Effie said. I knew she was talking about the others, but her words solidified our plan. I sat down and pulled her against me, my fingers unbraiding her hair so I could easily run them through it.
“Want to come help me get branches from up front before they get too wet?” I asked. We’d need as much as possible to get through the night, and I didn’t want to risk her getting cold while sleeping.
“Sure.”
We grabbed all the branches we could, the thunder making me tense as Effie jolted in surprise. I knew she wasn’t afraid of storms, at least from what I could tell, but this one seemed particularly bad.
“Hey Tore?” Effie paused from where she was gathering wood next to me. “What were you thinking about earlier?”
“Hmm?” I looked down at her in confusion before I realized what she was asking.
“Earlier? I was thinking about the night my sister died and the revenge I took…and everyone’s reactions to it.
The disappointment I felt about their priorities, I guess, but that feels far too soft of a word to describe my fury. ”
Effie’s gaze filled with understanding as she leaned into me. “I wish I’d a chance to meet her. It sounds like you guys were really close.”
“You two would have loved each other,” I said softly. In some ways my sister and Effie would have been polar opposites, but at the end of the day they were both good, and that would have made for a bond that wouldn’t easily be severed.
“You aren’t planning to go back to your pack, but your father wants you to?” Effie asked, repeating the basic story I’d told her. I didn’t think she was asking because she was worried I would leave—she knew I wouldn’t—but I could tell she was curious.
“No, I can’t forgive them for what they did.”
“I understand,” she murmured. “Well, if you ever do feel like going there and talking through it, let me know. I promise we can do it together.”
I pressed a kiss to the center of her forehead as we stood with supplies in our arms. “I’m not sure what could bring me to do that—to see all of them again.”
“Is there anything that would make you feel better about the situation?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe to publicly recognize how wrong it was. I don’t care if they agree with my actions, but the bastard should’ve been erased from every fucking document and record having to do with our pack.”
Effie considered my words, nodding. “He deserved it, Tore. He did. I know you know that; I just want you to know that I agree, and I don’t blame you for your actions.”
It felt damn good to hear her say that.
As we carried the branches back, I thought about her question, whether there was a way to fix the hurt between my parents and me.
Not because I particularly cared to do that, but because I knew family was important to Effie—real family, like the one we were building.
And if we had children…would I want my parents to meet our kids? I wasn’t sure. Would Effie want that?
I didn’t have the answer to that—but I had a feeling I would need one. Possibly soon.