Chapter Twenty-Three
MASON
THE HUMAN’S SCREAMS are loud despite being muffled by Kie’s palm.
I can’t say I’m a fan of them, nor do I enjoy the thick scent of terror that pours from her, but this needs to be done. I’m ready for it to be over, too.
I thought bathing the human would be fun, that she’d be angry and annoyed, but this is far from that. Her fear is at levels even I can barely tolerate, and I avoid looking into her eyes as Kie pulls her out of the water and up the riverbank.
She’s still thrashing, trying desperately to break free, but it’s useless. Even if she weren’t injured, Kie’s too strong for her. All she’s doing is tiring herself out.
Blood flows from her knees as she’s dragged from the water, and I push up my wet sleeves so water doesn’t drip into my bag as I grab our medical supplies. I wasn’t planning on walking fully clothed into a freezing river on this trip, so I don’t have anything dry to change into.
Kie meets my gaze over the human’s head, and I shrug before setting my supplies on the ground and digging through hers to grab the healing ointment I found yesterday.
Our kind rarely gets infections, so I didn’t think to pack any medicine for it, but the ointment she had stashed away claims to prevent them. It’s the only one of her items that looks even mildly useful.
“If you stop screaming,” Kie starts, “I’ll let you go.”
Almost immediately, the screaming stops.
I don’t trust the human to remain silent, but to my surprise, when Kie releases her and steps back, she doesn’t scream. She still reeks of fear, but she doesn’t try to run away, either, as she stands between us with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
She must be freezing.
Even I can feel the chill of the water on my skin, which is only amplified by the fact that my clothing is soaking wet. It’ll take hours to dry, but I knew removing my clothing would’ve only made bathing the human harder.
It would also leave my bare skin open to touch, and given the sheer amount of flailing she was doing, the risk was high.
“I want my clothes,” the human says.
Her voice cracks, and her entire body is wracked with violent shivers as she glances between Kie and me. I didn’t immediately understand why she was fighting so violently, but when I accidentally pulled down her underwear and heard her primal scream, I realized it was because she thought we were going to rape her.
I’m annoyed she believes I’d have any interest in that.
I’m the firstborn son of Alpha Theon. I’m a shifter prince. I have enough women throwing themselves at me, and I have no desire for the ones who don’t.
“Sit,” Kie orders, pointing to the large rock I was sitting on earlier. “We need to treat your wounds. Then you can redress.”
The human’s lips have turned blue. Why? I frown. Is this a side effect of her infection? I scrubbed her wounds well, removing any debris or germs growing there. My actions tore open the budding scabs, but I figure it’s best to start her healing from the beginning. I know how to deal with open wounds, but infections are foreign.
“I can do it myself,” the human says, eyeing the supplies in my hands.
Kie shakes his head. “Let Mason do it. You don’t know how to use our supplies, and we need to get moving before the shifters catch our scent.”
If they haven’t already. A decent amount of blood is pouring out of the human’s knees, and the metallic scent is seeping into the air surrounding us. If any shifters are nearby, especially in their animal form, they’ll soon be on the way.
The human’s throat bobs at the mention of the other shifters. She’s scared of us, which is for the best. I don’t know that my kind would go out of their way to kill a random human, not like the trolls would, but now that she’s traveling with us, they most definitely would.
“Make her sit,” I tell Kie.
The human’s shivering has grown worse, and I’m beginning to worry she’s going to die. I don’t know much about humans, but I do know they’re fragile. Her body doesn’t seem to handle anything well, and it’s failing her at every turn.
It’s a miracle she’s made it to adulthood.
The human buries her nails into her bicep, and I can’t tell if the wetness on her cheeks is water or tears. I assume it’s a mixture of both.
Kie steps toward her, the action finally urging her to move. She stumbles over her feet in an attempt to get away from him, her movements clunky. She’s always floundering around, and I wonder if it’s a human or personal trait.
She sits on the rock, and her knees clank against one another as she slams her thighs together.
I roll my eyes, still annoyed she fears us raping her. She’s an attractive woman, but it’s gone to her head.
I crouch before her and set my supplies on the ground so I can pull my wet sleeves back down. I’ve never let another person touch my bare skin, and I won’t be breaking that tradition today.
Although after the way we’ve treated this woman, I know she’s not our mate. It’s said that shifters know who their mate is even before touch, that we know the moment we lay eyes on our person. My father once told me he knew who my mother was to him the second he first saw her, and I know I’ll feel the same way for my mate.
Even if I can never touch her and ignite the bond, I’ll know who she is.
The human glares down at me, and I let out a quiet sigh as she glances into the forest behind me. I hope she’s not thinking about running again. She won’t like the consequences.
I grab her calf. She lets out a dramatic gasp as my gloved hand curls around the limb, but she’s smart and doesn’t scream.
No, she does something significantly worse.
She begins to cry .
Her bottom lip wobbles, and she turns away from me and stares off into the woods as she bites back a sob. I was hoping she wouldn’t be one of those women who cries at the smallest of inconveniences, but it seems she is.
Wonderful.
I try to ignore the tears as I rifle through the items at my feet. I grab a cleaner first, something to kill the dirt. I went light last time to preserve it, but it clearly wasn’t enough for her weak human genes.
Her calf muscle tightens beneath my fingers as she braces for me to put it on, which I take as a good sign. She must recognize what I’m using, and I don’t have to worry about her panicking when the cleaner touches her skin.
Kie helps me pour the liquid onto a single-use cloth, and he casually steps behind the human as he waits. He’s positioning himself to cover her mouth should she decide to scream again, which I really fucking hope she doesn’t.
I wipe the cloth over her knee, covering the entire wound with the stinging liquid. I don’t remember her cuts looking this bad yesterday evening, but I wasn’t paying much attention.
My kind heals quickly, as do faeries, and I greatly underestimated just how fragile human bodies are. If we want to deliver the human to Zaha in one piece, I fear we’ll have to wrap her in thick cloth and carry her.
The human hisses as I clean her wound, but she doesn’t fight me when I grab her other knee and do the same. I move to do her elbow next, but I change my mind when I see how good it looks. It seems to be healing pretty well on its own, so I’m going to leave it alone for now.
“I need stitches,” the human mumbles, staring at her knees.
I shrug. She’s not wrong, but I only brought so many sutures and I need to save them for severe injuries. Blood loss isn’t a concern right now, and the human will survive without the stitches. She’ll be left with nasty scars, but Zaha won’t mind. As long as the human’s face is untouched, Zaha will be pleased with the present. The gods love cute things, and the human’s big, brown eyes; full lips; and mildly chubby cheeks fit the bill.
Zaha will love her.
The human shivers, her entire body convulsing.
Her dark-blonde hair hangs limply around her shoulders, the soaked strands sticking to her bare skin. Kie should’ve done more to ensure her hair didn’t get wet, but I imagine it was hard to control when she was fighting him.
Still, the wet head will make it harder for her body to warm.
I need to hurry.
I take a moment to examine her knees and ensure there’s nothing foreign inside the wounds before slathering on the human ointment and some salve to mask the scent of blood.
The human remains tense, her body rigid as I wrap the wounds.
“We’ll turn around while you dress,” Kie says as I release the human’s leg.
I shoot him a sharp look, and he meets my stare head-on. I may not like how uncomfortable the human is around me, but I never agreed to let her out of my sight. If we begin giving her liberties now, she’ll come to expect them.
She’ll grow bratty and hard to control.
Her fear keeps her in line, and I intend to keep it that way.
Kie looks me in the eye, daring me to argue. He may technically outrank me, but his title of crowned prince means nothing when we aren’t in the company of his people. I have never bowed to him behind closed doors, and I won’t begin today.
“No,” I say. “ Kie will turn around.”
If he wants to give her privacy, that’s his prerogative, but it’s not mine.
The human grinds her teeth, the sound aggravating. She still reeks of fear, but it’s considerably less than before. Hopefully, this bathing has finally made her recognize our disinterest in raping her. If we wanted to, we would have already.
I breathe in, detecting a hint of shifter. It’s a distinct scent, impossible to mistake. They’re close, and if I can smell them, they can smell us.
Fuck .
I turn toward Kie. “Get our things.”
He sucks his cheeks into his mouth, his eyes cutting to the forest beyond us before he nods and moves to collect our bags. I climb to my feet and gesture for the human to change into her dry clothing, which she doesn’t hesitate to do.
I begin to strip, wanting to already be in my animal form when the shifters inevitably approach.
Kie collects the medical supplies I used before throwing both our bags over his shoulders and grabbing my discarded clothing. His are still soaked, but there isn’t time for him to remove and wring them out.
The human dresses nearby, her gaze nervously darting into the forest. She must sense our urgency.
“You may need to climb and bring her up a tree,” I tell Kie. “I’ll tell you when.”
Shifters can’t climb in their animal forms, at least not well. If we’re attacked, the human needs to be up high. She’s too easy to kill, and Kie and I can’t protect her and ourselves simultaneously. Getting her out of the way is our best bet.
“I can climb myself,” she says, tugging on the thick shirt she wears over her short-sleeve black one.
It smells, and I’m going to make her clean it at our next water stop.
I finish stripping and shift into my animal form. Stopping at the river was risky. This area is too populated, and we’re still in the heart of shifter territory. The trolls are less of a threat, and we should’ve waited until we were in their lands before stopping to bathe and drink.
It was our original plan, and we should’ve stuck with it.
The human finishes dressing and secures her backpack over her shoulders. For once, she doesn’t put up a fit when Kie touches her. He wraps an arm around her waist, supporting most of her weight so she doesn’t trip as we maneuver through the darkened forest. The sun fully set while we were bathing her.
The scent of shifter is more potent in my animal form, and I crouch low as I scan the woods. The shifters are coming from the south, coincidentally the direction we need to go.
Traul River travels north to south, but it’s not safe to walk along it. Too many shifters rely on the freshwater it provides, and there’s too high a risk of us stumbling upon others.
I hesitate for a brief moment before leading us southwest. It’ll lead us away from the river and hopefully allow us to sneak around the shifters. The human’s blood is saturated in this particular spot, so there’s a good chance they’ll come directly here.
They’ll inevitably double back and follow us once they realize we’re gone, but I hope to put significant distance between us before then. The human’s blood covers the scents of Kie and me, and I’m counting on the shifters not caring to stalk down some random human. It’s a lot of work for such little payoff.