Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Torvolk
Beneath me, the horse stamped its feet impatiently, its breath fogging the near-midnight air. The nights were getting shorter now, but that mattered little at this time of darkness. At least the full moon above gave decent light.
I quieted the beastie with a gentle murmur and pat, and waited, watching the stones for the tell-tale glimmer of silvery fog.
The Keeper waited beside me, his hand on the weapon he still wore on his belt, despite his balance being so skewed after the loss of his arm. He was silent as well, his expression tight with worry.
“Have ye convinced her to return to her world?” I asked him, finally, thinking of the conversation about his houseguest I’d had when I’d visited before Midwinter. That had been an eye-opening afternoon, to see the two of them together.
At least the Keeper could no longer tease me for being a fool when it came to beautiful curves and tempting lips.
He glanced at me, then away, toward his cottage where his female waited. “Nay. I nae longer think ‘tis the right choice for her to go back to her world.”
I noted the glimpse of green in his eyes and nodded in understanding. He couldn’t send her back, not if she was his Mate. I wondered if he knew, but decided ‘twas not my place to intercede.
The gods knew I hadn’t been willing to take any advice until I was desperate.
And now?
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Now I was desperate again. Desperate and miserable.
No matter what stood before me, ‘twas Isadora’s eyes I saw. The joy in them when I called her Mate. The hurt when I told her I would have to leave her once more. The sorrow as she stood today with Nan, clutching her cloak about her shoulders as I prepared to ride away.
I couldn’t decide if ‘twas a good thing or a bad thing that sorrow had turned to anger and she’d turned away to dart back inside our cottage afore I actually climbed into the saddle.
Gods below! That had been the hardest thing I’d ever done, to ride away from Bloodfire Village, and I still couldn’t understand why. I’d ridden away many times, knowing Nan was safe with Mkaalad. How many times had I left my clan, knowing I was doing it for them?
But now?
But now, the thought of being away even a month was causing my chest to ache. Being away from my Mate for so long was madness, torture. I was already miserable, and I hadn’t even traveled through the stones.
Please, Malla the Beginner. Tarvor the Strong. Please let me find Kragorn this month. Let me find him and bring him home, so I might consider my mission complete and stay home with my Mate .
Because aye, I could see that now. My place was at my Mate’s side, and if that meant settling down and using my skills to help protect the village, then I would gladly jump at the opportunity.
Aught to keep Isadora safe. To keep her with me.
I sighed, my breath fogging the air before me, and scrubbed a hand down my face.
What was I thinking? This wasn’t going to work.
I needed her. I needed to be with her and I was a fool to think I could leave her. Duty to my clan or not, I needed her. The Mating Heat had been satisfied, but the thought of leaving her for a full month made my stomach cramp, my Kteer howl, and my head pound.
I needed her.
My decision made, I tugged on the horse’s reins to turn the animal about. I would have to explain my failure to Vartok and pray he took pity on me. Because…
“Where are ye going?” the Keeper asked.
I didn’t hesitate. “Home to my Mate.”
The other male merely grunted, then dropped his hold on his blade to lift his finger toward the edge of the valley. “Ye might no’ need to.”
The moment I saw the figure on horseback riding toward me, I sucked in a breath so cold it froze my lungs. ‘Twas her . ‘Twas Isadora; I could feel it.
Without wasting time voicing my fear and disbelief, I kicked my horse into motion, thundering away from the stones. Thank the gods I did, because I reached her just in time to see her wobble in the saddle as she yanked on the reins to halt her horse.
“What in the fook are ye doing?” I bellowed, reached across the empty space between us and hauling her onto my lap. “Woman, ye cannae ride!”
And yet…clearly she had. I remembered her fear of being on a horse that first night when I’d placed her in the saddle and expected her to run away. She’d been terrified and without experience.
I wrapped her in my arms and shook her.
“Have ye been taking lessons?” I yelled, as I wheeled my animal about to head for the Keeper’s cottage. “Did ye somehow learn to ride in the last few weeks?”
She was trembling and I prayed ‘twas just from the cold, and not from fear or hurt.
“Well?” I bellowed down at her as the horse slowed.
She tilted an impertinent look at me.
“I am waiting to see if you plan to answer for me as well. I do not think I am necessary for this conversation.”
Her voice, so prim and tart, made my lips twitch.
“Isadora, love…” I pulled my cloak away from her face so I could check her for wounds. “Are ye well?”
“I am, thank you.” She was still shivering, her teeth chattering. “I had no idea horseback could be so cold when I was not wrapped in your arms.”
I squeezed her in relief. “Then ye never shall ride without me again,” I vowed. “But how did ye ride tonight?”
“Nan helped.”
Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself upright in my lap and scooted so her back was pressed against my chest, presumably the easiest way to warm her. With an utterly feminine motion, she tugged on her kerchief and I caught that mittened hand to raise it to my lips.
“My grandmother saddled ye a horse?” I grunted.
“Do not be silly.” She tipped her head to one side to smirk up at me. “She threatened your brother that she would turn him into a frog if he did not help. He wanted to come, but I told him he needed to stay with Avaleen, and I remembered the way.”
“I’ll kill him,” I growled.
I wanted to be angry.
I should be angry.
She’d ridden alone for hours on an unfamiliar animal to reach an unfamiliar location. What if she’d forgotten the way, or fallen, or been beset by bandits? I should punch Mkaalad next time I saw him.
But she was safe.
With a low, grateful growl, I wrapped my arms around her. She hadn’t fallen, or gotten lost, or been beset by bandits. She was here, and she was safe.
Doesnae mean ye cannae still punch that arsehole for letting her go off alone .
Aye, that was something to look forward to.
Isadora patted my arm as her horse nudged closer. “I am here, Torvolk.”
“Aye, and why are ye here?” With a tap of my heel, my animal turned us both toward the circle of standing stones where the Keeper was splitting his attention between us and the veil that would be opening soon. “Why risk yerself?”
“Because.” She twisted to look up at me, and when she did, I was surprised to be the recipient of a fierce glare. “Because I love you, Torvolk. You stupid, idiotic, ridiculous, stupid male, I love you.”
I blinked in surprise. “Stupid?”
“And all the other synonyms for stupid!” She suddenly grabbed my arm and lifted herself, shifting and climbing until she was kneeling atop my thighs and she was able to glare up at me, holding herself upright with an iron grip on my plaid.
“I love you, and you left me .”
She loved me.
She loved me.
That band around my chest? It squeezed tight again.
She loved me, and I’d left her.
Oh, shite.
“I love ye too,” I managed to rasp.
Her expression softened. “Then why?”
“I thought…” I swallowed. “I thought my duty to the clan was more important than our Mating bond, Isadora. I’m sorry, I ken I was wrong. I’d only just realized it when ye came thundering down here. I was coming back to ye.”
To my surprise, that apparently wasn’t the answer she’d been hoping for.
“Your duty is important, Torvolk,” she said with a scowl, even as she surged up to grasp my cheeks between her mittens. “You are the Bloodfire Ranger.”
Ignoring the way she was squeezing me—as if trying to shake some sense into me, I locked my forearm around her arse so she wouldn’t fall. I loved the way she trusted me to keep her secure, and vowed to never let her doubt me.
“I am.” I felt as if I was choking as I tried to give her what she needed. “But ye are more important, Mate. Mine . I cannae bear the thought of being parted from ye?—”
“Then take. Me. With. You.” She tightened her hold on my cheeks with each word until my lips were pressed against my tusks.
“What?” Only, since she was squishing my face, it came out more like “Wuuuh?”
“ Take me with you, you stupid male !” Only she was smiling as she said it. Or didn’t so much say it as shout it at me. “There is no reason I cannot help.”
“Ooo anneroff.” Which is, of course, the best I could manage to say Too dangerous .
Her forehead pressed against mine. “Nay, ‘tis not, because you would keep me safe. Torvolk, I have spent a lifetime dodging danger in the humans’ world and you have to admit I would fit in far better than you.”
She was right.
Gods help me, she was right.
My eyes fluttered closed in defeat as I tightened my hold on her. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I hated the thought of her in any kind of danger, but she’d survived the worst the humans could throw at her, and she’d come out whole.
But… “ Sadowa .” ‘Twas supposed to be her name, and it sounded so ridiculous I smiled against her hold, then began to chuckle.
At that sound, she straightened and released my face. “Are you feeling well?”
“I love you, Isadora. Mate . I ken ye like my village?—”
“I love it,” she corrected. “’Tis the first place I have ever felt at home and I want to return there as soon as possible. But Torvolk…” She placed a kiss on my nose. “We will be able to return home. To our home.”
Home.
I had a home. I had a home with Isadora, and in that moment, I knew I was the luckiest male in both worlds.
“I dinnae have to go,” I offered.
But she immediately shook her head. “If you do not, you would not be the Bloodfire Ranger.”
“Aye, but lass, do ye no’ see? Now that I’ve found ye, found my Mate, I cannae be the Bloodfire Ranger. I’ll train a new male, just as I’ve been nagging the Keeper to do, and take my place in the village at yer side. I’ll spar and train and get fat and happy with my Mate and children at my side.”
Her beautiful eyes went wide.
“Children?” she breathed.
“Aye, lass…” I dropped my gaze to her stomach because I couldn’t touch her there as my hands were busy elsewhere. “Did ye no’ ken children are a possible result of what we’ve been doing?”
Her laughter burst from her. “Aye, Torvolk, but I never imagined…” She trailed off as her expression slid into wonder. “I want a son who will look like you.”
“Nay.” I moved one hand from behind her to trace her cheek. “A daughter, a lassie as beautiful as her mother, and strong-willed besides.”
“Unlike me.” Isadora’s grin turned impish. “ Master .”
My lips curled as they claimed hers.
And kissing her, holding her—even though ‘twas atop a horse—felt right . Felt like home . I didn’t love the idea of taking her away from safety, but I couldn’t leave her. If she was willing to go with me…
Taking a deep breath, I pressed my forehead to hers once more.
Aye. ‘Twas the only solution. I would take her into the human’s world, take her into danger, and pray I could keep her safe for the month ‘twould take us to find Kragorn.
And, after that, we would return home. Together.
“Ho!” came the Keeper’s call from far off. “Torvolk!”
With a sigh of resignation, I pulled away from my Mate, lifting her to settle her properly—or, at least more safely—in my lap as I urged the horse toward the stone circle. Sure enough, the other male was gesturing toward the stones.
“The veil is opening!” he called.
“’Tis lovely,” Isadora breathed, wonder in her voice.
“Aye.” I shifted in the saddle, ensuring my ax was loose and the animal ready to run. We’d have only a few hours to find shelter once we passed through, and my senses would be on high alert since I traveled with such a precious companion.
The horse trotted to a stop beside the Keeper who was peering toward the mist.
“A few more moments,” he muttered. “Do ye want to stop in my cottage first to fetch supplies for yer lady?”
“My Mate ,” I corrected proudly.
“Aye,” he grunted without looking at me. “I kenned it a month ago.”
I resisted the urge to swing my boot into his shoulder and merely snorted.
“I am well, Keeper,” Isadora assured him. “I am strong and warm, and we will see you in a month.”
“A month,” I murmured, watching the way the mist was swirling. There was something wrong with it… “Just a month.”
“Or…” The Keeper stepped closer to the stone. “Mayhap no’.”
As he said those words, two figures burst into existence in the middle of the stones, stumbling through the mist. The larger one was clearly an orc male, one arm thrown over the shoulders of his companion, who was much shorter.
As they staggered from between the stones, I heard Isadora suck in a gasp. The smaller figure was a human woman, her face twisted in pain and worry as her foot dragged behind her. And the male…
“Kragorn,” whispered the Keeper.
A sense of certainty swept through me.
“Our chief has returned!” I bellowed in joy, kicking the horse forward before throwing myself from the saddle. “Kragorn!”
“He’s hurt,” the tiny human female whispered. “Please help him…”
“Forget me,” croaked my chief, my cousin, as I hitched my shoulder beneath his and took his weight. “Save Lillian.”
“Where in the hells have ye been, Kragorn?”
“Hells,” he muttered, stumbling forward, but he grabbed the little woman’s hand to pull her along with him. “All of them.”
Then the Keeper was there, helping me lift our chief onto the second horse, and I forced myself to swallow my questions. After all, they could wait; Kragorn was finally back.
I glanced up at my Mate, who now held the reins in a confident grip. She nodded once, and I knew she was thinking what I was thinking.
We had to get Kragorn and this female to Nan, who could help them both. And since the chief was here , there was no need for us to go through the stones to the human’s world.
No need for Isadora to be in danger.
No need for us to be away from our home.
No reason we couldn’t spend the next month curled around each other in our cozy cottage, creating those kitlings we had discussed.
I knew my smile matched hers.
Our future could begin.