Chapter 7
Barbasa regarded Tiffany from beneath lowered eyelids as the female ventured nervously from the cabin behind him.
She still did not entirely trust him and although she slept well enough in the same bed with him if he refrained from joining her right away, she was still hesitant in her movements around him.
And it seemed that accompanying him into the woods was testing every bit of her courage.
She glanced nervously at the trees and thick bushes as if expecting a monster to leap from them without provocation.
“Come on,”
he cajoled.
“We aren’t going far, and you need to get out of the cabin before it begins affecting your mental health.”
Startled at the sound of his voice, her head whipped toward him, panic rising in the depths of her beautiful eyes.
That look alone made him instantly contrite.
Playful as his nature was, and as merciless as his lust for terror run when he was on the hunt, he did not want to see that look in her eyes.
It cut into the withered remains of his heart, making him wince as the sudden pain it gave him.
“There is nothing to fear,”
he tried again with a reassuring smile.
She peered at him warily for a long moment, her thoughts well-hidden behind her eyes.
He returned her regard calmly and extended his hand in invitation.
Her eyes dropped to his hand for a moment but then snapped nervously back to the trees.
Perhaps it was the woods itself she was afraid of.
If that was the case, then he would reassure her as he ought to.
The presence of her guardians should do the trick.
He peered into the trees thoughtfully and then opened his mouth to allow a long howl to roll up from his chest and into the air.
At first there was no response but a thickening silence as the wildlife quieted in reaction.
The brush rattled and three dire wolves rushed out, one among their number gangly with the disproportionately long legs of a juvenile still growing into his body.
The male’s tongue lolled out indignantly as he rushed forward ahead of his parents, his tail flagging with excitement.
Barbasa glanced over at his female with anticipation and immediately frowned when her expression closed into a look of panic as she caught sight of the dire wolves heading their way.
This was not right—she could be afraid of them.
Could she?
Dropping his hand, he slowly returned to her side, keeping his movement slow and purposeful so as to not frighten her more.
He had not imagined that she would be afraid of his home and companions—the very things that were keeping her safe.
“Tiffany,”
he coaxed in a crooning voice.
As if sensing his intention, the juvenile pup lowered himself down onto his belly and crept forward, his ears flattened to the sides and tail lightly wagging.
Tiffany blinked at the pup before shooting an uncertain look in Barbasa’s direction.
He gave her an encouraging smile and several emotions flitted too rapidly across her face for him to decipher.
“They have come to greet you,”
he hastened to reassure her.
“They even brought one of their juvenile pups with them.
They are powerful and loyal creatures, but they mean you no harm.”
She immediately directed a narrowed look at him.
“Their loyalty to you doesn’t guarantee me anything,”
she observed, a sharp note evident in her voice.
He peered at her in surprise.
Did she truly imagine that? “The dire wolves of the fae realms are not like normal wild beasts or any other animals that you may be familiar with.
They are intelligent and accepted your scent into their pack, bringing it with them into their den to mingle with their own scents.
They would protect you as one of their own—even from me,”
he added with a self-deprecating chuckle.
Her gaze cut toward him, her brows raising with intrigue.
“Really? They won’t try to hurt me or keep me here? Or hunt me down if I leave the cabin?”
Barbasa shook his head and resisted the urge to chuckle at her imagination.
She clearly believed it, however, which made it a serious matter.
He could not laugh out of respect for his female.
“You are not my prisoner or enemy, my pet.
I would not give them your scent to keep if I wished to ask them to do this for me.
It is because I want them to keep you safe from any and every threat.
This pair, Eesha and Ashel, are never far from the cabin now.
They will alert the rest of the pack should someone or something manage to penetrate my woods and find the cabin.”
Her gaze skated over to the mated pair before turning to the juvenile with a thoughtful look.
She nodded toward him.
“What is his name?”
“Dinix,”
he replied promptly.
“I gave him this name at his birth as I have for all the pups born into the pack since Eesha and Ashel came to my woods.”
The dire wolves in question pricked their ears, their tails flagging slightly at their names being spoken.
“Will they follow us while we are out?”
she queried, and he immediately nodded.
“If you are comfortable with their presence, you will see them pacing in the undergrowth not far from us.
Otherwise, if not, you will not see them as they follow us.”
“I see,”
she murmured, and he breathed a small sigh when some of the tension tightening her body loosened and drained from her as she crossed the porch to him.
“I think I would feel better if I can see that they are there,”
she quietly admitted.
“It is more reassuring this way rather than feeling watched but not seeing anything.”
As accustomed as he was to being surrounded by hidden worlds, it hadn’t occurred to him that anyone would have found it unsettling.
“There will always be things that you cannot see who are now sharing your world with you but guarantee you this—not one within my forest will harm you.
On my oath,”
he rasped.
Her eyes moved over his face, studying him for a long moment.
Suddenly a faint smile tugged at her lips, and she nodded in acknowledgement to him.
“All right,”
she drawled as she looked back out to the forest.
“What was that you said that we are coming out here to do?”
“Gathering acorns,”
he replied promptly.
“We can spend the next couple of days grinding them, and then we will have to soak the flour to leech the toxins but given the time and effort we make acorn bread.”
Tiffany’s eyebrows flew up with interest.
“Bread? Really? I haven’t had bread since I ran out of what I had taken with me.
It has been days.”
“Then we shall make it a point to harvest many acorns to store for our bread,”
he quickly assured her, thrilled at the prospect of being able to take care of his intended mate.
He would see to it that he gathered enough acorns from his woods to make sure that she never lacked bread until the next harvest.
That started his mind reeling as to what other kinds of things that they might grow within the forest besides the usual wild fare.
He did not have the patience or interest in the carefully planted fields and gardens of humans but there was much that could be allowed to grow naturally for their forage.
But perhaps Tiffany would enjoy a garden to care for.
If that was the case, he would see to it that the soil was upturned himself and inquire for appropriate seeds whenever travelers passed by his territory.
All of her.
Picking up a large basket from the porch and tucked its handle over her forearm, he offered his free hand with the hope that she might take it but having no real expectation of such.
His hand was rough, and each finger was tipped with a hard claw.
They were not gentle hands but the hands of a creature who struck terror into mortal hearts.
Until that moment he had never wished to be anything else than what he was, but now he wished that he was softer and possessed a more inviting, gentle appearance.
An uncertain smile curled her lips that tugged at his heart, but he truly fell in love with her right then and there as she nodded and placed her small hand in his.
Her hand didn’t possess the delicate softness of a young girl but had many of its own calluses and scars.
And as he stood there so close to her and without any sense of urgency under the light of the sun, he could see the small lines that framed her eyes and the few pale threads of age that stood out among the gold...
and never had he wanted any female more.
The sun even brought out the myriad hues of blues contained within the seas of her eyes.
He never considered himself a devotee of the solar gods given that he often preferred the secrets hidden within the night, but now—within her eyes he discovered something new to worship.
He would forever praise the sun for revealing the glory of his mate’s beauty to him at that moment.
“You are beautiful,”
he whispered in awe.
And for the first time he meant it and felt it even in the depths of his bitter husk of a heart.
He had spoken those words often in the past but always it had been a fleeting praise of appreciation as he sought to satisfy his needs.
Tiffany—he wanted to worship her beauty and hold it close to him as a cherished thing because it was not just her physical beauty but all of her that sent him reeling.
He let out a bark of laughter as his hand closed around hers, and her arm tensed as she gave a slight tug of protest.
He gave her hand a squeeze and grinned down at her with silent reassurance that he did not intend anything by it.
As before, she relaxed by degrees and her smile returned to her face as she allowed him to gently pull her toward the forest.
“My forest has many oaks,”
he explained as he continued to clasp her hand in his while they walked always within sight of the dire wolves loping among the trees at either side of them.
His cock ached and had extruded the moment he had her hand in his, its swollen shaft bobbing and leaking precum with his every step, but he ignored it and favor of focusing on his mate and showing her the pleasures his world had to offer.
“And because of that, it has more acorns than you can ever eat.
We can roast and grind them for a hot drink, or even make soups with them to vary our diet.
You will never go hungry in these woods, my pet.”
He breathed deep as he walked through his beloved woods, enjoying the splash of sunlight spilling between leaves slowly changing their drapery from green to autumnal hues.
They didn’t walk far before they encountered the first heavy offering of acorns spread across the forest floor.
He watched fondly as she listened attentively to his explanation as to what acorns were good to take and which were bad and ought to be left behind, and he was unable to contain his smile when she immediately put his lesson to good use and joined him in meticulously picking through the scattered nuts.
They companionably worked side by side, dropping acorns into the basket by the handful as the crisp autumn wind played with the loose strands of their hair.
He never got tired of watching her or listening to the soft cadence of her voice in her awe and laughter as she slowly began to discover the wonders of his forest.
For the first time since escaping the labyrinth, he truly felt at peace.
And at the same time he would gladly murder and rip apart anyone or anything that would attempt to take her.