Chapter Seventeen
I wake up to the sound of small talk about food and hunting, and I focus on it as I fight to move my body.
I feel so weak and tired, but my wrists don’t hurt anymore.
Reed must have fixed the breaks. I’m on my side and I open my eyes, looking right at a fire behind a grate in a fireplace.
I wince at the heat, turning away and looking up.
Wooden ceilings stretch high above me, and a chandelier made of deer horns and glowing yellow lights is hanging in the centre. Where am I?
I sit up, looking at my wrists, which are bound in white fabric, and I pick one binding off, seeing a scar from the rope right across my selected mark.
I pull the other, seeing the same scar. My eyes trace around the cabin, from the plush brown sofa I’m on with a thick fur rug thrown over me to the enormous fireplace in the middle.
A dark wooden staircase wraps around the room with a balcony at the top leading to several oak doors.
Someone’s cooking and it smells like mushrooms, and my gaze follows the sound of chatter to find I’m being stared at.
“You’re awake.” Elizabeth’s voice is hushed and relieved. She was standing with Ayan, and both of them rush over to me. “She’s awake!” Elizabeth shouts, and my ears ring. “Sorry, are you okay? I promised I’d shout to them when you woke up. Everyone has been so worried.”
Why? It is on the tip of my tongue to ask them, but the commotion of Reed running into the room, followed by Blackfire and Orion, distracts me. Reed gets to me first, sitting next to me on the sofa and running his hand over my wrists. “Are you well? Do you need anything?”
“How are you feeling?” Blackfire questions. Well, he barks his question at me, and Reed glares at him.
I shiver, not from being cold, but unsure how to feel when all three of the heirs are staring so intently at me.
Reed misreads the situation and picks me up onto his lap, tugging the blanket snug around my shoulders so I’m pressed against him.
Reed holds me tight, and I have to admit, I don’t hate it. “Blood loss can make you feel cold.”
“I’m sure she could sit on her own,” Blackfire growls.
Reed growls low, and his chest vibrates with it. “She is hurt, you fucking prick, and needs comfort. You do know what that is, right?”
Blackfire goes silent. I look between the pair as they glare at each other. Blackfire grunts once before he sits down on the opposite sofa, watching me still.
“He asked if you’re okay,” he growls at me, and I realize I haven’t spoken yet.
Neither has Orion, who is leaning against the banister of the stairs, his eyes fixed on me. “That’s twice now, Sleeping Beauty.”
“What is twice?” I frown in confusion.
Orion’s smile is not comforting. “Twice you’ve tried to kill me. When you fell off the cliff, you pulled the rope, and I nearly fell with you to our deaths.”
I roll my eyes at him. Of course that’s what he thought happened, and not that my wrists broke. I purposely ignore Orion and look up at Reed, smiling softly. “Thank you for healing my wrists. I assume you did. I passed out, and I don’t remember much. We did all survive, right?”
“Yes, only two died in the trial. People worked together like we did and survived,” he explains.
So there are seven or six chosen left and some of their selected.
Maybe. It’s hard to keep count. I’m not sure it’s a good thing they are working together like we are now.
He touches my hair as if he can’t help it.
“Thank you for saving my friend. Orion is almost more than a friend to me. He’s like a brother, and so is Blackfire. You could have left him, so thank you.”
“Don’t thank her. She got something out of it.” Orion laughs, but it’s a hollow noise. “Didn’t you, Sleeping Beauty? She manipulated and blackmailed me. First she tries to kill me, twice, and now blackmail. Who trained you to be so vicious, human?”
“Hardly like you don’t deserve it.” I roll my eyes at him.
“Stop rolling those pretty eyes at me before I make you regret it,” he warns.
“Or what?” I lift an eyebrow in a challenge.
“Enough, you two.” Reed sounds tired, but he still smiles when he looks at me. “What did you blackmail him with, little human?” Reed sounds amused instead of mad at me. There’s a smirk on his face, like he’s proud of me. I’m proud of myself too.
“He can’t kill Elizabeth, at least until this is over.
She’s my selected. I feel weirdly protective of her, and he made a vow in order to save his life.
To be honest, I would have helped him anyway because he is your friend and I’m not a monster who’d leave someone to die.
He made a mistake.” I grin. Orion growls and storms out of the back door of the cabin.
“Anyway, now Mr Happy Sunshine is gone, maybe you guys should start talking about how you found a cool cabin? I much prefer it to sleeping on leaves. Are there beds? If so, I’m claiming one. ”
“We woke up here. All of us did. It’s like we passed out all together, not long after Reed made sure you wouldn’t die,” Elizabeth softly explains. “And yes, there are beds. And showers and food. It’s a reward, I think.”
I’ll take it.
Reed touches my chin. “How are you feeling? You haven’t said.
” He is so close to me, and his body fits so nicely against mine.
Once again, I’m reminded of how perfect he is.
There isn’t even a blemish on his face, not a mark, and he is literally golden, beautiful, and everything an heir should be. I can’t be this close to him.
I pull my face out of his grip, standing up and almost falling straight onto my face.
A wave of dizziness hits me hard, and Reed stands, grabbing my hips and pulling me back down on the sofa before throwing a fluffy fur blanket over me.
“There is my answer, then. You need to rest. I’m making you soup, and it will be done soon.
” Please don’t say there is meat in it. “Blackfire said you often asked for mushroom soup when you were at the palace, so we found some while you slept, and I did the best I could. Will you eat it from me?”
Reed watches me so intently, like my answer is very important. We are talking about soup, right? “Yes?”
“Good.” He grins like I’ve just given him a puppy and walks back into the kitchen, humming a song.
Blackfire leaves with him, and I hear their hushed voices in the kitchen. I swear it sounds like Blackfire is telling Reed off about something.
Elizabeth comes and sits next to my legs and watches me. “You haven’t been around the packs much, have you?”
I shake my head. “Not really. I don’t like wolves, so I tend to stay away. No offense. You’re nice.”
She laughs. “None taken. I don’t like many wolves either.
But you shouldn’t accept food from male wolves or gifts, and especially not jewels.
It means more to them than meets the eye.
There are customs and traditions…they don’t apply to humans, but Reed isn’t treating you like a human at the moment. Just be careful.”
“What does that mean?” I’m so confused.
Tannith makes me jump as she climbs out of the sofa where she’s been hiding, and I sigh in relief that she is okay. “Nice to see you, bestie.”
“You scared me; you looked so pale when you came back.” Tannith brushes her head against my chin. “Are you okay?”
“Just tired and sore, but I’m fine. I survived the first trial thanks to Elizabeth’s pep talk,” I explain to her. Elizabeth snorts with laughter. “And Reed’s kissing thing.”
Tannith purrs. “Sounds delicious; tell me everything.”
“Not like that,” I mutter, and she huffs. I remember what Elizabeth was saying and turn to her. “Okay, so I should say no to Reed’s food, then?”
“You’ve already accepted it now, and he’s got a weird claim on you already by the looks of it.
Just be careful. You’re not a wolf. You’re human.
I don’t know exactly what that would mean for you.
I don’t want you to end up with one of those marks on your head.
” She frowns. “Reed’s parents aren’t known for being kind to any of Reed’s suitors.
It’s well known how they make money in the Maiden Pack, and it’s not—”
Reed comes back in and Elizabeth immediately stops.
I will ask her more about that later, but my stomach rumbles at the sight of the warm bowl of soup and cut-up bread.
Reed happily hands it to me, and I inhale the food as he watches me.
When I’m done, he asks if I want seconds, and when I say no, he leaves to find Orion.
I sit in silence with Elizabeth until Ayan comes into the room and collapses on the other sofa, his legs spread wide.
“Human girl, I didn’t get a chance to really thank you for saving me. Reed explained everything. So…thanks.”
I lean forward. “Did you murder someone to get into the trial by being selected? Just need to know if I should watch my back around you.”
He laughs loudly, and it’s infectious how nice he is.
“No, I didn’t murder anyone, just caused enough trouble that I’d get thrown in there so that Reed could pick me.
I swore to protect him since I was a kid.
Every royal heir is given a random wolf from a noble house to protect them.
This just officially makes me his guardian, and there is nowhere else I’d be.
He is mine to protect.” Ah, he likes Reed.
I feel the waves of jealousy mixed into his words.
He came to make sure I knew it. Does Reed?
“Noted.” I curl into the blanket. “Reed is a good friend to have.”
Ayan smiles once, and it isn’t friendly. “He is.”
Elizabeth must finally pick up on the unspoken tension as she touches my arm. “Maybe you’d be comfortable in bed? It’s a little busy in here for resting.”