Chapter 14
Rourke walked into Ulric's room without knocking and sank down on the edge of his bed where he cradled his head. Fucking hell.
Ulric exited the bathroom, a toothbrush in his mouth. "Back already?" He raised his eyebrows while brushing his teeth.
"He ran because he doesn't want to die."
Ulric nodded. "If you're gonna run, I'd say it's a good reason." Foam dribbled onto his chin. He cursed and disappeared into the bathroom. Shortly after, he was back sans toothbrush.
"He thought I'd starve him." He shook his head. "What the fuck, Ulric? He truly believed I meant he wasn't allowed to touch food after I told him...not to go near any food."
"Huh, strange. How could he believe you meant what you said?" Ulric spoke in mock exasperation.
"Because it's ridiculous. I might have said it, but I can't forbid people to eat. Even if I'd wanted to, people make their own fucking decisions. My word isn't law."
"It's not?" He gaped exaggeratedly. "And here I was convinced you were the alpha and the dominant partner in the mating."
Rourke stared at him. "Can we have a real conversation? I scared my mate enough for him to run into the woods without any means to take care of himself. It's nothing to joke about."
Ulric sighed. "No, it's not. It could have ended badly. More badly."
"I know." Rourke threw his hands in the air.
"Maybe you should spend less time in the office and more time with him, so he realizes you talk a lot of shit, and the rest of us only listen to half of it."
Rourke glared at him.
"You know nothing about him. You go near him when the mate bond forces you to, but you don't invest anything in the relationship."
"The plan was to not invest anything. You suggested locking him up in the dungeons once I'd gone through with the mating."
Ulric hummed. "It was when I believed he'd be like Shixyll. He's not. He's afraid of his own shadow, and his meanest, baddest curse is to bake cookies."
Rourke snorted.
"You need to get to know him better. To let him get to know you better. If he had, he wouldn't have run today. He'd have known you'd never starve your mate, never would've starved anyone."
"What does it say about him that he believes I would?"
"Shixyll's word is law? If she says he can't eat, he can't eat?"
Rourke stared at him. "You think she'd starve her people?"
Ulric's lips pressed into a thin line. "Why is he so scared? We haven't done anything to him, and yet he keeps his eyes glued to the floor and winces and jumps as soon as there is a sound."
He was jumpy.
"I think it's more than the tales he's been told about us being monsters.
" Ulric gave a humorless chuckle. "I think he was treated badly in the clan, and he expects us to be as bad, if not worse.
All he does is sit in your room, too scared to go anywhere.
Today was the first time he did anything for himself, and you exploded in a fit of rage. "
Rourke scowled at him.
"You should've seen him, Rourke. He was relaxed, his motions flowing, a small smile playing on his lips as he moved around. Cookies gave him comfort."
"We can't trust it. What if he feeds us a curse, and we end up paralyzed or something? What if it's the plan, make us defenseless so the witches can attack while we're unable to protect our land?"
Ulric shook his head. "I don't think he would. He reattached the ward. Bled to make sure I'd get a warning if a witch stepped onto our land. He wasn't planning on coming back, Rourke. There was no gain for him in helping us."
Maybe not. "Unless he was sure he'd get caught."
Ulric rolled his eyes. "You don't believe that."
No, he didn't. Ezra's fear and desperation had been real. "The mate bond should've led me directly to him."
Ulric grinned. "Are you sure you did it right? Maybe I should give you a few pointers?"
"Asshole."
Ulric wiggled his eyebrows in a ridiculous gesture.
Rourke stood. "I better get him some food before he's done in the shower."
"Perhaps you should've showered with him."
Staring didn't help much, but it was what Rourke did.
"Maybe what the mate bond needs is more physical contact. You leave him as soon as you wake and don't go back to him until it's time to sleep. Maybe it needs awake time together to strengthen."
"I'll do better."
"Good. I think you should let him bake too. Jiprix wouldn't have come here if those cookies were useless. You should ask Ezra about them."
Rourke nodded and headed for the door. He'd make Ezra a few sandwiches and take them back to the room.
* * * *
Ezra stood under the spray for a long time. Steam billowed around him, then he remembered Rourke waiting for him, and he hurried to wash.
He grabbed a towel as he stepped out of the shower, and looked in dismay at the dirty clothes on the floor. He should've brought a change in here.
Wrapping the towel around his hips, he pulled on the shirt with dried blood on the sleeve and dirt from where he'd fallen and rested against the tree trunk.
When he unlocked the door and stepped outside, he ground to a stop. Rourke was leaning against the wall opposite the door with his arms crossed over his chest. Fuck.
"Nice shower?"
Ezra nodded slowly. Would the punishment start now? He should've put on the underwear despite them being dirty. The towel wouldn't stay on long.
"Why did you put on the shirt? It's dirty."
"I didn't bring a change into the bathroom." His voice was nothing more than a whisper.
"So? You've seen me walk around in here without clothes. You can too."
He shook his head.
Rourke ignored him, stepped closer, and grabbed the hem of his shirt. Slowly, he pulled it up. His hands traveled along Ezra's sides, forcing him to either raise his arms or fight, and he wasn't sure fighting would be a good idea. He lifted his arms and allowed Rourke to slip the fabric off.
"There." He spoke low and dropped his gaze to Ezra's torso only to frown. "Piercings there too."
Ezra looked down at his nipples. "It's tradition." Everyone pierced their nipples and genitalia when of age. It was a sign of maturity.
"Tradition?"
Ezra nodded.
"Why? I mean, what is it for?"
"To show you're...an adult." It had to do with vitality and fertility and so on, but he didn't want to have to explain to Rourke.
"So all adults have their nipples pierced. Women too?"
He nodded again. "Among other things."
"I felt your dick." Rourke grinned. "Show me."
"No!" Ezra took a quick step back and whirled around. The next second, his hair stood on end as a vicious growl filled the room. Shit, shit, shit. He should've dropped the towel and allowed Rourke to look at him. He wasted precious seconds standing frozen when he should have run.
"Who did that?"
Ezra stumbled forward, but there was nowhere to go. The bed was right in front of him, and to get to the door he had to face Rourke.
A strong hand curled around his wrist, and Ezra whimpered. Rourke's other arms wrapped around him, his hand splaying over his sternum as he pressed Ezra's back against his chest.
"The scars on your back, Ezra. Who?"
Ezra's mind blanked. Rourke was warm against him, his hold strong but gentle.
"Did someone whip you? Those look like whipping scars."
Ezra nodded. There was no use in denying it.
"Who?" Rourke's voice was nothing but a growl, and he spoke right next to Ezra's ear. It had a shiver travel through him.
"Shixyll."
Rourke's hold tightened. "Why?"
"I...eh...didn't follow the rules." He couldn't remember. It had been a lot of different things. It had happened several times.
"You broke the rules?"
He nodded.
"Which rules?"
His mind blanked. "Eh...I don't remember. Once I left the hamlet without permission."
"And went where?"
"I followed Izibine to the grocery store."
Rourke stopped breathing. "You went grocery shopping without permission?"
"Once I hid a cat."
"A familiar?"
"She wanted me to make him my familiar, but I'm unable to connect my magic to animals. She'd either have taken him for herself or killed him. I wanted to keep him, but she shrunk his skin until it burst, and he bled out."
Rourke growled, and tears prickled Ezra's eyes. He'd only wanted to keep the cat as a pet, as someone he could cuddle with in his hut. Someone to feed and interact with. Its screams would haunt him forever. He blinked rapidly to prevent the tears from falling.
"And then she whipped you?"
"It was the last time. I was of age then, and physical pain can enhance your power, like panic, you can do things you never could otherwise. Adrenaline, I guess. But when I couldn't defend myself, she stopped whipping me."
"Because it harmed you more than someone who could defend themselves?"
"No, because she could use curses instead, and I wouldn't be able to deflect them. The skin-shrinking is her favorite."
"Jesus fucking Christ." Rourke held him tighter, and Ezra only stood there. He didn't know what to do next. Then his stomach grumbled, and Rourke snorted.
"Eat. I made you some sandwiches. I didn't know if you were up for warm food in the middle of the night." He gestured at the table where a plate with a mountain of sandwiches was waiting. "I'll have a quick word with Ulric, then we're heading to bed, okay?"
Ezra glanced at him over his shoulder. Bed? Would there be no punishment? He'd prefer to have it over with instead of walking around wondering when it would come.
"Aren't you gonna..." He must've lost his mind if he was going to ask about it.
"Gonna what?"
"Punish me?"
Rourke stared at him. "You're serious, aren't you? You don't mean in a Daddy-I've-been-naughty-so-you-better-spank-me way?"
Ezra was aware of his mouth dropping open, but he couldn't halt it. "What?"
Rourke sighed deeply. "Didn't think so. No, honey, I'm not gonna punish you. And as long as you don't betray the pack, I will never punish you."
He walked out the door before Ezra could make sense of the words.
* * * *