Chapter 7
Fallon
Gentle puffs of warm breath ghosted over my cheeks as I slowly awoke.
Cracking my eyes open, I searched for Declan’s soft smile but came face to face with a jowly Ned.
His tongue stuck out just a little, jaws slack as he snored into my grimace.
When I sat up to look for Declan, I jolted at the sight of Eilie standing at the foot of the bed.
“I was about to wake you. Sorry for scaring you.”
Not more sorry than I was that someone had to witness my bedhead. I scrunched my curls, trying to buy myself time to rouse myself and assess what kind of day it was going to be. My ten-point checklist needed reviewing each morning.
“I’ll be right there and then we can get moving,” I said.
“They’re all fighting over who’s going to cook breakfast. I just didn’t want you to miss it.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll carve out my portion.”
Eilie nodded and carried a still sleeping Ned out of the bedroom.
Once alone, I flexed my left hand, bending my fingers, my wrist, working out the stiffness as much as possible.
Sawing my left knee back and forth, I still had pretty good range of motion.
My left ankle and hip were manageable. My stomach didn’t immediately slosh like I was going to throw up and my vision was clear.
That meant the daily stuff was under control.
I scoffed at Lenora’s pronouncement of “you’re pushing yourself into stage two”.
I woke up moving better than I had in ages.
All those rough nights in nothing like a bed should have broken me.
Instead, I was ready to do it again. Maybe Declan put some magic in the warm stone he left in my lap.
It was a kind gesture, especially when I had never talked about the Hollow Fever with anyone.
Although kind wasn’t exactly the word I would use for that almost-kiss as he put me in bed.
I rubbed my fingers over the place we hadn’t touched.
I got that we had to sell the mates thing, but that near brushing of lips sent an out of proportion bolt of lust straight to my long-dormant lady bits. It felt like a revelation.
For a long time, I wasn’t sure if something was wrong with me.
Other than the obvious. I liked men, but I barely navigated my life with my best friends, let alone with a partner.
The closest I usually came was with the Terminator dildo I snuck out of Evie's collection. When Ward had gifted her with so many, she hadn’t missed it.
The Terminator was an easy date and an even better conversationalist.
I didn’t have to explain my late nights in the kitchen or my morning rituals to get my body functioning.
I wouldn’t know how to broach the topic.
Was it too much to ask to accept me with all my pain, my crazy hours, and Bakh Bull determination, not in spite of all that?
I didn't want to have to be cured to be chosen. With every passing year, that looked more and more unlikely. Our village considered twenty a desiccated corpse so thirty-five and single was positively Godds ancient. A small part of me whispered that Declan had never asked that of me, but that was because we were friends. That was a friendly, almost-kiss. I didn’t want it to be more. Right?
Whatever. That’s why I focused on my career. Fixing a smashed tart was easier than navigating feelings. My reputation might have been in tatters, but I would figure it out. But first, breakfast.
Briggs made passable eggs, nothing a little butter couldn’t fix.
I slipped tiny bites to Ned, who very politely told me with his liquid brown eyes that he had never before eaten in his life and might I please feed him.
Declan pressed some void berries into juice he assured me was safe.
Stale crackers weren’t the most delicious of starts, but I crumbled them up to add texture to my eggs, then watched everyone do the same.
At least we had full bellies as we left the cabin.
I didn’t argue with Declan when he lowered to the ground for me to climb on his furry back. We had a full day of travel to get to Nightfell and, at this point, it was more efficient to ride. Not because his fur was soft as silk and his warmth eased my muscles in the face of another bitter day.
Other than the gratuitous nudity, I appreciated that the others stayed in human form so I could hear the conversation.
The siblings all vied for Declan’s attention with more hunting stories.
Did they do anything else in this territory?
As Declan grew to his monstrous size again, none of them batted an eyelash.
They piled on more assurance that everyone would be thrilled that Declan was finally home.
No one had a lick to say about food so I was just about bored to tears until Briggs shooed the others away, claiming it was her turn to catch up with Declan.
“She’s going to stiffen up, riding you like a pony. Let the woman walk, dog breath.”
Briggs wasn’t wrong, but I got the sense she wanted me to hear this conversation. “I think my legs still work, if this one lets me.” Though Declan was warm, my outer coat and cloak still let some of the chill through. It would be good to warm up with some exercise.
I couldn’t let him get too used to helping, anyway. He would grow an ego as big as Noth’s. Declan huffed a laugh as I got down. His shift was an easy bit of magic.
“You’ll never guess what’s been happening in Nightfell.”
Declan eyed his sister as he handed me a walking stick. “If this is about another heart you broke, it can wait until we get home.”
Briggs tossed her dark hair, chin lifting. “I wish it were about this fabulousness.”
“Is Momma okay?” His hands knotted but his voice didn’t waver.
Briggs rolled her eyes. “You know that woman will outlive us all. She’s as fit as a twenty-year-old.”
Thunder moved across Declan’s face. “Is Dad back?” The growl that came into his voice made Briggs step away and she seemed the toughest of the lot.
Briggs shook her head. “Not since you kicked him out.”
The deadly gleam in Declan’s eye perked up my traitorous lady bits. Who was this wolf I thought I knew? Declan’s layers slowly peeled away to reveal an absolutely fascinating shifter.
The chirp in Declan’s voice returned with that out of the way. “Is Barnaby still sniffing around? Did Carrick finally get mated? What about Milo?”
“Yeah, what about Milo?” I couldn’t resist prodding. Declan made sibling baiting fun.
Briggs huffed. “Well, Milo got mated to little Ginny Forrester but I forgot you will literally keep guessing until we’re all dead.”
“You started it,” he said good-naturedly.
“This is serious, Declan. Wolves have gone missing.”
Declan’s lip curled. Danger sparked in the air and adrenaline flooded a copper taste into the back of my mouth. My knees chose that moment to wobble and without even looking, Declan’s hand shot out and gently caught my elbow before I could fall.
Dumb roots, I mumbled so I could get the butterflies in my stomach good and dead.
“How many?” Declan’s grip never faltered but I had never seen him so serious.
“Two. Starla and Krystall Whitewolf.”
“They didn’t leave like Declan?” I asked, hoping it was just a misunderstanding.
“My brother is the rare exception to everyone here. He never settled into Nightfell. The rest of us are happy to be hidden from the rest of the Harrowlands. Who would want to give up all this?” Briggs gestured all around her.
So far, “all this” constituted too many pine needles for my liking, too many hunting stories, and a two-room cabin with an unacceptable stove.
So far, it wasn’t a lively hub of activity like Evie’s Keep.
While I had slept well for one night, I thought that had more to do with Declan guarding the door than the actual bed.
Where was I supposed to get more of my potion? What if my pain got worse?
Suddenly, I felt tossed off a boat in the middle of the sea.
“Right.” I grinned, hoping it didn’t look like a grimace.
Declan laughed in my head anyway, squeezing my elbow. You haven’t seen the good stuff yet, Honey. You might actually even grow to like it here.
“We’ll have a family meeting after I’ve introduced Fallon to Momma. You think we’ll get away with a quiet chat in the parlor?” he asked.
Briggs cackled an evil laugh.
“I’ll show you where the wolves were last seen on our way back,” Briggs said and shifted to race ahead.
“Great. I’m sure you've scented it already, but a pair of fresh eyes and a new nose never hurt.” Declan offered his hand to me and flourished an over the top bow. “M’lady. Are your legs worked out? Can you ride again? Your chariot awaits.”
How could I say no to ridiculous antics like that? His shift never failed to take my breath away. Climbing up on his furry back, we raced through the forest, scattering small and large creatures as deadly hunters cut a path.
Even the winter wind couldn’t catch us as we leaped over fallen logs, with only a whisper of padded feet hitting the dead pine needles and snow below us.
“Thank him for me,” I said into Declan’s ear.
Who?
“Your wolf. Evie and Maggie said the others talk to their monsters as if they’re separate beings.”
The wolfish smile Declan gave me didn’t ease the foreboding of his next words. Oh, we’re much older than that. I am my wolf and my wolf is me.
What was I supposed to say to that? I flexed my hands in his fur. “Neat?”
Brilliant. Just brilliant. The man was showing me sides of him I had never even thought about and I couldn’t come up with anything better.
We came to a quick stop in the clearing Briggs pointed to. I didn’t bother to get down as Declan paced the length of the gap in the trees, nose to the ground.
And you couldn’t find their scent trail? Declan asked Briggs.
Brigg’s wolf form swallowed her reply, but I took that to be a no as Declan kept searching.
I was no Justice of the Harrowlands, but I had that second set of eyes Declan mentioned.
Scanning the clearing, nothing stood out but more sticks and pine needles.
I looked again, examining with the same eye that did the pantry inventory.
Bushes, snow, wolves still too large for my liking. Wait.
“Dec, those bushes to the right. Why do they look… distorted?”
Everyone crowded close to the bush that had branches sticking up at right angles. Declan sneezed after he chuffed in the air.
Decayed portal magic, but it has a mixed scent, like no single magic made the portal to begin with.
I didn’t know much about magic but that didn’t seem right.
Declan’s toothy smile was adorable. At least we know the wolves didn’t get lost. What a smart mate you are!
I couldn’t tell you why I was blushing, or why the praise filled me up to bursting. Declan had complimented me a million times over the course of our friendship.
The watch can come back and comb the area again. Let’s get home. Last one there gets to explain to Momma why you were at the border!
Declan huffed a lupine cackle into the cold air, swishing his bushy tail, and took off through the forest. All ten fingers and all ten toes, if possible, went into hanging on to his fur.
It was only moments before we left his siblings behind.
Ravens tracked our progress overhead, calling out a warning to the creatures of Sombermane that death was near.
Wind tore at my clothes. I melted further into Declan and streamlined his flight.
We were almost one as we blurred through the wood.
Something tightly controlled inside me broke out of its box, flooding me with anticipation.
For the first time, no one expected me to be anywhere.
My list of things to do was down to one and an Old Magic wolf was at my command.
Faster. I called to Declan and scrunched my hands in his ruff, pain easing out of them as I gripped tighter.
He howled as he obliged me, running flat out.
I barely saw the sinkholes he dodged and the Slip Footed Buck that skidded to a halt just in time not to collide with us.
I tried to take in everything and then decided I didn’t need to see anything and just let myself feel as we ate up the miles.
This was freedom. The wind, the fur below me, Declan’s muscles straining hard, his harsh breaths in the frigid air, my hair whipping against my face, and a curl of magic twining through me.
It was small, a whisper of connection, but it felt right coming from Declan, as if it had meant to reside inside me all along.
I laughed as I let it wind through me, thrilled with the excitement of living.
His paws pounded the earth and snow, the cold whipping joy against us.
The high lasted right until we skidded to a glorious halt, right into Nightfell.