Chapter 12
When the danger had passed, Uni launched from my arms, bounding around the forest as if nothing had happened.
Dante and Hendrik scrambled from the underbrush, twigs sticking out of their hair. Dante suffered a long gash across his cheek that healed a moment later, leaving a slight line in its place.
Another scar to add to the collection.
I bit the inside of my cheek. Dante seemed to be collecting too many new scars lately, all because of me.
Uni squeaked, energetically bounding in circles as his horn flashed with a glittery charge that I hadn’t seen before.
“Please tell me it doesn’t sense another demon-mine,” Orion muttered.
Logan rolled his eyes. “You don’t know anything about animals, do you? He’s excited because he scents one of his own kind.”
My heart fluttered, both excitement for my baby and a hollow ache forming at the thought of possibly losing him. He nosed my foot again and this time, sat there looking up at me as if seeking my permission.
“Go on,” I said, crouching to scratch him between the ears.
Uni nuzzled my hand before bounding out of sight.
“I’ll go with him,” Logan said.
Dante scowled. “We need to keep moving.”
“It won’t take long. They’re close.” He flicked a look at me, eyes somber. “Uni has saved us more than once. I’m not going to let him get hurt.”
I nodded my permission.
He was gone in an instant, following after the little creature in his wolf form, his shift so seamless and smooth, it was mesmerizing to watch.
I settled on the trunk of a fallen forest giant, the tree similar to an oak, but with silvery bark that had deepened to a rich shade of pewter since it had fallen.
The leaves were long gone, but the trees like this one had leaves of umber or maroon, making me wonder if the Enchanted Forest had seasons.
If so, I imagined autumn would be amazing. So many bronze and brass shades that the forest must look like a metallic tapestry.
I arched my back, the muscles stiff from the weight of my wings, even with them bound to help with the unfamiliar strain.
My demigod took pity on me. “How are you holding up with those things?”
Looking into Orion’s golden eyes, I nodded.
“Let’s just say if I’d known I was going to die and come back with weights permanently attached to my back, I’d have started some sort of fitness routine to prepare for it.
” I tilted my head. “Not that I would have reincarnated in the same shape I left in, but it would have been worth a try.”
Eyes laughing, he moved me and placed his hands on my back. “I can help.”
Soothing warmth sank into me. I moaned as he used the heel of his hand against a tight knot between my spine, funneling in sunlight and sensual warmth that had my toes curling in two seconds flat.
Demigod benefits rocked.
He gripped my left shoulder, holding me steady as he worked his way down my back. When he reached the bottom edge of the wing juncture, he warned, “This might hurt a little.”
A second later, I whimpered as pain cut through me, the bunched muscle shrieking in protest. Orion continued to work the muscle.
“Keep breathing, little star,” he murmured. “We’re almost there.”
The muscle relaxed, the pain dissipating like sugar in the rain. “Wow. You’ve got magic in your hands, Orion.”
He chuckled. “Literally.” His lips found my neck and I shivered.
Just as I considered turning to him so I could press my mouth to his, a rustle in the underbrush caught my attention. Uni appeared seconds later, his ears drooping and eyes no longer so bright.
Rushing to him, Uni cleared the distance between us in one amazing jump and landed in my arms. Logan emerged a moment later, shifting seamlessly from wolf to man.
His mouth went in a straight, somber line as he looked at us.
“They rejected him,” he said as he collected his clothes and started to dress.
“What?” I demanded. Uni huddled against me, his head to my chest.
“That’s why I went with him. I suspected it might happen after Uni bonded to you… and consequentially, to all of us.”
He fished a pair of pants out of Dante’s bag and put them on. It was a subtle demonstration that he didn’t plan on shifting again today. My wolf hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. I made a mental note when we made camp again that he would be the first to get some sleep.
Barefoot, he came to me and scratched Uni behind the ears. “They didn’t even look at him as he approached and when he tried to offer them one of the squirrel-like things he killed, they growled.”
“Poor baby.”
Uni looked up at my croon, his eyes sad.
“I’m so sorry.” Stroking his velvety fur, I blinked back the sting in my eyes. I knew what it was like to feel unwanted and rejected all too well.
Uni turned his face into my hand and licked my palm.
“He gets it,” Logan said. “That’s pretty much a declaration of love from a Uni-Hare. If he regretted helping you, he would have chomped your finger off by now.”
Uni nuzzled me again, then wiggled in what had become a familiar request to be put down.
He hopped to the front of the group and looked toward Logan. He might as well have held up a sign that read, Are you coming or not?
It looked like Uni was here to stay.