Chapter Nine
Silas
“They passed through here,” Ulric says cheerfully beside me, bouncing on his heels. “I could smell her from two valleys over.”
I dart my eyes sideways at him, and he grins, revealing a sharp canine.
“Y’know what else I smelled?” He continues, “You.”
I sigh, but I don’t respond; he likes it when I do, and I don’t want to encourage him to talk even more.
Ulric is practically vibrating with delight as he continues. “Up on that ridge, before the attack. Your scent was pungent, and unless you were mating a tree stump, I’m guessing that was about her.”
Heat flares up the back of my neck.
“She was asleep,” I mutter.
“Why the hells were you halfway across the godsdamn ravine when your female got snatched?”
“I was giving her space.”
“Space?” he echoed, “Space?”
“She doesn’t belong to me.”
“Oh, spare me the noble restraint,” Ulric groans, throwing his head back. “You marked the trees. You were practically writing her sonnets in your seed.”
I grit my teeth, exasperated. Half-wolf, full pain in the ass.
“Just shut up and track her.”
“Fine, fine!” he huffs, slinging an arm around my shoulder, ignoring the way I stiffen. “Come on, lover boy. Let’s go see how we get your girl out of an Orc prison before you end up humping another bush.”
I elbow him in the ribs. Hard.