CHAPTER 45
EVEN WITH THE ARRIVAL of sunlight, the chill of the night never left. It clung to the air that tasted of frost and to the blades of grass that crumpled underneath steady paws. The songbirds’ melodies carried a mournful note through the treetops, settling heavily in the wolves’ chests.
Dew splashed onto Lenore’s nose, pulling her out of the mindless rhythm she had fallen into. She paused and felt Edmund immediately stop at her side as she shook the cold droplets of water off her snout.
“One of the late morning’s greetings,” he noted. “Not my favorite one.”
“Remember when I fell into a pond on the way to Lunavie? This is a lot better than that,” Lenore said. Edmund tossed his head lightly to the side, a sound of amusement leaving him.
“I’ll never forget that.” His tail swayed back and forth. “But when that happened, I panicked. I didn’t expect you to suddenly fall off.”
“You were panicking?” Lenore tilted her head to the side, completely unconvinced. “This might be a good example of why I kept going back and forth in my mind that you didn’t like me.”
Edmund’s ears lowered. “I already said I didn’t want to overwhelm you by telling you you’re my fated mate right after you met another werewolf. You were already scared enough.”
She nudged him, giving him a pointedly playful look. “Then what about all the other times after that?”
“I…” Turning his head forward, he broke into a stride that had her hurrying alongside him.
“Yes?” she pressed. “Were you… scared too?”
“... I wasn’t scared of you, if that’s what you were thinking.
I was more on edge about you not… liking me back, outside of the bond.
Or that I wasn’t someone you’d be interested in at all.
” His tongue darted out to lick his lips nervously.
“That, and I’m not used to talking like this with anyone. I know I made a mess of it.”
Lenore’s chest warmed from his honesty, and she couldn’t help but tease him more. “Tell me more about these thoughts!”
“Leave me alone,” he grumbled. “I’m not commenting on this any longer.”
A puff of air expelled from Lenore’s nostrils as she lightly rolled her eyes. The light in her eyes softened, and she let out a wistful laugh. “I guess the only good thing that came out of last night’s chaos… is that you confessed what we were to everyone out loud.”
A long beat of silence followed before Edmund added quietly, “And now everyone knows you’re mine.”
Lenore’s ears perked sharply, eyes wide. “T-that’s... true—” A small yelp left her when he leaned in, giving a small lick near the ridge of her brow.
She stumbled over a tree root, clumsily coming to a stop as her paws went everywhere. Her head jerked up with wide eyes, a flustered heat spreading through her chest. “You surprised me!”
“It’s not fair if you’re the only one always throwing me off.” He leapt up onto a rock, throwing back a smug look in a teasing fashion. The faint bristling of his fur hinted at the nerves underneath.
Lenore could still feel the faint trace of warmth at the corner of her brow.
Her tail moved with skittish energy, only to be further amused at how he didn’t look at her when she followed him onto the rock.
She butted her nose against his cheek, delighted by him leaning into her touch.
“You’re full of walking contradictions,” she said, a glimmer of humor lighting her blue irises.
“Harsh but shy. Sharp-tongued but affectionate.” The warm laughter that left her chased away the cold in the air.
Softly, almost under her breath, she added, “You’re... cute.”
The thick crest of his fur raised, ears flicking back and forth as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. “Cute?” he repeated in slow disbelief. “I am not cute—”
“You are to me. And I love it.” Lenore’s tail wagged with more confidence. “I won’t leave you alone about this,” she teased.
Edmund groaned under his breath, but he didn’t pull away from how close their bodies were, nor did he try to protest. From the clear wag of his tail, there was nowhere else he wanted to be.
“It’s still going to be a long trek until we make it to Ieric’s village,” he said.
“We could take a break if you need one.” After they had clambered over the rock, the path ahead was a little more manageable than the rugged terrain they had navigated through for the past few hours.
Lenore’s paws scraped against slabs of stone that jutted out of the ground like a serpent’s humps breaking the surface of water.
A quick glance up at the sky above forced her reluctant paws to continue the trek.
Time didn’t listen to the growing aches in her legs.
“I’ll keep going.” She turned back the worry in Edmund's gaze onto him. “I don’t know how you even have the energy to move the way you do when you’ve been traveling nonstop. ”
“This kind of travel isn’t out of the ordinary for me,” he said. “Rain or shine, I’ve endured worse.”
Lenore felt a lot more grateful for the clear skies. “I’m not sure I ever want to be at that level of endurance.” She leapt over a fallen log as Edmund chuckled. “But it does feel a little easier to keep pace this time.”
“It’s probably the moon.” Edmund sniffed the ground, then the air, always on constant alert for anything remotely dangerous. “Our strength and stamina grow with it, and it’s nearly full right now.”
“Ah, right, Azelf mentioned that before. It’s still a little hard to wrap my mind around,” she said. But it explained how all her recent physical exertion didn’t leave her bedridden for days. And for that, she was grateful for the blessing given.
Her mind drifted to what was to take place under the full moon—the Lunar Ball. Her heart tingled with something she couldn’t fully pinpoint. Unease? Dread? Perhaps it was a mix of things, or the thought that they might not even make it that far.
“... Lenore?”
“Oh—huh?” She blinked quickly and looked at Edmund. “Sorry, did you say something?”
Edmund arched the ridge of his brow. “I was explaining more about the moon’s properties to you. Did you get any of it?”
“Umm...” Her lips pulled into a sheepish grin, eyes squinting as he regarded her with an unamused look. “How about you tell me a story from the times you went to the Lunar Ball?” she asked.
The grimace on Edmund’s face grew more pronounced. “I hate the Lunar Ball.”
The way he responded with such displeasure had Lenore wheezing with laughter. “It’s because it’s a party, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. I start dreading it once it’s a few months away,” Edmund replied. “I’m dead by the end of the night from all the excessive, forced socializing, and I need days to recover after that. There’s way too many yappers.”
Lenore gently nuzzled her head against his, still laughing under her breath. Edmund scoffed lightly, a noise that sounded more fond than anything else.
“What?”
“This is why you’re so cute. Even the way you explain a party from your perspective sounds torturous... but so funny.”
“Pfft.” Edmund threw his head back in mock disbelief. “It is torturous. But at least the food is usually good.”
“I think I’m still getting used to werewolf cuisine...” Lenore’s ears flattened when she remembered one meal she ate recently—griffin feet. Her stomach twisted unpleasantly. She looked at Edmund, changing the subject as she asked, “Did you ever wear an etheria bloom at the ball?”
“Never. Ever.” Edmund’s voice was laced with repulsion, his body recoiling as if he had been physically burned. “You wouldn’t catch me dead wearing something like that. It felt way too exposing, too in your face, too…”
“Embarrassing?” she suggested. Her tail wagged back and forth, thoroughly entertained by his reactions.
“And desperate. I prefer the subtleties.”
“You definitely do!” Lenore batted lightly at Edmund’s leg.
He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I never wore an etheria bloom. Auden and Azelf tried forcing one on me the year after we became of age for one, but we ended up running circles all night instead of actually participating in the ball.”
“Now I wish I could’ve seen that.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” he continued. “They couldn’t get one on me after all that effort.” He paused. “Except for those last few seconds when we were all exhausted. But that doesn’t count.”
“I can see it all playing in my head as clear as day,” Lenore said with mirth. Her giggles subsided as she grew more thoughtful, her mind mulling over the other werewolves. Slowly, she asked, “Are Auden and Azelf your closest friends?”
Edmund was quiet for a moment. “Yeah.” The word was heavy, shrouding the atmosphere in a somber mood. Both of them walked side by side in terse silence. The ground crunched loudly underneath their paws, echoing into the distant greenery.
Lenore looked at Edmund. In a soft voice, she asked, “What is Auden like? Or... was, before Arisa showed up?”
Edmund’s ears twitched before he released a heavy sigh.
“A courageous wolf, and resolved enough to drag himself across a desert underneath the blazing sun. He cared for everyone in the pack. Always keen to help—clearly to a fault.” He shook his head.
“When Arisa showed up, he was more than willing to take her in after listening to her sob story. Idiot.” A light click of his tongue followed.
“But I guess that’s what made him a good leader. And a good friend.”
His gaze turned distant. “When he and Arisa announced their bond, I was happy for them. I thought I was wrong for being cautious of her in the first place.” A crease formed between his brow ridges. “I thought it ended up being a blessing given because of his sympathy.”