Page 109 of Oath of Revenge

The pressure increased in waves, and she whimpered. The warmth that had felt so good just moments before turned to racing fire in her veins, and she screamed. Her body shook and she jerked back, but Grandma held her in place on the other side. The woman put all her weight onto Scarlet’s shoulder and it popped, sending pain exploding up the side of her neck to her head.

The waves of fire settled from a hurricane to a gentle trickle, and Scarlet took a shuddering breath. The pain in her head remained a steady beat but she blinked as the women’s hands let her go. Bright spots made her vision swim, and then a vial was thrust into her good hand.

“Here, drink quickly now,” Grandma said softly. Scarlet’s hand shook as she drank, and Grandma wiped the dribble off her chin and took the empty vial.

“There, now you can remove those stinky clothes and take a nice, hot bath. Won’t that feel good?”

Scarlet groaned, and the medicine woman shuffled to the settee beside the window to sit. “Talk while you bathe. What’s happened? Olive told me of her vision, but did it come true?”

Grandma hovered as Scarlet unlaced her vest, helping her remove it without needing to lift her shoulder. The slightest movement to remove her shirt made her stomach lurch but the pain was a manageable dull ache now. Grandma unlaced her boots while she sat breathing through it.

When she was finally sinking into the hot water of the tub, Grandma grabbed a pitcher and gently poured the water over the back of her head. Scarlet sighed and tipped her head back, drawing her knees to her chest. Her bad arm tucked to her side, she hugged her knee with the other and told them a quick summary of the past few days. Gods, had it really been less than a week that she’d known him?

“I assume Grandma told you that I went with the Growler to his tribe to ask the Elders for help reversing the curse. Their spell didn’t work, but after completing the mate bond on the night of the full moon, I woke up partially shifted into a Growler.”

Grandma sighed in relief and scrubbed soap into her hair. “So you went through with it. Thank the gods.”

“Yes, I did. No point in refusing when refusal would mean death.” The soothing fingers along her scalp, especially at the base of her antlers, made her entire body relax.

“But you’re not just a Growler, are you?” Lailant asked. “You still have antlers and ears and that nose—“

“Right,” she swallowed hard as Grandma poured water over her head. “I ran with the pack that night, killed a boar and an ice monster, then woke up the next day right back to what you see now.”

“An ice monster, you say?” Lailant asked, her eyes growing narrow as she stared across the room tapping her chin.

“Yes, we brought it with us. The Growlers couldn’t identify it, but maybe someone here can,” Scarlet said.

Grandma set the pitcher down and grunted as she stood. “That’s good. Lailant and I will go look at it shortly. Something tells me you didn’t take it well when you realized the antlers were back. What did you do?” Grandma asked as she walked to the settee and sat beside Lailant.

Scarlet took the cake of soap in her good hand and said, “That was when I asked the Elders to do the spell and try to reverse it. It didn’t work, but made me shift into first a rabbit and then a deer.”

Lailant chuckled. “I bet that was a sight to see, a rabbit and deer in the middle of a Growler camp.”

Scarlet glared and rinsed the soap off. “Don’t laugh. I was more terrified than I’d ever been in my whole life.”

Lailant’s brows lifted but it was Grandma who asked, “Even more than when you were first cursed?”

Scarlet frowned as she held her bad shoulder close and stepped out of the tub, drying off with one hand. “No, I suppose that was worse. After all Wulfric was still there, and I knew he’d keep me safe from the other Growlers. Of course, it took him long enough to do it, but still…”

She pulled fresh clothes from her dresser, and Grandma helped her put the shirt on without moving her shoulder too much. The women remained silent while she dressed, and Scarlet thought back to those first shifts. She’d been so scared, but somehow had known Wulfric was close and would help.

She trusted him, wanted him nearby in a fight. Her throat tightened in surprise. For the first time since losing her dad, she didn’t mind traveling with a partner.

When she was dressed, she turned to the settee and frowned. “Grandma?”

Olive sat crying silently, Lailant’s arm around her shoulders. She waved a hand. “Oh, I’m fine. I’m sorry, child, I’m just so happy.”

Scarlet’s brows rose as she strode closer and dropped onto the couch on the other side of Grandma. She patted her knee with her good hand, unable to put her own arm around her as it was her bad arm.

“Why?”

Grandma’s green eyes shone with tears as she turned and cupped Scarlet’s cheeks in her hands. “Oh my darling child, don’t you know what this means? You can shift into a Growler, rabbit, and deer, right?”

Scarlet nodded, but Grandma didn’t let go of her face.

“It means that you’re a full druid now,” Grandma said, tears filling her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.

Scarlet’s eyes widened, and her chest grew tight as it swelled. She’d been so mad as a child when she couldn’t do any of the druid things her grandma and mother had tried to teach her to do. None of the magic had worked for her. Then when her mother had died, she’d turned to her dad and learned everything she could about being a Ranger.

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