Page 101 of Bound By Roses

“Even without your memories, it seems I can still trust you. So yes, I’m asking you to do something else that I can’t. Can I relax knowing that you’ll make sure she’s safe?”

He hesitates for a long moment and his face twists from whatever battle is warring within him. There was a time when this would have been an easy answer, but things have changed. He’s not the same Jade that was willing to die so that she didn’t have to live with heartbreak—but he’s still Jade. He’s still the annoying bastard that steps up when it matters. Even with all the anger and doubt swirling within him, he somehow still manages to make the right choice when it counts.

“Yeah,” he says, though his voice has turned gruff. “I guess you can.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

ABBY

Ty stands in front of me on four legs and covered in fur. My heart races although I know I’m safe here. Quinn may not be with me, but the rest of the wolves are. They stand in a wide circle around us, ready to move in at a moment’s notice.

I focus on Ty’s eyes as a reminder that he’s in control. They’re brown, just as they should be, rather than the crimson red they become when one of the wolves loses themself to the curse that made them this way. His eyes are dark compared to the sandy colour of his fur that nearly matches the patchy bits of beach beneath him.

We’re far enough away from Marein that there’ll be minimal risk if he loses control. I also wanted to be closer to the forest. Training him on the beach won’t prepare him for the journey back to Lunae. We haven’t talked about it yet, but I know Quinn is going to go with him. It’s too risky to send a group and he can’t go alone. Quinn has already claimed this boy as one of his own, which affords him the same protections of those who have been his for years. He’ll venture into the forest with him, whether I like it or not.

Which is exactly why he’s not here with me now.

When I left him with Tess, she’d told me that his wound looked worse than it was. One benefit of the curse is that he heals faster than a normal human, but that requires rest. I know he’d rather be out here preparing Ty himself, but we only have a couple of days and in his case, those days are better spent taking it easy. I know him well enough to expect to see him out here tomorrow, but at least for the rest of today, he’ll be inside somewhere.

Ty trembles slightly, and then fur turns to flesh.

“Good,” I say. “It only took you five minutes that time, but we need you to be faster. Do it again.”

The grimace on his face deepens. “Can’t I just rest a minute?”

His breathing is shaky with exhaustion and pain and his skin is coated with sweat that isn’t dissimilar to when the fever ripped through him. The sun is low in the sky and evening clouds have moved in to grant us a considerable amount of shade, but the change isn’t easy. Having your bones break and reform over and over along with a massive fur coat is understandably going to overheat a person.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him with a sad shake of my head. “If we had more time, it wouldn’t be this way. You need to be able to do this in seconds because we can’t risk anyone seeing you shift.”

He looks like he wants to argue, but instead lets his eyes fall closed. His breathing evens out as he pulls in deep gulps of air to prepare for yet another shift. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made him do this now, but each time he gets a little faster.

This time, it only takes him two minutes to shift into the wolf again.‘Does this ever stop hurting?’he asks with a groan.

A wolf yips and it’s only then that I realize he spoke to me through the connection I share with all of them.

‘I heard you!’

Ty jumps back a step at the sudden appearance of my voice in his mind. This is one thing we haven’t been able to do yet, so I guess this is proof that I’m doing something right. Although I still wish Quinn could be here for this, I’m needed only for this reason. To forge a connection strong enough that I’ll be able to communicate with Ty over the miles that separate Marein and Lunae. As for teaching him how to be a wolf? I have no business being a part of that. Even with the twenty-seven of Quinn’s people who have embraced the curse, Quinn is still the most skilled in that form. Even though he fears it.

‘Is this what it’s like?’he asks, and I feel the tangle of panicked excitement in his words. If he can hear me, he can probably hear the other wolves now, too. Maybe they can take over this lesson, or at least offer more than my unrelenting requests for him to make the shift again.

‘You haven’t seen anything yet!’a cheerful voice sounds in my head. The wolves react to it just as I do and turn to look behind me as I spin around to see Fern racing towards us, tongue hanging out one side of her mouth and swaying with each of her bounds.

Why can’t she ever just stay where she’s supposed to? I move to block her path and she skids to a stop, nearly crashing into me.‘You shouldn’t be out here. It’s dangerous.’

She snorts, and I’m pretty sure it was a wolf’s way of scoffing.‘I can run faster than you. You’re in more danger than I am.’

We still have a few years before she’s a teenager, so I can’t imagine the attitude we’re going to have to deal with then if she’s already acting like one. Maybe it’s a wolf thing and they mature faster. There’s no time for me to respond before Ty takes a cautious step forward.

‘She’s right. If I lose control, I don’t want to be responsible for hurting a kid.’

‘I’m not a kid!’

I groan.‘Now you’ve done it.’

Fern—despite being much smaller than every other wolf here—bends low and growls viciously. She darts around me and lunges for Ty, just managing to get ahold of his left front leg with her sharp teeth. Ty yelps, but he doesn’t move. That’s got to earn him some points, at least.

‘Enough! Let him go.’She releases him and tilts her head back to me with a wolfish look of annoyance.‘You can stay, but only if you watch. If you interfere in any way, I’ll have someone carry you back to Tess by the scruff of your neck.’

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