Page 58 of Wolf Marked

Her father turned back the flap of Filip’s tent and stepped outside. The amount of blood covering his chainmail and soaking his hair would have been disturbing to Astrid on any other occasion, but it was the deep look of dismay on his face that made her pulse gallop. When his eyes found her, his frown only deepened.

Something was wrong with Filip.

He didn’t say anything as he walked away, and his silence was confirming her deepest fears. Panicked, she ripped away the flap and rushed inside.

Filip was on the bed at the far end of the tent. His eyes were open—barely, but open—and he was looking at her. A whisper of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and Astrid could breathe again. Not dead. Her brother wasn’t dead.

Mila was on her knees at his side, and when she rose to stand, that’s when Astrid noticed the dark crimson staining the blankets underneath his body. Filip had been stripped of his coat and shirt and lay bare-chested. Mila had already tended to his shoulder blade where the arrow had hit him. His side had already been wrapped, too, but blood drenched the bandages.

Mila looked grim when she turned and took a bloody cloth over to the basin of water on the table.

“Mila,” Astrid started, voice raspy from the fight. “How is he?” She was afraid to hear the answer, but she had to know.

“I’m alive.” Her brother’s voice was gruff and tinged with pain, but it was music to her ears. His entire body trembled when he inhaled again, and he winced. Even though Filip wasn’t showing much of his pain, his hurt collided with her, as consuming as it had been before. Just through the bond, it was strong enough to make her light-headed. “That’s only because of your quick thinking, Ash,” he said.

She walked over to the bed, begging her wobbly legs to not send her toppling over. She took her brother’s hand. His skin was cold to the touch, and it was unnerving. She hadn’t been quick enough, unfortunately, and now Filip was suffering for it.

He must have sensed her sorrow because he gave her fingers a light squeeze. “I’m fine.” But the weakness to his voice and the chill to his touch said otherwise. “Mila sewed me up good. I just need to rest.”

Anxiousness raked her insides. She knew her brother well enough to know when he was lying.

“What did I miss?” he pushed through clenched teeth as he shifted uncomfortably in the bed. “I see you picked up a pretty nasty gash on your cheek. But none of those beasts are barging in, so I’m assuming we won?”

She had forgotten all about the cut. It didn’t even sting anymore, and that meant it was already healing, which was good. She was lucky it had only been a surface wound. If only Filip had been as lucky. Even with the tremendous pain she sensed from his aura, she would still trade places with him in a heartbeat.

You heard him. He’s going to be fine. He has to be. Might just take him longer to recuperate, is all.

She blew out a breath, commanding her nerves to focus on the other problems they were now facing. Erec’s capture and the threat of another attack.

“I don’t think it’s the end of it,” she whispered. “I have a bad feeling it’s just the beginning.”

His brow furrowed. “Why do you say that?”

“Jerrick’s men just retreated. And Jerrick himself was nowhere in sight. I think this was a test of some kind. A way to see what he was up against.” Actually, the growing itch of upcoming trouble was stronger than ever. She could sense the menacing energy in the air, taste it.

“Maybe they knew they couldn’t win, and it was smarter to retreat.”

There was no way they were that fortunate. Filip knew it, too, because his disbelief was evident, even when he spoke the words.

“They have Erec.” Astrid couldn’t help the desperation in her tone. Or the way her heart pounded as images of Erec maimed and dying flooded her mind. “They grabbed him and fled.”

His face fell. “What?”

Tears gathered in her eyes. “Filip, I love him… I— I—” The words died on her tongue as the fear of losing Erec came crashing down upon her. “I can’t lose him…”

“Then we need to get him back.” Filip pushed himself onto his elbows with great effort. Face contorted in pain, he tried to sit up fully. Mila rushed to the bedside again and pushed him back down.

“Stay still,” she said, her expression stern. “Any movement like that will keep you bleeding.”

Filip groaned loudly, but it was more from annoyance than anything else. He was never the type to stay put for too long. Something he and Astrid had in common.

“Only a few days as alpha, and I’m already out of commission,” he huffed.

“I’d rather you out of commission than dead,” Mila replied curtly. “Now, don’t move.” She threw him one more hard look before walking back over to the water basin to start wringing out the soaking rags.

“You should probably listen to her,” Astrid said. She rubbed her eyes with her fists to keep her tears at bay. “She knows what she’s doing.”

Filip gave a little shrug. “I’ll rest for today, but the pack needs me. Especially if you’re right and Jerrick isn’t through with us yet. We need to get Erec back.”

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