Page 69 of Wolf Marked

Tears glistened in her untouched eye, answering his question.

“Has he done this to you before?” He was shouting now; he couldn’t help it. The thought of that barbarian laying a hand on her unleashed a fierce protectiveness within him. Even if Eva hadn’t been the mother he had always wanted or needed, she didn’t deserve to be beaten by anyone’s hand.

She appeared so fragile then, so broken and lost.

Slowly, she nodded her head at his question but said nothing. She didn’t have to speak, though. Erec knew why this had happened.

It was because of him.

Running a trembling hand over his face, he cursed. Mostly at himself. “He found out you visited me…” The realization had his stomach twisting into knots. Jerrick had hit her because she had given her son something to keep warm. Against his word.

And I rejected her kindness and threw the blanket in her face.

Guilt crashed into him as hard as the anger had. Eva wasn’t strong enough to stand up to Jerrick on her own, but she had tried to help her son as much as she could, even risk her safety to do it.

Still not uttering a word, Eva reached into her cloak pocket and pulled out a large metal key. She walked around the cage to the barred door, and working quickly, twisted the key in the lock until the latch released.

Erec stood there, frozen in disbelief. Even when she heaved the door open, he couldn’t believe what she was doing. “You’re letting me go?” Did she know what that could mean for her? When Jerrick found out, he would most likely have her killed.

Her wounded gaze found him, weighted with years of sorrow and regret. “Like I told you before, Erec. I lost you once. I don’t want to lose you again.”

Cautiously, Erec stepped to the open door, watching her the entire way. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to trust her just yet.

When he jumped down from the cage and into the snow, he turned to her. “You didn’t need to do this,” he said. “You will be in a lot of trouble once Jerrick finds out.”

Eva gave him a small knowing smile. “It’s okay,” she whispered and raised her handto touch his face. To his own surprise, he didn’t flinch or pull away when she cupped his cheek. He didn’t move at all.

A strange ache started in the center of his chest, one he didn’t fully understand. Not only was he afraid for her life, he was worried he’d never see her again—that like before, he’d wander into those woods and lose his mother, when common sense told him he really didn’t know this woman at all.

It was confusing, but he let her touch the side of his face until she finally wanted to let go.

“I’ll come back,” he promised her. “You don’t need to stay here with him. I’ll bring you to the west-side pack where you’ll be safe.”

Eva’s smile didn’t waver but neither did the sadness lingering in her eyes. Instead of acknowledging his offer, she gestured to the forest where Astrid had appeared days before. “Go to your mate, Erec. Go to her. You don’t have much time.”

He glanced up at the strips of sky peeking from behind the branches. The pinks and purples were darkening, and the outline of a full moon was now visible behind the haze. Panic shot through his veins, raising the hair on his arms. It was almost night.

The moment blue colored the moon entirely, it would be the end.

But it was going to take him some time to get back to Svanna Rock. He reached down, feeling for his wolf, but the animal wasn’t there. Maybe it wasn’t dark enough for the shift yet. It looked like he was going to have to make most of the trip in his human form. That meant he was going to have to run faster than he’d ever run before.

Even if his wolf shape came to him along the way, reaching Astrid before the Blue Moon might be impossible.

It didn’t matter. He had to try. He had to get to her before the curse claimed them both.

Heart hammering, Erec sprinted into the woods, muttering a quick prayer to anyone who was listening that he’d make it in time.

Night had fallen fast. By the time Astrid reached the halfway point on her route to Jerrick’s camp, the moon was taking shape behind the gathering clouds. Any other night, she would have taken comfort at the sight and the return of her animal spirit, but she couldn’t tonight.Not when her and Erec’s lives had been reduced to mere minutes and miles still separated them.

Sprinting along the forest’s edge, where the trees were sparser and the snowdrifts weren’t as high, she followed the river’s curves farther west. The entire way she cursed herself for not leaving earlier like she had wanted, but like Filip had said, everything had to be timed correctly for their plan to work. For her, she had to get to Erec before the moon turned blue. At the same time, the west-side pack’s warriors would surprise attack Jerrick’s camp. Then if—when—the curse was lifted and she and Erec had survived, they would join in the fight.

The more she thought over what had to be done, the more unbelievable it seemed. How had Filip made it sound possible?

Never slowing, Astrid glanced up at the sky. Through the thick smearing of clouds, the moon’s rim shined a florescent blue. Panic buzzed through her veins, making her skin crawl. Once that color consumed all of its face, that would be the end—either the end of the curse or the end of her.

She picked up her pace, her gaze lifting to the moon every so often to check its progress. With every thundering beat of her heart, the blue lining seemed to become a little thicker and glow brighter, reminding her that she didn’t have much time left. Ahead, she spotted a bend in the river close enough for her to leap over in her wolf form.

Crossing the icy depths in her human skin was too dangerous, especially with the strong current and arctic temperature. Shifting would be the safest bet, and as she knew from experience, running the rest of the way on four legs would be faster than two. She had to change.

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