Page 34 of Scarred Resolve

“They must take her a long time to make. She looked exhausted,” I said softly, pulling another out of the bag.

“Twenty-four hours to get three of us ready? Yeah, she hasn’t slept at all,” Niko said, nodding as he pulled out the last one. “Now, these have one thing that can save you, but only once. If you take enough damage to be fatally wounded, they will force you to Change to force the body to heal. Look here.” He turned his to show me the other side. “This is how you do it. You give permission for the spell she put into it to work by…” He bit his thumb hard, the scent rushing to my nose. He smeared it on the back of the rock, and it sank in, disappearing entirely. “Now…” He put it on, slipping it under his shirt so it touched his skin, and the smell of magic filled the air. “One Change, from human to werecat or the other way around. It might heal the body wrong, but wrong is better than dead.”

“It is better than dead,” I agreed. I held off from the blood thing like Davor, holding the necklace for a moment, studying the stone before putting it on. It was unremarkable, and I couldn’t smell any magic or blood on it. “Where did she get the rock?”

“I asked that once myself. It’s from the lake where she likes to fish the most,” Davor answered with a small smile. “I asked what made that lake so special. She has a lot of space to fish. Was it just easier to fish there? I couldn’t understand the weird attachment from fishing to the rocks for the safety of her family. She said… She liked the past she saw on the top of that lake more than any other.” He shrugged, as if he had given up trying to understand himself and no longer let it bother him. “She’s Subira. She doesn’t always make sense. She sees things in the world most could never understand. For every moment of joy she brings with her, she also brings a mystery. That’s what makes her wonderful, right?”

I could only nod, holding the stone over my heart. While I was quiet, thinking about everything, my brothers returned to making sure every last piece of equipment was ready to go,dividing the rations and everything else between our hiking bags. I stepped out after a few minutes, aimlessly moving through the house.

It didn’t take long for someone to notice. My fiancé came downstairs and wrapped his arms around me without saying anything. I leaned into him, inhaling his scent deeply, the comforting smell pushing away the tension I didn’t realize was lingering from seeing Hasan.

“Subira used the Tribunal to drop some things off,” I explained after a moment. I didn’t need to say Hasan was there. Heath’s nose was far better than my own. He would pick it up because, with the mention of the Tribunal, he’d be looking for it, even if it was the softest, lightest trace of it.

“I heard talking but didn’t know if I could even get inside. How are you?”

“I don’t even know anymore,” I admitted, keeping my cheek pressed into his soft cotton shirt. “I don’t know.”

“It happens. Why don’t I tell your brothers that they can sleep on the couch and loveseat, and you’re going to get some rest?”

“I’m not ready to sleep.”

“Then have a glass of water and relax upstairs, away from everyone,” he suggested.

I followed that advice, heading up to bed with no intention of sleeping. I heard him talking to Davor and Niko, but I didn’t focus on what he was saying. I closed my door and sat on the bed, drinking half the glass of water before I set it on my bedside table. I was half-asleep when Heath came in, and I got tucked in beside him, knowing this would be my last night of normal once again.

15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

When I woke up, Heath was already out of bed, and I couldn’t hear him in the bathroom. I closed my eyes again and listened, not ready to haul myself from the bed. There was something cooking. I could hear the sizzle in the kitchen and the silent steps of someone walking around. Others were moving around downstairs as well, just as quiet. Knowing it had to be Heath, Davor, and Niko, I knew that the last few days hadn’t been some nightmare. This was still something we were doing, and my bones were heavy as I sat up. I took a shower, taking my time, not out of laziness but rather being unable to really push myself.

By the time I was downstairs, a full spread of breakfast was laid out, and my brothers were already eating quietly with Heath on the opposite side of the table. He had two prepared plates, and when he saw me, he slid one for me to sit next to him.

“Thank you. This looks good.”

“Without Carey here begging for her favorites, half a dozen werewolves bothering me in the morning, or the boys sniffing around for free food, it felt good to cook breakfast in peace and quiet,” he explained, clearly going for that silver lining aboutwhy none of those things were taking place. Carey had gone to crash with her brother because Heath didn’t want her to see all the dangerous things my brothers were messing with. That would make her worry, and I didn’t want that. I was making Heath jump through hoops he normally didn’t have to, and thankfully, he was jumping gracefully.

“I’m glad you got to putter around the kitchen without being harassed this morning and will accept the gift of breakfast,” I said with a soft chuckle, grateful that Heath was the wise man he was. He knew how to find moments of joy in otherwise troublesome situations. He didn’t do so at inappropriate times, but when we had a moment to breathe, he took advantage of them.

“Amazing…”

“Do you two really flirt over breakfast?” Niko asked.

“It’s their house and table,” Davor said before I could figure out what to retort with.

“But we’re here.”

“And?” Davor and I asked at the same time.

Niko shrugged with a smile and continued eating, leaving the air filling with the scent of confusion from Davor and me. I turned to Heath, the werewolf not confused like myself. He’d caught whatever Niko was doing while Davor and I had no idea.

Deciding to forget about all of that, I finished breakfast as Heath was prepared to get everyone’s plates.

“Stay here for a moment. I want to mention something before you all go,” he said as he grabbed Davor’s and went into the kitchen. Once he was back, he sat back down, but now with a photo of a couple.

“Those are the victims,” Niko said, his head tilting as he looked at the photo.

“Yes, they are,” Heath confirmed. “I know you asked for no werewolves to get involved, but I’ve been thinking. When awerewolf injures a human in a fit of anger, on accident, or even for a reason, the pack makes a substantial payment to the family. It’s carved out of that werewolf’s assets as a punishment, and if the wolf can’t afford it, we dock their pack pay if they work for us. If they don’t get a payment from the pack, it’s added to their pack dues. We find ways. Deaths to a Last Change werewolf, however, get paid by the NAWC in secret. The BSA doesn’t ever tell the family of the victims that the victim was killed by someone supernatural. There’s no murderer to arrest because the werewolf had to be killed.”

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