Page 29 of The Healer and the Wolf: Part Two

It was funny. Before I met Ven, I knew almost nothing about plants or gardening. It simply wasn’t my field of interest. But now? Now I knew so much, and I found it all endlessly fascinating. Granted, all the knowledge I’d gained was only a drop in the bucket compared to Ven’s, but she never made me feel stupid when I asked a question. She never acted impatient or annoyed. In fact, most of the time she seemed pretty excited to share with me. Her joy was infectious, which was why it was so troubling for me to see her clearly perplexed and uncomfortable. If she was burdened, I wanted to share that with her as much as I wanted to share all the lovely garden things.

“Hey there,” I murmured as I approached her, not wanting to startle her if she was deep in thought. With so many shifters around, it was easy to forget that Ven’s senses weren’t quite as enhanced as mine. The last thing I wanted was to make her jump if she was feeling prickly, overstimulated, or vulnerable.

“Oh, uh, hey.”

I didn’t quite understand the trepidation in her tone. She sounded like a teenager who had been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to, which was weird since she was justputtering around in her garden. But it did cement the fact that something was definitely going on with her.

“Are you all right?” I asked as gently as I could. As worrying as her strange behavior was, it also felt kind of edifying that I knew her so well I could tell something was wrong from a few words. It wasn’t all that long ago when I was locked in my animal mind, completely on my own and disconnected from everything. Now? Now, I had so much.

And I would do whatever I had to do to protect it.

To protecther.

“Of course, I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Well, that was about as convincing as a scam call from an unknown number.

“Because we all just went through a fairly traumatic battle, and you ended up saving my life, yet again. At this point, we’re gonna need to start keeping a tally.”

She offered a nervous giggle at that, but it wasn’t the laugh I knew and loved. I couldn’t quite figure out what was bothering her. Granted, I had a lot of gaps in my memory of what had happened. I didn’t actually know who had struck the final blow to Alric. Maybe it had been especially violent and Ven was struggling with that. While she did want the brothers dead, she struggled with blood and the grittier side of things.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”

“I do.”

She sent me a soft look, but I knew her well enough to see the pain behind it. But there was also a wall, and I was barely peeking over it. Something had happened to put the beautiful woman I adored on guard. I knew from experience how isolating that could be, and I desperately wanted to help her.

“Would you like to go on a walk with me?” I questioned, holding out my hand. I tried to say it in a way that put zeropressure on her; if she wasn’t ready, I wasn’t going to insist. “We haven’t been to our cave in a while.”

That was how I thought about the cave now. Asours.And how wonderful the last time had been. Despite everything that had happened, I remembered it as if it had happened a couple of days ago. The two of us laughing as we ran through the rain. Going into the house completely drenched and taking a blessedly hot shower together.

Bliss.

I missed that kind of physical intimacy, craved it even, but we didn’t have the time and certainly not the opportunity. I hoped that would change soon. Maybe when there were a fewer people with exceptional hearing around and less slave auctions we had to bust up.

“A walk?” Ven asked uncertainly, her eyes flitting this way and that.

It didn’t sit right with me to see my confident, normally cheery mate so off-kilter. Even when she’d sat next to me when I was stuck in my wolf form and espoused about things I couldn’t quite grasp, I’d always gotten the sense she was sure of herself at her core. That didn’t seem to be the case now.

I wanted to assure her, to getmyVen back, so I gently cupped her chin and tilted it up.

God, those eyes. They still struck me speechless. Those deep, deep pools of chocolate brown shone amber whenever the light struck them. They contained so many emotions, so many thoughts I wanted to tap into.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, my love, but I thought it might be nice to step away from all the... personalities we have visiting.”

Ven heaved a sigh, and I swore I saw a glimpse of the normal her. “You know what? That’s a great idea.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

I yearned to kiss her, but I could tell it wasn’t the right time. Truthfully, it was hard to think of a time when Ididn’twant to kiss Ven. She was everything I could ever want in a match and more. For all the bad luck I’d had in my life, I would always be grateful that the path I’d been on led me to this amazing woman.

I mean, I wouldn’t have minded a little less turmoil and struggle, but I would go through all of it again if it meant it ended with me at Ven’s greenhouse door.

Reluctantly, I let go of her chin, and she took my hand. As we walked off into the trees, I reminded myself to slow my strides. Ven’s legs weren’t nearly as long as mine, and if I didn’t pay attention, I’d drag her along—the exact opposite of a relaxing walk.

We didn’t speak much, but that was okay. We didn’t need to. Ven was definitely processing things as we made our way to our secret cave. It was a bit amusing how a place meant to be an emergency shelter had turned into a secret fort for us. A getaway from the hustle and bustle that had developed in Ven’s cabin. It definitely wasn’t a quiet place any longer. Part of me hoped that, in time, Ven would be more comfortable around large groups of people. After all, packs weren’t small. At least, they weren’t supposed to be. At the moment, mine consisted of four shifters and the beautiful woman I was in love with. Not exactly an impressive force.

And yet, we’d accomplished a hell of a lot.

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