Page 93 of Forgotten Arcane

I can’t let that happen.

I shove the knife I caught in River’s direction, and he scrambles to take it as my gaze stays locked on Morana. She spins on her heel and starts to take off, and I launch myself after her. Hoping that I’m fast enough to catch her.

“Neith!” Griff yells after me.

“For fuck sake,” Evander says, not sounding surprised at all that I’m running after a dangerous wolf who has just tried to kill River.

I don’t think any of them are.

Morana looks over her shoulder with pure terror in her eyes. I would tell her that I’m not going to hurt her, but there isn’t any point. Not while I’m chasing her. She’s not going to believe me, and if anything, it could just frighten her more. Memories try to push forward, but I refuse to let them. This isn’t about me. If I get pulled into memories now, I’m not going to be able to help her.

Finally, I get close enough that I can tackle her, and I try to wrap myself around her in a way that means I absorb most of the impact. I don’t want to hurt her any more than she already is.

She fights me when we land, and I hold on tight. I know that if I let go now, she is going to try to hurt herself because she thinks that she’s in trouble.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she yells. “Don’t hurt me.”

Holding her gently but firmly, I start to stroke her hair, “Shh, Morana. I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”

She freezes, and I continue to gently stroke her hair, letting her get used to the fact that I’m not hurting her.

Finally, in a shaky voice that sounds exhausted, but thankfully not her robot voice, she says, “You’re not going to hurt me?”

“Nope. I just want to make sure that you don’t hurt yourself,” I reply.

“But I threw a knife at the alpha?” she questions, and I feel her tense up.

I continue to stroke her hair since that seems to be calming her the most, “It’s okay, I caught it. He’s not mad either, we understand. Don’t we?” I look at River.

He wisely stays where he is, but crouches down so that she can see his expression.

“We understand, Morana,” River says gently. “You’re safe, and no one will hurt you.”

Morana looks up at me, by this point, I’m just cuddling her, she’s not restrained in any way, “He’s really gone? He’s not coming back? He can’t hurt me anymore?”

“He can never hurt you again,” I say to her. I add, “Would you like to see the body? You will know for sure then that he’s dead.”

Everyone watching the interaction tenses, but my gaze stays locked on Morana. I know that my offer may seem strange to them, but I’ve been severely abused, not by someone that I loved, but if I hadn’t seen him torn to shreds, and his body burned to ash by Dimitri’s hellfire, I would have forever been looking over my shoulder and waiting for him to appear and take me back to that hellhole.

I briefly lift my gaze and meet Coen’s, understanding is in his eyes, and he smiles proudly. He knows exactly why I asked her that.

Morana nods, and swallows hard, that flicker of life, of fight, hasn’t died again yet, and I’m hoping that this time it stays permanently.

“I need to see that he’s dead,” she confirms with strength in her voice.

I grin, “I thought you might say that. We can burn him to ash, too, if you would like?”

A spark of anger lights her eyes, and I smile proudly as she replies, “That’s the least that he fucking deserves.”

“There she is,” I grin.

“I’m sorry that I tried to kill the alpha,” she apologizes, her voice clear and stronger than it was. “I’ve been in survival mode for so long, being told all of these horrific things, that I buried the real me, and became a shell. She’s been buried for so long that I couldn’t reach her anymore, even when I wanted to.”

I nod, “Have you got a good grip on her now?”

Morana’s smile is full of hope as she nods, “Yes, and I won’t let go again.”

I nod, “That’s right. You hold onto her as tight as you fucking can, and don’t let go. You’re strong enough to heal, and don’t be mistaken, healing takes a hell of a lot of strength, and it will be hard, but you can do this.”

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