Page 31 of The Barbarian's Claim
“I am a warrior of my clan,” Orn growled, eyeing Simon’s blades with disgust. “You cannot hope to beat me.”
“Try me, asshole,” Simon hissed.
I could only watch in horror as Orn pulled out his sword and lunged at Simon. I scrambled away, considering running into the forest to look for Einar. I knew the path he usually took to hunt, but I didn’t even have the dagger he’d given me at the moment. I’d left it in our tent when we went to the river to wash.
Fear for Simon had me running toward the village center instead. I ran directly into Finn in my haste, and his bondmate had to catch us both to keep us on our feet.
“Matthew?” Finn queried anxiously. “What’s wrong?”
My words tripped and stuttered, but I needed to use them to get help for Simon. “P-p-please! H-help him!”
Finn’s bondmate’s eyes widened in surprise and he took off, leaving me and Finn to hurry to follow him. He was faster than us, and disappeared out of sight for a moment. I was afraid of what I’d see when we got back, and ashamed that I ran away instead of helping Simon, who had been kind to me. If he was hurt, I would never forgive myself for abandoning him. Orn had been targeting me, not him. His injury would be my fault.
Expecting the worst, my footsteps faltered when I came around the line of tents and finally took in the scene. I was stunned not only to find Simon unhurt, but Orn on his knees with Simon’s blade against his throat. His sword was on the ground a few feet away. Simon didn’t even look winded. He glanced up at my arrival, a smirk pulling at his lips.
“Thanks for getting back up, but I don’t need it. This asshole made a mistake challenging me.”
Someone growled behind me in the barbarian language, the words deep and dangerous. I spun, stumbling to get away, and once again crashed into Finn. This time, he caught me himself, keeping me tight against him and pulling us both to the side out of the way. My fingers clung to his arm, my eyes locked on the newcomer, who looked ready to murder Orn.
Simon was unfazed by the newcomer, rolling his eyes. He switched to the barbarian language, his words clipped and stubborn. I didn’t have a hope of understanding them. I shot a questioning look at Finn, who wrinkled his nose.
“I won’t translate all of it. Simon uses words I’m not comfortable repeating. Basically, he doesn’t want Feigrind to interfere when he can handle things himself. Feigrind doesn’t agree because he’s Simon’s bondmate, and it’s his job to handle threats against him.”
While they went back and forth arguing with each other, Rath hauled Orn to his feet, throwing him away from us and barking at him. I assumed he told him to leave, since he pointed toward the village center. My eyes locked on Orn. Something about the way his body tensed made me think he wouldn’t listen. I wasn’t sure what overtook me, but I stumbled forward, pushing Simon out of the way as Orn dipped to grab the dagger from his ankle and threw it at him. It hit me instead. Pain shot through me, and I glanced down, horrified to see the blade sticking out ofmy side. Blood bloomed around it, and my breath caught in my throat.
“Matthew!”
Einar’s bellow behind me made me want to turn to face him, but when I tried, my knees went out from under me and darkness swept over my vision.
I should have gone hunting instead.
EINAR
I left Matthew to warm himself by the fire because he was shaking after bathing in the river. I knew it was too soon to have him in there. He had fared well the night prior because I had held him throughout and teased him to keep him distracted. I didn’t wish to do so with an audience this time and had kept my distance. I thought he would be fine while I hunted for our breakfast. It didn’t take that long. But when I arrived, the area in front of my tent was crowded, and I watched in horror as Orn threw a dagger, the blade stabbing into Matthew’s side.
Rage ripped through me, and my vision flooded with red, focused only on Orn and the need to tear him to pieces for hurting my bondmate. I dropped my kill, lunging at him. He saw me coming, but still was not prepared for it. He twisted, trying to scramble away from me, but I wouldn’t allow it. I beat him until my knuckles cracked, and still it was not enough. I wanted to carve him with my blade, feed his body to the creatures of the forest. He did not deserve a warrior’s burial. He deserved pain and misery for touching Matthew.
It took four of my brothers to pull me off of Orn. They started with only two, but I threw them aside, refusing to be pulled frommy kill. Orn was unconscious when they dragged me away. I wanted to enjoy the way his blood soaked the dirt beneath him, but I couldn’t. Not until he took his last breath.
“Brother, focus,” Rath growled in my ear. “Matthew needs you.”
Matthew. My blood lust disappeared as my focus snapped to my bondmate. Simon held his hands against Matthew’s side to staunch the blood seeping from him, screaming for the healers while Finn stood nearby, tears streaming down his face. And beneath them lay Matthew, unmoving, his face pale. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing until I kneeled beside him and put my palm on his chest.
The shouts, the noise, it all fell away. All I could hear was the pounding in my ears. Matthew was mine to protect. I should have never left him alone. Every time I did, he got hurt. A better bondmate would have recognized that he needed constant care. I’d made a mistake claiming him. If I had been less selfish, he would have been safe.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured to him. “I should have let you go.”
Twenty-One
EINAR
Matthew had to be taken to a town for treatment. The wound was too deep for the healers to assist. They wrapped him up to keep him from bleeding out, but Zoya said he would not survive without a surgeon. Matthew needed more than what the clan could offer.
It was a journey to the closest town that would accept our presence. Most would turn us away at the gates. There was one, however, that refused to close its doors to us. The town leader’s daughter was bonded to a warrior in another clan, and he refused to cut her off completely. He allowed trade between his town and her clan, and requests for aid. Her clan leader agreed to bring us to the town so Matthew could be treated with the town leader’s daughter and her bondmate as our guides.
I had been to towns before, but not often. It felt foreign to me, seeing the wooden structures the people lived in, stacked high and close together. It was already lunchtime when we arrived, having journeyed hard most of the day to get here, and the streets were crowded with people who watched us curiouslyas we were guided through the town to a building where the surgeon resided. He was waiting for us, round glasses perched on his nose and a serious expression on his face. He was younger than I expected, but he seemed to know what he was doing and shooed us out of the room the moment Matthew was laid on the table. I was reluctant to go, but our guides pulled me from the room, urging me to let the doctor work.
It took time, but eventually the doctor let me back in the room with Matthew once he was tended to. He assured me that Matthew would be fine after rest and fluids, that he’d been incredibly lucky, but didn’t explain what he’d done. I didn’t need to know. As long as he would be well, I would accept his words. He would have a scar, though, and it hurt my heart to even think of it. Despite the roughness of his upbringing, Matthew had remained unblemished. His creamy skin was flawless. Had I been with my clan, I would have removed Orn’s head for daring to mark him.
