Page 68 of The Hidden Falling
“It’s been what? Nearly three weeks now since they arrived. They are getting restless, especially Darius.” He’s itching to get back, the male won’t leave me alone, especially after we made the vow that he would keep Eridian from the Highers. He doesn’t even try to hide that he’s always following me.
Anna has been slowing the injured Elites healing as much as possible so we had time to figure out how to handle the situation. I don’t know whether Darius believed her when she told him she’s limited in her healing abilities and lacks all the supplies she needs, it’s all true, but we also needed time to keep Eridian safe.
“You mentioned they had some sort of timeline, right?” Anna asks, and I nod. “Do we know when that is?”
“No idea. We haven’t heard them speak of it again since Hudson overheard them the first time.” I put the pot to the side and grab a plate. “Not knowing isn’t helpful either.” I need to prepare for when I leave for the Highers.
I’ve barely slept since they’ve arrived, apart from the time in the cave with Darius, or really eat. The fact that Darius and Leo are staying in my cabin only raises my anxiety. I can’t function like this. The fear that I’ll wake up to them telling me it’s time to go to Fenrikar is ever pressing in my mind, never letting up, never leaving me alone.
“It’s not,” Anna agrees. “We will have to deal with it when it comes to you leaving. None of us want you to go.”
“Are you sure you will be back?” Josie asks, rinsing another pot out on the other side of me.
“I will have to help them bring new people here, so yeah, I’ll be back,” I tell them. I told them all about the vow I made with Darius a few days ago, it took a lot of persuading to reassure them that this is for the best.
“Can you trust him? They are the Highers’ weapons after all,” Josie grumbles, hefting another pot into the river to clean.
“He vowed before the old Gods, as they call them. I don’t take that lightly, so I think we can trust him in this. For now, anyway.” I sit back on the bank, shaking the water off my hands as I watch the river flow in a smooth rhythm. “I haven’t come across someone like him before,” I murmur. “Before I came here, Josh, Kade and Cassie and I were just staying out in the woods or abandoned barns. We never interacted with anyone unless it was absolutely necessary when we went into a village to try and steal some food, or pay with coins we stole. Even then we kept our answers to a few short words. We weren’t around a lot of people. Darius is so different from Josh or Taylor or Danny, or anyone here.”
“In what way?” Josie follows my lead and sits back, waiting for my answer.
“He’s just… more.” I shake my head, tipping it up to the slowly darkening sky. “He has an aura around him I have never felt before.”
“He’s an Alpha,” Anna says, squeezing out water from the rag.
“So are many others here too, and most of the Elites. Darius just feels like something I can’t explain,” I say, shaking my head, frustrated I can’t put it into words.
I know what an Alpha feels like when they release their dominance, but Darius has an undertone of something I’m not sure anyone else realizes. It’s subtle, but that something swirls around, entwining with his natural dominance and flows through it discreetly. Just not discreetly enough for me to not pick it up.
A howl pierces our silence, and I smile, bringing my head forward and looking into the trees on the other side of the river.
“Someone is calling you,” Josie chuckles, and Anna gives a matching smile.
“So it seems.” I get to my feet and begin piling up the pots and cutlery I’ve washed when Josie bumps my hip with hers.
“Go, I’m sure you miss them.” I look around, unsure. “We will be fine, we have been on high alert for days, and nothing has been reported as unusual. We will take the pots back. Go, relax a little.” I look at Anna, who nods and rolls her eyes at the next howl demanding my attention. “Quickly, before you’re hunted,” she laughs, and I chuckle, knowing how right she is.
I touch my cheek to both of theirs in goodbye before I roll my loose pants up to my knees and take off my boots. Once in hand, I walk across the stony bottom of the river, hop up and put my boots back on. Thankfully, it’s shallow where we are and I can cross easily.
I turn and give one last wave before heading into the treeline, opening my senses and heading for that howl. I nudge Runa for a burst of speed, my heart pumping as I get closer and closer to the sound. It isn’t long until a branch snapping to my left has my head whipping that way, and a grin spreads across my face as the sight of fur. The wolf follows alongside me through the trees, keeping pace as another joins me on my right, gliding through the bushes.
A chuckle falls from my lips, and I lift my face to the branches above, releasing my own human howl as they echo it. The feeling of being free as I run sends air into my lungs, even as I exert myself. I feel like the coating of Rhea, Alpha of Eridian, falls away, and underneath it is just Rhea, a woman with no responsibility, no fear or anxiety. No thoughts of Solvier’s strange words to me the last time I saw him, or thoughts of being in front of the Highers.
I’m just me, free for a little while.
The two wolves burst through the trees on either side of me as we approach a hollowed tree. They stroll toward me as I slow down to a walk, and then I stop and wait. I look at the wolf to my left, our eyes connecting, before I look down at the one on my right, its stare already on me.
We still.
We wait.
Then, we pounce.
I dive for one while the other comes at me. I tackle one to the ground as the others jump on my back, nipping my shoulder as I laugh and roll. A sloppy tongue comes on my cheek next, and I chuckle as I push the muzzle away as the other flops itself down on top of me.
“Stop, stop,” I laugh, shoving them both to get them off of me. Runa comes closer to the surface, taking in their touches against my skin before lying down, happy to be close as we play.
Tiny yips and cries reach my ears, and the wolves instantly jump off of me and sit on their haunches, heads tilted to the side as their eyes go to the hollowed tree. I sit up, grinning as the cries get louder and louder. I wait, keeping quiet until a tiny black nose pops itself out of a large root, and then two tiny paws come next. The little gray furball, the one I named Leif, comes blundering out as soon as he notices me. His two brothers and sister come out after him as he lands on my legs and climbs up my chest, licking my face.
