Page 79 of The Lands Defying
We can smell the fire from where the smoke is coming from up ahead, as we navigate through thick woods. The trees are full of life for the time of year, and I never would have expected to see such vibrant green of the leaves on the trees considering the ground is so dry.
So dead.
We navigate around the trees, all of us eating meat from a deer Zaide caught the night before. Jerrod, Damian, and Taylor madeus water skins, which we used to collect water from a small river we came across.
Darius wouldn’t let me take a sip unless he tasted it, even after arguing with him long enough that I could do it myself. I just gave up, accepting that he wanted to be the one to provide for me.
Insufferable male.
I should count myself lucky I was even allowed to eat the strip of meat without him holding it to my mouth, watching me so intently as I took small bites.
I’ve never been fed so much in my life, but I think his wolf side is driving him to provide for me in any way he can. It’s unusually more intimate than anything we have ever done, but now it’s not uncomfortable anymore. It’s natural, almost.
I know he will take the best pieces of meat and hold it to my mouth to eat, and then I know he will always look around while I eat or drink, making sure no danger is near.
It’s foreign having someone focused so intently on me and protecting us. I don’t hate it, I almost wait for it now.
To watch him as he watches me, before scanning the area with sharp eyes until they return to me. It makes something inside of me warm, and my chest feel tight.
I look at Darius out of the corner of my eye now, seeing him do just exactly what I’m thinking about.
His gaze travels all around us, but then his eyes dart in front of me to the ground, making sure nothing is in my way as I walk. Once satisfied, he turns to me briefly, making sure I’m eating and then repeating the process all over again.
I smile to myself, my cheeks heating as I spot Josh next to me, wiggling his eyebrows, and I lightly shove his shoulder. I worry about him being away from Sarah.
He’s anxious, and twitchy to be back to her. He wanted to come with us though, needed to. It’s been him and I since weleft the Aragnis pack, and I know he wants our pack back just as much as I do. And Kade.
Your child always comes before anything and everyone. And that is what Kade is to me, to Josh. We treat him as such, love him as such, and we will do whatever we need to do for him.
Consequences be damned.
If I need to go up to Wolvorn Castle and exchange myself for him to get him back, I would, but I know Charles would never do that. He would say he would, but then he would keep us both and use Kade against me.
I can’t put him through any more than he already has been, so I need to find a way to get to him.
As soon as we get my pack back, the next focus is Kade, just like Darius said. If I can find a way to sneak into Wolvorn and kill them all, I will. But I need to be sure I can do it.
Runa growls inside of me, liking the bloodshed that will happen. If only she would come out and help us, help us with my Heir power so I can be what I need to be.
And I need to be able to kill all Highers.
We round another set of thick trees, the smell of smoke hitting us stronger than ever and we come to a halt. My gaze fixates on the camp in front of me, my breathing picking up. Darius motions for us to crouch low, and we do, looking around at the males standing guard around a dark, stone, one-story building.
There’s a campfire in front of it, and I count five males surrounding the structure. Their armor black with their wrist and shin guards green, letting us know they are the Highers’s guard.
This must be where Edward mentioned? Or else why would the Highers’s guards be here?
I grind my teeth and look at Darius. His nostrils flare and the anger in his eyes sends a shiver down my spine. He is furious.
“What now?” Leo whispers, looking at Darius for the command.
I can hear Darius grinding his teeth. “We kill them and infiltrate the building. They are clearly guarding something and we need to find out what.”
“Our pack,” Josh whispers and my heart rate picks up.
“Be prepared for what we may find in there,” Darius says quietly to me, nodding to the building. “It is small.”
I know what he means. Too small to hide many pack members, or none at all.
