Page 2 of Lord of the Lone Wolf
Auslin’s healing magic probed deeper into Maseo’s injuries, and what he found made his stomach turn. The poison was slow-moving to cause maximum suffering. “If he is, I don’t know how Maseo made it this far from Norello with his body this destroyed.” The nearest border of Kunushi was too far away forsomeone to travel in that condition. “He’s barely hanging on, but I think we found him in time.”
Kitsuki stepped back, giving Auslin room to work while positioning himself to watch for threats. “Do what you must to save him. I will stand guard.”
“Thank you.” Auslin settled into a more comfortable position beside Maseo, his knees sinking into the soft earth. Through their connected auras, he projected calm and safety, trying to ease the pain radiating from every inch of Maseo’s broken body. “Don’t worry. You’re safe now, Maseo.”
At the sound of his name, Maseo stirred, a soft groan escaping his split lips as consciousness flickered at the edges of his awareness.
“Be at ease,” Auslin murmured, his voice gentle as he let his healing magic flow. The lilac light spread from his hands, seeking the worst of the damage and beginning the delicate work of knitting bone and mending torn flesh. “We’re here to take care of you. You don’t have to fight anymore.”
With Kitsuki standing guard and the forest around them quiet except for the natural sounds of evening settling in, Auslin took a steadying breath and began the monumental task of pulling Maseo back from the brink of death. The poison would be the most dangerous challenge, but first, he had to stabilize the critical injuries that threatened to claim Maseo’s life in the next few minutes.
Auslin’s healing magic poured into Maseo, infused with all the love and determination he could muster. He refused to let whoever had harmed Maseo win. Not while he still had the power to fight death itself.
Chapter 2
Maseo
The darkness had teeth.
That was Maseo’s first coherent thought as consciousness flickered at the edges of his awareness. The surrounding void pressed close, hungry and patient, whispering promises of an end to pain if he would stop fighting the icy embrace that had been calling to him for days. He was almost ready to surrender.
But then, there was warmth.
A single point of light bloomed in the suffocating blackness, purple as amethyst and bright as a star. Maseo’s battered soul reached for it, desperate for anything that wasn’t the gnawing agony that had become his entire world. The brightness pulsed once, twice, and then blazed with the force of a newborn sun.
The shadows of death that had been dragging him toward the Beyond Realm recoiled with frustrated shrieks. They clawed at him as they retreated, trying to maintain their hold, but the purple fire was stronger. It wrapped around Maseo’s spirit asprotective armor, driving back the darkness until it cowered at the very edges of his perception.
Safe. The word echoed through him, carried on waves of lilac magic that felt familiar.Loved. Protected. Never alone again.
Maseo had never experienced anything like it. The magic healed his broken bones and torn flesh, but it also cradled his soul, whispering wordless promises of sanctuary and care. It was the embrace he had dreamed of as a child after losing his mother, huddled in dark corners while his father’s rage echoed through the castle halls. It was the love he had searched for in all the wrong places, with all the wrong people.
The amethyst light spread through him, seeking every injury, poison-blackened vein, and fragments of shattered bone. Where it touched, agony transformed into blessed relief. The burning acid that had been eating away at his insides for days cooled and dissolved. Ribs knitted themselves back together with careful precision. The swelling around his eye receded, and he could see again.
But it was more than physical healing. The magic found the deeper wounds carved into his heart by years of rejection and cruelty. It couldn’t erase the scars, but it soothed them, promising that they didn’t define him. That he was worth saving. Worth loving.
He wanted to wrap himself in that sensation forever, to never let go of the perfect harmony between healing warmth and protective strength.
For a moment that he wished would last an eternity, Maseo felt complete. Cherished. Whole.
The intensity faded as the purple light faded like a gentle tide, leaving behind healed flesh and mended bones but taking with it the overwhelming sense of being loved unconditionally. Maseo tried desperately to hold on to it.
No, please!The thought was a silent scream.Don’t leave me alone again.
But the magic was already withdrawing, returning to the person who wielded it. Maseo fought to open his eyes.
When his vision cleared, he stared up at the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Auslin sat cross-legged beside him, his face pale with exhaustion and sweat beading on his forehead. But his expression spoke of fierce concentration and boundless compassion. Purple markings spiraled along his exposed arms, the Divine heritage marks that proclaimed him a Power, intertwined with silver lines that belonged to his mating bond with Kitsuki.
“Auslin,” Maseo whispered. He reached out with a trembling hand, needing to touch the man who had pulled him from the very brink of death. His fingers found the warm curve of Auslin’s cheek, and the contact sent a shock of residual magic between them.
At the touch, Auslin’s eyes fluttered open. They glowed with an otherworldly light, the deep violet irises pulsing in time with his heartbeat. When his hand covered Maseo’s, pressing it more firmly against his face, the simple gesture conveyed more care than Maseo had received since his mother died.
“You’re safe now,” Auslin murmured, his voice rough with emotion and magical exhaustion. He nuzzled into Maseo’s palm,and the trust in that act made the half-wolf shifter’s chest tighten with overwhelming gratitude.
There were so many unanswered questions for Maseo. How was it possible Auslin had found him? Why did the mage now have the markings of a Power when he had been human the last time they met? But before he could ask, Auslin’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed forward.
Maseo sat up to catch the falling mage. His arms, which had been broken in multiple places minutes ago, wrapped around Auslin’s unconscious form, holding him steady as the aftershocks of healing magic continued to ripple through the air.
“Auslin!” The name tore from Maseo’s throat as panic seized him. Had the mage sacrificed too much to save him? Had Maseo’s injuries been so severe that healing them had cost Auslin his life?
