Page 127 of A Luna's Dynasty
“We can slow down the pace,” Grayson said quietly.
“Grayson, I promise, at this moment I am perfectly fine. So, lead on.” Lita watched the group reluctantly return to theirformations as they started their journey again. This time, Asher stayed glued to Lita’s side, his arm gently but firmly clasped around her waist.
Lita was fine the rest of the way. Asher never left her side. They arrived at the encampment, and everyone got to work with various tasks. Asher left Lita with Rosa, content that she was fine, and went to help gather supplies with Caden.
An hour went by, then two, and she started feeling lightheaded again. If she felt better the moment Asher came back, then she would know something was up. It really didn’t make any sense. She wasn’t going to jump to conclusions, though. It was probably all coincidence. She quickly downed her bottle of water and tried to take her mind off of the feeling.
She looked around the campsite. It was a big round clearing surrounded by tall trees that shaded them from the sun. They could hear the sound of water running in a nearby river behind them. She closed her eyes and listened more intently. She could hear the men happily chatting among themselves, as well as the sounds of birds chirping and dancing in the trees. She could smell the campfires that were burning. She took in a deep breath and relaxed herself, opening her eyes again.
“How are you feeling, Lita?” Caspian walked up to where she was sitting. He watched as her eyes fluttered open to meet his.
Lita didn’t want to continue to lie. She also didn’t want anyone to worry, so she did the logical thing. She changed the subject.
“Asher’s been gone for a while.” Lita watched Caspian smile.
“You aren’t worrying about that overgrown pup, are you?” He took a seat beside her and wrapped his arm around her.
“Lita?” Grayson walked over, studying her closely. He then sighed. “Come here.” He reached his hand out and stared at her. He was testing her.
Lita gave Grayson a tired smile. She felt so weird. It was like her energy was being siphoned from her. A slow trickle overtime. Every moment, she felt just a bit weaker. She could hear Mira howling in her head. What was she doing? And why wasn’t she just talking to her?
Before she could react to Mira or Grayson, she heard running in the distance. Asher popped out through the tree line, made eye contact with her, and quickly made a beeline right to her.
“Lita, what’s wrong?” Asher knelt in front of her, pulling her body into his.
“What are you talking about?” Lita asked in confusion. And boy was she confused. Her energy started coming back again. With each gentle rub, the electricity from his breath, the closeness of his chest, she felt more and more energized. Something was definitely happening. Why was her body reacting like this? It was like her life was being drained and his body was protecting it from happening. She didn’t know what was going on, but it was clear that Asher was the key to preventing it.
“Mira told Bo you needed me.” Asher’s gaze pierced her. She couldn’t lie about it now. Her wolf had asked for help.
Traitor,Lita hissed at Mira, who whimpered quietly. She felt better again. She didn’t know why she was feeling sick, but she knew that Asher had prevented it from happening. She couldn’t hide her thoughts much longer, if at all. She needed to talk to him. She didn’t have a choice anymore.
Asher, can we go somewhere to talk?Lita’s voice sounded in his head. He was so scared when he heard Bo demand to go back to Lita that he panicked. For Mira to break through and mindlink Bo on her own was terrifying. He thought something had to be really wrong. Yet, she looked fine. She was just sitting there, looking normal. She was trying to keep her mind blank, but she was clearly hiding something. This was why the soulmate link was there—so they couldn’t hide anything from each other.
He held onto her arms and lifted her to her feet. “We’re just going to go over there and talk. Please excuse us for a bit,” Asher said as he began to lead her away.
“I’m coming, too.” Grayson said it as a statement, but he looked at them like it was a question. He wanted permission.
Lita nodded her head and saw his relieved smile. Maybe Grayson would have some ideas as to what was going on.
Asher couldn’t make out anything from her mind, sensing only confusion and questions. He led them far enough away that no one would be able to eavesdrop on their conversation before he finally stopped.
“Okay, Lita.” Asher turned her into him so he could look into her eyes. Grayson stood a couple feet away, listening silently. “Please, tell me what’s wrong. Why did Mira contact Bo?”
“I don’t know why she contacted Bo. She didn’t even talk to me about it first. Maybe she felt scared.” A small smile formed on Lita’s face. That was it. Mira was scared. “I think she was afraid for me,” Lita murmured.
“Lita please, the suspense is killing me. What was Mira afraid of?” Grayson felt panicked. Nothing scared that big, monstrous wolf.
“This is going to sound really strange. Okay, so it’s like this.” Lita gulped and tried her best to organize her thoughts into words. “I keep getting random, lightheaded feelings. It feels like my energy is getting sapped out of me. But then every time …” It was time for the really weird part now. “Every time … ummm … every time Asher touches me, it goes away. I don’t know if I’m taking his energy or if he’s stopping my energy from being drained. I don’t understand it. I tested it out, though. It actually does go away with Asher. Not when he’s close by, but only when he’s touching me.”Okay, ring the crazy alarms. Shoot, she was sounding them herself, and she was the one who believed it. She looked up at the two men, expecting to see them look ather like she was crazy. They didn’t. There was real fear in their eyes. Some confusion, too. “Any idea what it could be, Grayson?” Grayson seemed to know everything. She was almost counting on his knowledge here.
“No.” Grayson’s voice was quiet.
“Lita, why would you block this from me? You were purposely not thinking about it.” Asher pulled her into his arms. If he needed to keep her safe, he would sew her to himself. If she needed his energy, she could have it, as long as she was safe.
“I wasn’t sure at first, but I didn’t want to worry anyone. I was hoping it was nothing.” She buried her head into his chest. She hoped she wasn’t stealing his energy from him. Gosh, what the heck was happening?
“Maybe it’s one of Asher’s powers? Maybe it’s protecting you without him knowing it. I have no clue what could be going on. I’ll talk to Caspian and Brad about it, see if they have any ideas. I’m sure your mom will know what’s going on. We just need to get to Elysia.” Grayson was concerned. This was an enemy he couldn’t fight. How could he protect her from something draining her energy? He couldn’t see anything or anyone to kill. His suspicions rose inside him. He looked at Lita. She wouldn’t like it. She wouldn’t like it at all. Oh well, it had to be done.
Chapter 76
