Page 32 of The Book Reader
My Rose was mine again.
We have been together every day since.
Pausing in my steps, I gaze over the lands. The sun is casting its orange glow over the sky, bidding farewell to the moon that will soon be rising. Our cave sits on top of a large hill. Logs, sticks, and patches of grass cover the land surrounding it.
Her father had wanted us to live in the caves with them, but that was something I didn’t like.
Craving my mate comes with our bonding; it’s a pull that I feel in my heart, an ache that only she can soothe. The feeling never entirely goes away, so we must learn to control it. That pull is much worse when we are apart for any amount of time.
Fucking is the only way to settle it.
Her father hearing us fuck isn’t something I ever want to worry about. My lips tilt up as I chuckle to myself.
Securing my sword higher on my back, I lift my foot to take a step, but falter when I notice the skin that usually covers the entrance is missing.
I narrow my eyes and draw in a deep breath. Smelling Sulphur, my heart beats hard against my chest, Trelor’s growl rumbles in my head.
Not caring who sees me, I shimmer into the hut.
Inside, the little fire has been extinguished, and our makeshift wooden bed has been torn apart; the fur is scorched.
Growling, I spin around on the spot, my chest heaving with each breath I take. If that fucking bitch has retaken her, I’m going to do everything in my power to rip her part.
My anger clouds my mind so fiercely that I almost don’t hear her, I nearly miss the tiny cry of pain that shatters my heart.
Not again. Please.
I rush to the back of the cave, and in the darkness, I can just make out a pair of mud-covered feet protruding from the shadows. “Rose?” Panic shakes my voice.
“Gaelan?” she whispers so weakly I barely hear it.
Moving fast, I rush into the darkness, my eyes lighting the way for me. It only takes me a second to see her sitting up against the wall. She is naked, and dark patches cover the floor around her. I don’t have to see it to recognize the smell: blood, and lots of it.
Her head lolls forward, too weak to lift it, her shoulders shake with her sobs, and her tears fall like little drops of rain into her naked thighs.
She is awake.
They have done it again.
I was too late, again.
“Rose, baby, it’s me,” I say, falling to my knees next to her. I reach my shaking hands to cup her cheeks and lift her head slowly and carefully, so she can see me.
She blinks her eyes, then opens them fully, her pupils blown wide with shock. When she sees it's me, they settle, and she smiles softly. “I’m sorry,” she whispers so softly that it calls to my biggest fear, beckoning it forward again. I’m losing her.
“Sorry? What for?”
“You told me not to go outside, and I did.” She coughs hard, and blood sprays from her mouth like hot lava spitting from a volcano, covering my chest.
“You never listen to me. This is not new, my Rose.” I search for her wounds to see if I can help her, fingers brushing over her in the dark. “What happened?” As those words leave my lips, I know a blood pooling and overflowing from a large hole in her stomach.
“A woman was here. She had odd-colored hair. She said she was looking...” She stops, then cries out before bursting into sobs. “Gaelan, don’t leave me.”
Tears sting the back of my eyes. She is pleading with me for something that would never happen.
“I’m here, my Rose. Let me take you to the village.” I try to sound calm; I’ve been here so many times in my life that I know there are not many ways this ends well.
“No.”
