Page 131 of Theirs to Crave

“I knew you’d come for me,” she whispered.

I curled around her, trembling, unable to speak. Just that easily, I was forgiven. I didn’t deserve her faith, but I’d do my best to protect her now.

“Always,sha’vail.” She drew in a sharp breath, and reluctantly I set her on her feet, cupping her cheeks in my hands as I searched her eyes. “Where is Arvel, Estrayuh?”

She nuzzled my palm for a moment with a peculiar little smile on her face, then sighed and met my gaze. “He’s back on theshihp—the sky rock. He’s not going anywhere.”

My tail twitched. I gentled my voice. “Is he dead?”

“No—well, I don’t think so,” Estrayuh said. “I’m pretty sure he was breathing when I left.”

I grunted, sitting back on my haunches and looking her over. Blood streaked her in several places. It had dripped from her mouth at some point, drying in flaking rivulets. Her soft, beautiful neck was ruddy from rough handling. Her knife was missing, harness and all. I would get it back. She held herself like moving hurt, but she didn’t limp, nothing seemed broken, and her now-familiar round irises remained the same size.

“I will kill him.”

She nodded. “I know. I told him you would.”

I purred and pressed my forehead to hers, sharing a long, deep breath. “I cannot leave you alone. Will you come with me?”

“Where are the others?” Estrayuh asked, but she was already raising her arms to twine around my neck.

I cuddled her close, treasuring the comforting weight of her—real, solid, and alive. It was a few moments before I could speak, and then my words came out rough. “They follow. They aren’t farbehind.” And they wouldn’t be. I knew my loves. They’d be hard on my trail. The corner of my mouth lifted. “Zaf was screaming at Saytireka for endangering you with her selfishness, and I thought it might take a while, so I went ahead.”

Her eyes widened. “He was?”

“Mmhmm.” I rubbed my cheek across her head, affection and relief swamping me at her wicked little grin. I kept my pace steady, trusting her assurance that Arvel was not a danger at the moment. Gradually, the trembles that wracked her body grew smaller, came slower, and her breathing lost the echoes of tears.

“Will you tell me what happened,Lelesha?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

She nodded against my chest, and although tension seeped back into her muscles, she didn’t shake. “Zaf went to help Tsalot—”

“The boy is fine,” I soothed, when she jerked, her eyes going wide with concern. “A broken arm. He will heal.”

Estrayuh blew out a breath, settling back into my embrace. I adjusted her position slightly, and she patted my arm, drawing patterns in the fur as she continued.

“Arvel showed up. He said Saytireka sent him to find Zaf.”

I grunted, acknowledging the confirmation of Saytireka’s claim.

“He apologized for trying to attack me—sort of. But he makes me uncomfortable, and I didn’t want to be alone with him.”

My lip quivered in a silent snarl. She’d never be alone with him again.

“I tried to leave, to find Zaf, but he must have hit me from behind. I woke up in the sh—sky rock with this,” she turned her head away, lifting the fur there to show a sizeable bump beneath, “and without my knife.”

“Honorless coward,” I growled, unable to stay quiet.

“Agreed,” Estrayuh said, letting her head fur cascade around her shoulders and tilting her chin defiantly. Her pulse fluttered in her neck, betraying the turmoil she refused to show.

When Arvel was dead and she was snug in our den, the three of us would wrap her in our love and hold her while she wept and raged. For now, I held her and listened with as much restraint as I could manage while she told me of Arvel’s ranting, and how she took him down with no knife, claws, or teeth. A fully trained warrior.

I had never been so proud in my life as I was of her in that moment.

At the same time, I wanted to insist that she never go anywhere without Litha, Zaf, or I ever again. And maybe not leave the den at all for a season-cycle or two.

“So, Arvel can feel, see, and hear, but not move?” I asked. The idea was horrifying, but I couldn’t find a drop of pity in my heart for the other man. He had earned this suffering. “How long does this last?”

Estrayuh lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. I was hurt pretty bad when the bugs used it on me, and I passed out.”

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