“Is there a lower setting?” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to?—”
The entire camp sent up a chorus of animalistic noises, prowling forward in their animal form in agitation. A bit of fear trickled into the back of my mind. She hadn’t even been trying. I got to my feet slowly, my bear coming back to her side, straining to rub against her.
That was… viper. You’re incredible,I said.
“Are you okay, mate?” she asked, and I wanted to laugh.
Okay? My mate was amazing. There was no doubt. The Goddess had blessed her with great power, and I knew she would use it well. Evie didn’t have a malicious bone in her body. That’s what I was for.
Next time we?—
A fury of teeth and claws launched out of the dark and my bear automatically defended his mate, slamming the lion shifter to the ground.
Never,the beast roared. The whites of his eyes showed.
Calm yourself. She means you no harm,I ordered.
I will never let anyone control me again.
The lion lunged for Evie with his full strength, and as I wrestled him away, his claws raked over me, teeth puncturing my neck in his fury. The fight pivoted into life and death—his death. No one touched my mate. I pounded the lion into the earth with no satisfaction. He was entirely wild until he was completely still.
The pain of the lion’s attack was nothing compared to the pain of turning around to see a look of fear on my mate’s face. That expression I knew. One of primal terror. My bear tried to scrunch up into a ball. He hated we scared her with our savagery. When she didn’t move, I shifted back and my bear gladly let me.
Her shocked expression wasn’t fading, and I realized she presumably had never seen anyone die in front of her. Her village had sheltered her from life in the Harrowlands. “That was… intense. I think I have brains in my hair.” Her hand came away, goopy.
I wanted to touch her so badly. “Are you okay, mate? Did he hurt you?”
She backed up a step, and it tore my insides out. “He… he was so angry. I didn’t mean to… and you just… this is a mess.”
I reached a hand out, unable to be still. “Don’t be afraid of me,” I said in a soft voice, willing her not to turn away.
She looked up at me with soul-crushing dread. “Is that what will happen when you mark me?”
I choked down a snarl. “Of course not.”
Evie nodded, but I could tell she didn’t believe me and the burn of her rejection froze my blood to ice. Every scream of terror aimed in my direction over the years crowded into my head. I needed to make this better, but I stood paralyzed.
“Evie!” Declan took her by the shoulder. “We’ll get this cleaned up. Noora pried apart the box without breaking it… well, most of it. Can you come take a look?”
That Evie looked almost relieved to escape my presence left me bereft. I knew Declan was just distracting her from the bloody carnage before us. It didn’t matter that we needed to solve what those boxes were. I wanted time to reassure my mate. I needed to explain. I needed to take back what I just did and reason with the lion like the man I was, not the bear who killed in a rage. I needed anything not to face the mess we were making of this mating.
Chapter16
Evie
Declan paused for a breath as a massive elk with a rack for days wandered closer to Greg. Since the other shifters weren’t eating him, I guessed he was a shifter and not an actual elk. I would find Ward too, if I was an herbivore in a brood of animals, no matter how big my rack. I looked around and found Ward at the edge of our traveling party, talking to the two harem guys from the temple. So maybe the elk was here for me? Perhaps my show of power wasn’t all bad. I tried not to freak out over that.
Declan papered over any anxiety that might have leaked out by continuing his admittedly fascinating monologue as he walked beside me.
“... guarding those dusty old bones. Who cares if they retained the wisdom of the ages? Zophiel is as dead as the rest of the Godds. And good riddance. Half those waffle munchers walked around like they were Godds’ gift to the rest of us. After a hundred years of service, they still didn’t bother asking about… well, anything.”
I murmured something that must have sounded like encouragement while I searched for Ward again. It was my fault. Every fear my village put into my head came true as his claws touched that lion. I couldn’t tell the teddy bear I had been traveling with from the bear who just casually killed a crazed shifter.
In the clear light of the morning, I replayed what happened with the lion as Declan continued on single-handedly. The lion was definitely going to kill me and no legs—squatty or otherwise—would have stopped him.
Ward defended my life.
Those words cycled over and over in my head.
