Ward said nothing for a moment. “I will always be at your service, even if you fear me.”
I grabbed his arm, or as much as I could wrap my hand around. “No, Ward. It wasn’t you. The situation terrified me. I know you would never hurt me.”
I did, with absolute conviction—that had to be the mate bond.
Ward nodded. “I’m glad, because we need my bear. Even a mage can die on the Infernal Peaks. Only my bear and your snake will make it.” Ward called a few spells for the horses and a giant cloak to drape over him before he shifted. Climbing under it felt like my own personal blanket fort. My tiny snake claws latched into his fur. I should have been nervous, but Ward’s fur was a delight beneath me. His body heat made me sweat as we climbed the foothills, then kept me less than freezing as we reached the snow line.
The journey was easier than wrestling our emotions. His easy gait through the deepest snow reminded me there were good parts to having a giant warm bear to carry you through life. I hugged him a little tighter.
The wind and snow whipped its brutal, icy fingers against us as the drift grew deeper and deeper. It wasn’t worth it to open my mouth to speak. I was afraid my tongue would freeze.
Nice weather we’re having!
Ward only chuckled in his mind, saving his energy for plowing a path that the rest of the shifter brood could follow.You should see it in winter.
Come this way often? Looks real romantic.The razor-sharp rocks jutted out of the snow like teeth ready to rend us apart. Their added benefit was funneling the wind directly in our faces.
I have a friend who lives here. My parents met him on their travels and he would always write me letters with inappropriate bawdy ballads tacked onto the end.The warmth in Ward’s voice was hard to resist. Something about picturing him small and laughing had my heart thumping. I actually wanted to discover what kind of friend made a home here. Hopefully, he wasn’t terrifying.
Jerry has lived so long he also knew the King of the Elves, and we started a ballad competition that lasted way longer than it should have.
I wondered if he would sing any for me. As we neared a tiny gap at the peak of the mountain, I looked back at our crew. Declan turned completely white. The harem boys found a few layers of cloaks and blankets to huddle under in addition to Ward’s spell, and Noora had Brightpaw wrapped around her like a fur blanket. The rest of the crew looked miserable but alive. Hopefully, it was all downhill from here.
Ward’s next step shook the ground, knocking snow from the ledges and boulders surrounding us.
You don’t have to show off,I told him.
That wasn’t me,he said as he stepped back in our plowed snow trail.
More snow slowly sifted down from the rocks as something slithered across the stone.
Ward transformed to human in a blink. Turned out being strapped to a man’s back was indeed a great way to travel. His muscles shifting beneath me sizzled my brain cells when I should have been paying attention to the black-and-white speckled thing sliding into our path.
“Don’t scare everyone, Jerry,” Ward called.
Can’t you just mind-speak to him?I asked.
“Jerry isn’t a shifter, Jerry is?—”
“Jerry is dead.” A voice like a sepulcher filled the pass—more chilling than the wind and ice.
Ward tensed up underneath me until he became a marble statue. A gigantic worm shook off the rest of the snow covering his mottled, wrinkly, slimy skin. A wide mouth set under a single stupid eye, framed with the longest eyelashes I had ever seen on a creature. His mouth made it look like he was permanently smirking. Even I looked better as a tube than that.
Oh no, Ward. I’m so sorry.I tried to turn my clinging into a hug, but he was so broad I barely squeezed him.
“I have no idea how to tell Noth. We hadn’t received some letters in a while, but the post doesn’t exactly make it consistently to the Infernal Peaks.”
The shifter brood bundled together behind us for warmth.
“Let us pass and we’ll be out of your way,” Ward said, doing a good job of keeping the sadness out of his voice.
“You certainly will be. So many morsels haven’t come my way in a long time. You must taste better than Jerry did.”
Ward’s growl reverberated through the mountains. His anger kicked up mine. What a prick.
Anyone who would harm a ballad-writing mountain introvert was a dick. Eat him, and you were really on my shit list. The worm lowered his head to reveal a mouth full of needle-like daggers. I felt the slide of scales in my mind for the first time. Like someone else occupied it.
The worm’s hideous voice spat venom. “Though I might have to tenderize some of you before my meal.”
