Immediately, all eyes turned to his mate. It didn’t matter that she pressed her cheek between his shoulder blades, nor that she made herself as small as possible. It only took a glimpse for the shifter instinct to know exactly what she was.
A ripple of sound moved through the assembled men. Expressions of astonishment and worry grooved every grimy face. As one, they all took a step back.
Except Lee, of course.
The commander stood his ground, though his eyes did widen with surprise when Josephine began to make a high-pitched, anxious purr — the surest sign of a terrified submissive. Otto’s heart squeezed. Reaching back, he wrapped his arm around her and tried to better conceal her with his naked body.
“Who’ve you got there, Otto?” Lee asked, eyes drifting slowly down to the little bloody bite in the juncture between his neck and shoulder. The homestead was quiet except for the sounds of the fire, as if everyone was holding their breath as they awaited his answer.
Spots were exploding in front of his eyes, but Otto forced himself to stand up straight and answer, “My mate. Josephine.”
“Shifter?”
He felt her stiffen and despite the awkward position, attempted to pull her even closer. “No. Something else.”
“All right.” Lee kept his eyes on Otto when he called out, “Miss, are you in need of assistance?”
Do you need me to separate you?
Otto bared his teeth at the elk shifter, furious at the idea that he would think to remove Josephine from him. He took one step forward, but could go no farther. His vision pitched dangerously to one side a second before his body followed suit.
“Otto!”Josephine’s cry of alarm filtered in from a great distance. A moment before his vision failed, he caught sight of her leaning over him, her face streaked with blood and features pulled tight with terror. Her lips moved, but he couldn’t hear a word she said.
Blackness swept him under as the flames consumed him, body and soul.
* * *
He was moving. That was all he knew when he woke some indeterminate amount of time later.
Otto’s mind felt as though it were stuffed with cotton and his body had the achy clamminess of a fever recently broken. When he finally mustered the will to open his eyes, he found himself staring up at the cloth-covered ceiling of a carriage. Moonlight spilled in through small windows mostly obscured by swaying curtains of heavy brocade.
What on Burden's Earth…
He flexed his muscles, trying to wake sleeping limbs as he struggled to get his bearings, and discovered the soft weight of a slight body beside him.
The scent of botanicals and fresh, clean woman was a balm to the panic that had begun to close its fist around his throat. Heknewthat scent.
“Kone,”he rasped, turning his head to discover her sleeping form tucked against his side. One of her hands was fisted in the blanket draped over his naked chest. Even in sleep, her brows were pinched with worry, her rosebud lips pursed.
He was groggy, sore, and felt vaguely sick, but that did not stop the fever from heating his blood, nor his cock from giving a deep throb of interest when she rubbed her calf against it.
Cursing softly, he lifted one weak hand to cup the side of her head.What happened?
After her bite, everything was a smudge in his mind. He recalled terrible pain, the hot rush of the shift, and then… not much else. He only vaguely recalled blood in his mouth and then Lee’s sharp voice from across the yard.
Lee?Yes, that was right. Lee had come with the battalion and… Everything else eluded him. A growl of frustration rattled his chest.
Josephine jolted awake under his hand. “Otto!”
Dropping his arm to tangle his fingers in the long, loose fall of her hair, he turned his head to peer down at her. “Good evening,kone.”
Even in the dark, he could see the tears gathering in her lashes.
With a soft, mournful sound, Josephine threw herself on his chest and began to rain kisses on his cheeks, brow, jaw, and neck. “You’reawake,”she gasped between pecks. “Gods, you are finally awake!”
“Hush, hush now.” He pressed her head down until her nose was tucked under his jaw, her lips aligned with her bite. Otto felt her hiccuping breaths as tears soaked his bare skin.
“I am well,kone,”he assured her, though he wasn’t at all certain that was true. He hadn’t felt this weak since he was a cub! “Do not cry. Please, for your mate. The sight of tears wounds me, sweet Josephine.”
