I got the distinct impression I wasn’t the only one who got that reminder. Wolfe turned and went back to the pack to assess the damage of the attack. I watched him go and then turned to face the druid.
“Must you push his buttons every time?”
The druid shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean.” They gestured to the bushes closest to me. “Bring me the berries. I’ll show you how to make a poultice that will start to soothe the pain of the trees.”
I was already heading to the bush when I suddenly heard what they’d said. I looked over my shoulder. “The pain of the trees?” I asked hesitantly.
They nodded. “We heal all living things in the Hollow,” they told me. “Which is why when your alpha heals his people, we heal nature.”
I gathered the berries and didn’t ask them anything else. I had a lot to learn, I knew. We crushed leaves, berries, andherbs I didn’t know the names of and had no idea where they got them. Their robes looked smooth and flowed well. The thought of how much they carried around in their pockets was making me eye the robes with more suspicion than curiosity.
A small bowl held the concoction together, and then the druid flicked their knife over their vein and let a few drops fall into the bowl. They held their hand out to me, and I placed my hand in theirs, hissing when I felt the sting of the blade. I watched as my blood mixed in the bowl. The mixture seemed to move on its own, and then I watched in amazement as the ingredients blended, and a smooth paste was formed.
“Rub it on the Heartwood,” the druid told me softly. “Dip just two fingers in, find the most exposed root of the tree, stroke once upwards.”
I got to my feet, picked up the bowl, and glanced up at my teacher. I did as I was told. They checked the amount—it hardly seemed like anything at all—and nodded. I found the root and followed my instructions.
The Heartwood pulsed once, and then I watched in amazement as the trunk seemed to swell, the leaves turned greener, and then it settled.
“It looked like it sighed,” I told them in wonder.
“It did.” The druid ran their hand over the trunk. “Now we’ll do this for every tree.”
“Every tree?” I looked around. “Here?”
They looked at me with a small smile. “In the Hollow.”
“I…” I nodded. “Where do we start?”
The druidand I stuck mainly to the trees, which meant I didn’t see a lot of my pack as we worked, but we heard them. I exchanged a few looks with the druid as we worked. No wonder they always knew everything; they could hear everything as they moved through the Hollow, attending to it and keeping it healthy.
“No wonder you always are the first to know,” I told them with a knowing look. “Always knew you were a snoop.”
The druid chuckled. “As you can see, I don’t need to snoop; the information is laid out for me to take.”
They weren’t wrong. It was alarming that a pack of shifters, who had better-than-average hearing, was so free to share in the open air. Anyone could hear things they weren’t supposed to. I drew up short when I realized what I’d discovered.
“Mm-hmm, took you longer than I wanted,” the druid rebuked softly.
“All they had to do was listen,” I told them with a feeling of dread. “One traitor? Or a pack of loose tongues?”
“Or both.” The druid straightened. “I think it would be best if you were to tell him.”
I turned to face them. “Wolfe is just protective.”
“As he should be,” the druid said, fussing over a small sapling. “Look at this,” they murmured in frustration. “Almost completely trampled.” I watched as they set about fixing the tree and wondered if they would appreciate the title of glorified gardener and then decided probably best not to push them too far today.
Darkness fell, and we still worked. We were far down the territory. Wolfe had checked in a few times to ensure I wasokay and that I had eaten, but otherwise, he had been mending the damage of the pack.
We were at a small copse of trees when the druid’s hand covered my mouth, bringing me tight against their body. I instinctively struggled, but their grip tightened, fingers digging in until I stilled.
“Wolfe!”
“I’m coming. They told me. Stay quiet.”
The druid had called out to his alpha, and I relaxed in their hold, letting them know I wasn’t about to do something completely stupid.
Torchlight lit the path in front, just once, then it was gone. I heard them approach, and the druid sank deeper into the trees, taking me with them.
