“He was.”
Dyna’s face crumbled. “I’m sorry.”
“It had to be done. He was feral and would not have stopped.”
Feral? Cassiel frowned. He would assume all of Zev’s kind to be feral.
Dyna’s eyes widened. “He had gone mad?”
At the question, the were-beast looked away from her. What did she mean by mad?
“Did he hurt you?” Zev asked instead. He held her back, examining her scratched arms and legs.
“I’m fine. Let me tend to your wounds. It will only take a moment.” Dyna reached for the bite on his shoulder, but he lowered her hand. He moved slowly, as though to be careful not to scratch her with his sharp nails.
“There’s no need. They will scar by tomorrow.”
She sighed. “Take a salve at the very least or those bites could become infected.”
He didn’t dispute further. Perplexed, Cassiel watched as Zev let her smear a waxy substance on his wounds from a jar she produced out of her satchel. Dyna truly didn’t fear the were-beast and he made no move to attack her either.
“How did you find your way here?” Zev asked as she worked. “I was to see you in North Star within a week. You shouldn’t have come here. Lykos Peak isn’t a place for humans.”
“Which is precisely what I told her,” Cassiel muttered to himself.
The were-beast turned to him, his brow furrowing. Elongated canines flashed in the corners of his mouth when he spoke. “Good evening.”
Cassiel chose not to respond.
Zev frowned at Dyna. “Care to explain this?”
She fiddled with the jar, returning it to her satchel. “Well, I—”
Zev spun toward the woods, his eyes flaring to yellow. Another chorus of howls echoed in the distance. They sounded much closer than before. “We must go.”
He rushed to the bushes and pulled out a frayed rucksack. He slung it on his shoulder, its bulky contents clanking inside.
Dyna eyed it. “Were you planning to leave? You gave me your word we would discuss it first.”
“This isn’t the time to argue!” Zev hauled her toward the cliffs. Cassiel followed behind. As soon as they cleared the woods, he returned to the sky.
They sprinted to the tree-bridge connecting the two cliffs. The were-beast tossed Dyna up on the tree’s trunk before leaping up himself. He picked her up again and rushed across, moving in a swift, and agile stride. Reaching the other side, Zev bound off the bridge and set her down to take hold of the tree roots. The wood creaked and groaned, slowly breaking away from its deep groove in the earth. His back strained as he pushed the tree-bridge with impossible strength, shoving it off the edge. The tree plunged down the precipice and smashed on the rocks below.
He stared across the cliff at the woods of Lykos Peak. Cassiel followed his line of sight to the several, yellow eyes gleaming in the dark.
The Lykos Pack.
Zev didn’t look away until they withdrew. “They’ll not follow us here,” he said. “The Pack has a treaty with Hilos that prevents them from crossing territory lines.”
That was knowledge Cassiel should have known, but he often ignored his government studies or anything else of non-interest. He had assumed the were-beasts didn’t enter their Realm because a chasm separated their territories. If the treaty was true, why was Zev on Celestial land?
Zev released a long breath and rubbed his face. “What a night it’s been.”
“Yes, it’s been quite eventful,” Dyna agreed.
His wary gaze bounced between her and at Cassiel hovering above them. “You entered the Forbidden Woods, didn’t you? It is forbidden for a reason, Dyna!”
She kicked at a small pebble, scuffing her shoe in the dirt. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
