All mocking now gone, she crossed her arms defiantly, the emotion replaced by her admonishment. Her gaze bored into his fiercely, without any fear or need for submission.
“Now, seeing as you have me in charge of her wellbeing, but she is bleeding profusely on the ground when,again, you know her ability to self-heal is non-existent until she completes the fire trial,andsuccessfully shifts into her wolf…” She let the statement linger, waiting for him to connect the dots. “See where I’m going with this? It just seems counterproductive to me.”
Contempt engulfed her every word, causing me to glance down at myself. My arms and hands were back to normal, except nasty, uneven gashes cut up my skin where the wolf bones had protruded—blood seeping from them freely, especially from my lifted fingernails. Blood stained my pants too; the pretty ones Isis had bought me.
Sadness spread within my chest, but not for the ruined clothes or my injuries, it was for my trapped wolf.“I’m so sorry…”
Her exhausted moan resounded in my ears, the aching telling me she was sorry too for not being strong enough to come out yet.
When my eyes slowly lifted to the closest thing I had to a mother, and my best friend, she offered me a soft smile and a wink, even though her unadulterated rage swirled just under the surface. If she could, she would tear my uncle apart piece by piece for hurting me, and not lose a single night of sleep afterward.
He probably wanted the same for her, but neither of them had challenged the other through the years, so they were forced to co-exist.
Trepidation briefly crossed Isis’ expression, and she lowered herself to my level, gently cupping my cheek. “Close your eyes, baby girl.”
So, I did. I closed them for her without question because I trusted Isis with my life. Before I did, though, I caught her offering our Alpha an elaborate, and mocking bow.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to take my charge to our home to begin healing her wounds. Unless there is something else you feel like putting her through?”
Our Alpha’s rage was palpable, trembling through the air and crashing against my skin, but it still took him a few seconds to respond.
“IamtheShadow BornAlpha, and my word is law!” he declared loud enough for the whole pack to hear. “The fire ceremony will be held as scheduled… All those due to walk the crystals shall walk.”
A second wave of relief swept the village, including mine.
“Take my niece home and heal her wounds,” he ordered Isis, and I could almost see her rolling her eyes in my mind. That was exactly what she’d just said. “But if you ever bring any more human things into my village, and give them to my niece, you will suffer the grave consequences… I will no longer be lenient with you.”
Isis’ arms carefully wrapped around me, lifting me from the ground with ease thanks to her shifter strength, and I weakly draped a hand behind her neck. My gashes pulled open with the movement, making me whimper.
“I’ll carry her,” Ryker immediately argued, a man again, but his attempt at telling Isis what to do elicited a menacing growl from her, and I internally cringed.
She was in protecting mode right now, and to put it mildly, he wasn’t her favorite person.
“Out. Of. My. Way. Boy!” she ordered, usingallof her Alpha power against him, and probably enjoying every second of it.
“Why do you have to be so harsh with him?” I whispered after she took me away. Ryker had clearly gotten out of her way without a voiced protest. “He’s my future mate.”
“Oh, sweet baby girl. If he were your mate, he would have protected you from your uncle,” she whispered back, kissing my temple.
The statement stung my heart, but she was wrong. Ryker wastheBeta of the pack, there wasn’t much he could do but follow his Alpha’s commands.
As we walked, I was grateful my eyes were closed, so that I didn’t have to see the looks of pity and contempt from the rest of the village. The last thing I wanted was to find out what they thought of me.
Closing the half-split door behind us, Isis set me on the bed. “You can open your eyes now, Tasha.”
As soon as I did, I wished I hadn’t. Gasping, I sat up too quickly to realize what I was doing. The slashes on my skin burned and protested with the movement, yet I was too busy looking at the destruction of the only place I’d ever called home. My bed was flipped on its side, so was the desk, and remnants of the human possessions I had cherished were thrown all over the floor.
The sight ignited both resentment and guilt in my being. “Forgive me, Isis. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t been so startled by the Hunters arriving, by Ryker being back, and ran out of the house, I could have prevented all of this. If I’d just?—”
“Yeah, love makes us stupid like that.” A grin curved her lips when I gave her a menacing look, but my mouth still twitched with amusement. “It doesn’t matter,” she assured, handing me abrown, glass bottle like she did every month—without exception. “Drink this, it will make you feel better.”
The liquid smoothly slid down my throat, leaving behind its tingling power, but my attention was still on the broken mirror across from us. My skin tightened while Isis spread the healing salve over every one of my injuries, and I half helped remove my pants, noticing the lacerations of my thighs extended all the way to my knees.
It shouldn’t have to be this way for us, for me.
Inevitably, my attention returned to the mirror, and the face staring back at me was haunting.
Standing from the bed as Isis put the healing potions back in their place, I walked to the desk, feeling my wounds vanish—thanks to the Witch’s magic. My hesitant fingers wrapped around the chair’s back, lifting it right side up until I could sit back on it. The cracked mirror surface split my reflection into several ones, and still, all of them showed the gruesome flaw that marred my life.
