Dhoona and Yudh backed up and drew their blades.
“We have company,” Pashim said softly, his gaze on a spot over my head.
I tracked his gaze to the large beast standing wreathed in shadow between the trees. Glowing green eyes locked on to me and slow-blinked.
The breath exploded from my lungs, emotion swelling in my chest and up my throat, making it hard to speak.
I knew those eyes. I’d accumulated hours looking into them.
“Hello, Leela,” Ravi said.
I swallowed the lump of emotion in my throat, put my hands on my hips, and fixed a mock glare on my face. “Well, it’s about time that you found me.”
The moona settledonce Ravi shifted into his human form. I looked away to give him privacy to don the clothes that were wrapped in a bundle and tied to his leg.
“You’re safe from the pack,” Ravi said from behind me as he dressed. “They were working with me to help find you. They won’t harm you.”
“Where’s your troop?”
“At the settlement a few miles away. You can look now, Leela.”
I turned to face him, my heart expanding as I took him in. He moved toward me, arms opening, and I rushed to meet him in a hug.
He rested his chin on my head, holding me tightly. “I was so fucking worried. No one responded to our queries after you were taken. The vortex that was meant to arrive for troop change never came. I enlisted the packs to help find you. I had your scent on my clothes. Enough for them to memorize.”
“You have no idea what’s happened in Aakash Sansaar, do you?” Kalani said.
He looked up at her, then across at Pashim. “No, but if drohi are coming back from the dead, then I’m assuming it’s something monumental.”
“Your assumption is correct,” Pashim said.
I drew back with a sigh. “You best sit. We have a lot to tell you.”
Yudh got the fire roaring again, and we’d barely sat down when a figure emerged from between the trees.
I sat up straighter. “C’ael!”
“The one and only.” He offered a mock bow.
Ravi and Pashim tensed on either side of me.
“It’s okay.” I reached out to lightly touch their arms. “This is my…C’ael. My friend. He’s connected to Iblees.”
C’ael joined us, squeezing into the spot on the other side of Pashim. “Looks like I’m just in time for a recap.”
We talked until the fire began to flag, and then Dhoona ordered us to bed, saying that he and Yudh would keep watch. The wolf pack was close by, but the brothers were trained to be alert when on the ground.
I crawled into my bedroll, and Pashim joined me. I met his gaze, an unsaid apology hovering on my lips from earlier.
He leaned in and kissed my brow, and just like that, the tangle inside me unraveled.
I snuggled down beside him, and C’ael lay on the other side of me. Ravi lowered his frame by my feet.
I looked between the three of them. “You…you all want to sleep here?”
“It will get colder soon,” Ravi said. “The temperature always drops dramatically at night in these parts. It’s warmer if we sleep in a huddle.”
Kalani joined us, a wry smile on her face as she took us in. “I feel like I’m intruding.”
