Well, if that’s the case, she can put a curse on Wolf for it. It’s his damn fault.
Aggravated, I wished I could turn back the clock to when I was sitting pleasantly by my fire without the welfare of a skald fae witch on my hands. But the gods always loved to play games with me, especially ones that tormented me by stirring up my emotions. I hated to deal with anything that required depth of emotion. I’d rather rely on my animal instincts, that kept decisions straightforward and clear. Feelings muddled everything and made us do stupid things.
Like tromp into the woods to kill a deer to revive a nearly-dead skald fae who didn’t belong here in the first place.
“Fucking hells, Wolf,” I cursed my beast one last time before I marched away from the trail to hunt the witch some bloody dinner. If I was lucky, she’d die before I got back. Then she wouldn’t be my problem anymore. That was the best I could hope for.
Chapter 3
JESSAMINE
I awoke to feeling warm. Too warm. Blinking my eyes open, I pushed off the covers. No, not covers. Furs. At first, I thought I’d been captured and was imprisoned in the Mevian guards’ tent. But then I saw the horse-sized, black Meer-wolf spread out on the bed of furs next to me. No moon fae kept a Meer-wolf for a pet. They were companions of only one kind—the beast fae.
Carefully pushing to a sitting position, not wanting the wolf to attack, I vaguely recalled waking from a fever and seeing a giant dark fae—bigger than any I’d ever laid eyes on in my life—with his hand at my throat. Then I remembered I’d electrocuted him. My magick had defended me in my weakness.
Had I killed him?
Surely, this wolf would’ve killed me if I’d murdered his master. So he was somewhere nearby.
The wolf with silver eyes wagged his tail then stood and trotted outside of the tent. I breathed out a sigh of relief. The wolf was frightening, even if he didn’t appear to want to harm me.
Taking a look around, I was in a rather tall and large tent. This bed of furs was also over-sized. I suppose both must be to fit the size of the creature who lived here.
Gods above.Was I now captive of that monster?
Pushing out of the bed, I stood and wobbled on my feet. I still had all of my clothes on, thank the gods. Even my apron. I tucked my hand into the pocket, finding the elkmine otter pelt still there. I sniffed at the sting of tears wanting to spill over, remembering the kindness of the old wraith fae. And especially of Haldek. He’d helped me escape. If I made my way back to Haldek’s tavern, he would give me supplies to flee farther into dark fae territory. I was certain of it. Unless the Mevian guards were waiting and watching his tavern for my return.
I had to try. I needed to sneak out of here and make my way back through the woods. Taking one of the furs—a soft gray one—from the bed, I wrapped it around my shoulders, pulling it tight around my neck. Then I tip-toed toward the opening of the tent.
Peering through the flap, I didn’t see the wolf or the beast. Only the flickering of a campfire. I slipped through and carefully stepped toward the dark woods—not exactly thrilled about setting off back into the cold.
“Where do you think you’re going?” came a deep, gravelly voice behind me.
Heart pounding, I turned to see the beast fae male standing in the halo of firelight opposite me, his arms bloody with one clawed hand holding half of a deer carcass over one shoulder.
He was bare-chested, wearing pants made of a dark hide. Demon runes decorated his upper chest, curling across his pectorals in swirls and slashes with smaller runes inked by his gods across his forehead. Four massive black horns with a thick ridge of bone spiraled out of his head, slightly curling over his skull. One of his long, pointed ears twitched as he scowled at mewith bright, golden eyes. And his tail, also long, covered with the same fine pelt that seemed to cover his skin and tufted slightly at the tip, flicked behind him with agitation.
My pulse sped faster. He was more terrifying than I remembered in that blink when I woke from my fever. If I ran, he could take two pounces and tackle me down without any effort.
“Seems your fever broke,” he grumbled then marched toward the fire, heaving the haunch of bloody deer off of his back.
With his free hand, he gripped the wooden handle of the long spike hanging over the fire between two tripods. And with hardly any effort at all, he stabbed the spike straight through the deer carcass then set it back over the fire. He walked a few paces away from the fire and dipped his hands into the snow, lifting a handful of it and rubbing it along his bloody arms.
He was cleaning himself this way?
I stared in absolute wonder at this barbaric creature as he took a rag hanging from a branch and dried his hands, only half the blood gone from his limbs.
He sat on a stump that had obviously been cut and rolled to the fire, the perfect width and height for him. Even sitting, he was intimidatingly…large. I couldn’t quite catch my breath. His wolf plopped down next to him and stared at me, just as his master did now.
The beast fae’s scowl deepened as he regarded me. “Are you mute, woman? Or did you lose the use of your tongue when you ran off into the snow to kill yourself?”
It was my turn to frown. “I wasn’t trying to kill myself,” I snapped.
“Ah, she does have a tongue, Wolf.”
That drew my attention to the regal hound at his side. I’d heard that beast fae rode their Meer-wolf hounds. This was a colossus of an animal. He’d have to be, to carry this beast fae.
“Never seen one before?” he asked, watching me staring.
