“I’m hermate,” Rage snarled, stepping between me and the other man. “And we’re just passing through. We don’t want any trouble, but if you won’t let us go, we’ll fight.”
Obviously, the guy wasn’t out for blood or he would’ve never shifted into his human form.
“John,” a woman said, appearing fully clothed where one of the wolves had just been. Wavy blond hair fell past her shoulders, and her blue eyes were lined with what my father called crow’s feet. She offered me a soft smile and then rolled her eyes toward John before taking her place at his side. “They aren’t guards from the alpha king.”
She unbuttoned her coat and stepped toward me, holding out the thick garment. “Go ahead,” she coaxed. “I can see you’re cold.”
I snorted with self-deprecation. Pretty sureeveryonecould see I was cold.
“Thank you,” I murmured, stepping past Rage to take the coat. I slid my arms in, and my shoulders sagged with relief as warmth swallowed me. I buttoned up the front of the jacket and then pushed Rage’s hands down.‘Don’t you dare strike after that kindness.’
“Sara, you don’t know them,” the man named John groaned. “He’s a Midnight Packheir.” He pointed to Rage’s forehead.
And at the same time, Rage responded in my head, ‘You don’t know if that’s a ploy—’
“I can see that, darling,” Sara said. “But they’re runningawayfrom where the king’s men are, not toward it.”
I grinned up at Rage. ‘See? She’s cool. Let’s try and roll with it. We both need food and more sleep. It seems like they’re familiar with the area. Maybe they can help us.’
Rage furrowed his brow.‘He’s a Daybreak Clan heir… I’ve heard about him: Mallory’s uncle.’
Evil Barbie should spend time in those outer rings of death, but maybe her uncle wasn’t all bad. Before I could respond to Rage, Sara spoke again.
“Girls,” Sara said, snapping her fingers at the other three wolves. “Get back to the house and make it presentable. Hopefully, we’ll return with our guests promptly. Lizbeth, make sure to warm something for them to eat.”
Relief washed through me at her words. “Thank you. We’d be so grateful.”
She nodded. “I smell blood. Is one of you injured?”
Pointing out my alpha-male companion’s weak spot wouldn’t be smart, so I hesitated, forcing my gaze to the ground instead of my mate. I wasn’t sure how injured Rage was after my little blood healing magic either. Maybe he was fine.
“I’m only asking because I have a healing salve at home. Come on,” she said with a wave. “I’ll give it to you, and you two can decide if either needs it.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
Sara turned to go, and I pivoted, only to see Rage and John having an epic staredown. Even better … Rage kept his arm tucked tightly into his side as if that would mask his wound.
I threaded my arm through Rage’s and looked up as Sara elbowed John in the ribs. I had to admit, I liked her.
Rage grumbled, but he took my lead and started to walk … until John ushered us to go ahead of him.
“I’ll be two seconds behind you,” John said. He held up an oil-mister can like the kind Lona used to spray pans before she cooked. “I’m just going to spray this scent-masker where you’ve been standing to cover up the smell of your blood. The last thing we need is to have the alpha king’s guards tracking you and for your trail to lead them to us.”
Okay, this clearly wasn’t the guy’s first rodeo. He was smart. While Sara had better manners than John, he wasn’t all bad.
I craned my neck to look over my shoulder, watching as John sprayed the mister over the leaf litter. I took a deep breath in through my nose and inhaled … nothing. As in absolutely nada. Well, that explained why we didn’t scent them coming until they were right on top of us.
“What is that?” I asked.
John said nothing as he sprayed, and when he finished, he merely waved for us to move.
I caught Rage’s narrowed eyes, but then my attention went to his brow, beaded with sweat. Yikes, we’d better hurry to their home and get that salve. Maybe my blood healing mojo didn’t heal him after all. After turning back toward Sara, who would hopefully be more open with information, we began our trek through the woods. “Is that spray why we didn’t smell you?”
She nodded. “It’s a magic odor-eliminator, specific for shifters.”
“We used to get it from Dark Row,” John said from behind us. He dropped his voice and grumbled, “Not sure what we’re going to do now that the entire place has burned to the ground.”
There was no accusation in his voice, but still, I felt guilty. Not that we’d burned it down, but it was pretty suspect that just before Rage and I went into the Realm of the Dead, we’d heard the howl of the king’s wolves. Now, the place was a pile of ashes. Hopefully, Justice and Noble got out and to safety in time. I was counting on Rage letting me know if he felt anything through his pack bond—like if they were in mortal danger or had perished.
