A single beat of silence punctuates the air between us before he spins and marches towards his wolf. Within a heartbeat he has mounted and they’re disappearing off into the night.
Guess I’m stretching alone tonight.
I grab the sword. Fuck him.Fuckhim.
Chapter 23
Kyor tightens the clasp of the saddlebags on the mare that Caz and I have been riding. ‘We need to get going,’ he snaps the moment he sees me. I don’t know when he came back last night or if he even slept at all, but judging from the scowl on his face, he’s definitely not over our conversation. At least there are no sparks rising from his hands though. That’s something.
Memories of the way he looked at me before he disappeared surge through my mind, but I do all I can to quash them. He doesn’t have the right to make me feel like I’m the one in the wrong. Not when I would have given Kyor my everything. Iwantedto give him my everything. He’s the one who didn’t believe it was worth it – thatIwas worth it.
‘We’re moving out now,’ he barks again. ‘Saddle up. We’re not having a leisurely start today.’
‘Really, no breakfast?’ Benny yawns as he stretches.
‘We’ll stop for an early lunch,’ Kyor responds.
I don’t know when we decided he could start giving orders, and I’m about to tell him we can wait – just so we have time to get ourselves sorted – but as he glances back towards the line of mountains we passed through the day before, a frown creases his brows, setting off a frisson of nervousness within me. This isn’t about me. Kyor is concerned aboutsomething else. Worried, even. And that’s not something I’ve ever seen from him before.
Ignoring the prince’s demands to get going, Ruben ambles over to me, arms outstretched.
‘Need warming up?’ he says loudly. ‘I can make it fast. Or slow. Whatever you fancy really.’ He grins with a wicked wink.
The truth is, I’m freezing and it’s not an offer I’m going to refuse, yet I’m well aware that Kyor watches, teeth audibly grinding, as Ruben wraps his arms tightly around me.
Despite his seething, Kyor says nothing, and I don’t know if that’s a good sign or not. Maybe he’s learning to tolerate our friendship. Or maybe whatever he’s worried about is too big a distraction to bother with petty squabbles. The thought isn’t as comforting as it should be.
As I try to ignore Kyor, Ruben pulls me even closer and slowly runs his hands up and down my arms, then down to the small of my back. Normally his hugs are gentle, caring, and warming, so the way his hands ghost over my skin makes it clear he’s trying to rile the prince.
‘Ruben,’ I warn softly. ‘Don’t poke a sleeping dire wolf.’
He grins, lowers his lips to my ear, and murmurs as if he is saying something intimate to me, ‘But it’s so much fun.’
I flush a little. Ruben knows my body. Knows that the shell of my ear is sensitive. Knows that I like the whisper of warm breath on it.
And Kyor knows it too.
There is a sharp crack as the tree nearest to us is struck by lightning, and white light sears my vision for a split second.
So much for thinking he was getting over it.
‘What the hell, Kyor?’ I yell as I leap away from Ruben. ‘Was that really necessary?’
‘Stay away from her,’ he snarls at Ruben. ‘Or next time it won’t be the tree burning, but your fucking insides.’
With that, he marches off and mounts Elska, and immediately the pair stride off into the distance. He really wasn’t joking about not waiting, and given that we need Elska’s nose to lead us through the forest, I guess we’re going now too. My eyes catch Benny’s just as his hands begin to move, and I offer him the most withering glare I can. Kyor may be the one with temper issues, but I swear to the Gods, if Benny makesthat finger triangle again, it’ll be the last time he can move his fingers for a long time.
When I first woke, my plan was to ride with Ruben – not because I wanted to rile Kyor, but because I thought my friend might actually want the company. With everything that’s going on, I’m aware we’ve brushed past his grief as if it’s irrelevant. And it’s not. It’s only been a couple of days since the cloaks took his mother. Her loss is surely on his mind, and maybe having someone to talk to about it would help. But after Kyor’s display, I know it’s not worth making things worse, so I saddle up with Caz, making a mental note to speak with Ruben later.
It takes the three horses several minutes to catch up with Kyor and Elska, and even then, we decide to give them a wide berth.
‘How are you feeling this morning?’ Caz asks me as Benny and Ruben fall in behind us, the pair chatting away like best friends.
‘Truthfully?’ I reply.
‘Always.’
‘Like I would love a good shower. Also, I wish I’d had time to empty my bladder before Kyor threw his little tantrum and we all had to go.’
