Page 92 of Wolf’s Fated Bride

I sit up, then rest my elbows on my bent knees. The dent made by the missing flesh on my arm worries me. I lost half my arm muscles, which will take months to regrow.

“We’ve made slow progress,” Blade says. “The horses are old and tired.”

“Maybe they’ll collapse and die, and we can finally stop moving away from Stormcrest.” I shake my head. “If something happens to Runa, I’ll kill you.”

Blade offers me a hand, and I take it so he can pull me up. My head swims, but that’s just from sudden movements and lying down too long. A day spent in bed purging poison is a long time for me.

I sway on my feet, nearly losing my footing, but Blade catches me and draws my arm over his shoulders, then helps me walk.

“Are you able to piss, or do you want me to hold it for you?” he asks.

“How do you know I have to go?”

“I’m a mind reader.”

Some days, I want to slap him. “I’m not going to piss with you attached to my hip.”

Blade walks me back to the wagon. I lean my shoulder against it when Blade lets go so I can release my bladder.

“Where are we?” I ask when I return to where Blade and Belda are camping. I unfold the offered chair and sit down.

“We’re near my village,” the healer says. “What’s left of it after the volcano erupted.”

“Are we still in Stormcrest territory?”

She nods.

Great. “Let’s eat something, turn around, and head back.”

“No can do,” Blade says, stretching his arms.

“Not asking for permission.” My arm throbs. “Do you have anything for pain?”

The healer sets up a charcoal firepit. She blows into the fire. “Maybe. You should know that the humans are becoming very good at inventing poisons for you. That’s your fault. If they had no access to your fire, they’d have learned nothing of it. But you let those Regulators study your element and medicate you.” The healer smiles and looks up. “But the moon knows. The moon always knows.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say.

“It’s all nonsense,” Blade says. “Except one thing. She wants you to suffer because she believes you caused the volcanic eruption that destroyed her village, so she won’t give you pain meds.”

“I had nothing to do with the eruption. It was a natural occurrence.”

“I don’t believe you,” the healer says, then pulls her dark, curly hair away from her face into a bun.

“Believe what you want.” I focus on my chest, where there’s a tug toward the Stormcrest castle. It’s where Runa is. The tugging won’t leave me alone. I have to go back. I can’t return home without her. “Can we sneak into the castle without being noticed?” I ask Blade.

“Maybe. I can retrace our steps, but it’s not going to be easy. We sailed partway.”

“Of course we did.” Another option is to return with fire, but I don’t think Runa would appreciate me burning down her entire pack. I would like to marry her someday, and she loves her pack and her family.

The healer preps a rat for dinner by skinning it, then staking it.

“You have no alchemy vials on you,” she says as she turns the rodent over the fire. “Not a single vial. Blade has a box of them. I want the box and any other alchemy supplies you might carry as payment for my services.”

“That’s fine,” Blade says.

“Tell me, Fireborn,” Belda says before biting into the side of the rodent. The fact that she’s serving herself first speaks of her displeasure with me. She talks while she chews. “Do the alchemists know you’ve met your moon?”

“With that moon stuff again.” Blade folds into the chair, expelling a long breath.