Page 93 of Wolf’s Fated Bride

“You boys should hear me out and not ignore an old woman. Wisdom comes after the trials of youth. You’re still young.”

Blade and I are thirty-three.

Blade rolls his eyes. “She thinks Runa is your moon.”

“Is that the name of the female who marked you?” Belda asks.

I rear back. “Marked me?”

Two other rodents join the roast over the firepit. “The moon marks the wolf. Your mark is on your palm.”

I show her the pearlescent stain. “This?”

Belda nods and tosses a rodent to Blade. I guess I’m eating last. My belly rumbles.

“How can the moon mark anything when it’s above us?” Blade asks before he crushes the rodent’s bones between his powerful jaws. I guess he’s as starved as I am. Zero manners.

“How does grass grow?” she counters.

“Fertile ground. Seeds. Water,” I answer her, trying not to drool.

“The ground is of the earth element. Air is Skyrender. Fire destroys.”

“Fire resets. The patch of grass I see over there will grow into a lush forest,” I say. “It wouldn’t have had an opportunity to grow if fire hadn’t burned through this region.”

“I’d rather have my family than grass,” she counters.

“Me too, Belda, but here we are, alone. I already said I’m sorry for your losses. You don’t have to forgive me.” I rise and attempt to walk, but stars play over my eyes.

Blade hands me a rat. I’m not hungry anymore.

“You have to regain your strength,” he says.

“I have to get Runa.”

“How? By crawling back to her?” Blade asks.

“If that’s what it takes.”

“Eat the food, Fireborn. If the humans know about your moon, they’ll take her, and you will never see her again.”

Blade rolls his eyes. “Don’t listen to her. Just eat her food and let’s move on. I have to get us away from the open sky. I can hear the buzzing of the drones.”

“That’s not a drone,” the healer says. “That’s the train returning to the human territory from Stormcrest territory.”

A familiar feeling stirs in my chest. Warm. Fuzzy. Feminine. Mine. “I think Runa is on that train.”

“You think?” Blade asks and offers me food again.

I reject it. “We have to go.” I start walking in the direction I feel Runa, letting my internal compass guide me to her.

“Wait.” The healer rounds me and puts her hands on my chest, then yelps when she burns her palms. “You must bond your moon. When you get her to safety, you say these words: Surrender your moon to that which owns it.”

“Such horseshit,” Blade says.

Belda ignores him. “Tell her. She will know. The moon always knows.”

“Fine. I’ll bite. What does the moon know?”