REIKA

SIXTEEN

He was in pain. We could feel it. He ran fast, but we were able to follow him. There was a trail of blood that he had left behind him and we tracked it. The snow began to fall once more, and it quickly covered his tracks and blood, but we could still track his scent. The weather worsened, and the wind blew so strong that it became hard to see. The blood he left behind was way more than just a few drops. He was bleeding too much.

Our paws moved faster, and our heart raced as the uncertainty filled our thoughts. We feared the worst.

Why were we so worried about him?

Chasing after him for many miles, we made it far away from where the fight had taken. It took us half an hour to finally catch up with him. The scent of his blood got stronger, but we couldn't see where he had gone. If it wasn't for the fresh patches of his warm blood near the narrow entrance, we wouldn't have been able to find him. He had gotten inside a den for shelter. We cautiously snaked our head inside to see him. It was small and dark, but warm enough to shield us from the blizzard. Only a small ray of moonlight entered and shone on his white fur as if the goddess herself was lending a hand in finding him.

It only took us one glance at him to realize he indeed was badly hurt, more than we thought he'd be. His wolf was quietly whimpering from their pain and he curved his blood-soaked body. His white fur was tinted in red as he trembled.

Without hesitating, Jules got us closer to him. He didn't have the strength to move or run, so he just stayed there. The massive white wolf was slowly licking the wounds he could reach. His weak body shuddered, and it wasn't only from the freezing cold.

—You can kill us if you want to, but don't reject us.

The wolf's raspy voice said in a low, weak tone without looking at us. We thought he hadn't noticed us yet. With difficulty, he shifted his weight, and his black, wistful eyes landed on us. We had our eyes fixed on each other for a short moment before we took slow and cautious steps inside the small space to get closer to him.

His white wolf blinked weakly, and we saw him lose his strength, letting his head drop. We moved closer, wanting to have him near. Jules was sure of what he was doing, but I was conflicted. In my heart, there was a storm of feelings fighting for the control of my emotions, instincts and thoughts.

—I...

He began, but halted. I could hear the pain and shame in his wolf's voice and knew his wounds were not his biggest worry.

—Shut up and let me see.

Jules spat back, nosing his belly to move his fur. We study his wounds. It didn't look good, not at all. The cut on his side was opened, and bleeding profusely. Jules and I felt bad for him. There wasn't much we could do for him now, not in this weather. The nearest place that could help us must be over fifty miles away, and he was too weak to move.

While we were distracted with our own worries and thoughts, his wolf threw a paw over us fast, rolled us, and laid his heavy body over ours.

—Just stay, don't move.

He snuggled his nose closer to my neck, and I felt him relax. His fast breathing softened. We didn't know what to do. Jules was fine with him doing that, but I wondered if I should have pushed him away. Our wolves were their strongest when close to their true mates. Feeling us this way would help him heal faster. He would heal faster in his wolf form as well, so remaining like this was the best we could do. At this moment, I was all he had.

Just for a few hours. A few hours and no more.

I thought, convincing myself that it was the right thing to do. He did save my family. He? Idiot, bastard, creep, turd, I have called him all sorts of names because I still didn't know his real one. There was so little I knew about him, just that he was a Brunt.