Huntress

Chapter 70

Ryder was rightfully hesitant to stop by Milo's house but I was as persistent as ever. I could have taken the opportunity to walk away from everything. I had no more tethers to their world. I was free of wolf drain and no longer had a werewolf mate. No one would hold me accountable if I moved on with my life and didn't look back.

It would have been easier to release it all.

But something was nagging at me and I had never been one to leave loose ends untied.

The little mountain home was just like I remembered, the only difference being the autumn chill in the air now.

I froze for a brief moment outside, the memories bombarding me like a slap in the face. I had just been slumped in a seated position while the two of them had fought. The stillness. The inability to move a limb. Not being able to call after Ryder when he sped away. The helplessness struck me with a violence that I didn't expect and couldn't label.

His hand slipped into mine now and gave me a comforting squeeze.

"I'm so sorry, George," he said. "I'm not making excuses, but I was terrified. I was scared and angry at myself. I didn't know what to do and I made a bad judgement call."

"I understand." And I did. He had gone through something awful, just like I had. There might have been safer and healthier ways to deal with it, but it was too late for that now. "There's a lot to think about with coming back here, but I don't blame you for any of it," I promised.

We walked to the front door together and rang the doorbell.

Milo appeared a moment later.

The rage was instant.

"Did you bring Georgia as a buffer?" Milo snarled, but leaned his body against the threshold. Even with all the time between the assault, his face still revealed what had happened in that shed. Dimple and scarred skin. And boiling anger.

"Have you not learned that I can take you on single handedly?" Ryder purred back.

It was peculiar thing to think about: that this was his element. The moment in the shed, with a blade gleaming in his hand, was his natural habitat. I experienced the part of him that he hid from the world, the one that had vulnerabilities and fears, happiness and highs.

But now was not the time for these things.

"We need to talk," I said.

"That's absolutely delightful and I'm really happy that you're actually able to speak for yourself this time, but maybe you remember the fact that your mate here kidnapped me, tortured me, and threaten to kill me," Milo bit back, ticking each item off on his fingers. "Don't worry though, I'm sure he'll dump you here when you get wolf drain again."

The door would have been slammed in my face had I not wedged my foot in the threshold. I repressed a wince and met Milo's irritated gaze.

"I don't have wolf drain anymore. And I can't remember everything that happened, but I need to figure this out," I admitted.

He was completely unimpressed and my little speech did nothing to pull on the heart strings. "Then figure it out with your mate and his royals. I left the hunters. And when you came crawling back to me, you dragged me right back under. I just want to have my own life again, Georgia. You want to throw your own away, fine, but stay out of mine."

"We aren't mates anymore," I blurted.

It was a stupid thing to stay, but it was enough to make Milo pause. The pressure on my foot eased ever so slightly.

"Mates are permanent," he said dumbly.

"Not if you're given medication that rips it out of you."

That was what allowed us to enter his home. Though there wasn't much of an invitation, more of a stumble backwards and my shoving my way in opportunistically. It was clear in the way Milo constantly watched Ryder that he was expecting the worst, but for a man who had been tortured, he was doing remarkably well. No drinks were offered and we all sat on the edge of our seats at his kitchen table.

"So now you two are together because...?"

"We love each other," Ryder stated.

"You picked a real winner here, Georgia," Milo said sarcastically.

Ryder tensed at my side, but kept his mouth shut when I settled my hand on his thigh.

"We aren't here to talk about this right now."

"You shouldn't be here at all."

"Milo, do you know why Ryder brought you into the royal lands?" I felt like I was steering this conversation like a car in a snow storm.

"So he could blame me for poisoning you or the king."

"While I was with Keiko and Ajax, Ajax ate something that came from the freezer while I was in the care facility," I explained.

"And Ryder thought it was me that put it there."

"He might have, but he doesn't now and I certainly don't. But, I did think it was odd that the last time I saw Dawn, she brought cinnamon buns with her. And I found it strange that I started to show signs of wolf drain right around the time that my parents passed away."

"You took Ryder to see your parents, didn't you?" Milo countered. "You might have gotten wolf drain around the same time as your parents' passing because you were spending time with a werewolf, then you decided to bring the wolf around your already damaged family members."

The thought made my throat tight. No, I couldn't have. I couldn't be the reason that my parents... "Right, I hear what you are saying." Though I dearly wished I hadn't. "However, Ajax had a severe reaction to consuming the leftovers that were taken from my freezer."

"If I were an organization against werewolves, I would probably spike my food with something that could kill them, too," Milo said, folding his arms over his chest. "Who knows, maybe that's why they started a café. Maybe every single piece of food we sold at the shop was poisoned on the off chance that a werewolf would eat it and then we wouldn't have to go out there and hunt them ourselves."

"Which makes sense, I guess. But when I took the medication that had been made to cure King Ajax, it also cured me of my wolf-drain."

"And what exactly did this medication do?"

"Well, I don't really know. The doctor tried explaining it to me, but I didn't understand a lot of it. I don't really know anything about the medical field and I don't really have a lot of experience with magic so it kind of went over my head," I admitted. "But, the main function was to pull out non-owned magic. Any magic that I was not born with should have been pulled out of my body, which is why we are not longer mates, because it destroyed the mate bond."

Milo pondered this for a moment, but ended up simply shrugging. "If wolf drain is the affect of wolf-magic mingling with human energy, then wouldn't it make sense that it would cure you anyway? Yeah, I think it's a little odd that Ajax had that reaction, but he did eat something that was probably prepared by hunters. Sure, the timing of things is weird. But why would Armond and Dawn intentionally hurt your parents? Why would they hurt you if you were their best hunter? And what would be the point of killing werewolves, if wolf-drain was induced through something not even related to werewolves? What makes you think it wasn't just werewolf magic being pulled out of you?" he pressed.

"I- I don't know," I confessed. I couldn't very well explain that it was a woman with plum skin and black eyes that made me believe that it was something else. I hadn't even told Ryder about the visions. They had felt so real at the time, but even now, months later, I was still trying to figure out what had been a dream and what had been reality. A woman with constellations for freckles didn't seem to fit into the real category.

"Listen, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Armond and Dawn are saints. I left because I felt like they weren't telling us the whole truth and that they weren't taking our safety as seriously as they should have been. But I have seen too many people get wolf-drain to not think it's real. And I can't think of a single reason why they would lie about something like that," he stated.

"Milo—" I didn't know what I could say. He was right. And I knew it.

"I think it would be best if you were on your way," he said flatly. "As someone who is thoroughly aware of the risks, I would appreciate it if you took your little pet out of my home."

I felt like I didn't have a choice. 

~~~Question of the Day~~~

What is currently the background on your phone?