Erin (book 1 of Erin Series)

twenty-six

Sleeping in the cave was uncomfortable, I tossed and turned all night, but the hard rock beneath me prevented me from sleeping. Also every time I would fall asleep I would wake from nightmares of the Pandareos attacking Rune and I. Damek made sure that he slept near me, incase any of the men had the wrong idea and tried to touch me. I am grateful for his protectiveness, but part of me still wants to hate him.
Finally I sit up and rub my eyes looking over to see Dakota asleep next to my legs. I sigh, the cave around us has darkened greatly, for no one has kept the fire going, and it's starting to get chilly again.
"Sleeping in a cave isn't the greatest place to sleep, but I assure you it is safe here." Damek whispers.
I turn to him surprised he is still awake. "I do not fear my safety." I say bluntly.
He just looks at me for a moment. I look around the cave to find Rune, and when I don't see him I start to stand up.
"You're friend is sleeping over in the corner, we wanted him to stay in a quiet place, so we did not disturb his sleep."
I sit back down, and think about Rune for a moment. "He will be alright, won't he?" I ask.
"Yes. We have been dealing with these men for a long time now. Researching them, and following them. When we found out they hide in this moutain, we traveled here to stay for several months, hoping to kill them off. Seems my captain now has a different idea." Damek sits up, his blanket falling off, exposing his toned chest.
The shadows in the cave cause his face to look even creepier than I thought it was before. I don't understand what it is about this man that I don't like. I turn away from him and look down at Dakota, watching her breathing slowly as she sleeps. Her fur soft, and bright against the dark cave floor. I turn back to look at Damek, who is also staring at Dakota.
"She is beautiful. How did you manage to keep her?" His eyes gaze over to mine.
"I raised her from a pup. A black wolf attacked her and her mother, and I saved them, killing the black wolf and making a cloak out of his fur." I touch the fur of the cloak around me.
He looks shocked, "I didn't think a person your size could take down a wolf that big. You are a lot stronger than you seem, Erin."
I dip my head. "Thank you." I take pride in my strength.
"Try and get some sleep. We have a long journey tomorrow." He lays back down turning his back to me.
I look back down at Dakota who has opened her eyes to look at me, she blinks them and then closes them once more to fall back asleep. I finally lay back down on my back staring at the ceiling of the cave until my eyes are forced asleep from fatigue.

I am woken too early, my eyes are heavy and my head is groggy. I turn to my side and groan, not wanting to get up.
"Come on, Erin, we gotta go." I hear someone say. I roll my eyes and turn on my other side ignoring the person. I see legs inches away from my face, and look up to see who is standing there.
Keir looks down at me with a dark expression that causes me to jump to my feet.
"If this is how you were raised, we shouldn't even bother accompanying you to the kingdom." He speaks in his deep tone.
"No, sir. I was just tired. Had a rough nights sleep last night." Part of me tells me to look down at the ground be submissive toward him, but I stand tall and look into his dark eyes.
"It doesn't matter if you had a rough nights sleep, you want us to help you out, you listen to us." He takes a step closer to me as if he is challenging me.
I open my mouth to speak but Damek speaks too soon. "Come on, Cap, be easy on her. She onl-"
"I don't care who she is, or where she came from. If she's part of our group, she listens to our commands." Keir snaps at Damek.
I clench my fist and take a small step toward him, inches from him. I am much shorter than him, so I have to look up to his face. "It was not my first choice to come here. In fact the only reason I am here, is because my friend thought it would be a good idea. If it were up to me, Damek would be dead right now!" I hear gasps, but ignore them. Before I can even react, Keir has taken his hand to my throat and shoves me against the stone wall of the cave, hard.
"You need to learn to respect leadership and not talk back, little girl." Keir growls through his teeth. "Do not threaten my men again, or I will have you killed. We are here to help you, and if you don't like that, then leave." He pulls me off the wall and throws me onto the ground with much force, knocking the breath out of me.
Dakota barks and is about to charge toward Keir but I hold my hand up. She stops instantly. I sit up and cough once to try and get air back into my lungs. I glare up at Keir, but he's already turned around and walked away to pack his stuff away. By now all the men are awake and packing their stuff out of fear for their captain.
Damek kneels next to me, to help me stand back up. I pull away from his arms once I am on my feet. "I'm fine." I say sharply and walking away from him and toward the entrance of the cave.
I need to make sure the horses are alright, and prepared to head out. I also want some fresh air to help burn off some of my steam. If only Keir knew my place in the mercenary group, maybe he would have a bit more respect toward me.
I walk down the dark hall until I see the light from outside once more, and am finally outside. The air is chilled, and I don't miss it at all. I walk over to the horses. Someone must have come outside over night and covered them with heavy blankets to keep them warm, because they are still wearing them. My horse is happy to see me and I pet his white head. "We will be out of the snow soon. Don't worry." I whisper, and start getting him ready to depart.
"Keir should not have acted that way toward you. I don't know what his problem is this morning." Dameks voice comes from behind me.
I roll my eyes at the thought of him following me outside. I turn to face him. "It doesn't matter. I don't want him to treat me any different just because I am a woman. Maybe I did need to realize that I'm not in my mercenary group anymore, and I don't have the leadership I once had."
"Keir doesn't like pride. And you have a lot of pride." He pauses, and takes a step toward me. "You were a mercenary? What happened?"
I turn away from him and continue to tighten the straps on my horse, and make sure we still have food supply. "Yes. I was banned from the group, because I am a woman." I say not wanting to get into it. I hadn't realized how harsh I sound until now. When he doesn't respond I finally speak. "Sorry. It's just a long story that I don't want to get into at the moment." I turn to face him. He still stands where he was.
"I respect that. But I disagree with their actions."
"Yeah, so do I." I say turning around once more to finish up with the horses.
"I thought you were going to leave, when you walked out."
"I'm not."
"I see that now. I'm sure Keir will be happy with your decision."
I turn around once more. "I don't give a damn what Keir thinks, or how he feels. I don't even care if you guys accompany us! I don't know why you are, but I'm not questioning it. Rune obviously is fine with it, and therefore I am too. I don't know what your reasoning is behind it, but I really don't care. I just want to get out of this snow, out of the cold, and get to the kingdom to maybe finally find out who I am for once in my life." I walk past him going toward the entrance of the cave, and stop when I see Rune exiting.
He sighs in relief. "There you are." He looks over at Damek. "Keir is looking for you, his troops are ready to leave." He turns to face me once more. "I take it you are as well?"
I nod and watch Damek walk back into the cave, I start to follow him but Rune steps in my way grabbing my arms. I pull away from him, but he only grabs my arms again with a firmer grip. "Let me look at your neck." He snaps at me.
I stare at him for a moment but finally turn away to let him look at my neck. "I'm fine." I feel his fingers touch the skin, and realize my neck feels a little sore.
"If he touches you like that again-"
"He won't." I interrupt him, turning to face him.
He looks at me for a long moment, I never tear away from his gaze. Finally I see movement coming from the cave and men walk out into the snow. Rune let's go of me, and nods toward the horses. We walk over, mounting them, and wait for Keirs command of when to head out.
Finally when he exits the cave he walks in our direction, his eyes meeting mine with untrust, but he looks away after he passes us, leading the way out of the mountain.