Miatta
“You can't be serious, Miatta! You want to turn back now? Think about what you are about to do!” Ramona admonished at the top of her voice. I pulled her into the shadows and slapped my palm onto her mouth.
“Unless you want to be caught and dragged back to that land of bondage, I suggest you lower your tone and listen to me!”
She swallowed twice, her eyes damp and became calm. When I was sure she would not break down in tears, I lifted my palm off her lips and gave her my back. I couldn't explain the feeling I was having but I just couldn't leave Red Bone Pack. My heart was there, lying asleep in the woods while my body was planning on leaving. It just didn't seem right.
“Once I get you over the mountains, you will go on without me. Don't look back, don't think about this land, about Addy or me. I will be fine. Stick to the shadows and when it is dawn, run as fast as your legs can carry you. You are a wolf and you can easily find your way once you channel your senses in the right way. I’m sorry but it has to be this way.”
“You love him, the Prince,” she insisted, when I opened my mouth to deny it. She had seen through me for the first time and honestly, there was no use hiding the truth. She would soon be on her way and my secret would go along with her.
“Yes, I do and because of that, I cannot leave him but that has nothing to do with your safety. We have to go leave now while the shadows linger. Soon, the moon will go asleep and the trees will not be enough cover for us.”
I grabbed her by the hand and pulled hard before she could protest. She followed after me silently without me having to ask. I tore off the ripped edges of my dress to hasten my steps and the sound broke my heart all over again. We got to a marshy area yet we stomped through it carefully so as not to get stuck. The mountains were the most difficult obstacles and the gravels were sharp and pointy. Ramona winced from time to time as the sharp edges nicked at her flesh mercilessly. Wolves healed quickly but the pricks were tortuous, coming at times when you least expected. I tried to dodge as much as possible but I got my fair share of the rocks. It occurred to me that I would have to pass through the same route on my way back and my spirit sank. What one did for love, I thought, sighing bitterly.
Somehow, we managed to get by in one piece and I saw a path that continued down into the woods. It was how far I would go. Suddenly, Ramona hugged me fiercely and held on in a firm embrace. I felt the emotions brimming in my throat and I blinked fast to keep threatening tears at bay.
“This is it,” I said to no one in particular, my voice hoarse with pent-up sadness. “You have to go now, Ramona.”
“Please, change your mind, Miatta. I’m scared to go on alone,” she confessed, her tears overflowing down her cheeks. “I miss Addy already and I will miss you terribly too.” Me?
“Why will you miss me? We are hardly friends.”
She sniffed and got a hold on herself. “You are nice. You pretend not to be but you are nice and loyal as well. You are giving up your freedom for your mate and he doesn't even know. That is the most beautiful sacrifice and if that is not a nice thing, then I don't know what is.”
My head spun from her praises and soon, I felt a drop roll down my cheek. I lifted a finger to catch it before it got to my jaw. Ramona and I were only brought together occasionally by Addy but till then, I never thought much about her. She was shy, overly sensitive yet wise with a discerning head on her shoulders. I would miss her too, but I wasn't planning on letting her know.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, making little out of her praise. “You can let go now, Ramona.”
She peeled her hands off me and sighed deeply in resignation. She held my hands briefly and let go too. “Give Addy all my love. I understand. Goodbye and may the Goddess bless you for helping me.”
Ramona set off on the track without looking back even once. She was good at keeping to instructions but I knew it was not the reason that made her walk straight ahead. She was afraid of looking back and breaking down again, her weakness spurring her on. When she was out of sight, I glanced behind me and began the painful journey back.
Lucas
I woke up alone in the woods with Ryker standing at a distance. I remembered spooning Miatta from behind before I fell asleep yet, I was by myself in the darkness. My bodyguard looked away respectfully, unwilling to look upon my nakedness. However, I was more interested in the whereabouts of my mate.
“Ryker, how long was I out?”
A bow preceded his response, his eye level well above my body. “For more than two hours, my Lord.”
Two hours?! Why in the name of the Goddess had I been asleep for that long? Perhaps, Ryker had not wanted to bother my rest but the festival was over and I was supposed to be delighting in my mate all night long.
“Where is Miatta?”
I noticed a light shuffling of his legs, a sign of his uneasiness. Ryker was never nervous or rather, usually succeeded in hiding his nervousness and so, I knew that something was wrong.
“My Lord, I'm sorry but Mistress has returned to the slave room. The festival is over and she decided that you no longer had an excuse to keep her in your custody without raising brows in the Hall of Alphas. She was thinking about your welfare, my Lord.”
“And here you are,” I attacked him without reason, “making excuses for her. You didn't stop her from returning to that room and you have the guts to stand before me?”
He fell to his knees before me, his head bowed in shame. Valiantly, he offered his bone knife to me in submission.
“I have failed you, my Lord. Mistress is not one to be compelled to do anything but that is not an excuse for my incompetence. I am terribly sorry and I deserve whatever punishment you prescribe.”
Naked though I was, I got up from the dirt and lifted the knife from his outstretched hands. My wolf was not seeing my trusted bodyguard at that moment; he was just a lycan who had let my mate slip away. I pointed the tip of his knife to his throat and he remained silent, waiting for his punishment.
“Prove you are sorry with action, not useless words. Bring me Miatta tonight by any means necessary or risk dying by your own sword.”