Asch stopped walking and rubbed his nose against the top of her head, before sighing. “You’re just going to have to trust me, Mila.”
He didn’t give her any false promises, and she found that oddly comforting. They would never have a safe or secure life. She had left ‘safe and secure’ behind when she’d chosen to join the pack. For now, all she could do was trust the men that she loved.
“Okay.”
~~~
Once her wounds were bound, the color slowly returned to Sable’s cheeks. Lotus stayed by her side beneath the furs, keeping Sable’s body warm. She would live, but not without considerable scarring. It had been irresponsible of her to go off on her own and get herself captured, but the fault lay primarily with Caim.
Lotus had been right. His impulsive retaliation had jeopardized his entire pack. No one had died this time, but many had been badly wounded. If Asch and the others had not arrived when they did, things may have gone very differently. He may have died. The cats may have breached the den, and then Mila…
Caim moved to get up, but Fern clamped a hand down on his shoulder.
“Hold still, hot stuff. I’m not done back here.”
His jaw ticked with his irritation. The best thing about Fern was that she was almost always gone. “Hurry and finish. I have things to do.”
As Fern sewed up the lacerations on his back, Caim simmered in his own self-loathing. He knew that his mate was safe with Asch. He had seen her in passing a while ago, when Asch had brought her up from the underground. He just wanted out of the central cavern, away from the wounded and away from Sable, whose prone form was a constant reminder of his failure as an alpha. He had put his pride before the good of the pack, and they had suffered because of it.
When his wounds were sufficiently doctored, Fern released him. After checking on Sable one last time, he made his way down the passage that led to his mate’s room, ignoring the stinging pain of his injuries.
Asch was awake. He sat up in bed, his back against the wall. Mila was wrapped tightly in furs, sound asleep in his arms. Watching them together from the doorway, Caim suddenly felt as if he were intruding. He did not like the feeling. Asch glanced up at him and frowned.
“Come get some rest,” he said in a quiet voice. “You look like shit.”
Caim complied, dragging himself over to the bed. He settled down beside them, gazing over at Mila. She was snoring lightly, a sound he’d grown so accustomed to that it was comforting in its familiarity. Her hand, pale in the moonlight, rested between them, as if she were reaching out to him. He covered it with his own, for the first time feeling the weight of responsibility.
“I feel very weak,” Caim said.
He thought he saw Asch roll his eyes. “She told me about the cat. It was stupid, but I’m glad that everything turned out the way that it did.” Caim cocked a brow at him. “You were bound to do something like this sooner or later,” Asch explained. “You can’t keep doing things like you used to.”
Mila made a small sound as she shifted beneath the furs. They both watched her, making sure she hadn’t woken. When she remained quiet for a few moments, Asch went on, “You have a mate. You might be a father soon. All of your decisions will affect them, and you need to think about that before you make them. What you did was stupid, but what’s important is that you learn from it and don’t do it again.”
Caim listened to the admonishment, his eyes growing heavy as some of the weight lifted from his conscience. Asch had a way of always being able to tell him what he needed to hear. He would learn to be better for Mila, and for his son.
Despite his tiredness, he remembered that there was another issue yet unresolved. “What of Blackthorn?”
Asch’s expression darkened. “Not good. Talon was gone by the time we got there. Their pack is raising hell all over the area. At this rate, Carter County will have a strong case to get the military involved.”
Caim stiffened. That was one threat that concerned even him. Human soldiers meant guns, many guns. There was nothing so devastating to their kind as the indiscriminate bullets of a human military. They would raid the countryside, ignorantly gunning down any wolves in their path. His hand tightened around Mila’s.
“We will go north,” he said.
“We made a treaty with Tye. If we go north, there’ll be no one to look out for them.” Caim gave him an impatient look. Asch held up a hand. “I know. We’ll talk about it with the others tomorrow.”
They could talk about whatever they wanted. One way or another, as soon as his wounds had healed, Caim was taking his mate away from the valley.
CLAIMED: PART SIX
Caim insists on moving the pack farther north, but Asch isn’t about to drag his pregnant mate through the frigid winter mountains. Mila gets a brief taste of civilization as she, Asch, and Brae hit the road, traveling upstate by car.
Despite her reluctance to leave, the new den isn’t so bad. But as her pregnancy progresses, Mila must come to terms with her feelings surrounding parenthood, as well as her painful past.
5/6/2014
For pre-release notifications, sign up for the Mailing List
For more information on the series, visit the Blog or Facebook
Feel free to follow me on Twitter
Claimed by the Alphas: Part Five Page 6
