by Gordon, Eva
Ulric glared at the boy. “No! You are a lycan.”
Macula’s son lowered his gaze, to avoid the alpha gladiator’s dominant stare. “Apologies, you are right.”
Lucius did not comprehend her fit was related to his miraculous healing. Ulric covered her with a blanket and walked toward the boy. “How do you feel?”
“Surprisingly better. Earlier she gave me a drink to control the pain.” His hand moved to his belly. “I felt like my insides were bleeding again. And then a pain shot through my leg as if it was being hacked off.”
Ulric wanted to kill him for unknowingly causing her to suffer, but instead twisted a smile. “Your alpha blood heals almost as fast as mine.”
Cassia’s soft moan drew his quick attention. She sat up and glanced around, her face as pale as the moon. He rushed to hold her up. She trembled as he supported her. She looked at him and then Lucius. “I’m sorry. I stayed out too long in my garden before tending you. The overbearing noon heat caused my fit.” Though weak, she stood and walked over. He held her arm; without his support, she would collapse. Her legs trembled with each step. Her bones felt as fragile as a dove’s. How was someone so delicately built able to set bones and heal with powerful magic? “Domina, allow me to carry you to your room so you may recuperate in the comfort of your bed.”
“No, Ulric, I’m fine.”
At last, she called him by his tribal name. He bowed with a smile that promised more stolen kisses. “Yes, domina.” Her cheeks flamed. Good. She understood.
Lucius moved his left leg and gritted his teeth, “See that it does not happen again!”
She cast her eyes down. “Of course, dominus.”
Used to obedience, the boy barked. “Bring me food. I’m famished!”
She bowed to the boy and pushed Ulric away. “I am well enough to walk, gladiator.” She straightened and with a slight limp left for the kitchen.
Ulric wanted to snap the ungrateful whelp’s neck. The spoiled boy should kiss her feet. She repaired his organs so he felt the pangs of hunger. It was obvious she had absorbed the pain from his broken legs, especially the one with the fractured knee. He would not allow her to administer any more of her special healing powers to Macula’s whelp.
The boy turned to Ulric. His face twisted in a petulant scowl. “Send for Eco.”
Ulric narrowed his eyes. Darkness filled his soul. Lucius deserved to know his best friend had died because of his foolhardy sport. “Eco is dead. Your father blamed him for your injury and ripped his throat out.”
His eyes widened. “You lie!”
Ulric stepped closer and moved his arm under Lucius’ nose. “Do I smell like I lie?”
Tears sprang from his eyes and he wailed. “I will have a word with Father!” He attempted to walk on his fractured legs. He collapsed, his right leg snapped, and his holler echoed throughout the villa.
Cassia dashed in. “What has happened?” She knelt beside Lucius. “Calm down.”
Lucius lamented. “Eco!”
She shot Ulric a questioning glance and then gazed at Lucius. “Don’t fret.”
Ulric’s jaw hardened as the boy writhed in pain. “I told him Eco is dead.”
She threw him a scolding look. “Whatever for? Can’t you see he has suffered enough?”
Lucius moaned and spat out. “It was not Eco’s fault.”
She placed her forefinger between his eyes. He moved to remove her fingers but his eyes rolled back and he dropped unconscious. She lifted an eyelid and sighed. “Place him back on his cot and bind him so he cannot get up.” She pointed to the rope at the corner of the room.
Ulric obeyed and lifted him, trying not to jar him. The ungrateful whelp deserved to stay on the ground. Chained on a post. Tomorrow night would be the full moon and though like all alphas the boy need not shift, the pain might cause him to succumb to the pull of the lunar cycle. He could become dangerous.
Cassia wiped perspiration from her brow. “He will sleep for a few hours while I set his bone again,” she emphasized.
He tied Lucius while she worked. He handed her the tools and assisted in any way he could as she silently repaired the damage. As she finished with the hard physical work, she gripped the cot, her face drawn in exhaustion. Ferox had told him that after a fit she should rest for hours. Now because of the boy’s reckless behavior, she had to work in a weakened state. He hunched his shoulders in shame. If only he had kept his mouth shut.
She threw him a hard look as she finished. “Why did you tell him Eco was dead?”
He glanced down at Macula’s son and sneered. “A Roman lycan needs to be strong despite the pain of the truth.”
“He is but a boy and blames himself for his mentor’s death.”
“Yet he’s a citizen of Rome. A man under the law.” Her eyes bewitched him as she stared at him and he sighed. A twinge of remorse shadowed his brief vengeance. The boy had adored his mentor. He lowered his voice. “I was there when Macula ripped Eco’s throat out.”
She swayed, and he lifted her and set her on a chair next to the boy. She fingered a strand away from Lucius’ brow. “Poor Eco. I overheard he was away from Lucius during the accident.”
“Eco thought I would be the one to execute him and begged me to listen to what really happened. He said he ordered Lucius to guard the horses and not participate until he returned from checking on a friend’s lame horse. The boy promised, but being Macula’s impetuous whelp, he disobeyed.”
“And were you going to kill him?”
“I vowed to make Eco’s death quick, but Macula shifted and mauled the screaming man. Only after his body was torn and disemboweled did Macula finally sink his fangs into his throat for the final kill.”
Her eyes widened, and she visibly shuddered. “He will hate his father.”
“He will respect his father. This is lycan justice.” Though she took the blood vow, she knew little of their true nature. She could not be a wolf maiden.
She frowned and placed her hand on his broken leg. “Leave me, so I may heal him.”
She closed her eyes and hummed. Ulric refused to let her suffer again because of the boy’s fall. “No more, Cassia.” He picked her up.
She struggled against him and punched him but to no avail. “Put me down, gladiator!”
He threw her over his shoulder. “I will not allow you to have another fit!”
She pounded his back. “But he needs healing!”
“He sleeps and he is strong. You on the other hand need to rest. Ferox said if you undergo more than one fit in a day, you could die.” He carried her from the clinic and barked at Ferox as he walked in. “Stay with Lucius!”
The slave looked at Cassia hung over his shoulders like freshly killed game. “Why? What has happened?”
“The healer had another fit and wants to hum or whatever magic she does again.”
Ferox shot her a worried look. “Domina, you must rest.” He signaled for Ulric to follow. “Come, I will guide you to her room.”
She did not attempt to get up as he placed her on her own bed. Her feeble struggle meant she had not recovered. “But I feel better.”
“Stay put!” He dashed out. When he returned with bindings, she had stepped off her bed. His voice was a hard warning, “Like the boy, I must see to it that you do not get up until you are well rested.”
Her green eyes widened as if casting a spell. Her face flushed red. “You would not dare! You may be the boy’s guard, but you have no say over me, his physician!”
Wrong. Cassia belonged to him. To love. To protect. He would not let her harm herself, even for the sake of healing a lycan. Not on his watch. She attempted to get by him, but within moments, he had bound her wrists and feet and laid her on the bed. She kicked and hissed, but it was useless. She finally gave in to her fatigue and quit struggling, darting him with her enraged eyes. His inner wolf growled in lustful excitement. His eyes roved over her left hip. The temptation to see if, as he suspected, she was a wolf maiden overwhe
lmed him. She had to be. No other human woman made him feel so protective. So possessive. Everything about her, even her anger, pleased him. “Are you more than a human woman who took the blood vow?”
Her chest heaved as she drew breath. Her eyes wild, she scooted from him as if he had asked her something too personal. He had. She turned away, averting her eyes. She turned to him and held up her wrists. Her voice had lost the fire of anger, “Unbind me. I promise to rest.”
Why had she not answered his question? He raked his hair back. How could she trust him when he tied her like an animal? He huffed and unbound her. “Very well, but know I will sleep nearby. My wolf ears will detect your footsteps.” He took his leave but turned one more time and waved a warning finger at her. “Next time, I will not be so lenient.”
She turned onto her side and hugged her pillow. Her slender curves and round bottom beckoned him like a Siren. “Go then, gladiator. I need my sleep.”
His tongue washed over his lips. He must not surrender to his lust. Not while she needed rest. He growled and dashed out.
Ulric paced outside her room. He opened the door to check on her. She slept. He stilled. Her beautiful face and tousled hair made him long to join her in such peaceful sleep. His wolf had stronger sensual desires.
Ferox came in and pushed Ulric out. “She sleeps.” The old man had every right to protect her from him.
Ulric only brought suffering to those he loved. He bowed his head to Ferox and lay on a wool rug at the foot of the boy’s cot and slept. On the morrow, he would find out why Cassia mattered more to him than life.
***
Fatigued, Cassia slept through the night. Her non-stop effort to save Macula’s son and her fierce fit had taken their toll. Between dreams, she heard the deep howls of two wolves in mourning. Ulric and Lucius. Their plaintive howls broke her heart. Were they grieving for Eco? Or for other sad losses?
The early morning light’s brightness stung her eyes. She felt rejuvenated and recuperated from her last fit. Had Ulric forced her to rest because he cared for her? His kiss had flamed her wolf mark. She touched the mark. Just thinking about him made it burn. Still, how could she think he was the one? Her life mate? She was too inexperienced. Lycan men had an insatiable appetite for physical pleasures. Nothing more. She threw her blankets off and snorted in indignation. How dare he act like master of the house? He had no right to bind her. She flushed and her wolf mark heated. Dear Feronia, I liked the bondage. Erotic thoughts of being helplessly bound and surrendering to the mighty gladiator’s desire flustered her. Not romantic. He forced her to stay in her room. No one had ever treated her that way. He was a brute, no doubt a result of fighting in the arena.
Cassia startled as Ferox entered with a meal and drink, mad at herself for wishing it was Ulric. “I want a word with the gladiator.”
Ferox pushed her back to her bed. “Domina, if you do not stay in your room he will tie you up and snap my neck!”
“I won’t allow him to intimidate you!”
He wiped a bead of perspiration from his forehead. “Nonetheless, no more healing. Gaius would agree.”
Cassia still weak from the ordeal sighed and thought, how can I blame Ulric? He thought she suffered severe pain. She only felt the injuries for a few moments. The goddess Lusna who gifted lycans with a painless shift also empowered the Valeria Luperca to experience little suffering. The fit was her body ridding itself of the residual injuries. Yet the gravity of the wounds had caused her more pain than usual. Fits spaced too closely could stop her heart. After each episode, she required complete rest. She sat back on her bed and took the meal tray. “Very well—Lucius is on his way to a good recovery.”
Ferox forced a smile, looking shamed as he awkwardly stepped away. “He will check to ensure you have not left your chamber.”
Ferox sided with the brute. She opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it. Why endanger poor Ferox? The moon waxed and Ulric like all lycans was especially ferocious and unpredictable at this time. She ate the bread that Ferox had soaked in olive oil. She was especially famished having skipped dinner.
Ferox cast his gaze down. “Good fortune, domina.” He left and closed the door.
After her meal with her energy renewed, she bounded off the bed and dressed. She plaited her hair and wound it up. “Ferox!”
He came in and took the tray. His eyes beamed. The worry was gone from his brow. “You look rested.”
She stood and stretched. “Where is the gladiator?”
“He is outside with the human guards having his morning meal.”
She smoothed her tunic. “Gaius will hear of this!”
Ferox looked mortified. “I never would have forced you to…”
“Oh, no dear Ferox, not about you. About that stubborn gladiator.”
He smiled in relief. “I told Ulric that another fit might kill you. He worried you were in pain.”
Worried. A thrill coursed through her that the handsome gladiator cared. Still, he had treated her as if she belonged to him. She whispered to Ferox. “I think he suspects I’m a wolf maiden.”
Ferox brushed back his thinning hair. “But how?” He paced and whirled around. “The kiss he stole?”
She laughed it off. “Wolfish men always steal kisses.” She furrowed her brow. “Yet he knows I’m a healer. Perhaps he even knows about the special gift a rare number of us possess. Before he left last night, he asked me if I was more than just a human woman who took the blood vow.”
He whispered, “What did you say?”
She shrugged. “I pretended to sleep. I must try to avoid him. The more time I spend with him, the sooner he will figure out the truth.” Ah, but to be claimed by such a powerfully strong alpha. Her wolf mark burned. No. She could not be claimed by a slave that belonged to the power hungry Macula. She blew out a long breath. “I must check on Lucius.”
Cassia quietly entered the infirmary. The young man sat and ate. Color had returned to his face. From the near empty food pots it looked like he had recovered from the severest of wounds. The coming full moon no doubt accelerated his lycan healing. She placed two fingers on his jugular. His pulse was as strong as a fast river current. “How do you feel?”
“Better. My insides no longer burn.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “I promise no more attempts to get up.” He pointed his chin toward the cut ropes on the chair. “It was wise to bind me during the waxing moon.”
“It was indeed. It took me half of the day to position your bones again, which set back your healing,” she scolded.
“Physician, forgive me for my boorish outburst after you fell from your malady. I should not have treated you like a common slave. I owe you my life. I’m forever in your service.”
She smiled. “A lycan in pain often does not think rationally.”
His brow twisted in sadness. “It was my fault Eco died. If I had done as he commanded I would not be a cripple and Eco would not be dead at the fangs of my beloved father.” His tone laced with angry sarcasm, made the word “beloved” sound like a curse.
“I’m sorry you learned about Eco before you fully recovered.”
He shook his head. “No. Ulric treated me as an alpha when he told me the truth. You took the blood vow and must know of alpha honor and strength.”
“Yes, Master Gaius taught me about your kind.” She dared not meet his eyes. Human eyes revealed a lie to the lycan kind.
“Cassia, you are a most attractive woman. If you were a wolf maiden, you would drive our men wild. Tell me, would a woman find me attractive even though I might be lame?”
She smiled. “Of course they would. Just be kind. That matters most to women.”
He scoffed. “I suppose someday I will be gentle to my wolf maiden, but I am both Roman and lycan. Kindness is for the weak.” He looked into the distance as if recalling a painful memory. “I can never offer love to a mate, but I will attempt kindness,” he said cryptically.
Her child memories of her mother saying th
at kindness was the greatest gift reminded her of the deep cultural difference between her people and the Romans. She twisted a brave smile. “I must go to the market for more medicinal herbs. Will you be all right?”
He nodded. “Tell Ulric to come in. I wish to talk to him about Eco’s death.”
“Lucius, it is best you let your heart heal.”
His voice authoritative, “No. Send him. I know how my father kills his enemy.”
She stood. “As you wish.” She opened the curtains and searched for Ulric. Not inside. She stepped out into the gardens. His brawny muscled back was to her as he bent feeding scraps to Egidius. Stunned by his masculine beauty, she stilled and stared. His skin, tanned by the sun, his shoulders broad and muscled, his powerful legs and his long mane reminded her of a lion. Beneath his godlike appearance, the aura of a powerful alpha lycan emanated pure male dominance and possessiveness. Her wolf print mark flamed and her nether area moistened.
Egid noticed her and betrayed her with a long-winded baa. Ulric turned and for a sweet moment, their eyes locked.
She broke from his trance and kept her voice distant and cold, “Gladiator! Lucius wishes to speak to you.”
He gave her a wry smile and came in. “You look and smell nice, physician.”
She wanted to slap that smirk off his face. She frowned and skirted him, leaving him alone with Lucius.
She grabbed her cloak and sac. Ferox caught up with her at the gate. “Where are you going?”
She whispered in his ear. “I need more healing herbs.” She looked toward the clinic. “I cannot be around that arrogant alpha.” How dare he talk about her scent as if smitten by Cupid’s arrow! I refuse to be his next conquest. The sooner the boy was well enough to travel, the sooner her secret would remain safe.
Ferox followed her out. “It’s too windy. I’ll go. Just tell me what you need.”
“No. I promise I’ll not tarry.”
“Then take one of the guards.”
She blew a loose hair from her face. “They keep the pace of a turtle. Go prepare tonight’s meal. Do not worry.” She sped away before he could pester her further or worse, let Ulric know she had left.
