“Absolutely not!” Astrid planted her hands on her hips. “I’m going, too.”
“And what about your father? The first thing he’s going to do is check to make sure you’re with the group.”
“There’s no way you can break all those prisoners free without attracting attention. What about Jerrick’s guards?” she said.
“You heard Henrick. They come by every half hour. I have time. And besides, I’ll have my wolf then.” He turned to Filip. “I’ll make my move after nightfall.”
“I don’t think you should do this alone, Erec,” he replied firmly. “I’d go, but then no one will be directing the pack during our journey. Father can’t manage it on his own. I can take four men away from the trip to help you. You’ll have to lead them in this.”
“Me? I can’t.” Erec’s eyes widened. “I work alone. I can’t be in charge of other people.”
“You know these woods,” Filip said. “Right?”
“Well, yes. I’ve traveled through them most of my life, but—”
“You know what to expect with Jerrick better than any of us.” Filip pushed off the tree and drew closer to Astrid. “And Ash trusts you. So, I do, too.”
That made her smile. When she gazed at Filip again, with his chin lifted and his wide shoulders squared, she realized something had changed in him. Maybe it was due to their father’s health, but Filip seemed more confident. More reasonable and disciplined. Like a leader.
“When it’s done, I’ll give you three days to meet us at Svanna Rock. Three. If the sun sets on the third day and you haven’t returned, I’ll be sending a group to find you,” he said.
“And I’ll be going with Erec, too,” Astrid chimed in, making sure they didn’t forget that she was going to be part of this. Her mind was made up.
“Ash, this isn’t another one of your moonlight runs against Father’s wishes. Don’t you remember what came of Mikel’s pack? Jerrick won’t hesitate to kill you.”
“He’s right, Astrid. Jerrick kills for fun. It’s a game to him,” Erec added.
“And? You’re telling me things I already know,” she said. Why was it that she always had to defend herself? “I’m the only one besides Erec who knows where the prisoners are. That woman gave me her child. They trust me. I need to help them.”
Filip’s weighted gaze shifted between her and Erec.
Astrid thrust her hands out in front of her. The swirling blue marks appeared glossy wrapped around her fingers, which were shriveled from the cold. “No more protecting me, remember? Three weeks for the curse to take over. No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to protect me from it.”
The instant the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Fear churned in her stomach at the thought of dying so soon. No, no, no. She couldn’t think about it now. Like she had done so many times before, she forced the harsh truth of it away for another day.
Filip sighed. “It’s going to be hard, but I’ll convince Father.”
Erec’s eyes widened. “What? You’re going to let her go?”
“She’s right…” he whispered, uncertainty lingering in his eyes. “I can’t shield her from everything. As much as I wish I could.”
Astrid spun around, elated she had finally gotten through to her brother, but the flicker of joy quickly diminished once she saw the troubled expression on Erec’s face. The muscles in his neck bulged, and his jaw clamped shut, as if he was trying to swallow his words back. Was that worry she saw hiding in his stare? Fear?
But it didn’t make sense. “You really don’t want me to come?” she asked, confused. “Why? We’re in the same situation.” With the curse, of course. Not wanting to say it again outloud, she settled for waving her marked hands. Why would he care what she did with the rest of her time?
“Yes, but there’s no need to speed up the process, either,” Erec said shortly. She was about to argue some more, but he pushed past her and trudged toward the campsite, grumbling to himself the entire way.
“We leave the same time the pack does,” he grunted over his shoulder, not meeting her eye. “Be ready.”
Chapter Six
“We’ll make camp up here,” Erec said, searching the place he had called home these last few months. Like he expected, it was barren. “Keep close to the cliff’s base. It’ll block us from the wind.”
The four men Filip had recruited for the trip dropped their bags in the snow and stretched their backs, twisting and turning until bones popped. They had made it to the cave in record time. Since it hadn’t taken long for Boden to load up his wagon and start his pack on their trek toward Svanna Rock, Erec and his group were able to sneak away and make it here before noon. They had plenty of time to relax, eat, and get some sleep before nightfall, when their real mission began.
“After we get the tents up, we can rest until the sun sets.” Erec scanned the faces of the men whose lives he was now responsible for. Two of them had helped Filip load one of the sleds earlier. Darek and Gunnar. And the others were Bec, a middle-aged man with a curled gray mustache, and Kalle, a boy no more than eighteen. They all stared at Erec with full attention.
He glanced over his shoulder to find Astrid trailing behind a few steps, her cheeks rosy from the cold. “No fire. We can’t risk being found, so the sooner the tents go up, the sooner everyone can go inside for warmth. I’ll take first watch. We’ll meet here as soon as the sky darkens.”
They nodded in unison and started sorting through their belongings.
Maybe he could do this. He had three days to rescue the survivors, meet the west-side pack at Svanna Rock, and prove to everyone, including himself, that he could do it all without anyone getting hurt. Erec rolled his neck, hoping to release some of the tension building in his muscles.
But that burst of confidence quickly vanished when he turned to see Astrid heading past the rocks before disappearing completely into the shady forest.
There she goes. Already.
He couldn’t believe Filip had allowed her to come, knowing how dangerous their mission would be. It wasn’t safe for a woman, especially one as small, stubborn, and reckless as Astrid. They hadn’t even been at their base for more than a minute and there she was straying from safety again. It could get her killed. Could get them all killed. Thinking about one of Jerrick’s dogs getting their claws on her, too, made his blood boil.
He left the men to set up their tents and marched after her. With every step, his common sense scolded him to just leave her alone. They’d met only a day ago, and if she wanted to do something foolish and get herself hurt, that was her choice. She should be allowed to spend her remaining few weeks how she wanted. But no matter how many times it repeated in his head, his feet kept moving him forward and his heart still pounded at the thought of something happening to her. It shouldn’t matter, but it did.
It did a lot.
He followed the curve of the cliff’s rocky foundation a little farther into the woods and found Astrid tossing her knapsack and walking staff on the ground. She glanced at him, her irritation clear on her face.
“I’m not going past these trees. I’m still close to the camp,” she said, bending down to unlatch the hooks of her bag. She rustled through its contents until she pulled out a silky black ribbon. “I just wanted to look for more food, so save the speech. I know what you’re going to say.”
Cocking his head to the side, he smirked. For some reason, her slight arrogance amused him. “You do?”
Astrid lifted herself up onto her toes to appear taller, and her tone lowered, mocking him. “‘It’s not safe to wander off, Astrid. You’ll get hurt, Astrid.’ On and on. I get it. I’ve heard it all before.”
When she pulled her rust-colored curls away from her face and tied them up with the ribbon, Erec’s body automatically tensed. In that single action, she appeared years older. Her green eyes seemed to give off a light of their own, two gorgeous, radiating orbs framed by dark lashes. Calling to him. He couldn’t look away; he was transfixed in
the danger they reflected. His lungs wouldn’t work to take in another breath. Shadows clung to the sharp lines of her cheeks and curve of her neck, giving her a distinctly wild and seductive look. And in that moment, Erec realized that this wasn’t a young girl standing in front of him—someone who needed to be looked after and controlled. She was a huntress.
And he wanted her.
His fingers clenched and unclenched as an ache to run them over her scalp and tangle his hands in the strands of her ponytail, pulling her head back, shot through them. Her lips would part as she gasped from shock, and he would possess her then, kissing her hard.
“I know you didn’t want me to come,” Astrid said as she unbuttoned the clasps on her coat and swung it off her shoulders. She laid it over her bag. “But I don’t understand why.”
Erec almost couldn’t find his voice. It was trapped somewhere inside him with his dwindling self-control. His gaze roamed over her body. Her slender legs and thighs were wrapped in stockings, the clingy material leaving nothing to the imagination. And when she turned slightly to glance over her shoulder, he could see the perfect roundness of her bottom. A knitted vest and long-sleeved shirt covered her top from his wandering eyes, but it didn’t still the desire burning in the base of his stomach. He stepped closer to her.
“You told me you didn’t care what I did, that I could make my own choices, but I saw your anger when Filip said I could go,” she went on.
How could he explain to her all the conflicting thoughts racing through his mind when he couldn’t even make sense of it himself?
Her gaze dropped to her feet. “I don’t need another person telling me what to do.” Then, in one swift motion, she hooked her boot under the wooden staff on the ground, kicked it up into the air, and snatched it with her hand. “I can take care of myself.”
That surprised him. During their hike here, he wondered why Astrid had brought the six-foot stick along, since he’d never seen her with it before, but her quick, light movements hinted that she was more familiar with it than he’d first thought.
A thick mass of cloth and twine was wrapped around one end, and when she pulled it all away, there was a sharp, metal arrowhead fastened to the shaft. It wasn’t an innocent walking stick. It was another spear.
With a quick flick of her wrist, she twirled it around at a blurry speed, one hand to the other, until the tip pointed to the ground. A sexy, satisfied grin formed across her lips. She was comfortable with the weapon, he could tell. Had trained with it. Astrid wasn’t the woman Erec had thought. She was someone different entirely.
He had been drawn to her before, but now…now something was pulling him toward her with an invisible hand, and its hold was too strong to break free of. He wanted to get to know this woman, but more importantly, he wanted to explore this mysterious dark side she had been hiding from him. Run his hands over the delicious curves of her body and see the wild side of her escape. And he was going to be the one to unleash that part of her.
But when he was about to close the distance between them, his common sense kicked back in, stopping him short. He walked to a nearby tree and leaned his elbow against the trunk, shaking his head clear. This was Astrid he was pining over, the alpha’s daughter. And he—he was no one. Just a rogue with no pack or even a set place to stay.
Erec glanced at the blue spiral markings wrapped around his shoulder and upper arm. But what about the curse? The love bond strong enough to break it?
This wasn’t love, though. It was hunger, desire, sex. Maybe it was to fill a little loneliness Erec was feeling, too, but it couldn’t be love. Besides, the sky spirits had to know that he was the worst choice for Astrid. What could he offer her? A scrap of food every few days? A cold, wet cave to sleep in? A life of running and hiding? No, it was foolish to think he could have her. In any way.
He was getting too distracted. He had a group of men to lead and a dozen survivors to rescue. He couldn’t lose his head now. Too many lives were counting on him.
A piercing whistle sliced through the silence, and a breath of air teased Erec’s hair, followed by a loud thud. He peered up to see the spear sticking out of the trunk just above his head with a fist-sized pomple fruit pierced by the tip. A drop of purple juice fell on the tip of his nose.
He whirled around. Astrid had her hands on her hips with an amused expression on her face.
When Erec gazed up again, he noticed the tree he’d been leaning on was full of the ripe winter fruit. They hung low on the snow-covered branches. Had she really thrown the spear, snagged one of the pomples, and with perfect aim and accuracy, nailed the tree just above his head?
“That’s a little too close for my taste,” Erec said, glancing back at the spear.
“I wouldn’t hit you,” she said, stalking toward him in such a confident, predatory way that his groin tightened. He swallowed roughly.
Astrid jumped, grabbed the spear’s shaft with both hands, and yanked it free. Erec stared at her in silence. Heat spread across every inch of his skin as the urge to grab her and crush her against him threatened to take over.
She drew closer, one eyebrow arched. Was she teasing him on purpose? Because she was doing one hell of a job. With their bodies so close, just inches away from each other, it took everything he had not to reach out and touch her.
Then, with her fiery stare locked on him, she reached up and ran a finger along the bridge of his nose. She pulled it back, revealing the slick purple liquid, before bringing it to her lips. The finger disappeared into her mouth for only a second and came back completely clean.
Unable to take it anymore, Erec snatched her wrist and pulled her against him. She gasped, just as he hoped she would, and he took the opportunity to capture her mouth for a hungry kiss. His tongue pushed past her lips, tasting the sweet and tangy pomple juice. Astrid’s body arched into him, and even though his wolf senses were gone during the daylight, he could feel her body calling to him. A tingling buzz passed between them, everywhere they touched. It silenced the voice of reason pecking at the back of his mind, telling him to go further. That she wanted him, too.
He spun her around and pressed her back against the tree, never breaking the kiss. She didn’t stop him, either, not even when his hands slid up her body. One rested on her waist to hold her firmly in place, while the other traveled up under her shirt and vest. Her creamy skin under his fingertips was flush with heat, and when he reached the swoop of her right breast, she moaned.
His manhood stiffened to the point of pain at the sound. Deepening the kiss, their tongues wrestling with such need, Erec cupped her breast in his hand and squeezed. Because of all the layers she wore, the size of her chest surprised him. She wasn’t as small and as delicate as he’d originally imagined. Not in the least. Then he broke the kiss and stared down at her for a moment.
With her eyes closed, her lips swollen and pink, and her cheeks flushed, she had never been more beautiful than she was right now. He wanted to give her everything—all the pleasure she could stand, and then some more, until she was screaming his name and begging him to let her catch her breath.
Erec continued to play with her breasts, taking his time squeezing and lightly pinching her nipples. When he leaned forward, so she could feel his full erection bound by his pants, her eyes flew open in shock. Instead of shying away, she dropped the spear, and her hands snaked up his back. She brought him in for another kiss. Her pelvis began to grind against his.
He withdrew and pressed his slick forehead against hers, breaths short. He was still hard and ready for her, agonizingly so, but as the seconds ticked by, the weight of what he had just done crushed him, shattering his few moments of bliss.
What had come over him? Had he lost his mind? He had to get away from Astrid—and fast. Being around her was fogging his reasoning and common sense. Erec pushed himself off the tree and marched away. He’d made a mistake. Not only was he not the right mate for her, but they were yards away from Jerrick’s camp. His stupidity could ruin eve
rything they were risking their lives for.
“Erec…” The pain in Astrid’s voice was like an arrow to his chest, bringing him to a stop. “Wait, can we talk about this?”
Erec closed his eyes. You’re meant to be alone, Erec. Leave. You can’t have her. You know that. Don’t play with her heart. His conscience was right. He was getting in the way of Astrid finding her true mate. He couldn’t do that to her.
And then there was the matter of the survivors and Jerrick’s men that they still had to deal with. His fear about her getting hurt smacked into him even stronger than before. He shouldn’t protect her, but how could he not when the thought of losing her made his blood run cold?
She was worth protecting.
He had to do something.
“Erec, please. You don’t have to leave. It was a kiss. A harmless kiss.”
But it wasn’t harmless, was it? If he had let it go even a second longer, how far would he have taken it? When her footsteps sounded behind him, he turned. Astrid’s wounded expression was enough to still his heart and make him rethink everything. But he couldn’t allow her to be part of this mission and risk her life, no matter what she or Filip had said. Even with the Blue Moon’s curse looming closer every minute. A woman like her—she still had a chance to find her true mate. He may have accepted his fate, but for her, life beyond the curse was still possible. He couldn’t let her miss out on that chance.
He sighed. “I have to figure out our next step with rescuing the prisoners, but why don’t you go into the cave and rest for a while? It should be warmer in there, and I made a pretty comfortable bed inside, I think.”
Anger flashed across her face, and her body was rigid.
Dammit. He’d offended her. He stumbled for rescuing words but only found a lie. “I’ll meet you in there as soon as I can. I have to make sure the others get settled in and—”
Astrid snatched up her spear with the fruit still on the end and marched over to her other things on the ground. She slung her coat and bag over her shoulder.
The Curse (Shifter Origins) Page 6
