To Darkness Bound Box Set

by Zandria West

  I look across to Gabriel. He doesn’t look worried. He looks focused, like he’s concentrating intensely on something that I cannot see or hear. I follow him to stand beside the podium, and the others take their places around me.

  Paul clears his throat. ‘I have had some time to think,’ he begins. ‘I have considered what has been said and done. I have prayed to the spirits of the forest and the sky. I have made my decision.’

  There’s a moment of silence. I look across to where Reuben is standing. I can see the tension in his body, his hands clenched so tightly I’d be surprised if his fingernails weren’t raising blood. His jaw is set hard, and his eyes are narrowed in a fierce focus.

  He’s ready to fight.

  ‘The Grey Pack will agree to the visitors’ request.’

  It takes a moment for me to process Paul’s words. I let out a breath, feeling my body become suddenly weak with relief. Alex squeezes me tighter.

  ‘I have not come to this decision lightly. Disloyalty is the greatest wrong you can do the Pack, and for many years I believed that Reuben’s actions in leaving us, and the manner of his departure, were the worst kind of disloyalty. I have thought deeply, this past twenty-four hours. Now I understand that he was answering to a duty he felt to be greater. And that maybe, he was right.’

  A collective gasp is heard throughout the watching werewolves. I guess they’re not used to hearing their alpha admit a mistake. I look at Paul carefully, wondering how much of a risk he’s taking for us, and what the consequences might be.

  ‘Reuben. Stand before me. I offer you this axe as a sign of our bond of friendship. May it clear your path through the forest. May it smite the heads of our enemies.’ I see Paul glance at Alex as he says enemies. I guess he just can’t help himself.

  ‘When it’s time for you to leave, I’ll send some of our young ones to accompany you safely as far as the boundary of our territory. I do have one more suggestion, though. We’re expecting a party to arrive in the next few days from the Gaping Maws. They’ll be here before the moon is full. I have business to conduct with them. If you’re willing to wait, I’ll make their assistance to you part of our contract with them. That way if you find yourself in their territory, as well you might, you’ll be safe.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Reuben says, his voice low and rough. ‘We accept your help. And, if the others agree, we will take your advice and wait.’

  I let out a sigh of relief and nod my agreement.

  We just have to make it through the next few days, then we’ll be able to begin our journey again.

  A sudden rush of excitement fills my chest. I’m one step closer to my purpose. I’m one step closer to meeting my mother.

  14

  LANA

  It seems that werewolves will accept any excuse for a party. I’m willing to bet that most of the Pack didn’t support by Paul’s offer to help us. Nonetheless, a huge feast is thrown in our honour. Even those wolves who would have cheered Paul on if he’d decided to execute us on the spot turn out for ribs and beers. Alex convinces me to go drink for drink with him and the night is a blur of singing, dancing and laughing under the moonlight.

  I wake the next morning with a pounding headache and a churning gut. Something is poking into my side. I groan and try to roll over, away from the uncomfortable pressure.

  ‘Are you ready, Lana?’

  I squint up to see Reuben crouching over me. It takes a few seconds for the memory to return. We’d arranged, on my request, late the previous night after copious shots of spirits, that he’d take me to see more of the forest and learn more of the werewolves’ ways. In fact, I have an uneasy feeling I may have demanded it of him.

  ‘It’s morning?’ I say disbelievingly, rubbing my eyes.

  ‘The sun will be up in an hour or two. We should be moving.’

  I groan. An hour or two before sunrise? I can’t have gotten to bed before three. I manage to sit up, though my head is still spinning.

  ‘I’ll wait for you outside,’ Reuben says. He backs out of the tent and allows me a moment to collect myself.

  Alex is still passed out next to me. I couldn’t wake him if I tried. Gabriel sleeps on my other side, his breathing deep and rhythmic. I don’t want to disturb him if I can avoid it. He’s been so worried about Paul’s decision, I’m sure he needs the rest. I crawl out from my blankets, pull on a warm top and ease my feet into boots. The morning’s chilly, though I expect the day will be fine once the sun rises, in a few fucking hours’ time.

  I climb out of the tent and groan. ‘We’re really doing this?’

  ‘It was your idea.’ Reuben is clearly trying to restrain his amusement at my suffering. Bastard.

  It’s dark and the air has the cool, damp scent of night-time. I look around groggily. We’re really doing this. A pre-dawn forest walk. And I’m doing it hungover and without caffeine, which increases the brutality level by about a hundred percent.

  To my surprise, Reuben hands me a heavy ceramic cup filled with a warm liquid. ‘This will help.’ His voice is gentle, though I still see laughter sparkling in his eyes.

  I sniff the liquid tentatively. It has a strangely sweet and tart aroma. ‘Ah, what is it?’

  ‘A brew of the leaves of the tatifalia tree. The Grey Pack use it to increase alertness and improve our energy levels. It is also helps with hangovers.’

  I take a sip. It’s a little tangy, but actually not too bad.

  ‘Thanks,’ I say, letting out a big sigh. It’s not coffee, which is what I’m longing for, but it’s near enough. Reuben knows how to look after me. I finish the drink in a few big gulps and feel slightly better.

  ‘Alright. Shall we get moving?’ I say, trying to make my tone bright and cheery.

  ‘If you’re feeling up for it?’ Reuben is frowning at me, like he’s thinking of calling it all off.

  ‘I’m ready. One hundred percent,’ I broaden my smile. It’s a lie, but I’m determined to make it the truth. After all, this was my idea, and I’ve been desperate to spend some time with Reuben since we arrived. There’s so much we haven’t talked about. I’m hoping this will provide the opportunity we need to clear the air between us.

  It becomes clear almost straight away that Reuben has skill and speed in the forest that I just can’t match. I’m seeing him in his natural element for the first time. The first hour is a blur of trying not to trip over as I tag behind him in the dim half-light. My sense of the forest is of huge trees looming over me in the darkness – it feels enclosed, claustrophobic even. My head pounds and my stomach churns but I manage to stay upright and I don’t vomit, gold star for me. I’m concentrating so hard there’s no way I can make conversation. I honestly don’t know how long I can keep this up. I’m just about to ask how much longer there is to go when Reuben finally calls out: ‘Just a bit further and we’ll rest.’

  My relief is short-lived when I realise that the ‘bit further’ is up an almost vertical slope. Reuben bounds up easily, while I curse under what breath I have left. He turns and gives me his hand, pulling me up the remainder of the slope. My heart is pounding, and the muscles of my legs are burning

  When I finally reach the top, I collapse. As I catch my breath, I look around with a growing sense of wonder. I can see why Reuben brought me here.

  We’ve reached a look-out. The height we’ve climbed and a natural break in the tree line allow us a view all the way to the valley far below, where a river winds silvery amidst the darkness of the forest. The sun’s rising, and the far horizon is exploding with colours: from the most delicate shade of pink, to fiery red, vibrant orange, glowing gold.

  Reuben stands behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, pressing himself against me as I gaze out at the incredible view. ‘I’m sorry to wake you so early, but I thought you’d want to see it. The sunrise doesn’t last long.’

  I can’t help but smile, despite how bloody appalling I feel.

  ‘I love it. Thank you,’ I say.

  I watch as the
light grows, spreading across the forest. What was just a dark mass begins to come alive in myriad shades of green and gold. I take a deep breath and let it out. There’s a kind of magic to this place and this moment. Despite everything, I feel more at peace than I have in days. I feel above everything. Nothing bad can touch us here.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Reuben says, his voice low. ‘I haven’t been there for you since we arrived. I should have been. I’ve been… distracted.’

  I turn to him, and see the pain written clearly on his face, the conflict and guilt that are tearing at him. It doesn’t entirely counterbalance the anger and jealousy I’ve felt, but it’s something. I think of what Alex said: I can’t let my bad feelings contaminate the bond between us. I need to let it go.

  ‘It’s okay,’ I say. ‘This is your chance to spend time with Briony. You should never feel bad about that. And anyway, Alex has been keeping me amused.’

  ‘I bet he has,’ Reuben says, narrowing his eyes.

  I laugh at his expression, then without thinking reach up and let my lips brush his.

  For a moment he kisses me back, and I feel the Bondmark on my back begin to burn as a fierce energy surges through me, then he pulls away. ‘I want to explain… About Vera…’

  I stiffen and turn away. I can’t help it. I can’t get the image out of my mind of when I saw the two of them together by the river.

  ‘Okay. Explain.’

  ‘In the Pack, there are certain… expectations. From when we were young, it was always expected that Vera and I would be mated. We spent a lot of time together. We had no choice, our parents pushed us together at every opportunity. And as we grew, we became… close.’

  I swallow and look out at the horizon. Already the colours are fading. I feel tired and my head has started throbbing again.

  ‘When I made the decision to leave, Vera was devastated. She’d always assumed our lives would follow the plans that had been laid out for us. She didn’t understand why I had to leave. She made me promise to return in secret when the moon was full so we could run together as wolves. And for a long time, I did. I kept it a secret from Gabriel and the others and I’m not proud of that. But I didn’t want to break my word to her…’

  ‘So? What happened?’ I say, my mouth dry. Nausea churns my gut.

  ‘I just… I had to stop. I was torn between two worlds. And I was worried that if we were discovered, she’d be punished. So I didn’t say anything to her, I just stopped coming. I’m not proud of it. I was a coward. But as far as I was concerned, that was it. It was better that she should treat me as if I was dead, just like the rest of the pack did.’

  I frown, my eyes narrowing. ‘Do you love her?’

  ‘No,’ his response is quick and certain, but I’m not satisfied.

  ‘Did you love her?’ I try to hold his gaze. I want to read the truth in his eyes.

  He flinches but doesn’t look away. ‘That is not how it is for us, Lana. We don’t fall in love. We do what’s expected of us, for the good of the Pack, and out of respect for our elders.’

  I raise an eyebrow. ‘So you kept meeting her, you fucked her, out of respect for your elders? After you’d left the pack forever?’

  ‘I felt guilty,’ he says, his voice flat with misery. ‘I’d failed everyone. They all expected I’d be the next alpha after my father. But I left. I failed my family, my pack. I thought that I could at least allow her that one consolation. I never meant for it to…’

  ‘It’s okay,’ I say, suddenly exhausted. ‘It’s none of my business anyway. If you want to go back to her and Briony after all this is done, you’re free to. The bond will be broken, I guess, once I’ve served whatever purpose I’m meant to as the Key.’

  ‘Lana—’

  I look into the distance and blink away the stupid, annoying tears that have filled my eyes.

  ‘Lana…’ I feel his two hands, huge and strong and gentle, pressing against each side of my face as he turns me to look at him. ‘Nothing that has happened since we arrived here has changed my feelings for you. In fact, if anything, returning here has only made them stronger. What I feel for you now is something I never expected. I’m probably not very good at it. But Key or no, bond or no, my heart is yours.’

  I look up into his forest-green eyes and see nothing but truth. My breath catches. He smiles, and the smile transforms his whole face, turning it younger, gentler. Beautiful. And then, I feel the shift as he moves towards me. I stand on my tip-toes and my lips meet his. I dissolve into the kiss, which is as warm as the sunrise and as mysterious as the forest and as deep as the night. I never want it to end. His hands tangle my hair. I reach around his waist and pull him closer. I don’t want there to be any distance between us.

  He groans. ‘We must be careful, cub. It is harder for me to control my instincts in the forest than it is in the city, with the others nearby. And we still haven’t found Grayson…’

  ‘Fucking Grayson,’ I curse. Seriously. When I meet him, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind for keeping us waiting so long.

  ‘We need him, Lana. Gabriel leads us, but Grayson… he is the bone and the sinew. He is what holds us together and makes us strong.’

  I sigh, letting out the sudden anger that’s risen in me, and rest my head against Reuben’s broad chest. He’s breathing rapidly, and his heart is beating like a drum in my ear. I know he wants this as much as I do, maybe even more so. I know we have to wait.

  We rest for half an hour on the summit. The sun climbs higher and the landscape before us shifts and changes under its light. I lie in Reuben’s arms. We don’t talk. He holds me, and for a little while it feels like that’s enough.

  15

  LANA

  When we start walking again it feels easier. It’s no longer pre-dawn. My hangover is softening. The slope is gentler, and Reuben guides me along a well-defined path which in places is wide enough for us to walk hand in hand. He doesn’t talk much, but I gather that this is a regular scouting trip that is taken every few days to monitor the boundary of the Grey Pack’s territory.

  The forest all looks the same to me, but Reuben points things out that he thinks I might be interested in. An ancient tree where he says a very old and secretive owl makes his home. A spongy area of ground that indicates a reliable spring where the Pack can find fresh water, even in the driest of summers when the river runs low. A scarred patch of turf where a battle took place between werewolves and encroaching fire demons a few years back. The wolves won in the end, though not without casualties. A little distance on he shows me a flat area with a few broad stone markers where the werewolves who died in the fight were buried. A shiver moves through me and the hairs on my arms prickle as we pass the spot.

  We stop for lunch beside a shallow stream. Reuben opens the pack he’s been carrying. He’s brought some flat, sweet honey-cakes, a handful of nuts, and a few big chunks of what I assume is dried meat. I do my best to eat what he gives me. I’m still a bit queasy from the hangover, but the morning spent walking has given me an appetite.

  ‘We’ll finish the lower quadrant after lunch and then take a shortcut back to camp,’ Reuben says, watching as I ease my boots off carefully and wriggle close to the stream to soak my aching feet in the ice-cold water.

  ‘Don’t take a short cut because of me,’ I say. ‘I’m fine. Just do what you’d normally do.’

  I see the corner of his mouth twitch. ‘What I used to do,’ he says evenly, ‘is traverse the entire outer boundary of Grey Pack territory at a run a few hours before the sunrise.’

  I look at the rough ground ahead of us. So far as I can see, the pack’s territory is endless. ‘Ah. Okay, maybe not that,’ I concede. ‘A shortcut might not be the worst idea you ever had.’

  Reuben nods. ‘I’ll get you back as fast as I can.’

  I pull my socks and shoes back on again, and stand up, testing my legs. They’re aching like crazy but that’s nothing that a few more hours walking won’t fix, right?

  ‘Let
’s get going then,’ I say, doing my best to smile cheerfully.

  We follow a narrow, shaded path down the mountainside, and I notice the forest changing. The trees are sparser, spaced wider apart, and the ground is rocky and dry. As the slope levels out, I spot what look like stone cairns – piles of rocks stacked one on top of the other. The difference between these and similar piles I’ve seen previously in the human realm is their size. The boulders here are as big as cars.

  Reuben spots me looking curiously as we loop around the base of one of them.

  ‘Giants made those,’ he says nodding.

  I swallow. ‘Uh, did you say giants?’

  He raises an eyebrow. ‘We call them giants. Technically they’re just really big rock-trolls.’

  My eyes widen as I take in the size of the rocks that have been carefully lifted and stacked.

  ‘And are we likely to see any of these really big rock trolls?’

  Reuben chuckles. ‘They’re long gone. Up and left years ago, never came back. Nobody even knows where they went.’

  That doesn’t make me feel entirely better. Surely if nobody knows where they went, nobody knows that they’re not just going to turn up again one day, saying they’ve had a nice holiday, and wanting their bit of the forest back?

  As if on cue, I see Reuben pause. In an instant, his body language changes. He sniffs the air, then crouches slightly and a low growl rumbles in the back of his throat.

  ‘What is it?’ I ask. The hair on the back of my neck is prickling.

  ‘Bear shifters. I can smell them. They shouldn’t be this far south.’ Reuben scans the surrounding area and looks up to the rock cairn a little way above us on the slope. ‘We’ll get behind those rocks. They’ll provide some shelter at least, and we can see what the bears are up to…’

  I nod, my mouth suddenly dry, and follow him up the slope. I’ve heard of bear shifters but have never seen one. They’re said to be wilder than werewolves even. I’m equal parts terrified and curious.