Chapter 20

Nora screamed in frustration. Her arms were worn-out from fighting the belt, her legs tired from kicking and flailing. Her mind was fatigued from worrying about her father.

The worst of it was her heart. It was exhausted from fighting with her husband.

She was confused. His actions did not match his words. Nora believed he had not meant to mark her arm, but the ‘witch’ comment sat heavy on her.

She had known he would be upset with her if he ever found out about her visions or her condition. She never anticipated feeling quite this wretched about it.

She deserved most of his animosity. She was, after all, the deceiver in this. Not Kellan.

As she laid there, replaying today’s mess in her mind, she acknowledged his right to feel betrayed. For that, she was truly sorry. She merited some degree of his bitterness, but it did not give him the right to tether her to this bed. He may as well have thrown her in a cell.

She chose not to acknowledge his parting words. They only muddled her thoughts further. It was not possible to hold his heart and be treated so unkindly. She could not reconcile it.

Nora did not want to admit she could have injured his heart as easily as he had wounded hers. How could that be love?

There had been moments when she looked at Kellan and thought she could love him, that she possibly did love him. Perhaps this was what love was, experiencing agony in the face of betrayal. If she did not love him, she would not feel so miserable.

Kellan was miserable, as well. The tear mixed with his blood, the sadness and the pain, together in the literal sense, were on his face after she had thrown careless words at him. It was too much to bear.

A wolf howled in the distance and Nora’s attention went to the window. She could not see anything from her position, but she listened. No other sounds emerged from the forest. She closed her eyes in defeat.

The chamber door opened, and Mara rushed inside.

“Nora!” she exclaimed. Mara raced to the bed and undid the belt.

“Mara? How did you get in?”

“I had some help,” she said, nodding to the door, where Agatha stood.

“Thank you. Thank you both. Mara, we need to get to my father. I—I had a vision. A clear one.”

Mara and Agatha shared a look.

“Tell me. What did you see?” Mara demanded.

Something in her tenor was off, but Nora attributed it to nervousness. Mara and Agatha were breaking rules and Kellan would not be pleased.

“Just, my father. He’d been gravely injured. That’s all I saw. You know I can’t tell when these things will happen, only that they will. But then a guard came to the chamber and told Kellan something had happened.”

“It could be a trap, with all that’s been happening, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Agatha said.

“I know. We must help him.” Nora would not be deterred.

Mara nodded and grabbed Nora’s hand, pulling her up. “You’re right. I can find him quicker than a wolf can.”

Agatha snorted.

“It’s true. You have to pick up a scent in order to track it. The earth will simply tell me where to go.”

“She’s right,” Nora agreed, disliking Agatha’s superior attitude. Gwydions were not without skills.

The she-wolf shrugged and stepped back through the doorway. Mara rolled her eyes, trailing after Agatha.

Nora followed Mara out the chamber door. Three guards were on the ground, but they were breathing so Nora knew they were alive.

“What happened to them?”

Agatha smiled. “I gave them a snack. Don’t worry. They’ll be awake in an hour or two.”

But Nora did worry. Greatly.

* * *

Kellan and three of his men ran in wolf form, speeding through the woodland, dodging obstacles and ignoring the large thorns catching on their fur. With single-minded determination, they tracked Edward.

Apparently, the group had been attacked by one of the creatures of the forest. A scout had smelled the blood while patrolling and went to investigate.

The scout informed Kellan he had seen the group being attacked from atop a ridge. He’d stopped and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was indeed seeing what was occurring below him.

Apparently, a gigantic wild boar was ramming into the males’ bodies, one by one, mowing them down with its tusks. Boars were unpredictable and capable of killing creatures much bigger than themselves. The children of Burghard were taught early to keep their distance from the aggressive beasts.

The scout watched as not one of the men raised a finger to stop the assault. In fact, they simply stood there, as if frozen, as the animal tore into their flesh. By the time he got down the hill and ran it off, all four men were on the ground, bleeding.

The scout checked their vitals and made the decision to get help. He could not save them all on his own.

Kellan could not work out why they would not fight back. Something was not right with the situation. Hell, nothing seemed to be going right period.

They tore over the ridge and down the hill, following the scout. He picked-up the scent of the injuries immediately.

They shifted when they reached the downed men. Kellan’s misery grew when he saw Foley and two other wolves on the ground. Edward’s breathing was shallow. Kellan didn’t know which of them needed to be tended to first.

He knelt beside his friend as his men assessed the other wounded. “Foley? Can you hear me?”

Blank eyes stared back, but he wasn’t dead. Kellan could hear Foley’s heartbeat and it was strong. Wolves healed fast, so his injuries should not be life-threatening.

“You’ll be okay, my friend,” Kellan told Foley.

He moved to Edward, whose injuries seemed to be the worst. Kellan could see down to the bone in one of Edward’s legs.

“Do you smell that?” asked Alec, one of Kellan’s best trackers.

“The blood?” Kellan replied as he tore Edward’s clothing to create makeshift bandages.

“No, not the blood. Another scent. It’s similar to the one in the clearing where we found Isla—but not the same one.”

Kellan lifted his nose and scented the air. “Here,” he said to Alec, handing him the strips of fabric. “Finish these and try to stop the bleeding.”

Kellan shifted and made a circle around the men. He was a few feet off the path when he caught it. Vampire. His suspicions were right. One of the Prajna was involved—or, two, if Alec’s assertions were correct.

He shifted back to human form. “It’s not the same one?”

“No. It’s Prajna, but not the same one.”

Kellan exhaled harshly. He had killed the Sephtis Kenelm demon. He would bet his life that this scent belonged to the Sephtis Kenelm vampire. The group was active. This would mean there was also a wolf and an elemental to root out.

As for the scent of the vampire in the clearing, he had no explanation. It could have been coincidental, but Kellan highly doubted it. It was possible they already had their next generation of recruits.

They should, he thought. They would need new converts because the current group would all soon be dead—at Kellan’s hand, including the wolf who had betrayed Burghard. He would also find and kill any that were next in line.

Kellan’s wolf pushed and scratched, demanding its vengeance. Unfortunately, there was no enemy close enough to tear apart.

His eyes involuntarily went to the chests of his men. No markings were there, which was fortunate. He did not want to have to kill them.

He would have to keep looking diligently for the conspirators. He would check every wolf in Imperium, if necessary. And vampire. And elemental. He would not rest until his mate was safe.

“We need to get them to Agatha. We’ll have to carry them. I will take Edward. Alec, make sure someone looks for their horses and any belongings they may have carried.”

“Yes, my lord.”

As he picked up his mate’s father, he sent a silent prayer to the Goddess above that he could get Edward to the castle alive. Nora had suffered enough today.