Page 146 of Blood Fist

Jonen and Brune helped Ridan to his feet. When he looked up, he was watched by all the people he’d gathered to fight.

Missing part of an ear, and limping badly, Areine stepped forward. Pulling her broken dagger free from its sheath, she lifted the blade into the sky.

“Chief of the Stone Blade, defender of Artrax’s Sacrifice, slayer of Sinestrus,” her smile was wicked as she raised her voice. “All hail Ridan Blood Fist!”

Stumbling forward, he flinched when he heard the cry of the Clansmen behind him. Panting, he looked over his shoulder only to gasp in pain, nearly falling to his knees. With his freehand he caught himself on trees as he tripped between them. Vision fading, he could feel his strength ebbing with every step.

A meaty blood-soaked hand reached for a branch, only for it to snap under his weight. He landed hard on his shoulder. His teeth clacked together so hard one chipped. He spat the blood that filled his mouth, clutching the sword still embedded in his chest.

It hurt. Every move he made jostled the blade, cutting deeper. But he knew removing it would mean certain death. If he could just get to his magicians…

To his left, a twig snapped. Startled, he lifted his heavy head to peer through the gloom of trees. It was hard to see with the sweat dripping into his eyes and the shadows flitting from tree to tree. Another branch broke, and he pushed himself off the tree, trying to move faster than his numb legs could carry him.

Grunting in pain, he tried to ignore the looming presence following him. It grew bigger and bigger, bushes rustling and twigs snapping it its wake. Heart hammering against his chest, he tried to quell the rising panic that made his already clumsy feet less careful.

Whatever was chasing him was smart. It bided his time until his legs inevitably gave out. Sprawling to the ground, he cried out in a mixture of pain and terror. He couldn’t feel his legs, and his arms would go next. Fingers digging into the rocky ground, he tried to pull himself along, only for the wound in his chest to scream in agony.

Spit dripping from his lips, he pushed himself up to his knees. When his eyes rose to the forest around him,he saw something moving in the darkness. Two eyes sparkling between trunks.

Those eyes moved into the light; head cocked to the side as the thing chasing him finally revealed itself.

“C-Corric?” Krait croaked, his eyes widening as he took in the unmistakable form of his youngest child.

Corric’s steps were calm and even as he walked to him. He hadn’t even drawn the blades hanging at his side. His arms and clothes were soaked in gore. Hair pulled out of his eyes with a braided leather band, he looked so grown up. Nothing like the scared little omega fussing with his skirts Krait had sent away.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, hands shaking as the omega looked down his nose at him. “I shouldn’t have listened to him. But everything I did was to protect us. To protect the?—”

“I don’t want your apology,” Corric said quietly, his breath pluming in front of his lips. There was frost on his fingertips. And it wasn’t coming from the winter air.

“I do.” A voice from behind Krait slithered across him. It sounded aged and deep; a rasp of lungs so wounded they could hardly expand any longer.

Another set of familiar eyes greeted him when he looked. His breath caught in his chest the moment he recognized Schok.

“What?” he asked, lips curling into something mimicking a smile. “Are you surprised I’m alive? Or that I’m in one piece?”

Krait didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing would come out. Corric crouched in front of him. He took a long moment to look at him before reaching for the sword in his chest.

“This doesn’t belong to you.” He wrenched the sword out, twisting it so it dislodged from his bonescleanly. Krait screamed as he collapsed, blood pouring between fingers that couldn’t stem the flow.

Corric cleaned the sword off on Krait’s clothes before stepping back so Schok could take his place. Fire licked up his arms as he sneered down at him.

“Don’t worry, father. I won’t let you die.” A laugh bubbled past his lips. “Notyet,t anyway.”

The last thing he saw was Corric’s back as he walked away.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

EPILOGUE

What was destroyed in moments took weeks to rebuild.

They won the battle but had no home to return to. Greeted not as hailed heroes returning battle weary to the loving embrace of their families in the homes they’d fought so hard for, but instead with only ashes and the lingering stench of death. It was a sobering reminder that victory had a price.

To Ridan’s surprise, many Clansmen from the other clans stayed to help them rebuild. While some helped tan hides for new homes, others began clearing away debris. Areine sent riders to fetch those of the Stone Blade who sought shelter with the Strong Leg, among them Iylah, who gave Halm a needed hand in helping with the wounded.

Rebuilding was difficult for everyone, but more so for Brune. As a freshly mated alpha, his instincts were especially raw. Compounding that was the stress from Ridan’s almost death. It sent him into his rut. With no privacy or den, it was especially hard on him. Ridan did what he could to soothe his alpha, but they were fumbling and inexperienced. Neither had ever sharedtheir heat or rut. Brune was used to being locked away in a cage, face to the wall as he dealt with his instincts and drive to not only protect but to breed.

Corric and Jonen slept under the stars to give Brune and Ridan privacy in their borrowed tent, but there were too many smells. Too many strangers milling around outside. Brune nearly lost his mind. Were Ridan a frailer omega, they might have had some real troubles. As it was, Ridan ended up bruised, battered, and so pleased he couldn’t stop purring. He reeked so strongly of Brune that a few omegas from the other clans showed a little too much interest until they realized.