Page 49 of Blood Fist

CHAPTER TEN

COWARDS MIND, WARRIORS HEART

The spring was cold, but the water felt good against his heated skin. Ridan rested his arms on a rocky ledge, floating idly in the water. He closed his eyes and tried not to think. It smelled better here, with just Corric’s wet scent mixing in with the smell of damp dirt. Refreshing after the stench of swamp followed him for days.

Worse was the smell of sickness. His mother wasn’t getting better. Her wounds were festering, eating her from the inside. Iylah stopped the bleeding, but the wound continued to drain Chief Restrina. Worse than the smell was Restrina herself. She was fading. Her skin was ashen, paler than the sands on the Jagged Coast and sunken in. A shell of her former self, although there was still a glint in her eyes.

Ridan wondered when that would dim, too.

Iylah was trying everything she knew, staying up at all hours to experiment with new medications. She even sent riders out to speak to other healers, even some with magical properties. They rode as fast and were diligent, but so far nothing had worked.

He tried to stay strong when he visited, speaking of her duties he’d taken on, asking her for advice when she was strong enough. But the last time he’d seen her, she called him by his grandfather’s name—a man who’d died long before he was born.

It was after that when Corric suggested coming to the springs. It was almost too cold. Soon they would have to bathe by hand in buckets close to a fire, but for now, he could still enjoy the way he floated in the clear water.

Somewhere beyond the line of trees, Jonen was prowling. His black tea scent reeked of possessiveness. No matter how capable Corric and Ridan were of protecting themselves, as a pack alpha, he couldn’t stand letting them bathe alone. Bathing made them vulnerable, and it didn’t matter how many times Ridan told him to fuck off, he persisted with a guilty whine.

It was hard to argue against instincts, and so Ridan ‌allowed him to do it with only minimal griping. Jonen had always struggled with his alpha instincts in a way Ridan didn’t with his omegan ones. His omega was largely silent, almost always in agreement with him, content to only make itself heard during his heats.

Until Brune.

Sehleh nearly lost her mind when they came stumbling back into camp well after dark, reeking of blood and mud. She was ready to berate them until she saw the massive Snap Jaw they’d been carrying with Osmond and Niklas’s help. The moment her eyes landed on such a prize, she snapped to work, assisting the boys with getting the kill squared away.

When she asked Brune how he wanted the hide sorted, he looked at Ridan and sheepishly tried to give the prize to him. Said it wasRidan’s knifethat killed the beast and so it should be his. As if Brune wasn’t the onewith a bloody bite wound. The one who wrestled with a Snap Jaw protecting her nest and won.

Ridan had been so shocked he said nothing until his omega reared its ugly head and nearly purred. Generous alpha,it whispered loud enough to nearly knock him off his feet. It wanted him to nuzzle into him, to grab his wrist and breathe in his scent glands, wipe the smell of blood, swamp, and victory all over his skin. Let the others know the strong alpha washis.

Instead, he’d snarled, shoved Brune so hard he stumbled back. “Do you think I’m so weak I need to steal another man’s trophy?!” he’d yelled. Dumbstruck, the big alpha had dropped his head, apologizing for insulting him. Corric helped him with the Snap Jaw while Ridan tried to hide the interest clouding his scent.

Perhaps it was his way of avoiding thinking of his mother’s condition, or the looming weight of responsibilities he didn’t feel ready for, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Brune. From the way he stood his ground when more experienced warriors would have fled, when he bared his teeth and took the attack head on, to the way he gently patted Boulder’s nose, giving him a treat when they’d returned to the stables. Even how he apologized to Iyleh when he flinched as she cleaned his wounds, ducking his head sheepishly.

There was a duality to Brune that Ridan didn’t understand. And hard as he tried to convince himself he didn’t need to, he wanted to. He wanted to know the facets of his scent, to recognize it anywhere. To have it cling to his skin even when they were parted. To know his favorite foods and what he thinks about to fall asleep at night.

It confused him, but he didn’t know how to stop.

Ridan had never put much thought into mating. He wasn’t against it—he just had better things, moreimportant things to put his efforts towards. During his heats he would imagine a partner—a strong alpha who would stand beside him, take care of his needs without trying to overshadow him—but they were always nameless, faceless. A person he’d meet in the future, one who would stumble into his life without him having to try.

Now here he was, wasting time thinking about a stupid alpha when they had the festival coming up. Not only would he be responsible for profitable trade and the protection of his people as they traveled, but also for navigating the political quagmire of the other clans. They were all on friendly terms, but that didn’t mean the other chiefs wouldn’t take advantage of the Stone Blade’s weakness.

Clan law said nothing of wounds. The other chiefs could still challenge his mother for leadership of the clan—a challenge she wouldn’t be able to fight. They might accept Ridan as a stand in, but as much as it pained him to admit, he wouldn’t stand a chance against another clan leader. Not yet. Not while he was still slow with his father’s sword.

Corric swam up beside him, purposefully jostling him as he rested his back against the ledge. “You’re quiet.”

“You should try it sometime,” Ridan snapped with no real heat.

“It would help to?—”

“If you want to hear yourself speak so badly, why don’t you talk about why you’re so angry at Jonen?”

Corric pressed his lips together, looking away from Ridan. “I’m not angry at him.”

“Right. I’ll believe that when Jonen thaws from the cold shoulder you’ve been giving him.”

The other omega ground his teeth, his eyes narrowing.He looked like he regretted coming over to badger Ridan.Good.

Finally, he spoke. “He called me a pack omega.”

Ridan raised a brow. “And? You are.”