Page 39 of Destined to the Lycan (The Shadow Realms #3)

Amara

A fter that wonderful ‘spa’ getaway, we spent another two full days on the path, Remus running with me riding on his back.

On the third day, we found a small recess in the rock face of the mountain that would barely qualify as an alcove.

It still provided a semblance of shelter while my poor mate indulged in a well-deserved rest.

I felt horrible watching him push himself so hard. It didn’t help that he was rationing his food to make sure we would have enough until we reached another plateau where we might find some game to hunt and spare our reserves.

However, I selfishly didn’t insist too much on him taking it easy.

Mating with him in his partially shifted form had given me a noticeably stronger boost than when I had taken his seed with him in his human form.

And yet, I could feel myself fading even quicker every day.

I couldn’t say if the poison was becoming more aggressive in reaction to that stronger antidote, or if it was just a matter of my system becoming increasingly weak.

For this reason, being able to sleep on Remus while he ran all day turned out to be a great blessing.

His determination to see this through moved me beyond words.

He was so wonderful and loving to me. I embarked on this mission without much hope, mostly going through the motions because I didn’t believe in just lying down in the face of adversity.

But meeting Remus changed everything. I really wanted to live to explore a life with him.

Sadly, as we finally entered a proper cave this time for the night, the fear I wouldn’t make it steadily grew in my heart.

Already nineteen days had gone by since my meeting with the Weaver, fifteen since the last full moon, and eleven since I’d set off on this journey.

By my mate’s estimation, we should reach the plateau in a couple more days.

That meant that our entire trip to our destination would have taken thirteen days—fourteen if we added the extra delay caused by Lyall kidnapping me.

And that was a problem.

Considering that I traveled on my own horse for the first five days, how long would it take Remus to run back that entire distance on his own?

By the time we met with Ranael for my first bite, there would only be about eleven days remaining before the next full moon.

According to the Weaver, it would take at least two to five days for his venom to burn the poison coursing through me before I could get his second bite to neutralize it.

Assuming the worst-case scenario of five days, that would leave Remus with only six days to get back to one of his safe places before he turns into a werewolf.

Will he be able to get there in such a short time if he’s not burdened with me?

But that also raised the question of where I would stay in the meantime. I didn’t know what state I would be in after that second bite. All signs indicated that I would likely be a wreck for hours if not days afterwards.

I forced myself to swallow another bite of dry bread and cured meat.

Yesterday, I noticed how tasteless food had become for me.

Today, I could have sworn I was eating the ashes from a bonfire.

My stomach wasn’t taking kindly to any food.

Drinking cider felt like guzzling vinegar, and even water disagreed with me.

The weight of Remus’s gaze on me claimed my attention.

Guilt immediately crashed over me upon seeing his distraught expression.

Despite his best efforts, my mate couldn’t hide his worry for me.

But the worst part of it all was knowing beyond any doubt that he was blaming himself for my worsening condition.

Since our wild night by the hot spring, we only made love again once after the second stretch of two-days of non-stop running.

Although Remus had once more been partially shifted, the beneficial effects of his seed waned within hours.

We hadn’t been intimate since, despite having half-decent shelters for each of the following three nights—including tonight—with enough room for us to get frisky.

As much as I would have liked to enjoy more of those moments with my soulmate, I’d been too worn out and feeling too icky to even consider it.

Remus hadn’t made any overtures in that sense either.

It distressed me that his sensitive nose told him exactly what poor state I was in.

But I actually feared it was revealing to him that my condition was even worse than I believed.

“Is something wrong, my Flame?” Remus asked in a gentle voice, his underlying worry subtle but audible.

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. But I was thinking it might be a good idea to show you the magic circle and incantation that will be required to summon Ranael.”

My chest constricted at the air of pure sorrow that flitted over my mate’s handsome features.

I didn’t need to go into details for him to read between the lines.

By the look on his face, he clearly wanted to give me those generic arguments and platitudes people always spewed whenever they try to convince a dying person that they will somehow make it.

Thankfully, he spared me the pain of having a pointless debate about it.

“That could be fun,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ve dabbled in many things. But summoning will be a new experience. Show me, my Flame.”

My heart melted with affection for him. Once again, he was putting my needs first and prioritizing my mental welfare over his own.

Tears pricked my eyes at the thought that we might not have much time left together.

Fate couldn’t be so cruel as to finally put such a wonderful man in my path only to snuff my light out before I could reciprocate the love and care he was showing me.

Over the next hour, Remus displayed a phenomenal level of focus as he practiced drawing the magic circle and memorizing the incantation.

It blew me away considering how exhausted he must be after pushing himself almost to his limit running the entire day.

By the time we stopped, he had fully mastered it.

It gave me a great deal of comfort to know that should I be too incapacitated to perform it myself, he would be able to do it on my behalf.

That night, against all odds, we made love again. When I first initiated it, he seemed hesitant. I didn’t have to ask why. But I wanted this intimacy with him. Somewhere, deep down, a little voice was telling me this would likely be our last time.

It wasn’t the savage and unbridled coupling that we experienced the last few times since that wild romp by the hot spring.

Tonight, despite remaining extensively in his wolf form throughout the day, Remus made love to me in his full human form.

It wasn’t passionate or lustful but tender and borderline desperate.

In truth, it struck me more as a farewell.

By morning, it was clear that his seed had done nothing for me.

I was feverish, groggy, and weak for the remainder of the journey.

Although the path once more widened enough for us to find plenty of places to rest, Remus plowed through.

He only stopped for me to drink and eat.

But in my current state, I could hardly stomach anything.

With relentless determination, my mate ran for a day and a half, until we reached our final destination.

We stepped onto the plateau early that afternoon. The timing could not have been more perfect. It provided us with enough time to rest, set up the circle, and prepare our shelter for the night.

The plateau vaguely reminded me of an open outstretched hand, palm facing up, fingers closed together except for the thumb jutting out.

The dark stones vaguely reminded me of cooled down lava which had been smoothed and polished by the elements.

The surface almost shone under the bright rays of the early afternoon sun.

Below, the Storm Hill valley sprawled as far as the eye could see.

I couldn’t even begin to calculate just how high we were.

But it was high enough that the few buildings I could recognize below looked no bigger than a coin.

A shiver coursed through me as I deeply inhaled the crisp but overly thin air of the plateau.

I glanced back at the path from whence we arrived.

While the plateau lay flat horizontally over a fifty-meter radius, the path itself had been no wider than a couple of meters.

No trees or other vegetation adorned that area.

Only a small rock face marked the western edge of the mountain, which continued to climb higher.

However, there didn’t appear to be any practical way to go higher from here.

Remus walked to the rock face towards what appeared to be a shallow nook that could provide a reasonable shelter. In no universe would it qualify as a cave, but it was deep enough to protect us from the elements should it begin to rain, or should strong winds blast our way.

He dropped most of our bags in the nook before donning his clothes.

Once done, he came back my way. I had been walking around the plateau looking for the best spot to draw the circle, when I recognized the area where I had drawn the circle in the illusion Lyall had cast me into.

Had it been his way of telling me this was the best location?

“Here,” I said to Remus while pointing at the ground when he stopped next to me. “That’s where I will draw the circle.”

“I got it,” Remus said in an imperious tone.

To my shock, instead of handing me the bag with the salt, candles, and chalk, Remus got to work, drawing the circle perfectly, as I had taught him.

“You don’t have to—”

“I don’t, but I want to,” Remus said, interrupting my feeble protest in a firm but gentle fashion. “Right now, what you need to do is rest and save your strength for tonight. You can supervise my work to make sure it is up to your standards.”

Once again, tears pricked my eyes at just how thoughtful and protective he was.

In that instant, I realized that no one would have brought me here the way he did.

They would have bailed along the way or set a much slower pace that would have guaranteed my demise before we ever reached our destination.

I watched as he completed his task flawlessly. He had been attentive during the brief training, but considering nearly forty-eight hours had gone by since then, I would have expected him to forget something or mess up a part of the runic patterns inside the circle.

“You’re really good at this,” I whispered with awe. “Should you ever wish to reorient your career as a summoner’s assistant, you will be quite successful.”

He snorted and gave me an amused smile, although I didn’t miss the more serious glint in his eyes.

“The only witch I would work for is you. So unless you decide to shift your chandler business to witchcraft, I think I’ll stick to my guide career.”

He finished positioning the candles around the circle.

Once I gave him my approval for a job well done, he carried me back to the nook where he had left the rest of our belongings.

He settled on the ground at an angle that allowed him to keep an eye on the circle and sat me across his lap. We cuddled while awaiting nightfall.

“We need to discuss what will happen after,” I said softly, my cheek resting on his shoulder.

“After?” he echoed.

I nodded. “There are only ten days left before the full moon. Assuming that the snake tail’s venom takes the longest amount of time to neutralize the poison in my veins before I can get the second bite, that would only leave you with five days to reach one of your shelters. Will that be enough time for you?”

To my surprise, Remus smiled reassuringly.

“That’s more than enough time. Your number one concern should be about how we will get you to a safe place to recover after that second bite,” he replied teasingly.

I blinked. “I just assumed I would stay here until I got better, and you would come get me back down to civilization after the full moon.”

I felt my cheeks burned with embarrassment at the look he gave me.

In truth, I had been too worried about his welfare to focus on my own.

Not to mention the fact that, deep down, I didn’t really believe I would survive this entire ordeal.

It shamed me to feel this way especially now that I had something to live for.

But with every passing day, this entire mission struck me as more and more insane and farfetched.

Nobody survived Ranael’s poison.

“I would never leave you here. Although this place is technically safe, you will be fighting one of the most virulent poisons in the world. Someone needs to watch over you during that time. I will do so for as long as I can. And it won’t be in this unpleasant setting.”

“Where will it be?” I asked, confused.

“I have already arranged for a place for you to stay after the second bite. It is not far from here. I only need a little over one day of carrying you to reach that shelter. It belongs to Misty’s daughter. She agreed to watch over you when I can’t.”

“Oh wow! That’s wonderful. But I don’t recall seeing any dwellings on our way up,” I countered.

“Because we didn’t encounter one,” he replied in an indulgent tone. “You were sleeping when we walked past the passage branching off of the path leading up to this plateau. That other passage takes us down to the valley on the other side of the mountain.”

“Okay,” I said carefully. “But that doesn’t solve the situation for you.”

He smiled again. “It will take me less than two days to reach one of my safe houses closest to her home. So that’s plenty of time before the full moon.”

“Oh! That’s great then!” I exclaimed, relieved. “You thought of everything!”

He gave me the most endearing smug smile. “I tried to. That’s why I delayed our departure. I had to plan and get everything in place before we left.”

The strangest expression settled over his face as he stared at me with an intensity that affected me in a way that I couldn’t put into words. Whatever thoughts fueled it, I rather liked it.

“I will save you, Amara. We didn’t come this far to fail now.”

He spoke those words like a pledge.

“If you’re trying to make me fall in love with you, you’re doing a fantastic job,” I said, deeply moved.

“Good. I’m keeping you, Amara. Nothing, not even death, will take you from me. You are my Twin Flame. I refuse to lose you now that I found you.”

“As I refuse to lose you,” I whispered.

He leaned forward and captured my lips in a kiss filled with hope, devotion, and determination.

We would not be defeated.