Page 57 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
BISHOP
Audrey jerked her gaze from the door across the hall where Cyrus had gone and groaned. The scent of her desire curled around her, and I fought my own arousal so I wouldn’t embarrass her even more in front of Ida and Hallie, even as my wolf strained to take over and satisfy her.
Exhausting herself and walking until her feet bled hadn’t been enough to control her heat, and after we rested in the village it was going to be even harder.
A part of me had wanted to argue with Cyrus about staying. We only had a day and a half until we reached the death god’s temple, and she’d been suffering from her heat for seven days already. If she stayed in her current painful state, she might be able to hold out until we broke the bond, or her heat broke… which surely would be soon.
Except the rest of me hurt just looking at her feet. Hell, I had no idea how she’d managed to get as far as she had without asking for help. She needed to rest and she needed an elixir if she was going to carry on. Even if I carried her the rest of the way, she still needed medical attention and rest.
The only question remaining was how she was going to deal with the pressure of her heat. I wanted to respect her wishes, help her hold out until she knew for certain she was no longer mated to Knox, but given that she was craving Cyrus even in her current condition, that wasn’t a reasonable expectation.
Besides, if she was going to give in and tend to her natural bodily needs, this was the place to do it. She’d have privacy, a bed by the sound of it, and time for me to do it right.
I was just going to have to approach her carefully and keep hold of my heart. I was certain Knox’s bond with Audrey was affecting me, but I was now also certain that even without Knox’s influence, I’d want Audrey.
Because of my bond with Knox, I’d been fighting what I felt, fighting what my wolf knew with absolute certainty and had been quietly waiting for me to realize.
Audrey was our mate.
She’d always been our mate and always would be. Fate had decided.
It didn’t matter that she was powerless and couldn’t shift — although I could feel a power inside her, had felt a ripple of it when she’d told me to help Cyrus and Knox during the jackal attack.
But it didn’t matter if she ended up powerless and wolfless her whole life. My wolf and soul needed her, craved her, wouldn’t be complete without her.
Except just because my wolf and I understood the truth, didn’t mean she did. And even if she did accept the fact that we were fated for each other, it might not happen quickly. She’d been tricked by the promise of a fated mate and would be wary of it no matter what her heart told her.
That and she needed time to adjust to her new realm and new pack, to figure out who she was and what she wanted. She’d never been given an opportunity to become who she was supposed to be, and her bond with Knox, a bond I knew that was fated as well, only complicated the matter.
If only she’d bonded with me first. She wouldn’t have had to deal with being rejected, something that had made her self-confidence fragile. And while I knew she was a fighter and determined, one blow too many or too strong could shatter her.
“I’ll find you something to wear and get the girls started on Mac’s house,” Hallie said to Audrey then hurried out of the doctor’s office.
The patient room opened and Cyrus stormed out with his and Audrey’s packs slung over his shoulder and dressed in his clean clothes — washed and mended from our fight with Tzanagoth’s spirits.
Audrey’s arousal thickened, and my wolf heaved under my skin.
She needed us. Now. She’d needed us before, too. It had almost been a week and my wolf was still pissed that we hadn’t eased her heat’s symptoms on the rocky riverbank just outside Darkweald.
And it was furious that we’d only held her for the last seven days. We’d been so close and yet not nearly close enough. It wouldn’t be satisfied until our cock and teeth were in her and a mating bond fully formed and sealed.
I swallowed back a growl and somehow managed to not pace as Ida stitched up the gashes in Audrey’s calf.
“Now,” Ida said, snipping the thread. “Let’s get you upstairs and cleaned up so I can wrap these stitches and your feet.”
Audrey moved to hop off the table, but I picked her up before her feet could touch the floor. “Cyrus said no walking,” I murmured, my wolf making my voice husky.
Her eyelids fluttered and she shivered at my tone.
“Are you going to help me bathe, too?” she breathed, her desire making her bold even as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“There’s nothing wrong with your arms,” Ida said with a chuckle, “and I’d appreciate it if you saved it for Mac’s house. My tub isn’t big enough for the both of you.”
Audrey’s flush swept down her neck and disappeared under the collar of her shirt — a shirt that was still wet, clung to her every curve, and was currently taunting me with her pert nipples since she’d dropped her arms to get off the table.
I followed Ida up the stairs at the back to a small apartment and set Audrey on the edge of a tub that, as Ida said, wasn’t big enough for both of us, let alone just me.
“I should probably do this myself,” Audrey said to me as the older woman gathered a handful of towels from a closet. “I don’t think I can—” Her cheeks burned brighter and she crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her nipples again. “Especially if I’m naked.”
“Right.” I forced myself to step away from her and not wrap her in my arms like I wanted. Now wasn’t the time. Not in Ida’s house with the woman watching and probably not while she was confused by her bond with Knox. “I’ll be in the hall if you need me.”
With my wolf snarling at me in frustration, I stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door. My heart lurched, a painful twisting in my chest, and I gritted my teeth before my wolf compelled me back inside. With the exception of relieving herself and filling our canteens, she hadn’t left my sight since we’d left Stonehaven and every protective instinct I had suddenly surged, riding a wave of furious anger from my wolf that I’d allowed her to leave our sight… even if we were only separated by a door.
I paced down the short hall into Ida’s small living room and my wolf wrenched me back to the bathroom door.
Damn it.
I could wait however many minutes it took for Audrey to bathe. It wasn’t like she was going to sit in the tub and relax like she deserved. She was just cleaning up.
Below, the building’s front door opened followed by soft footsteps. It was someone light, probably a woman, and a few seconds later, Hallie came up the stairs carrying neatly folded clothing dyed in various shades of blue and a pair of soft tan slippers.
Her eyes widened when she saw me, and she froze in the middle of the living room, gripping the clothes to her chest, recognizing the predator in front of her.
Shit. I strained to get my wolf under control even though I knew it wouldn’t work until Audrey was in sight again, or better yet, in my arms.
“They’re in the bathroom,” I growled, moving into the living room as far away from Hallie and the hall to the bathroom as I could get.
Hallie bobbed her head and hurried inside, and I could only pray she wouldn’t change her mind about offering us a place to stay for the night.
Jeez. My instincts were going insane. Even standing on the other side of the living room with the bathroom door closed, I could still smell Audrey’s fresh sweet scent and the heady aroma of her arousal that was growing by the second.
My wolf didn’t care about what she wanted. She needed relief. She needed us.
The bathroom door opened and Audrey hobbled into the hall with one hand on Hallie to keep her balance and the other on her chest as if she were afraid to show off any cleavage.
Which was ridiculous. The dress wasn’t cut that low and she looked incredible in it. Yes, she looked exhausted and her complexion was too pale, but she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
Hallie’s multi-blue clothing turned out to be a summer dress with thin straps. It skimmed the swell of Audrey’s breasts, hips, and ass and hung mid-thigh, exposing most of her sculpted legs along with the ugly black stitches along her calf. Her blond hair was wet and hung loose, framing her face and drawing my attention back to her soft brown eyes, flecked with gold and filled with exhaustion and desire.
The pressure in my chest suddenly released, my wolf receding now that she was in sight again, and I swept her into my arms.
We returned to the patient room where Ida wrapped Audrey’s calf in linen, then slathered ointment over her feet and wrapped them as well.
“I’d say stay off your feet for at least a few days, but I have a feeling you’re going to continue your journey tomorrow,” Ida said as Hallie helped Audrey put on the slippers.
“It’s best if we get to the temple as soon as possible,” Audrey said, dropping her hand from her cleavage revealing the tops of the ugly red scars marring her chest and shifting to the edge of the table as if she were going to jump off again.
“No, walking,” I growled, a hint of my power slipping free, both me and my wolf furious at the reminder of the men who’d hurt her.
She was already self-conscious about standing out by having almost no power. Now she stood out even more since very few shifters had scars.
More of my power rolled over her before I managed to yank it back.
Her eyes narrowed and the muscles in her jaw flexed. “You don’t need to force me,” she said.
“I wasn’t. And I’m not so sure about that. You keep trying to jump off that table and walk,” I said, offering her my wickedest smile to distract her.
A shiver rolled through her and the scent of her arousal increased.
I slung my pack over my shoulders, then swept her into my arms.
She instantly relaxed against me, and the warmth of our connection swelled around my heart, steadying my soul as I was steadying hers. My wolf huffed in soft satisfaction. Even if she didn’t realize it, her body and soul knew we were mates.