Page 27

Raiden

W e follow with ease, and Griff asks, sounding understandably surprised, “You’ve found a scent trail?”

River nods, “Yes, in a way. It feels different than a normal scent trail, but it is definitely Neith. I would know her anywhere.”

I share another look with the others. It’s not just unlikely that he has found Neith’s scent trail and it’s still strong enough that we can follow it, it’s impossible.

The only reasonable explanation is that she didn’t leave as long ago as we were assuming.

To be honest, it’s entirely possible that we just kept missing her, and that she left the castle only moments before we did, and that’s why the trail is fresh.

The thing is, if that were the case, then Mabel would have seen her, or we would have at least caught a glimpse of her, and it still begs the question of why?

Neith wouldn’t just go out for a stroll or into town without letting us know, not because we’re controlling and have to know where she is every second, but because it’s not safe here and she knows that as well as we do.

She would also want to check on us after we did the trial.

So why did she leave?

As we race after River, heading straight out of the gates of the castle and down the dirt track that leads into town and the surrounding area, something else occurs to me.

River may not want to get his hopes up, but we are all almost one hundred percent certain that Neith is his mate, and because of that, there is a strong possibility that it’s not a scent trail that River is following, but rather his mate bond to Neith.

He said so himself that it wasn’t like a normal scent trail.

We’re nearly to the edge of the town, the lights getting brighter, when River suddenly stops.

“Is everything okay, man?” I ask.

River nods, but doesn’t reply as he tilts his head to the side like he’s listening to something that we can’t hear. He then turns to look into the dense forest that runs alongside this road.

“She’s in here,” River explains, as he glances back at us, looking slightly unsure.

Doc nods, “Alright, man, after you. We’ll follow.”

River nods and then takes off at a run again through the trees.

It’s a good job that we have had lots of practice running through densely packed forests like this, because there is absolutely no pathway in sight, and River is moving through the trees and leaving barely any sign of his presence in his wake.

The more I watch him, the more certain I am that he is following his mate bond to Neith, and possibly a scent trail now that we are closer to her.

My fingers are practically itching to get into my library and do some research into Kitsune mate bonds and just mate bonds in general.

We have actually spoken about the mate bond before, so I know how he feels about it, but we haven’t spoken about it since Neith has been around.

We haven’t had the opportunity to talk about it, not without everyone else around, and I know that he’s going to have a hard time with the conversation, that’s if he even sticks around to listen to what I have to say.

It's because of those reasons, and because I know how much the mate bond means to him, that I want to do as much research as I possibly can into the subject. I want to be able to provide him with set-in-stone evidence, concrete proof that he can have a mate and that it is Neith.

That kind of evidence means that I need to dive far back into the archives and possibly need to look into accessing some more well-equipped libraries than the one that I have, because there isn’t any recent documentation of a kitsune with nine tails, let alone one that has been mated to a supernatural that isn’t another kitsune.

I know that the bond is possible because I can see it forming between River and Neith, but I know that he isn’t going to believe it until the evidence is laid out in front of him, and that includes proof that something similar has happened before.

I will find it for him though.

River’s pace suddenly picks up, “She’s bleeding.”

Shit.

Immediately, I check the tether, and let out a small sigh of relief when it comes back, that she’s still alive.

“She’s not in mortal danger,” I tell the others, trying to reassure them, but unable to hide the worry in my voice.

We all pick up our pace so that we’re now running even faster, and we weren’t going slow in the first place.

Knowing that Neith is bleeding though allows us to tap into even more of our magic, and I find myself glad that we aren’t being filmed right now because Evander and Ransom definitely shouldn’t be able to keep up with the rest of us, and yet they are easily keeping pace.

Everyone would know that there is a lot more to us than there seems to be.

“She’s close,” River says, and suddenly increases his speed to the point where the rest of us can’t keep up.

Fucking hell he’s fast.

“How is he doing that?” Van yells, not expecting an answer, as we race to catch up with him.

Neith

A rms suddenly wrap around me.

Luckily for River, his scent reaches me moments before I start to kick his ass thinking that it’s someone else attacking me. I mean that really was fucking close and I could have seriously hurt him. I would scold him, but my body has gone like jelly, completely relaxing into him.

The effect that his presence has on me should scare me, but it’s River, and he brings a level of comfort and safety that means that I don’t have to be on guard anymore.

His nose is buried in my neck, and he inhales deeply, “Thank fuck.”

I don’t know what that means, but the relief in his voice is obvious.

“Are you okay?” I ask him as I hold onto him tightly.

His reaction has made me worry that something has happened while I’ve been on this task, and there’s yet another thing that’s going to turn things upside down and cause us problems.

His head pulls back from my neck. “You’re bleeding.”

I frown and reply, “Well, yeah.”

Maybe he didn’t see me get sliced by that poacher, and that’s why he sounds surprised that I’m bleeding.

I don’t have time to question him though as the others all surround us and I’m gently tugged out of River’s arms and into Evander’s.

“Hey!” I greet the rest of them happily as they surround me in seconds and smother me in cuddles and kisses. “You guys didn’t have to come and meet me out here, although I’m really glad you did. I was getting so fucking bored. Did you like my dance?”

Apparently, because I’ve had to keep all my thoughts inside for a while, I now can’t stop talking, and I’m babbling instead. It’s a good job that I know that the guys don’t mind. They pull back at my onslaught of questions though and all look at me like they’re incredibly confused.

“What the hell are you talking about, Nene?” Van asks.

I frown and open my mouth to ask him what he’s talking about because obviously I’m talking about what they just watched on the Choosing, but River’s eyes suddenly flash to those of his kitsune as his eyes narrow on the wound in my side, and he growls.

“You’re bleeding,” his voice is harsh, as he repeats his earlier words, his kitsune that closer to the surface. “I smelt it before, but that’s a lot more.”

I frown, “Well yeah, I got stabbed by the poacher, you saw that.”

“No, we didn’t,” Reed says, looking at me with concern.

Doc moves forward, “We can deal with whatever is happening in a second. First, I need to heal you.”

I nod, “Yes, please. My arm is still hurting, although not as much as it should be.”

“Your arm?” Raiden asks and glances at the bandage wrapped around it. “What happened?”

“That was in my first trial, I got burned by one of the backwards knee walking creatures that I told you about before from Luesidious,” I explain.

The guy’s eyes widen.

“Right, I think there’s a lot to explain, but Doc is right, let him heal you first and then you can explain everything,” Evander suggests.

I nod in agreement, but quite frankly I’m confused as shit.

“Alright, I’m going to heal the slice first since that’s pretty straightforward,” he explains as I feel his magic flow through me.

Within seconds, the pain from the cut on my hip is completely gone, and I let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you,” I say gratefully, pulling him closer so I can give him a thank you kiss.

His smile is stunning, when I pull back, but he quickly becomes serious again as he says, “Let’s have a look at the burn, if you got it from some kind of supernatural then I need to check that there isn’t any sort of poison or something else that I need to be aware of before I heal you,” Doc says as he gently takes my hand.

I nod and smile, “Yeah. That sounds good to me. To be honest, considering how bad it was, I am concerned that it’s no longer hurting. Doesn’t that mean that there’s really bad damage or something?”

Doc frowns, “Yeah, it does. The good news is I can fix that, but I do need to do it quickly.” He begins to unwrap the bandage around my arm and asks, “When did you stop noticing that it was hurting?”

“Well, it was definitely hurting after the fight with the poachers, and I’ve been walking for about an hour, so maybe two hours ago maximum was when I last noticed that it hurt,” I explain.

“Alright, well, that’s good. It wasn’t that long ago that will make it easy for me to heal,” Doc says, as he pulls the last of the bandage off and his eyebrows hit his hairline, “Or not.”

I grimace, refusing to look at my arm in case it’s all blackened and charred, or burned down to the bone, or something equally disturbing. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

The guys are all still crowded around us, and it’s Griff who replies to me, “It’s healed. That’s why you aren’t feeling any pain, it’s pretty much nearly completely healed.”

My eyebrows rise in shock as I look down at my arm, and sure enough, where the giant and very painful burn was only a few hours ago, there is now just a red mark that looks like mild sunburn.