Page 7

Chapter 7

Evie

M orning came too early. Plastered against Ward, I resisted the urge to move against the thick length I had been dreaming about, nestled against my core. That was mate behavior, not strangers behavior. I had a feeling Ward was awake and let me peel off him without pressing the issue. That only made me want to crawl back under the blankets with him.

Ward began fixing a proper breakfast, which was a surprise. I couldn’t picture any of the men at home cooking. His competence was a bit frightening, but also a bit sexy. Our village had progressed since the Gate closed in the human Middle Ages, but some things like gender roles still stuck like burrs. Daily cooking was something most men didn’t bother with, so it was tempting to watch Ward stir our single pot, wipe out our bowls and use some berries I found yesterday to make porridge.

“Eat up,” Ward said as he handed me a steaming bowl.

Food had no right to turn into a special gift from him. Fallon fed me all the time since Maggie was always out doing her thing and I hadn’t met an egg I couldn’t explode or a bit of toast I couldn’t burn. A guy, though? No guy had ever cooked for me. It made me curious.

“Is this another wooing tactic Dane told you about?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

I held up my bowl.

“I learned to cook when I was home alone most of the time. My sister was out running wild and my brother often travelled with my parents,” he said between bites.

“I can relate. My sister was also off running wild, and even though I work for Fallon in her bakery, she’s never been able to impress anything useful on me. I thought maybe you cooked for an ex.”

Ward licked his spoon, and I watched with more interest than I should have. “I could never really be serious about anyone when I knew my mate was out there. My relationships never got to ‘cooking for you stage’.”

I shrugged. “Well, you got the short end of the Mate stick.”

His eyes narrowed, and he placed a giant paw on my knee. “You won’t be mean to my mate. She’s not ready for me to show her how I should worship between her legs every day. So I’ll have to defend her honor in the meantime.”

Heat shot right from my knee throughout my body. Self-depreciation usually got a laugh. He was absolutely serious, though. About the worshiping and the not being mean to myself. The urge to see if he could make a kiss worshipful was so powerful I got up to pack for our day on the road.

Anything I wanted that bad rarely ended well for me. Look at Abner—though the exact reasons I wanted him in the first place now amounted to loneliness and proximity.

My pack was a little lighter than yesterday as we left our first camp. Was Ward’s pack bulgier than usual? He had the muscle to carry it. Not that I was admiring them. That was sweet of him. Or practical. Still, I chose to think his kindness made the morning a little brighter. The fact I didn’t have to ask made the road straighter, and the forest we passed through a bit greener.

I felt refreshed enough to be on the lookout for more food for tonight’s dinner. Ward shortened his stride for me, but we still walked at a good pace. Hopefully, I wouldn’t embarrass myself like yesterday. I explained the pair of shorts I needed to make walking in the skirt bearable, and it took a few combinations of spells, but the fact I was able to swing my legs back and forth with complete ease was worth the embarrassment of describing them.

The walk on the road through the woods was easy and the silence companionable as morning turned into afternoon.

“We should practice your shift. It will be helpful for you to control it for the challenges ahead.”

I didn’t really want to. I was so vulnerable as a snake. What would happen if I got stuck like that? Would Ward still want a lousy shifter? Would he haul me all the way to Vinguard in a wheelbarrow? And the more I pretended I was just a normal girl, the more I could hold on to the belief this mates thing was all a disappointing joke. That was easier than thinking it might be real. The first relic hadn’t been the snake purger I thought it would be, but if there were four of them, maybe we needed all of them for me to be human again.

“I think I’m okay. The walking isn’t so bad. The slithering is kinda gross.”

Ward’s disappointment was tangible in the air. “You couldn’t be gross if you tried.”

“Not that there’s anything wrong with shifting, of course. Your bear is only pant-wettingly terrifying the first couple of times. Definitely not like what everyone in my village imagined shifters would be like.”

“Everyone outside your village would agree. What exactly did they tell you in this place no one knows about?” Ward’s curious gaze fell on mine.

“It was all rumors, for the most part,” I said. I was absolutely not going to insult him by describing the maiming and tearing speculation. “Though, if I’m any indication, a few villagers must have done more than gossip about you magical types at some point in our history if I popped out as a result.”

Ward thought before he answered, pushing his hair back from his face so his wicked scar burned in the light. He would have looked dangerous without his smile. “I have to agree. My bear couldn’t mate with you if you were not part of a shifter line.”

“The sex must have been great to overcome their fear,” I said without thinking.

Ward’s smirk scrambled my brain for a second before I dodged the conversation back to neutral territory. “What else do you think the village was hiding?” I asked.

“Humans are very good at believing what they want to believe, even when all evidence points to the contrary. So your village might harbor anything if the magic wasn’t free to grow.” Ward adjusted his pack like it weighed nothing.

“I don’t think the elves who helped hide us would be happy to hear that. The agreement was always hiding us in exchange for the promise we stayed very unmagical. No wizards bent on world domination. No witches with a Goddess complex.”

“That’s how you’ve stayed hidden for so long? Elven magic?”

I pointed to my chest. “Don’t look at me. I did what I was told and stayed put, pursued non-magical hobbies. Maggie was the one who always broke the rules. It was her fault we were in that bar in the first place.”

“I’m glad you were. I might never have found you otherwise.”

I’m glad you found me, too. I barely stopped myself from saying it out loud, but I forgot he could hear my conversation mentally. The return of the grin on his face said he noticed, but he was a true gentleman for what he said next.

“What would you like for dinner?”

The change in subject sagged my shoulders with relief. “How long?—”

The question choked out of me when Ward’s large hand yanked my pack. How did I end up in front of him? When did I get fast?

“Don’t touch it.” He commanded. “You can never predict what the remnants of the Godds magic will do.”

In that tone of voice, I would have done whatever he wanted, but in order for me to comply, I had to know what he was talking about. I put my hands up, just in case. Ward hadn’t let go of my pack, but he eased around me to block me from… a piglet. It snuffled harmlessly at the ground, its tiny feet pawing in the dirt. Tiny grunts filled the air. It couldn’t have been more than a handful of a creature.

I started to sweat. Every bit of gear I brought rattled as I shook.

“Evie?” Ward asked.

“Don’t let it near me,” I said. I popped into my snake form involuntarily.

“Shift back, Evie. You can’t maneuver like that.” He peered down at me. A different question on his face.

I forced myself human again, and it took a few tries to stay that way. “What? You just told me not to touch it and it's ancient magic. You won’t get any argument from me.”

There had to be another route because if monsters were terrifying, then the Godds were unspeakable. Even our isolated village knew not to mess with them or invoke them.

Ward turned his back on the thing, which seemed crazy. “I thought humans loved pigs. Don’t you keep them in your village?”

“Maybe other people do, but not this human! They will eat people, Ward, and they’re crazy smart.” They had terrorized our village enough when they escaped farmer Hime’s pen.

“Honestly, I expected more of a fight on this. Isn't it cute?”

Nope. I moved him further in the piglet's way. Shoving someone as big as him was a task, but that thing wasn’t getting near me.

“No. Its eyes look pretty beady. Let's not talk about its sharp teeth and hooves.”

Ward shook his head. “It doesn't even have its tusks yet. Or all its heads.”

Heads, as in plural? My face had to be green because my stomach sloshed. Everything was simpler at home. Humans and an occasional elf. Done.

“We should keep walking. Hōki are not to be underestimated. As remnants of the Godds of fertility, the mate bond attracted it.”

I swallowed hard on that. I didn’t need to be fertile on top of everything else that was happening at the moment. Or ever.

Ward’s steady hand found my shoulder. “Just edge around it and we won’t attract its parents.”

An adult version of this thing existed? That sounded like nightmare fuel. He stepped into the woods and I followed. The piglet trotted in my direction. I picked up my feet, so I didn’t trip.

“Shoo, git, you terrifying creature.” My flapping at it only intrigued it further. Its eyes were bright on me as it trailed behind us. “Ward, it’s not shooing.”

Ward walked faster, his jaw hardening. “What are you doing to attract it?”

“Nothing! What is this thing, a cat? Does it know I actively hate it?” I did my best to warn it away with wild gestures without pissing it off. Somehow that translated to ‘get closer’. It really was going to eat me.

“Don’t touch it.” Ward slapped at my hands, dragging me forward by my collar.

“I’m trying not to. It’s determined to be touched.” The crunchy leaves slipped under my boots.

Ward pulled me away faster, but the piglet stamped its little feet to keep up. Then we ran and Evie did not run. Even for danger pork. Every branch in the forest rose to trip me. My pack weighed a thousand pounds in an instant. My legs never cooperated right for something that was supposed to be so simple. I thought I was going to burst out of my top. I should have at least been able to outrun a mini slab of bacon, but my legs just said ‘no’.

Ward caught me as I stumbled and put me behind him again. I did my part by gulping in as much air as possible. He roared a fearsome sound at the piglet and the answering cry, from deep in the woods, raised every hair on my body.

A boar, the size of a cart and pony, stepped out of the forest shadows, pawing at the ground. Two heads and everything. As promised. Adrenaline surged through my legs, telling them to run again, but Ward planted himself more firmly. I never thought I would see something that made him look tiny, but the adult Hōki was big enough to toss us into next week. Two sloping heads with two sets of tusks razoring out of each of its mouths came from a stout, attached to a dapple-coated body. The adult version’s eyes looked just as beady, but more angry. The piglet ran to it and joined a small pack of pork at the adult’s feet.

I didn’t know it was possible to bristle without fur, but Ward managed it. I swear he grew a few inches as he set his pack down and drew out a for-real battle axe. I didn’t see why we weren’t slowly moving away. I dredged up some calm.

“See, everything’s fine, mama. You have all your babies back.”

“That’s the male. He’s the less aggressive one?—”

Ward’s warning choked off as a freight train plowed into us from the side and I was flying in a way I never had on my bucket list. Waiting to hit the ground, warm fur enveloped me and I pressed against a booming heartbeat. My completely irrational heart sang through the mate bond as I rolled and we skidded to a stop against a towering old oak. I didn’t feel the impact, but it reverberated through the fur blanket around me.

Cracking one eye open, I found myself in the grip of Ward’s bear. Giant picket-fence-sized teeth dripped with a bit of blood as he quickly healed himself. A bone snapped with a crunch.

Are you hurt, mate? I will shift back when you’re on your feet.

He didn’t need to. He was perfect as he was and more battle ready in my opinion. But he looked… nervous. As nervous as I interpreted on his bear face.

“Hurt, no. In awe, yes.” I couldn't believe I eked that much out of my dry mouth. I would have a few bruises, but they didn’t seem worth mentioning when Ward’s ribs popped back into place.

Chest heaving, I collected myself enough to slide from his grip. I should have been concerned about the murder pork still spraying leaves onto the other side of the clearing, but as the bear sneezed out all the dust we kicked up, my freakout died in the face of my fascination. Running from all these enormous, terrifying creatures would have been my first thought a few days ago. Every primal instinct in me was urging me not to be flying again but fleeing worked out poorly last time and I couldn’t help but stare at him. His round, little ears were so cute. His black nose, shiny and adorable. I hadn’t really had time to appreciate this magnificent creature with all the questing and kidnapping. What would he do if I booped his nose?

The bear dragged himself up and shuffled in front of me, every step thundering through the forest. He hesitated, partially shifting, but his fur sprang forth again. Ward grumbled, but the Hōki decided Ward’s form for us. Jaws slathered in blood I didn't want to know the source of. She pawed the leaf litter and charged. Ward shifted fully back to his bear, swatted her with a paw that encompassed her whole body and sent her to the ground in a plume of leaves and branches. He stepped forward and the Hōki finally got the message. She scrambled up and took off with her husband and babies. Ward let out a deafening roar for good measure and turned back to me.

He put his bear away so fast I didn’t even have time for that boop. I should have been used to his casual nudity by now, but I got jittery instead.

He was so magical and strong. I was a nobody who collected rocks and never trusted anyone long enough to make friends. How could he ever want me for a mate? Wasn’t I just waiting for him to abandon me?

“Are—are you—did he scare you?” Ward asked, more concerned about my answer than his bits hanging out. If he could be an adult, so could I.

All of my inner chatter stilled with his question. Aw, he was nervous. “The bear was the least scary part of all that.”

“Really?” Ward said as he spelled on his clothes and straps.

“He’s… you’re actually kinda cute,” I assured him as I patted his clothed shoulder.

“I’ll take cute over monstrous.”

Had someone actually called him that? From his serious expression, someone had, and it stuck like a burr. He just saved me from murder pork. Now I knew he could cook on top of that. In fact, no one I met outside our village had been anything like the stories. We were still upright after our first animal encounter. I hadn’t killed us with my mistakes. Was it possible this trip was going to be fun, after all?