Page 17

Seventeen

W e stayed out on the bank of the water, trading kisses filled with love and devotion, until Finn got cold and kept trying to bury himself in my tunic. His icy hands on my skin were my punishment for keeping him out there in the chilled weather. When he began to shiver, I scooped him up and carried him back, tucking his head under my chin as we walked.

“Rath? Why did you take me to the water?”

“Privacy,” I answered, coming around to where my tent sat. And my brother waited. “I knew he’d come looking for us.”

Finn’s arms tightened around my neck and he burrowed closer, his voice terse. “I don’t want to talk to him.”

“No. I’ll deal with him. You get into bed. Warm it up for me.”

He scoffed, but didn’t reply. Instead, he hid his face as we came up to my brother, hiding away until I could get him in the tent and safely away. No one entered a man’s tent without express permission. It was understood by all to be this way.

Setting Finn on the bed, I wrapped the blanket around him and narrowed my eyes. “I’ll get you something warmer soon. You shiver in your sleep if I move away from you.”

“So then, don’t move away from me,” he suggested cheekily. He was trying to lighten the mood, but when I moved to step away, he grabbed my tunic, his lip trembling. “Do you have to go?”

“I won’t go far,” I promised. “He won’t go unless I speak with him. Stay here.”

He leaned into my palm when I cupped his cheek, shutting his eyes. I hated walking away from him when he was still so fragile, but my anger towards my brother was simmering under my skin. I needed to deal with him before I could properly comfort Finn.

Godr looked up at me when I stepped out of my tent again. He looked abashed, but he didn’t know half of what he’d truly done to Finn. And I wouldn’t discuss it here with Finn listening.

Fisting the back of his tunic, I shoved him away from the tent and didn’t stop pushing until we were well away from Finn. When I released him, he stumbled forward, shooting me a confused look.

“Rath, it was just a prank. I–”

“Enough! His own brother stabbed him in the back after promising to help him. You saw it as a prank, but he trusted you and you threw it in his face. It is a miracle he trusted you in the first place!”

Godr’s mouth fell open. It could have been because of what I revealed, but it also might have been the fact that I was yelling. I wasn’t one to raise my voice. Not at him especially.

“You should have never involved him in one of your pranks,” I growled, glaring at him. “Targeting me is old hand for you. I know to expect it. But you used him to get to me. My bondmate. Had I not questioned him and explained things to him, it would have broken his heart to hurt me in that way! I should gut you for hurting him! All the work put in to get him to trust in our clan thrown away because you refuse to grow up and act like a man!”

Godr flinched, dropping his gaze in his shame. Fury filled my veins. I wanted to hurt him. Flashes of the look of betrayal on Finn’s face, the way he screamed at Godr and trembled in my arms as he explained what happened the last time he trusted a brother. It all fueled my rage until I shook with it.

Orthorr’s hand on my shoulder kept me from hurting my brother. He squeezed tight enough to ground me, urging me to back away from Godr. In my anger, I’d stalked him until his back was against a tent and he couldn’t move. We were toe to toe, and I only barely resisted the call for blood.

“Rath. Your bondmate is waiting for you.”

Jerking around, I followed Orthorr’s gaze to where Finn stood, barely hidden by a nearby tent, tears in his pale blue eyes. I took a step back, away from Godr, and turned for Finn instead. He didn’t hesitate to reach for me when I approached, cupping the back of my head as I lifted him off his feet and buried my face in his neck.

“Let’s go,” he murmured, holding me as tight as I held him. “Please.”

For him, I let go of my anger and walked away, not stopping until we were in bed and wrapped around each other. And for the first time, it was my head tucked under his chin as he comforted me, stroking his fingers through my hair and shushing me until I fell asleep in his arms.

“Do you ever braid it?”

Finn sat on the bank of the river, watching as I lathered the soap in my hair. I couldn’t coax him in to join me, he preferred the heated water, but he didn’t seem to mind sitting with me, especially with the fur I brought him to keep him warm. The fur I had made from the shadowstalker he helped me kill. It wasn’t very large, but neither was he. It seemed fitting after the beast tried to kill him.

“I don’t know how,” I replied before dunking my head to rinse out the soap. When I came back up, I caught his heated look and smirked to myself. He’d been clingy this morning, but not in an amorous way. He was still hurt from Godr’s actions and needed my love, not my body, to help him recover.

When I came out of the water, he had a cloth ready for me to dry myself. He hovered, but I didn’t comment on it. I preferred him close to me.

“I could… I could braid it, if you want.”

Tipping my head, I studied him. “You know how?”

There it was again. The apprehension that he didn’t have the day before. We’d gone several steps back, and I still regretted not hurting my brother for it.

I gave Finn a moment to gather his courage, rubbing my head vigorously to dry my hair. In the summer, I would leave it alone, but it was getting colder now. It was better to get the water out.

“I, um… My father used to throw parties. The guests brought their children along. I preferred playing with the girls over the boys. It was less… rowdy. A couple of them taught me to braid using ribbons pinned to a cushion. I’ve never braided hair before, but…”

Pulling the cloth away from my face, I used it to snatch him against me. As I was still wet, he squawked in protest, but he didn’t try too hard to escape me. I took pleasure in that, how eagerly he pressed himself against me, despite his complaints. Pressing a kiss to his lips to stall him before he started to ramble again, I assured him, “Everything I have is yours. Including my hair. If my bondmate wants to touch me, you’ll not hear me complain.”

He flushed, a pleased smile on his lips. I kissed that too, merely because I wished to. He hummed a happy sound, bouncing on his toes a little when I pulled away to finish drying and dress myself. We were headed back to my tent, hand in hand, when Godr appeared, looking a little like he hadn’t slept. He opened his mouth, probably to apologize, but stalled out when he took in the look on Finn’s face. I saw it too. He closed himself off, avoiding eye contact, and wrapped his arms around his middle. Protecting himself.

Godr might be ready to apologize, but Finn wasn’t ready to hear it. Tucking him against my side, I gritted my teeth when I saw the guilt stricken look on Godr’s face. My fights with my brothers never lasted longer than a few hours, but I wouldn’t push Finn to forgive him before he was ready. Even if it hurt to see my blood brother suffer.

“A black eye would’ve been kinder,” I grumbled under my breath.

“What?” Finn looked up at me, the icy wall he’d thrown up in Godr’s presence slowly fading the farther we got from him.

I shook my head. “It’s nothing. Come, kolrav. I have a comb you can use to play with my hair.”

For a while, after we returned to our tent, as he brushed out my hair, Finn was quiet. He was normally eager to converse and practice his language skills, but I felt his turmoil. He was deep in thought, working through his emotions, and I was happy to give him the time he needed until he was ready to speak with me.

“You want me to forgive him,” he murmured, the gentle combing movements slowing to a stop.

Looking over my shoulder at him, I offered him a patient smile. “What do you want to do?”

He sat back on his heels, playing idly with the comb, his eyes in his lap. “I want…” His lip trembled, and he dashed a tear as it slipped over his cheek. “He– He didn’t know what it would do to me. It feels like I’m being unfair taking it all out on him. But… it still hurt.”

Turning around completely, I bit back a smile when he immediately crawled into my lap. He no longer felt the need to hold back until I offered him affection. He trusted that I wanted him close, no matter what. Wrapping my arms around him, I tucked his head under my chin, thinking through my words.

“You’re right that he didn’t know. You weren’t ready to tell him. But he should have known better. He has spent days with you. He should know you well enough by now to understand you are not interested in pranks. It was cruel to include you without your consent.”

He nodded, his fingers toying with my necklace. I hadn’t yet put on a tunic, as my hair hadn’t fully dried. He traced his fingers over it, his soft breath warm against my chest.

“That’s true. I never liked pranks. My brothers played them on me often. I hated it. I’d never want to do that to someone else. Especially not you.”

Finn didn't talk about his family much, but what little he expressed to me gave me a clear impression of them. If I ever met them myself, I’d gut them for the pain they caused him. He should have been treated more gently. He should be treated that way now.

“Do you think I should forgive him?” he asked, a tremor in his voice.

“Not before you’re ready. But eventually, yes. Godr is not a cruel man. Stupid, at times, but not cruel. He didn’t intend to hurt you. And tearing him apart in front of the clan was an effective punishment.”

He hummed, capturing my hand that had been combing his curls and pressing a kiss to my palm. “I forgot to thank you for that. It felt nice to have someone stick up for me.”

I kissed the top of his head in response to his affection, but that wasn’t what I was referring to. “It wasn’t me I was speaking of. You confronted him for his wrong and put him in his place in front of the clan. You should be proud of yourself for standing up for yourself like that.”

“Even though I cried and acted quite dramatically?” he asked in a small voice.

“Mm. Even then. You were emotional because he was cruel. It is he who will face the clan’s wrath for making you cry. Tributes are held in great respect. Hurting you as he did won’t end well for him.”

Finn sat up suddenly, eyes wide with worry. “They won’t hurt him, will they?”

A smile tugged at my lips. He was angry, yes, and hurt, but he still cared for Godr. He saw him as a friend. They would get past this eventually. Hopefully soon, because I wanted my brother at my bonding ceremony.

“No. They won’t hurt him. But he will spend the next few days getting scolded by every single person in the clan. And when my parents hear of what he did, he’ll be lucky to escape unscathed.”

“Oh. Okay– Wait. Your parents?”