Page 29 of Bound to the Wolf
Maybe they had assumed the manacles would do more than they were doing, or expected her and Reece to be unconscious for longer. The maybes could pile up forever, but there were no answers to be had, only more speculation.
She turned one wrist over in the firelight, tracing a fingertip along the etchings cut into the metal. The symbols were layered, one set carved deep, another scratched finer on top, like two different hands had worked the metal at different times. Where the cuff met her skin, the brass had warmed to match her body temperature, and the edges had already left raw pink indentations around her wrists.
Delainey closed her eyes and let her consciousness seep into her magic. She didn’t reach for any of it this time—she was just sitting in it, trying to find whatever mystical force was linking her to the manacles. Something had to be. That was the only way she and Reece could be so bound together.
She found a thread and followed it, searching inside herself until it met with Reece. She got in deep and?—
“Fuck!”
“What?” Reece asked, the firelight carving deep shadows under his brow and along the hard line of his jaw.
Delainey realized she must have said something aloud. “Nothing.” She pressed her palms flat against her thighs and stared into the fire.
But it was very not nothing.
Their lifelines were connected to the restraints. It was a very intense way of binding them together, and there was no way she could undo this connection short of killing him.
Delainey studied the bond as closely as she could and came to the sickening realization that killing him woulddefinitelyfree her. She wouldn’t need to lug his body around, and she was pretty sure the lock on the manacles would break.
They were tied in a knot, bound to both their life forces, but death would sever that bond. She would be free. And so would he if he killed her.
Delainey clawed her way back out of the magic and stared at Reece. A few minutes later he handed her pieces of rabbit that were a little bit burnt, gamey and unseasoned. The meat was stringy and dry at the edges, charred black where it had sat too close to the flame.
She stuffed the meat into her mouth like the rabbit had deserved a wolfish murder and tried to wrap her head around the situation.
She couldn’t tell Reece, she decided.
She wasn’t about to kill him, but she wasn’t sure it was the same for him. Not one hundred percent.
She was ninety-three point seven percent sure he wouldn’t kill her.
But that left just enough wiggle room that she couldn’t say the words out loud. He didn’t need to know, because murder, other than of innocent rabbits, was not going to happen.
She just had to make sure he didn’t find out there was a way out of this mess for him.
Chapter
Thirteen
Reece woke with his arms around Delainey, and it felt right. Even after a day in the woods and a kidnapping breakout, she still smelled delectable.
Her skin was warm and still floral under the dirt and smoke. Light trickled in through the trees, and his skin was cold where it wasn’t wrapped around the woman next to him. Her back was pressed against his chest, his arm slung around her midsection, keeping her close.
Underneath him the ground was hard and cold and uncomfortable, but he didn’t give a single damn.
Delainey was soft in her sleep, the sharpness gone, and he almost wished he could flip her around to see what she looked like when she wasn’t on guard. She was so different from the waking Delainey that it almost hurt to think about.
What was this woman like when she wasn’t looking for threats around every corner? Could he be so lucky to find out?
Her curls had loosened overnight, fanning across the crook of his arm in a dark halo pressed flat on one side where she’d been lying against him. Her jacket was bunched at her shoulders, and her hands were tucked under her chin.
His wolf was close to the surface, and that was his excuse as he nuzzled his nose against the curve of her neck and followed it up with a trail of kisses, tasting the salt of sweat on her skin. His wolf rumbled in satisfaction, knowing this was everything he wanted right in his arms.
Finally, she was close. She was here. She washis.
The fire in her scent ignited a fire of need in his belly. As Delainey stirred, she made a happy sound and arched her neck.
Even with his wolf riding high, Reece knew he was a total asshole to steal a final kiss.
