Page 19 of Hunted Ink by Trisha Linde

“Very well. If you’re sure.” Pater swept his arm out, ushering me inside to prepare.

Later, in the old stone barn, when it was my turn, I did what I needed to do to get back to my mate. I kept my expression smooth as I stepped into the bath, the water searing my skin. I’m so sorry, I told my wolf, but beneath the toxins, I could not hear his answer.

Chapter 13

Kedi

I was sitting on what used to be my family’s front porch, but there wasn’t much left of it anymore. It was covered in springy moss, a tall maple sapling growing straight out from the rot that had once been my home. It was kinda beautiful in a way, to see new life emerge from death, though I would’ve preferred my parents were still here.

Maybe that was why this was where Conroy—Apollo—and I were reunited. Both our pasts existed here on this land, in this soil. Our connection existed through time and space, predicted in the stars. Maybe the ghosts of our families were watching over us still, ensuring that fate’s will was done.

I leaned against the narrow trunk and closed my eyes, breathing deep to calm my racing heartbeat, but it was no use. I’d been waiting here since before sundown, and Apollo still wasn’t here. The full moon rose heavy in the sky, its pull like barbed wire tearing at my skin to release the wolf beneath. I stood with an anxious huff and paced the length of the clearing, to the riverbank and back again.

What if he doesn’t come? I asked my wolf for the hundredth time, clacking my tongue piercing along the back of my teeth in an anxious tic.

He will. His confidence never wavered, no matter how many times I asked, and I clung to his certainty, desperate to be anchored in his faith.

He was so silent that I didn’t know he was there until I caught movement from the corner of my eye. Senses alert, my head snapped up to see Apollo appear, stepping from the tree line with a predator’s gait, eyes locked on me. Relief bowled into me, so potent that my knees almost buckled, but there was something wrong. He was dressed in his hunting gear, bow and quiver strapped to his back, ten-inch blade sheathed on his thigh, and his face was a mask of shadows. For a split second, I felt a tingle of doubt. Had he changed his mind? Had he been convinced to finish the job he started? But then he stumbled forward, and I could tell he was in pain.

“Shit, Apollo!” I shouted, running to meet him before he could fall.

He leaned heavily into me, his fingers digging into my waist where he gripped me like his life depended on it. I could smell the wolfsbane coming off him like he’d bathed in the stuff, and I guided one of his arms over my shoulder, guiding him toward the riverbank. I helped him to the ground, then got to work on removing his gear.

“It didn’t used to hurt like this,” he grunted, scratching at the symbol painted on his forehead, dried to a flaky crust.

I gave him a sad smile. “You’re an Alpha, whether you claim your pack or not. This is your wolf fighting back. What they’re doing, trying to muzzle him, is effectively an act of war, and he’s not going to take this lying down.” I grabbed the hem of his shirt and started to peel it up and over his head. “Come on, we need to get all this washed off.”

Apollo held his arms up obediently as I undressed him, and I saw there were more symbols painted on his chest. I didn’t know what they meant, but I had no doubt they were trying to suppress the shift. I didn’t even know that was possible, though considering I could still sense his wolf through the drugs, it wasn’t as effective as they hoped.

Next, I quickly peeled off my own clothes, tossing them all into a pile on the grass. When I was finally bare, I stood before my mate and offered him my hand to help pull him to his feet. His eyes, however, were locked on my dick. “You’re coming in with me?” he asked, his voice a bit breathless as he licked his lips.

“Wouldn’t want you to drown,” I teased, when in reality, I wanted to take care of him. Needed to. My mate was hurting, and I would do anything I could to fix it. And more importantly, he deserved it.

With care, I helped him ease into the water. It was shallow here, the current slow, tugging at us gently as it swirled lazily around our waists. His skin was sallow, but he still huffed a little laugh. “There’s mud between my toes.”

I grinned. “That’s the best part. Just wait till you get mud in your butt crack.” That made him choke on his laugh, sputtering, though he still clung to me like he was worried he might get carried off downstream. I had him crouch down until the water was up to his neck, then used my fingers to wash away any of the paste they’d smeared over his skin, running my fingers through his hair. Even with my slight resistance to the drug, it was so concentrated that it stung my skin. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be coated in the stuff.

With every passing minute, I watched him grow stronger, and it settled my beast’s anxiety. “Turn around, I’ll get your back.”

He did, and what I saw had my blood run cold. There were scars crisscrossing his back, thick and knotted, too many to count—they looked like lashes. Shifters usually healed too quickly for scars, but I supposed not when they’d been dosed with wolfsbane their entire life. Clenching my teeth in rage, I lingered over the lashes, tracing them, willing away a pain long gone, and I felt him stiffen when he realized what I was looking at.

“You were so young when they took you,” I whispered, my throat growing tight. “They had no right. I wish I could’ve been taken in your place so you were never hurt like that.”

Apollo turned in my arms and took my hands in his, kissing each fingertip tenderly. “I never would’ve let that happen. I can’t remember much of my past, but I know I cared about you. I… I remember your laugh as I chased you through the woods. Your eyes…” Mindless of the freezing water, the mud, or the fact that we were both very naked, he hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me close, resting his forehead on mine. “I know I said we can’t run away, but… I don’t know how long I can do this. It hurts so much to be away from you. You saved me, Kedi. You made a part of me I never knew existed come alive. It kills me to know you’ve just been here this whole time, waiting for me to stumble on you. All the time we missed… All the time that was stolen from us.”

His eyes flashed dangerously, his wolf right there behind his gaze, and I knew he was pissed. Apollo turned to look at the remains of our home, taking in the ruins of what could’ve been. “They burned our home, didn’t they. Killed them all…” His throat bobbed as he swallowed again and again, trying to choke back the emotions.

I nodded, and when he turned to look at me again, his eyes were swimming with tears until they spilled over, shining silver on his cheeks. “Why would anyone do that?”

Leaning forward, I kissed the tears away, salty on my lips, and smoothed his hair back, nuzzling and petting him in comfort. “I wish I had a good answer for you, but it’s like trying to understand the devil himself. Some people are just full of hate, and the men who started the Divine Order have decided to set their sights on shifters. They claim to be protecting humans from a dangerous threat, but shifters are no different than humans. We just want to live our lives in peace, to love, to laugh. Maybe they’re afraid because we’re different, maybe they’re jealous, small-minded assholes. Maybe they just like the power it gives them, riding their ego trip off into the sunset. Whatever the reason, they need to be stopped.” If only I had the first clue how to do it.

He’d begun to shiver in the cool water, and I pulled him close. He nestled in against my throat, setting my heart off on a stilted skip. “As much as I hate it, I won’t tell you to run, because I respect why you’re staying,” I told him.

“I won’t let them take anything else from me. They’ve taken too much already.” He kissed my shoulder then backed up, the water eddying between us, moonlight reflected off the water making his skin glisten. He’d regained a semblance of calm, his eyes back to his beautiful moss green. “How do you know so much about the Order, anyway?” he asked, before a flash of fear crossed his face. “Have you been hunted before?” His grip on my hips tightened.

I waved a hand lightly. “No, nothing like that. I just have a roomie who’s got a hard-on for history and folklore.”

“Oh.” But then he seemed to process my words, and he tugged me in, fear wending seamlessly into jealousy. “When you say your roomie gets a hard-on, you and he don’t…”