Chapter 61
Eden
We follow the winding bain bracks with the sun just beginning to rise behind the trees. It’s turning the sky a faint shade of pink and salmon.
A smile that doesn’t reach my eyes curls my lips. “Beautiful weather, br’t it?”
Al’s breath puffs in clouds of white. “We you seriously nice weathering me?”
Ilaugh, but it ends up coming out as a cough. The air is cold and sharp, and what makes it even worse is that there’s a lingering ache of the mate bond. It’s still quiet, but now and then, I can feel Azriel’s pain,
Mara is tortuning him.
Guilt for leaving Ariel behind pains me I know we had to, but it still doesn’t sit right. Especially when I know Arriel is doing everything he can to protect me. I have a feeling he is using what little magic he can to prevent me from experiencing most of his pain.
Thinking about that breaks my heart, so I try to focus on what I can control and that is getting back to civilization. Getting back to Howlicafors. Finding a way to train. To prepare. To save Arriel,
Our boots crunch through icy slush. Ahead of us is the first city we’ve seen in days, Luleå.
There isn’t as much snow in Luled, but it’s still cold enough that I can’t feel my fingers. I’m wearing oversized gloves that I found in the cabin, but they aren’t helping. They only make me look ridiculous, but so does Axel. He walks beside me in his human form, bundled in a massive coat we scavenged from the hunting cabin. It makes him look even more gigantic.
We get a few odd looks when we enter the station. Probably because we look like wildemess escapees or criminals. Or maybe it’s just that Axel looks like
he could lift a car with one arm.
He leans down toward me. “We look like hell”
I give him a tight smile. “Hell is putting it nicely.”
The warm air inside the building makes me sway slightly, and Axel steadies me with one large hand on my back. His hand is warm. Steadying. Too steady. My heart jumps for a second.
The line for tickets is short, but we have no money. No 10. Just desperation.
“Let me handle this,” I whisper.
Axel gives me a wary glance. “Eden…”
square my shoulders and approach the woman behind the counter. Mid–fifties, tight bun, red glasses perched on her nose.
She doesn’t even glance up. “Next”
I meet her eyes and gently reach through my power. It flows from me like a breeze. Fox magic is subtle. Not like brute strength, Not like what Ariel or Mara wields. But it’s still dangerous, just in a different way. Subtle. Slippery.
“You want to help us,” I say softly. “You want to buy us two tickets to Howlicators. You feel very generous today”
Her lips part slightly. Her eyes lose focus. A pause.
Then, slowly, she reaches for her wallet. “Twb tickets,” she says, voice vacant. “To Howlicators.”
Axel blinks beside me.
1/3
Chapter 61
Free minutes later, we’re sitting on a train with warm seats and free coffee in hand, I curl into the chair, grateful to not be trudging through ind anymore, Avel watches me carefully, his eyes untradable.
“That was terrifying,” he finally mutters.
Bundle bite my mug. “Ubarely touched her mind. It doesn’t hurt.”
mutges my boot with his “Remind me not to piss you off.”
Demik. “You should have figured that out ages ago.”
He grims. And for a few moments, it feels like we’re just two people on a trip. Not two fugitives hiding from a Nightmare Queen.
Outside the window, the frozen landscape blurs by. Avel stretches, his long limbs taking up most of the space in our row. I glance over and catch him watching me.
“You’re different,” he says. “Sharper. Stronger.”
i think of the power buzzing under my skin, in my bones, and in my soul. Of the silence of the mate bond. Of Azriel screaming
have to be”
His face softens, “I know. But I see you, Eden. You’re still you.”
Something in my throat tightens.
We sit in silence for a while. Just listening to the clack of the train.
I lean my head back and murmur, “We need to be ready.”
I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
Iturn to him. “Even Logan?”
His jaw clenches. “Especially Logan.”
I study him. The brute force he wields with such care. The kindness buried under all that brawn. He isn’t just muscle. He’s the shield that kept me warm when I would have frozen. The strength that carried me when I couldn’t walk
And for a second, I wonder how different things might have been if the mate bond didn’t exist.
Would I have chosen him?
The thought makes me uncomfortable, so I push it down.
“Thanks, Axel,” I say quietly
He shrugs. “Always”
We ride in silence until the city rises ahead in the distance. Buildings. Cars. Smoke curling from chimneys.
Howlicators.
Home to the Valentine pack. The place where my best friend betrayed me and where my own pack throw me into a prison cell for speaking ill about my future Luna, I was bullied by Paris here. Hudied by everyone, really. I hate this fucking place, and yet we’re here to beg for help.
When the train slows, I reach for the mate bond again. It’s a poor attempt to speak with Azriel, but as I expected, the mate bond is still quiet
23
