“Yeah, well, knock it off. I don’t want you all up in my feelings.”
Another chuckle softened the air between them. Devan opened the car door and his hand—the one Zio had forgotten about—slid from Zio’s thigh, taking with it the zen-like bliss that had allowed Zio to think clearly. “Suit yourself, brother.”
Chapter Nine
Devan swung through the trees, gathering leaves and twigs he could grind into powder. On the ground below, he sensed Zio’s gaze on him, but replenishing his supplies of healing aids took precedence over the strange energy between them. Claiming resources from the earth was a sacred ritual, especially if they one day helped Devan protect Zio from more pain.
Hands full, he dropped to the ground and deposited his bounty in the small bag Zio held. “I need to find some Plymouth pear trees.”
“Not round here. They only grow in the south—in Plymouth, funnily enough, and a few places near Cornwall.”
“Okay then... what about whitebeam?”
“In the wild? I’ve only seen them in human gardens.”
Devan glanced around. “I can do without both if you can find me a really old yew tree.”
“Yew trees are poisonous.”
“I can make them safe.”
Zio took Devan at his word and scaled a nearby oak tree to look out over the land. “There’s some a few miles away, but we’re running out of time. I can get there and back if I shift.”
Envy warred with Devan’s desire to have everything he needed safely in his possession as quickly as possible.I need to run. But he couldn’t. He’d been forbidden by his wolf alpha. Letting Zio go in his place was his only option. “I only need a handful of foliage. Don’t carry it in your mouth, though. It’s not safe until I’ve mixed it with other things. Here, take the bag.”
Devan emptied the bag onto the forest floor as Zio ripped his T-shirt over his head and unbuttoned his jeans. The unmistakable scent of bare skin bombarded Devan, taking him back, unbidden, to the club. His pulse quickened, and heat pooled in his groin. He counted seedpods and leaves. Recounted them. But it was no good. There was nothing on earth that could overcome the effect Zio’s scent seemed to have on him.
“What’s up with you?” Zio’s jeans hit the ground. “You look like a human having a stroke.”
Devan closed his eyes and held out the bag. “Go. Please.”
Zio took the bag, and energy shimmered around them as he morphed into his wolf form. His pleasure-pain at shifting was so palpable, Devan could taste it, and he didn’t open his eyes until he was sure Zio had gone.
Alone in the forest, Devan gathered Zio’s clothes and folded them into a neat pile, noting, as he had in the club, that Zio didn’t care for underwear. In an effort to dissuade himself from pressing his sensitive nose to the soft cotton of Zio’s T-shirt or, worse, his jeans, Devan abandoned the clothes and paced the woodland Zio had brought him to. It smelt deeply of the northern pack, especially Zio’s unit. Their scent was everywhere, while Gale’s unit appeared to stick to the paths.
Devan pondered the significance. There was no denying the differences between the two units and their betas. Zio’s crew were as closed off and suspicious as him. Gale’s unit had taken Varian’s orders to make him feel welcome to heart.How does that work on the battlefield?Devan imagined it was complicated, and he didn’t envy Varian’s job. Not least because Dash had been right when he’d said Varian’s pack was special. That their existence meant something to the world. How could anyone manage that when their main occupation right now was war?
That’s why you’re here. To keep them alive.
Devan’s gaze fell on the pile of twigs, roots, and leaves, and though he knew the magic they possessed, they suddenly didn’t seem anywhere near enough. He delved deep into his healer’s soul and searched for his own power, the strength that he’d given Zio an unintentional taste of earlier. For many years, Devan had walked the earth confident in his ability to heal any wound he truly wanted to, but what if he couldn’t? What if after everything,hewas the weak link?
A wolf rushed into the clearing before he found an answer, Devan’s fabric bag hanging around its neck. The beast was dark and rangy, like Zio in his human form, and its black coat shone like silk. Devan reached out to touch it, to feel the inky fur against his own skin, but the wolf blurred in the late winter sunshine, and before he could blink, Zio stood before him, bag in hand and completely and utterly naked.
* * *
Zio’s bones shortened and clicked back into place. He stretched his neck and dangled the bag of yew foliage in front of Devan. “Do you want this or not?”
Devan closed his fingers around the bag but made no move to take it. His gaze burnt through Zio’s skin, sizzling his nerves, and Zio’s breath caught in his throat.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
Devan licked his lips. “Like what?”
“Like you want to eat me.”
Devan blinked, and a rough chuckle escaped him. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Not on purpose.”