Maddox sits a little taller as he steers his mount even closer, his eyes wide as a rabbit’s when it sees a fox. “Just you or everyone?”
“Me. But I will not go on my own.” There is much danger in Rosehill for one lone Unseelie fae. Not that I would have difficulty handling myself against even their finest guards, but the ramifications for our people if a fight were to break out could be disastrous.
“Then I will accompany you,” he says with a brusque nod. “And so will Gryff.”
There is no telling how long this hunt will take, but I find myself hoping that we will return to camp in time to witness the festivities.
“Everett Gathin!” our chieftain calls from a short distance ahead.
He will not join our hunt but has chosen to accompany us to the border of our territory.
I nudge Nyx into a canter, and the other hunters shift their own mounts to the side, allowing me past to where our chieftain rides in the center of the pack. Wisdom and age run like silver rivers through his black hair, much like all of our elders’. Silver mating bonds cover his arms and chest; he wears them proudly, as he should. No one in our clan has as many scars as our chieftain.
“Have you found any tracks near the outpost?” he asks.
“Nothing bigger than a rabbit or whitetail.”
This makes him frown. “The wolves do not usually come this close to camps, but this was a hard winter.”
Meaning the beasts are hungrier than normal. This is the best explanation for why they would venture from the deeper forests into the clearings near Unseelie camps.
Everyone knows, the only thing worse than a wolf is a starving one.
I am about to fall back into line when his solemn eyes meet mine.
“Is it true that you have befriended a Seelie fae?”
How the hell did he hear about Kerris? Not Maddox or Gryffin, surely?—
“River said one came to the well and spoke with you,” he goes on.
Fucking River. Do the males of our clan truly have nothing better to discuss? “A Seelie did come to the well. She spoke to me there, but I did not speak to her that day.”
“Good. You know what happens to fae who become ensnared by their webs.”
He speaks as if Kerris is a spider when she is the sun bringing warmth and joy and life and happiness. Not that our chieftain would understand since he has been mated for over a century.
“I am well aware,” I hedge.
“If the Seelie ask about the wolves, you are to tell them there have been no sightings. If they are spooked, they are liable to close the bridge. Our people would not survive without access to the well.”
I know better than anyone what happens to fae who no longer have access to infinity water.
Kerris already knows there was a wolf sighting, but she will not tell anyone.
Of this, I am certain.
“I understand.”
He dismisses me then, but instead of falling back to where Maddox rides, I urge Nyx forward. The last thing I need is for my friend to bring up Kerris again and have the chieftain discover that I am not being wholly truthful with him.
29
“Never underestimate the power of wounded pride.”
Author Unknown
The last four days were as slow as sap dribbling down a pine tree.