Three days had passed, and Zoran was nowhere in her line of sight. He was absent at breakfast and neither Rowan nor Silas knew where he had gone. Her door had been fixed from when he tore it down and sprinted out, but the complexity of her thoughts? Nah.
Naelis sat on the sun-warmed bench, tilting her face toward the sky. Her heat had dulled, leaving her skin oddly restless. She should have been relieved, but instead the quiet made her itch.
Even the young pups playing nearby couldn't lift the knot in her chest. Not like she liked kids that much anyway.
Something wasn't right.
She noticed it first in the way the guards moved along the perimeter, with quicker strides and glances. It was a little whiff at first, but her nose caught the scent almost instantly.
Gunpowder.
Her senses were sharper now that she was on her period, (lunar cycle).
The first shot went off.
The children screamed, scattering like startled birds. "Shit! Get inside, quickly." Naelis yelled, springing to her feet.
They ran inside, all... but one.
A boy tripped, a painful scream was torn from his throat as his ankle snapped. He crumpled to the ground, clutching his leg. His friends attempted to skiddle back to his rescue with their little friend.
"Don't!" Naelis barked, sharper than the gunfire echoing from the borders. "Get inside! I'll handle him!"
And though their eyes brimmed with fear, they obeyed, rushing for the Alpha house.
She sprinted to the ash-haired five year old, attempting to pull him up, she tried and almost successfully got him off the ground.
Except...
She felt a sharp abdominal twinge, a menstrual cramp. She hissed, nearly doubling over. She never had cramps before, never.
"Miss, are you okay? Are you hurt?" the boy whimpered, his eyes wide.
"Shit," she muttered, clutching her stomach with one hand while shoving him up with the other. "Goddammit-go inside! Get your little playmates in, cover your ears, and stay put!"
He was conflicted. The little boy shook his head, insisting on sniffing out what was wrong with her.
Kids and their damn innocence.
"Do I have to root my claws in your snout before you run inside already?" She hissed, grabbing her abdomen and shoving him forward on his good feet.
The threat scared him and forced him to limp inside to the safety of the main house.
Naelis tried to stand up, tried to push through the twisting pain, but the cramp worsened, making her scream.
A stone was thrown toward her direction and she narrowly missed it by an inch.
Are these intruders really resorting to throwing rocks?
Another stone came from over the fence and collided with her temple. She cursed and placed her palm on her bruised forehead while still fighting her cramps.
Come on, Naelis, move!
She kept screaming at her legs that seemed paralyzed. These no longer felt like cramps but like little acidic explosions in her uterus.
The children yelled at her from inside as a large rocky stone was hurled into the air. With her chest blazing with panic and her legs immobile, all she could do was close her eyes and hope to not get crushed to smithereens. Which was highly unlikely.
Three...
Two...
One...
Firm arms slid under the knees and pulled her from the line of impact before the rock could impale itself on her skull.
Zoran.
"Your abdomen..." His eyes darted to her stomach. "What is wrong?"
She shook her head. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" He leaned down, his nose hovering just below her navel. He inhaled. "I can smell blood...."
Naelis bit her lip, suddenly feeling very doe-like.
"Are you hurt?"
She tapped her tummy twice and he understood.
Oh, that kind of blood.
He straightened, touched her temple where the rock had grazed her. His fingers were surprisingly gentle against her skin. "It will swell if we don't handle it. There is a health kit upstairs. We can treat it there."
He was effortlessly professional like he had done this many times, saving people, carrying them. Her eyes couldn't help but notice the strands of fur jutting out from his skin.
"Why?" she asked softly, brushing her fingers against the fur before she could stop herself.
Zoran went still. His grip on her tightened, as if he was forcefully pinning the wolf back inside.
"My wolf is on edge," he admitted.
The noises of trouble outside were still very loud.
"Intruders, invaders, curious personnel, or?"
"A band of rogues. We had a fragile alliance, but they broke it."
Her brows furrowed. "Why?"
"They demanded that Rowan betroth Silas to their leader's daughter. To solidify the alliance further."
An arranged marriage?
She scoffed.
"Sometimes, some werewolves act a bit too traditional."
"The rogue leader lacks the ability of discernment."
She lifted a brow, surprised an insult was spewing out from his holy lips. "Did you just-"
"No, Naelis. I only speak the truth. Rowan refused and said that Silas should choose his own woman, in his own time. They took offense to that and said that Rowan rejected them for being rogues."
"But Alpha Rowan isn't like that."
Zoran's eyes flicked to hers, a glint of agreement in their depths. "Exactly. He wasn't looking down on them, he was simply protecting Silas's choice. And for that, they are here....."
She looked down at her abdomen scornfully.
"If not for these cramps, I would've marched down there and curdled off some heads."
"Rowan has it handled."
"I know that. But he is probably what... reasoning with these rogues? Talking? No. Rogues understand one language and one language only. Death. And Frostpine should give it to them."
"Not everything-"
"No. I guess you are some kind of delusional eunuch, I don't expect you to see that violence is necessary sometimes."
"I'm not a eunuch. Eunuchs are usually castrated. I wasn't."
"So your intact-cock is what separates you from those timble men of faith?"
He marched the stairwell quietly.
"Is your tongue always this... sharp?"
"Untamed? Unbridled? All words people use to caution me when I speak the truth and they know it."
He looked down, at the way her thick brows furrowed in anger. The way her eyes narrowed with distaste. Her feline-like eyes, radiating the same intensity her hair did.
This was the first time he really looked.
"What? Gawking now?" She rolled her eyes, "I assumed I had the body of a parasite since a certain man punched a hole in my door, to run away from me."
His eyes turned guilty. Maybe she had tried to seduce him against his will. But his actions were far from the spectrum and inexplicable. For someone who held rationality as essential.
He opened his mouth to apologize,
"Miss Haldrith,-"
Her finger pressed to his lips, sealing the words in.
"Tell me what happened and why you ran, Zoran. I want the truth."
