It has been days since the goblins have attacked. Days since I have heard her voice or felt my mate’s touch. This hut, hastily put together, grates on my nerves. I should be working on building our home, but instead, I am stuck in this hut.

  “How long are ya gonna sit there?” Katsuro asks, only poking his head into the hut, not bothering to lift the fp all the way. Sunlight spills in. Even the light annoys me.

  I crack my neck to the side and stretch out a leg. I rest my arm on my knee. “As long as it takes for her to wake.” It has been two days to the second since Megan foolishly prayed for rain. If the cloud had only been isoted to the building, then perhaps she would have woken by now, but no, she had to pray for rain to bless not only the vilge but those who need it. “Do not worry about me.”

  “Ya sure? You haven’t seen the sun in days.”

  “I will survive.” Idiot. Katsuro knows I am a fox. A shadow one. Being in the dark is home to me.

  “Okay, but—”

  “Why do you linger? If you do not have any news on the goblin vilge, then there is nothing more for us to discuss,” I snap. My tail thumps on the floor. No, it is not Katsuro’s fault, but he continues to press me. I am not a kit. I do not need coddling. What are a few days without sunlight compared to a lifetime without my mate?

  He stares at me for a moment, nonplussed, and then waltzes into the hut. “Well, since ya asked so nicely. I got some news.” He sits across from me with his legs crossed and his tail flicking behind him. “Turns out those goblins were into some crazy shit. The vilge is all cleared out. I’on think the others expected them to come back, or maybe they were watching.”

  Watching?

  “A mage?”

  “There was a portal... uh, Chloe copied the symbol before Bazur could burn everything down.” He rolls his eyes. “Anyway, it was weird. Lots of skulls and some crystal thing. Chloe thinks it was some kind of spying thing. Cry-stal ball? I’on know, but the curse may have started there. Pce gave me the creeps.”

  I drum my cws on my knee and lean back against the wall. “As interesting as that is... I do not care about the curse.” Best to not mention this to Megan when she wakes. She will wish to investigate or do something foolish again.

  “Right, I get it. Megan is still passed out. She’ll wake though. She’s a fighter.”

  “What she is, is foolish.” I brush a hand over her hair. Foolish female, but she is my foolish mate. “Do you not have something to do?” Why must he stay here? I am not going to fall into some depression because my mate is still asleep. I know she will wake. It is simply a matter of when.

  “Nope.” He grins. “Just keeping you company.”

  His worry is mispced. He fidgets, unable to sit still. Perhaps his mate put him up to this. Speaking of which, the change she dispyed could be a problem.

  “Your mate, her eyes concern me. It is not normal for a human to go into a bloodlust.”

  The grin slides off his face. “She’s not my mate.” He puffs his cheeks and then exhales. “The mating mark hasn’t shown up.”

  “Megan’s did not show up until recently.”

  “But you knew she was yours before then?”

  Ah, so his mate did not put him up to this. “Yes, I had an inkling before the marks showed up. The desire to be around her was too great. There were times I should have left her, but I could not.” I brush my hand over her hair once more. Her braids are frizzy from the rain. “My marks appeared quickly, but that does not mean Chloe is not your mate just because yours have not appeared yet.”

  “But we’ve been traveling all this time and nada,” he grumbles. “Is there a trick to it? I want her.”

  “Do you need a mark to have her?”

  He stares. “Suppose not, but what if I ain’t her mate and someone else is? Then the hell am I supposed to do? Let her go?”

  “Kill him,” I say simply.

  Megan stirs. I freeze. Is she waking?

  “Megan?”

  “Tell me you didn’t just say you were going to kill someone,” she says with a groan. Her eyes are still closed, and her brows are pinched together as if she is in pain.

  “That is what wakes you? The threat of killing another. I should have threatened to burn the vilge down.”

  “Not funny.” She opens her eyes and squints. “My body feels like it’s been hit by a truck.”

  I do not know what a truck is, but I assume she is in pain. If I could, I would take it on myself, but I ck the magic to do so. “Do not move. You have been out for days.”

  “Days? That blows.”

  I gre at her for a moment and then sigh. There is no use. “Here, drink this.” I reach for the bottle of water and assist her with sitting up. “Because of the rain, I will have to start over on crafting the bricks for our home.” Or perhaps we should head east. I could recim the nd that was taken from me—from my cn and start anew.

  “Bricks? Is that what you were making? Thought so.” She reaches for the bottle and then huffs when I tilt it to her lips. “I’m not that weak.” She closes her eyes and tilts her head back. “Is everyone okay? Is the building good?”

  “The building is fine and would have been fine, regardless. It could have been rebuilt. Next time, keep your prayers contained to the situation at hand. You are pushing yourself too hard and too fast. If you keep pushing, you could be out longer than two days.”

  She opens her eyes and turns her head. Her eyes ck their normal vibrancy. A dull green. I hate it. Hate how she pushes herself for others. Did I make a mistake in suggesting we settle here? Perhaps we should have traveled east to my home region.

  “Stop it.”

  “Stop what?”

  “Stop bming yourself. No one knew they were going to attack or send someone around to find the food.”

  “They set the building on fire with you and the others in it.”

  “I was there,” she says cheekily.

  “Watch it, vixen. I am not in the best of moods.”

  “Got that right,” Katsuro says with a groan. He sps his hands on his thighs and stands. “I’ll bring ya something to eat and some more water.” He holds out a hand for the bottle.

  Discomfort settles in my chest. I should... apologize. How nauseating.

  “Thank you,” I say, sparing Katsuro one more gnce before turning to Megan. “Perhaps you would do best in the sun. Fresh air.”

  “Food and then outside.” She groans and presses her palm to her head. “Not ready to be greeted by everyone. Is Yazir okay? She stuck around with us in the smoke.”

  “The ogre young is fine.”

  “Roharu.”

  “She worried too much. I could not deal with her incessant questions.”

  Megan slides her hand down her face. “Please tell me you were nice to her. She’s a kid.”

  “Naturally. I instructed her to spend her time crafting something for you rather than sitting here with me.” I motion to the tarp covering. “She slept next to you.”

  Surprise flits across her face. “I don’t think she has family here. Or at least not anymore.”

  “Does that matter? The vilge looks after her. She is fed, and she has a roof over her head.”

  “Children need more than that,” she grumbles.

  “Perhaps human young, but she is an ogre. She will be fine. She is fine,” I add, before she starts to worry. Megan gives me a look. “Do not push it, vixen. I am not happy with you.”

  “You’re never in a good mood,” she jokes. “But the vilge is still standing, so I guess you’ve been nicer than normal.”

  “The temptation is still there.” I stand and meet Katsuro at the door. He holds out a pte piled with fruits and fish. “She will not eat all of this, but thank you.”

  He blinks at me and then tilts his body back to look up at the sky.

  “What in the seven skies are you doing?”

  “Checking to see if the world is falling apart. You just thanked me twice in one day.” He squints and puckers his lips together. “That cloud right there is suspicious as fuck.”

  The temptation to burn down the vilge fades away and gives way to a desire to smack Katsuro. “Go spend time with your mate.” I take the bottle from him and head back into the hut. Megan pushes the cover off to the side and holds out her hands. “No, I will feed you.”

  “I can handle it,” she says with a huff. “But fine. I don’t mind the pampering.”

  “Bazur will head to the capital in a couple of days to sell more items. Is there anything you would like?” I hold out a vicuri for her to try. She said it looked like a strawberry but tasted like a cherry. Whatever those are. “And no, we are not leaving until you are fully healed.”

  She gres while she chews the vicuri. “I am healed.”

  “You were asleep for days. You will rest. If not for your body, then at least rest your energy. You keep pushing and pushing the boundaries and eventually you will snap. You are performing miracles that others can only hope to obtain in their lifetime.”

  She gnces at her hands. “Are you saying that because I’m your mate or because I am strong?”

  “Two things can be true.” I eye the fish on the pte. It may be too much on her stomach. “Here, try this.”

  “Instead of Bazur, why don’t we go to the capital since we wanted to, anyway? We don’t have to do any hard investigating, but maybe there are some books or something that may stick out?”

  “And then what? You will wish to stay longer to protect those that care not for you?”

  “You stayed and helped the vilge.” She chews the fruit and then scrunches her nose. “Oh God, it’s sour. Water.” She snatches the water from me and downs it. “I’m not gonna overdo it. Promise.”

  “Liar.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I know how to lie low. I can be sneaky.” She lifts her eyebrows up and down.

  My lips twitch. “We will see how you feel in a couple of days. Now eat the rest of this.”

  “No way.” She ughs. “That’s far too much for me. If I eat anymore, I might get sick.”

  The pte is still full of fruits and fish, but I set it off to the side for now and pull her into my p. “Do you wish to bathe?” I run my thumb over a braid. “I could wash your hair.”

  “You? Wash my hair?” She tilts her head back and blinks up at me. “Actually, yes. Your cws would feel amazing.”

  My cocks stir. I inhale, breathing in her scent. “Perhaps I will sneak us out of here.”

  “How?”

  “With my shadows.” I focus on them, preparing for them to envelop us and take us out of the hut. The fp opens and Yazir rushes in.

  “Saintess!”

  “Oh! Yazir.” Megan slides out of my arms to greet the small ogre. I wrinkle my nose. This is what I deserve for not moving faster.

  “I thought you would never wake!” Yazir sniffs and then starts balling like some kind of strange creature. I grimace and ftten my ears.

  “I told you, she would.” Why would I lie?

  “Roharu.” The be nice is silent but hangs in the air. “It’s okay, Yazir. I’m fine. Promise. Just need to get up and stretch my legs is all and get some proper sunlight.”

  I bite back the sigh. So much for that bath.

  AutumnBanks

  Thanks for reading! Have a great week.