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Ryder and the other wolves groaned, but I paid them no mind.
Walker would live. I was sure of it.
With a grunt, Ryder hefted Walker over his shoulder then slung him over the back of a nearby, brown wolf.
“You and I will travel on two feet,” Ryder said. “It’ll give us a chance to catch up.”
“All right then,” I said with a sigh and looked at Arion. He wouldn’t get to shift into his third form today—my favorite form, albeit his most unruly. Mother had advised me only to call upon it in the most extreme of circumstances. Arion rubbed his huge head against my back and purred.
“You were excellent today, friend,” I crooned.
Ryder gestured toward the creek and bowed.
“Ladies first.”
Arion walked by my side across the stream, and I subtly leaned on him for support. I needed rest after the magic I’d just exerted, but I wouldn’t show weakness in front of Ryder. That was probably why he insisted on traveling on two feet anyway. I’d made him look weak in front of his pack and now he wanted to level the playing field.
Still an ass. I wouldn’t let him win.
We crossed the river and hiked uphill. My legs burned, and my head ached from exhaustion, but I pushed past the pain and focused on Ryder. If he was trying to distract me by urging me to walk, then I probably wasn’t going to like what he had to say. I took a deep breath of fresh air and let nature strengthen me. Arion sent a bit of his magic to me as well, and I smiled at him. It warmed my veins and gave me the strength I needed to continue.
The rest of the wolves walked in a diamond shape, with Ryder, me, and the wolf who carried Walker in the center. At the top of this mountain, we’d reach wolf territory. Hope lightened my steps a fraction.
“So,” I said and pushed a branch out of my way. “Since you're so eager to chat, why don't we discuss why several of my requests for an in-person meeting have been ignored?” Ryder sighed.
“I meant ‘catch up’ on more of a personal level, Frey.” He rubbed his nose. “The rest you’ll have to ask my dad.”
“You always fidget when you’re nervous,” I said.
His steps stuttered, and I smiled.
“Glad to know some things don’t change.”
“You’re right,” he agreed. “They don’t. You’re still a total and complete pain in my ass.”
I grinned.
Our hike grew steeper. Ryder scaled a short, rocky cliff then reached to help me up. I ignored the gesture and climbed, despite how every one of my muscles protested. He barely held in a laugh at my needless suffering. The other wolves scaled it easily in their four-legged forms.
As I crested the cliff, Walker gasped, and I echoed it. That concoction should’ve kept him asleep for another half-hour at least. Walker frantically tried to push himself up on the wolf’s back. His fingers had a death grip on the wolf’s brown fur. The wolf growled and snapped his teeth in response.
“Walker!” I yelled. “Be still!”
I hurried to him and checked his wound. Where the stab wound had been, there was now only a puffy, pentagram-shaped red scab and some remnants of the salve. I shuddered at the dark witches’ mark.
“Freya.” Walker huffed. “Why am I on a damn wolf?”
I checked his face. Most of the dried blood had flaked off and the bruises were gone.
“It worked,” I whispered.
The last remnants of panic released their death-grip on my heart. Walker studied my face with the same intensity I had studied his. Unable to hold his intense stare, I looked away.
“Ryder, help him down, would you? I’d like to see if he can walk on it.”
“Of course,” Ryder grumbled, “what else am I here for?”
The brown wolf slowly sat, and before Walker hit the ground, Ryder caught the cowboy by his torso. Walker hurried to free himself from Ryder’s grasp. When he placed weight on his injured leg, he winced, but his pained expression quickly changed to shock.
