Sealed Mates

Chapter 12

I fell asleep again the minute Lorne walked back out of the tent. I saw the look he sent me on the way out. I ignored it, though. By the time she woke again, the sun was peeking through the bottom of the tent, and her eyes felt gritty. She pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her head still hurt, but not to the extent it did the day before. And she wasn’t as dizzy and worried she was going to pass out again.

Looking around, I spotted my pack sitting beside my bed and reached for it, groaning when the beating I took the day before made itself known through my aching body. I forced myself to move slower and dug through my bag to find the tea I’d stashed in there. After a moment of panic, I eventually found the tin, and blew out a breath.

I climbed out of the bed and shuffled across the room. My ribs ached, but I knew it would only get worse if I didn’t have my tea. Every time I thought I could stop drinking it, I was in agony. No wonder I was wolfless. My body wouldn’t be able to survive it.

Taking the pitcher of water placed there for me, I poured myself a glass and dumped some of the tea into it, cringing at the thought of drinking it cold, but it was better than doing without.

As I waited for it to steep, I pulled out some fresh clothes. These were my own clothes, since Tina hadn’t bothered to get me more than a single dress to wear for the wedding. I pulled it on, tossing the wedding dress on the bed and scowling at it, wishing there was a way I could get rid of it.

My own dress was threadbare, and maybe a little snug, but it was my dress, and a relaxed a little bit once it was on. Then I grabbed the tea, chugging it down as quick as I could, shivering with the flavour of it. Then, pulling on the cloak and pack, I walked out of the tent.

The camp was already alive with activity. Most of the tents had already been pulled down, and as soon as I walked out. Footsteps sounded behind me, and I slowed my own steps as I glanced over my shoulder, only to see Terrin walking slightly behind me.

“Were you waiting for me?” I asked him, raising a brow.

His gaze met mine. “My Alpha might not realize it yet, but you are his wife, and you may be carrying his pup. I am duty bound to keep you safe, and I take my duty very seriously.”

I stumbled a step at his words, and dropped my eyes away from him. I needed to tell them. That there was no possibility I was carrying a pup. But, I worried Brennan would be even more angry, considering he had been forced into this marriage solely based on the fact that I could be. And she didn’t know how much longer he could hold out on hurting me with how angry he already was.

Feet appeared in my path and I stumbled to a stop, my eyes flashing up to see my husband standing there. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he glowered at me as he looked me over.

“Are you going to be delaying us again today? Or can we actually proceed with our travel? We have a long way to go, and we can’t be stopping early every single night because you can’t handle it.”

I heard the slightest growl coming from behind me, and I watched my husband’s eyes shoot over my head, presumably at Terrin, eyes narrowing even further and mouth opening in a snarl. I felt myself pale, feeling the tension growing between them. I pulled the cloak tighter around myself and dropped my eyes to the ground again. If I didn’t, I was going to end up making him angrier, and everyone around me already seemed to be angry.

“I’ll be fine,” I muttered, stepping around him to move closer to the horses. I didn’t want to be a burden, and I hard already forced them to make camp early the day before. I didn’t want to do that again.

“Don’t you think she should have food before we start on our trip?”

I started at the tone in Terrin’s voice, something I never would have guessed would come from him, particularly while talking to his Alpha. My gaze moved back to the two of them, only to find them glaring at each other. The wolves working around them were sharing glances and trying to avoid moving too close.

This was my fault, I was sure of it. I had somehow made the two of them fight, and I didn’t even know what I had done.

“We should head out,” I said, and even I could hear the edge of panic to my words. “I can eat something while we ride. I don’t usually have breakfast, anyway.”

It was the truth, but my stomach chose that moment to let out a soft growl, protesting the lack of food. It was only then I realized I hadn’t managed to eat anything the day before, and it had only been breakfast I’d been allowed the day before that. No wonder my stomach was protesting.

They both turned their eyes on my, and I wished I could sink into the ground, or figure out what I had said wrong to make them look at me like that.

“You need to eat. Even wolfless require food,” Terrin spat out.

“If she wanted to eat, she should have been up earlier,” Brennan said, his voice cold.

My eyes landed on him, heart sinking in my chest. It was words I could hear coming from Kai’s mouth. Somehow making it my fault I hadn’t been able to eat. For days on end. A knot formed in my throat, and I forced myself to turn away from him, putting my hands on the back of my horse to prepare myself to climb up. I would just have to wait for the next meal. I had done it before, I could do it again.

Terrin was growling audibly now, and I could feel myself starting to shaking, making it impossible for me to catch the stirrup to climb on the horse. She was a good mare, from what I’d experienced the day before, but even she was shying away from me and nervousness I was putting off.

“You might not like the situation, Brennan, but the girl needs to eat at some point. And if that was the stance you were going to take, you could have sent someone in to wake her up or gone in yourself.”

I glanced slowly over my shoulder at the new voice, only to find the Beta had joined the other two. He was standing directly in the middle, not taking either side, and not flinching when both rage filled gazes fell on him. His voice was calm, and he was carrying a small bundle in his hand.

“I got her something she can eat on the way, as she suggested herself, so we don’t hold up the travel, but you can’t expect her to ride another long day without food when you know she didn’t eat yesterday.”

Brennan, if possible, stiffened even more, then stalked away. I flinched when I could hear his every footfall, knowing he would normally walk silently.

When he was gone, Asher glanced at Terrin. “Did you have to provoke him?”

“He’s being unreasonable. Someone has to call him on it.”

Asher snorted. “Maybe try calling him on it without almost challenging him. A fight between us isn’t going to help anyone.” He moved over to me and placed the bundle in my hands. “You really are good at causing trouble, aren’t you?”

My hands tightened on the food, and I refused to look up at him. “I don’t mean to,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. As long as I could remember, I had tried not to cause trouble. But, here I was, in the middle of it again.

Terrin came over and lifted me into my saddle again. I tried to give him a small smile, but I was still too shaken over the fight. Brennan was still nowhere in sight when the pack started their travel, but no one else seemed concerned, so I tried not to worry as I took my first bite of food and tried not to eat it too quickly. This was the best food I’d had in years, and I wanted to savour it.