I Will Save You, My Princess

Doubts

Rhiannon

Luca was taking me southeast, not due south like he had told me to run. I trusted him though.

I trusted him completely, I loved him fiercer than I ever thought possible, but I still barely knew him. I didn't know about his childhood--which must have been rough with Bane as his father--I didn't know about his likes, dislikes, hobbies, favorite color. I'd given him my body, but who knew if, after all this, we even had anything in common. The mate bond was the reason for the love and the s*x, that's just how the bond worked, but what about the rest of our lives? Would he even like me after all of this? Did he still want me after what Bane did?

All I had was the mate bond and my faith in the Goddess for picking the right man to be my mate. I trusted the Goddess--right?

I must have fallen asleep amidst my worries because the next thing I registered was Alaric turning his head around to nudge me on his back.

I jerked upright and in my confusion, slipped from his back. It felt like I fell in slow motion. As I went down, I felt Alaric shift under me, his warm fur melting into Luca's warm skin.

Instead of landing on the hard ground, I landed on top of Luca. His well-muscled body was still hard, but it was much preferable to the dirt. He took the brunt of my fall though, letting out an "Oof." I knocked the wind out of him.

"Sorry!" I gasped, trying to scramble off of him, but he held me tightly to him.

"Don't apologize," he said gruffly. "I'm the one that made you fall."

He sounded exhausted. Who knew how long he'd been running.

I gently adjusted myself so I was lying next to him, my head tucked up in his chest, his arm under my head.

Luca buried his nose in my hair, his breathing gently tickling my scalp.

"Sleep," I whispered.

He seemed like he wanted to resist.

"I'll wake you if there's danger," I reassured him, reaching up to run my fingers through his hair. He leaned his head into my hand like a dog. The image of him as a golden retriever popped into my head.

It made me giggle.

One of his eyes opened. "It's good to hear you laugh, though I think you're laughing at me."

"I'm just relieved," I said honestly. "I think it's just now hitting me that we made it out."

"We're not out of the woods yet," he hedged.

"Literally," I quipped.

He chuckled, too tired to do anything else. After a moment, he sighed. "I will keep you safe, my princess."

I knew he meant it and that he would give his life for me. He proved that by going against Bane like he did. But some things were out of his control. He didn't mean to let Bane rape me--I forced myself to think the word--but it was beyond his control and not his fault. Despite my trust and love for him, I couldn't completely rely on him--nor did I want to.

I could only rely on myself, and though recent events had taught me that maybe I wasn't as capable of defending myself as I thought I was, the next time someone tried to touch me, I would make sure I was able to defend myself.

~o0o~

Luca

I fell asleep there on the forest floor with Rhiannon tucked into my side--right where she belonged.

We were both naked, but there was nothing s****l about this, and for that I was glad.

I didn't know how to handle what had happened to her, but I knew I didn't even want to think about s*x with her this soon after the attack. I didn't want my body to react in ways I couldn't control--especially while I was naked and she could see my reactions clearly--because I didn't want her to feel pressured or think she needed to please me. For that matter, if she was never ready, never wanted s*x again, that was fine with me. I just didn't want to hurt her.

This, though, just lying here together, this was nice. I looked down at where she was pressed into my side.

The gashes from my dad's claws stood out stark red against her pale breasts. The old bruises, the ones from her initial capture, had faded due to the return of her wolf, but there were new ones to take their place.

It struck me that I had never seen her without bruises and open wounds. The thought made me instinctively tighten my arm around her.

She must not have been asleep, because she opened her brilliant blue eyes and smiled at me softly.

"Good morning," I said, desperately wishing we were comfortable enough in our relationship that I could press a kiss onto her forehead, but I didn't want to overstep.

I wanted to be tender with her, just as tender as I'd been the night we made love, but everything was different now. My dad had ruined everything--had taken everything.

It wasn't about my pride as her mate or some bullshit like that. I wanted her safe and happy and healthy. I wanted our relationship to be comfortable and easy and loving, the way it had been that night. That was what Bane had taken from us. I couldn't pretend to understand how she felt, but I was going to be extra cautious not to cause her any more pain, even if that meant pulling back on touching her and expressing my love for her.

After all, who would want to be with the son of their rapist?

That thought hit me like a gut punch. I let go of her, dropping my hand flat against the ground.

"What's wrong?" Rhiannon asked, clearly sensing my mood shift. She sat up and looked down at me.

"Nothing," I said quickly, also sitting up, but I think she could tell my answer was forced.

She just looked at me, steady-eyed, and I knew she thought I was lying.

I looked away. "I'll get you home, princess," I said gruffly. "Then I am yours to dispose of as you please." I couldn't meet her eyes, my face hot with shame. She needed to know that I wouldn't hold her to any promises made before my dad hurt her.

I pulled my arm from around her. Giving her space to heal and getting her to safety were of the highest priority.

I would get her to safety, though, and wouldn't let her out of my sight until then.

~o0o~

Rhiannon

Luca didn't want me. He couldn't even look at me; he didn't want me in his sight. It was like he woke up happy, remembered what happened, and shut himself off.

Of course he shut himself off, I told myself. He's fighting the mate bond. He would take me home out of some sense of obligation, and then he'd "dispose" of himself--aka high tail it away from his broken, used-up mate.

Of course he didn't want me anymore. I'd been ruined by Bane--used and discarded. What kind of man wanted a woman his dad had f****d?

Mate or not, he was going to leave me once we got to the capital and I was back with my family.

I thought he'd loved me--no, I knew he had loved me before. And now? Bane had taken that from me as well.

I cleared my throat, wanting to fill the silence before the unshed tears started falling from my eyes. "Where are we? You said to go south, but we're going southeast."

"I know a place," he said, seeming to shake off the shadow that was over him. "I used to come as a kid. It's a good place to rest. I was trying to make it there last night, but I was too exhausted. It would be a good place for you to recover . . ." he trailed off, but we both knew what he was referring to.

"It's several miles to the east," he continued, gesturing in that direction. "I can shift and Alaric can carry you, or we can walk at your pace."

"I'd rather walk," I said decidedly, already feeling guilty about letting him carry me around all the time.

"You're sure?" he raised an eyebrow, "Don't hurt yourself just to be stubborn."

That pricked my pride a bit. Did every step hurt? Yes, it did. Did that mean I couldn't handle it? No, of course not.

"I'm fine," I huffed, getting to my feet and ignoring the shooting pain.

He just wants to take care of us, Keia spoke up. I wasn't happy to hear from her. I was still upset about her disappearing act when I needed her.

I was miffed at her and I was miffed at Luca, plus I was focusing too much on pain control to speak, so as Luca led the way, I didn't speak to either of them.