Pain has a strange way of stretching time.
Lying there on the infirmary bed, I could not tell if minutes or hours had passed since Aghata collapsed beside me. My body felt like a battlefield that had not yet realised the war was over. Every breath scraped through my chest. My ribs protested even the smallest movement, and the scent of blood and crushed herbs hung thick in the air.
The healers had done what little they could before rushing away to gather stronger remedies. That left only silence, broken occasionally by Aghata’s strained breathing.
I turned my head slowly toward her.
She lay on the cot beside mine, pale and unmoving. When she had transformed back into her human form earlier, the sight had nearly broken me. Her wolf had fought like a creature born of fury and loyalty. Lik
