Chapter 5: The First Safe Place
1643 Words
“Because bloodbane cannot be prepared by a six-year-old,” Kieran said. “And because Rafe’s story doesn’t add up.”
I stared at him.
“I don’t know what bloodbane is,” I whispered.
His expression tightened. “Your brother said you knew the difference between plants.”
“I…”
I had no answer.
I couldn’t remember everything from that night. Only pieces. My mother’s garden. The glass. The sweet smell of lemonade.
“The leaves of bloodbane turn red when they are fed wolf blood,” Kieran explained. “It isn’t freely grown, and it must be prepared carefully. A child wouldn’t know what it was, much less how to make it lethal.”
My fingers tightened around the hem of my sweatshirt.
“Oh.”
“I won’t stop until I find out who did this.” His crimson eyes held mine. “And when I do, they will answer for what they allowed to happen to you.”
He sat on the edge of the desk, studying me.
“But first, you need a healer.”
I kept my mouth closed.
I was still trying to process the thought that someone had framed me. Why had Rafe never questioned the story? Why had Cal believed it without hesitation?
Kieran stood.
“Come. I’ll show you your room, and then we’ll go to the pack hospital.”
I froze.
“My room?”
“Yes.”
He seemed to understand the question I couldn’t ask.
“You will have your own room in Ironveil,” he said. “This agreement does not give me the right to your body. I won’t touch you unless you allow it.”
Relief moved through me so quickly it almost hurt.
I lowered my eyes and followed him into the hallway.
The corridors were quiet. No one watched from the shadows. No one called after me or demanded to know where I was going.
Kieran pointed out the dining hall, the library, and the stairs leading to the eastern wing, but his attention remained on me.
His room was at the end of the corridor.
Mine was directly across from it.
The bedroom was larger than any room I had ever lived in. Tall windows overlooked the mountains, and pale curtains moved gently in the morning breeze.
A private bathroom connected to one side of the room.
“You can shower here,” Kieran said. “I’ll wait outside.”
I looked at him.
He moved into the bathroom and turned on the water. Steam quickly clouded the glass.
“You don’t need to be afraid,” he said. “Take as long as you need, but don’t stay in there if you feel faint.”
He placed his phone on the bedside table.
“I’ll bring you something to wear.”
He walked to the door, then paused.
“I wish you would talk more, Mara.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Kieran left and closed the door behind him.
I stood still for several seconds before hurrying into the bathroom.
The soaps and shampoos smelled clean and unfamiliar. I worked the soap into my hair and over my skin, letting the hot water wash away the scent of Silver Hollow.
The wound along my side stung when the water touched it.
I didn’t care.
The pain was worth the warmth.
Someone knocked on the door.
I froze.
“Mara?”
Kieran’s voice came through the steam.
“Yes?”
“Are you all right?”
I looked toward the clock.
I had been in the shower far longer than I realized.
“I’m coming.”
I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around myself, keeping it tight across my body.
When I stepped into the bedroom, my torn dress, worn underwear, and sandals were gone.
Kieran sat at the edge of the bed with folded clothes beside him. A pair of clean shoes rested on the floor.
“The clothes are new,” he said. “They may be a little loose, but they should be comfortable.”
He handed me a navy sweatshirt and matching joggers.
“The rest will arrive tomorrow.”
I took the clothes and changed in the bathroom.
When I returned, Kieran stood near the window with his back turned.
He didn’t look at me until I said his name.
“Ready?”
I nodded.
“Good. The doctor is waiting.”
We walked through the estate and into the pack hospital.
The doctor looked young, with dark hair twisted into a neat bun. She glanced at Kieran before turning her attention to me.
“Kieran,” she said. “What happened?”
“This is Mara Veyne,” he replied. “She has an infected wound and extensive bruising.”
The doctor’s eyes moved over me, and her expression sharpened.
“And the unusual scent?”
Kieran’s jaw tightened. “Her wolf was bound when she was a child.”
The doctor’s attention returned to me.
“I’m Raven. Tell me what hurts.”
“I have a wound.”
“And you aren’t healing?”
I lowered my eyes.
“I don’t have my wolf.”
The words still felt like an admission of failure.
Kieran’s voice remained calm. “Her wolf is still there. The binding cut her off from it. That is why her scent is fractured.”
I looked at him.
I had always believed my wolf was gone.
Not trapped.
Raven studied me for a moment, then reached for my hand.
“Come on. Let’s take a look.”
She led me into a private examination room and asked me to lie on the bed.
I lifted the sweatshirt just enough for her to see the wound.
Her eyes widened.
A flicker of anger crossed her face as she examined the infection and the bruising surrounding it.
“How long ago did this happen?”
“A few days.”
Raven looked at me. “Are you certain?”
I swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
Kieran went still.
Raven pressed carefully around the wound. “This infection has been developing for at least a week.”
My eyes closed.
“I don’t know,” I repeated.
“Mara,” Kieran said.
I flinched.
His voice had deepened, and my body reacted before I could stop it.
Anger brought punishment.
Punishment brought pain.
“I swear I don’t know,” I whispered. “The beatings happened so often that they blurred together. I was almost always bruised.”
Silence filled the room.
I was too afraid to open my eyes.
Rafe had always warned me that if anyone found out, he would make my life worse than it already was.
Now I was sitting in another pack’s hospital, telling the truth to strangers.
Kieran moved away from the bed.
“Treat her,” he ordered.
He didn’t shout.
He didn’t need to.
The command carried through the room with enough force to make Raven straighten.
Kieran left, pulling his phone from his pocket.
Raven waited until the door closed before speaking.
“You’ll have to forgive my brother. His temper gets short when someone under his protection has been harmed.”
I opened my eyes. “Your brother?”
She smiled faintly. “Kieran didn’t tell you?”
I shook my head.
“Jenson is our brother too. He’s Ironveil’s Gamma.”
One of the guards from the car.
I remembered his voice.
“He works closely with Kieran,” Raven continued. “Although Kieran would prefer to keep me away from the hospital and inside the family estate.”
She opened a cabinet and removed a small jar of cream.
“This needs to be applied three times a day. If the infection hasn’t improved within a few days, come back and I’ll examine it again.”
She placed the jar in my hand.
I stared at the label.
The letters meant nothing to me.
Raven noticed.
“You can read the instructions later,” she said gently.
I lowered my gaze. “I can’t read.”
Her expression softened.
“That’s all right. I’ll write down the instructions using symbols you’ll recognize.”
“Thank you.”
Kieran waited outside the hospital.
He was speaking into his phone, his voice low and controlled. The moment he saw me, he ended the call.
“What did Raven say?”
“Cream. Three times a day.”
I held out the jar.
He took it and read the label.
“Good. Come.”
He walked through the estate with long strides. I hurried to keep up.
He led me back into his office and closed the door behind us.
“Show me.”
I stopped.
He held up the jar.
“The wound.”
I understood.
Slowly, I lifted the sweatshirt.
Kieran crouched in front of me and opened the lid. He glanced at my face before touching the cream.
“May I?”
The question surprised me.
I nodded.
He spread the cold cream gently over the wound.
One hand rested lightly against my lower back to steady me. He didn’t pull me closer. He didn’t force me to remain still.
The touch was careful.
Almost respectful.
The only touch I had ever received from a man had been meant to hurt me.
“Don’t lie to me, Mara,” Kieran said quietly. “Not ever. If you can’t remember, tell me that. I need the truth, even when the truth is that you don’t know.”
“Okay.”
I focused on the warmth of his hands.
“Breathe,” he murmured.
I realized I had been holding my breath.
Kieran rose to his feet.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
The words should have been easy to believe.
They weren’t.
Not yet.
- Writer
