Lycan's Promise: Book 3 (3 page)

Sanda quickly made her way back to the trail
down the mountain. Somehow, the day had gotten away from her and it
was already heading towards evening. Beryx would likely be back at
the cottage by now. She half-dreaded continuing their conversation.
She knew him. Now that Beryx realized she had a problem with
changing into her Lycan form, he wouldn't let go of it.

Sanda reached the cottage with all due speed.
She was grateful to slip inside and hide away from everyone else in
the outside world. Beryx made up the fire to warm the room, but was
now tamped down to coals. Sanda hung her cloak and wandered back
towards their shared bedroom where she knew Beryx would be
already.

She pushed the door aside and peered into the
darkened room. Here the fire had also died down and the coals cast
an orange light across the room. Beryx was in bed, the furs pulled
up to his waist. Bare chest exposed to the night air. His eyes were
shut and his chest moved in light sleep. Sanda creaked in and
quietly pulled off her dress. She was running her hands through her
hair when she heard him shift and turned to see Beryx watching
her.

“Was wondering when you would get here.”

“I ran into Garrett, and then, I just needed
time,” Sanda said.

He held out a hand and Sanda took it,
allowing him to draw her into bed. He pulled the covers over them
and tucked her into the crook of his arm. Sanda rested her face on
his shoulder, inhaling his sharp male scent.

“Want to talk about it?” He asked her.

Sanda took a long moment, running her fingers
up and down his chest and through his hair. She knew they should
discuss this, this problem she had. It was hard to broach the
subject. “I just need time,” she said.

Beryx pressed kissed the top of her head. He
held her close in a tight squeeze, but she could see his
disappointment. Sanda closed her eyes and buried yourself the
sensation of being held.

“There is nothing to be afraid of in the
change,” he said into her hair, “I will be right there to help you
through it.”

“I know,” she said. She plucked at one of his
chest hairs until his hissed. “I am afraid … of me.”

He flattened her hand against his chest where
his heart beat a steady rhythm beneath her palm. “Let me help
you.”

Sanda only shook her head.

Beryx sighed. “It's better to start shifting
before the next full moon. It will be as traumatic as the last time
without learning how to control yourself.”

Sanda shook her head again. “Let's sleep on
it,” she whispered into his neck.

“Sanda.”

“Please, no more tonight.”

Beryx hummed softly. He shifted onto his side
and pulled her against his chest. Sanda went willingly allowing her
mate's embrace to send her into oblivion.

Sanda watched Mouse flex Beryx’s arm up and
down, pausing to ask questions about pain and ease of movement
before probing the skin around his wound with nimble fingers. Beryx
was eager to get back to his duties as second for Jurisa. He
practically dragged Sanda down the street towards Mouse’s hut for
his next appointment. This appointment would be the deciding factor
for whether or not he could return to his duties. Sanda already
knew what the outcome would be, she could see the quiet
satisfaction of a job well done in Mouse's eyes. She was happy with
his progress.

Sanda sat back in the chair at the dinner
table and drew another sip of tea. She didn’t look forward to being
alone for most of the day again. Sanda needed to find something
productive to do in the community, that is if Jurisa and the other
Alphas didn't decide to cast her out along with Garrett, Mouse, and
Cami.

If that happened, she wondered if Beryx would
be so eager to fulfill his duties as second. Would he come with
her? Live his life as an outcast to be with her? Even if she
couldn't control herself in Lycan form?

Mouse patted his arm and declared him fit to
work. Beryx looked to Sanda with the biggest grin. She couldn’t
help smiling back at him. Beryx allowed Mouse to administer a
cooling cream to his skin and wrap the nearly healed wound, then
popped out of the chair faster than Sanda could blink. He pulled on
his shirt, thanking Mouse for the assistance. His offers of
recompense were skillfully turned aside by the quiet woman, who
wanted nothing more than his good health. When Beryx looked at
Sanda again she could tell what he wanted.

“Go on,” Sanda said, “I’ll find my own way
home.”

“Thank you,” Beryx leaned over to pull her
close and kiss the top of her head. Sanda inhaled his scent deeply,
imprinting it on her memory. She felt a chill draft when he left
her to head out the door and find his Alpha.

Mouse cleaned up her supplies, placing them
with care on the back shelf next to the kitchen area. Most were in
leather pouches, and wooden boxes. A few were liquids in precious
glass bottles. Some were roots and plants sitting right out in the
open. Sanda couldn’t identify them all.

“Where did you learn medicine?” Sanda
asked.

Mouse looked at her with a small smile. “My
mother taught me before she died.”

“I’m sorry,” Sanda said. She’d managed to
wander into the wrong topic again. She was apologizing for a lot of
things lately.

“No need,” Mouse said. “It was a while ago. I
do this because it’s useful, and I can help the community.”

Sanda frowned. “You’re lucky to have
something worthwhile to offer. The Alpha doesn’t have a use for
me.”

Mouse brought her own cup of hot tea to the
table. “Everyone is valuable to the pack.”

Sanda nodded, but privately she didn’t agree
with the woman. Mouse was skilled. She saved lives. That meant
she’d be useful and the Alpha couldn’t kick her out for
disobedience. Beryx was the Second-in-Command and the Alpha’s right
hand. Garrett was a talented carpenter. Even Cami was an Alpha and
could be useful to Jurisa. Sanda just didn’t have any purpose
here.

“Have you made any long term plans with
Beryx?” Mouse asked suddenly.

Sanda answered with a non-committal hum. She
was trying hard not to think about the future. Mouse seemed ready
to pursue the question when someone knocked at the door.

Mouse opened it, inviting Cami into the small
hut. Speak of the devil, Sanda thought.

A heavy winter cloak concealed her form. As
soon as she entered, her gaze landed on Sanda with an unpleasant
scowl. She stilled, turned to the door as if to bolt. Then, she
sighed, letting her shoulders drop in resignation and continued
into the room.

“I’m here for another dose,” Cami said to
Mouse, who urged the woman to take off her cloak, revealing a loose
leather tunic underneath.

“I need to examine you,” Mouse said.

Again, Cami glanced at Sanda. Her behavior
was most curious. Sanda wondered if Cami had somehow been injured
during their flight down the mountain a few weeks ago and she’d
never heard about it.

Sanda stood up. “I’ll leave.”

“Wait,” Cami said. She placed a protective
hand over her stomach. “It will come out soon enough. Finish your
drink.”

Filled with curiosity, Sanda returned to her
seat.

Mouse asked Cami to sit in one of the kitchen
chairs. She palpated the woman’s stomach. “Any pain? Cramping?”

Cami indicated the negative. “I am having
some sickness.”

“In the morning?” Mouse asked.

“Yes, and some in the evening.”

Sanda kept her eyes on her tea, which was
getting cold. From the direction of their conversation, she could
have sworn that Cami was with child.

Mouse grabbed a long cone from her shelf,
placed it against Cami’s back and pressed her ear to it while she
breathed.  Then, she placed it against Cami’s belly, which to
Sanda’s untrained eye could have been no more than heavy with a
full meal.

Mouse pronounced Cami healthy, and told her
she was coming along well. She pulled a bottle of liquid off the
shelf, and filled a smaller bottle with the same liquid that Sanda
remembered Cami drinking during their last encounter. It was dark
brown, and with her heightened sense of smell, Sanda could pick out
the scent of pine, mushrooms, and other pungent scents suspended in
alcohol.

She handed the bottle to Cami, and took an
empty bottle in return. As Cami stood to leave Mouse stopped
her.

“I’ll have to tell the Alpha now that you are
out of the woods,” Mouse said.

Cami‘s eyes narrowed. She glanced between
Sanda and Mouse, as if weighing her options. The Alpha nodded once,
then pulled her cloak back on and left.

Mouse turned to Sanda with a small shrug and
a grimace that Sanda returned, but she didn’t know exactly what was
going on. She was almost certain that Cami was pregnant, but by
whom, and did that mean she had been pregnant during their trip
down the mountain to rescue Beryx?

“Isn’t it difficult for a Lycan to have
children?” Sanda asked to find the answer to her question in a more
round about way.

“Yes,” Mouse said, “Most females can’t carry
a child to term. Now that I’m more certain of Cami’s pregnancy,
I’ll need to let Jurisa know about her status.”

Mouse tamped down the fire as she spoke. It
was obvious that she was getting ready to head out, so Sanda
drained her cup of tea and placed it by Mouse’s empty tea cup on
the kitchen countertop. She knew when to get out of the way.

“I meant to ask, before Cami dropped by,”
Mouse said, “Are you apprenticing with anyone?”

Sanda shook her head. She still didn’t know
what kind of punishment she’d receive for her venture into
Ekras.

“I could use someone,” Mouse whispered. “If
you are willing.” She looked at the floor, showing Sanda that shy,
withdrawn creature she had a reputation of being in the community.
Seeing the woman with her patients, it was easy to forget.

“Oh,” Sanda said, “I’ve never had any
training with medicine.” She shifted uncomfortably. The idea had
never occurred to her. What Mouse could do, what she did was
certainly valuable to the community though. Sanda had to admit, it
was also interesting in a way.

“You have the makings of a good healer.”

“Me?”

Mouse laughed a little, “Yes.”

“I’m not really, really,” Sanda said.

“You’re caring, patient, practical,” Mouse
said, listing off characteristics like they were part and parcel of
Sanda’s personality, “You can even stand up to an Alpha if you need
too. I’ve seen it.”

Sanda shook her head again. She couldn’t
think of what to say. Mouse seemed to have made up her mind about
Sanda, and she wasn’t even that sure of Mouse at the moment.

“Think about it,” Mouse said.

That was all Sanda could do. She and Mouse
pulled on their cloaks and left the hut, walking through the light
falling of snow. Sanda left Mouse at the Alpha’s cottage and turned
off towards her home to while away the hours. The cottage was cold
when she arrived, and Sanda quickly brought the fireplace back into
full flame, going out back to bring in more firewood for the rest
of the night. Her evening was spent tidying, cooking dinner, and
waiting.

When Beryx came in from the cold, he was
sore, tired, and happy to have his position back in the community.
She listened to him go on about the work Jurisa set him too, and
they go to bed together. The next day Beryx got up early and didn’t
come back until late. Things quickly became routine, as Beryx was
needed to help deal with the humans in Ekras and the political
ramifications of Cami’s pregnancy. In the mornings, he headed out
way too soon, and returned way too late in the day. She didn’t
begrudge it of him though. Seeing Beryx so happy and animated
during their shared evenings was a joy. It did leave Sanda with a
lot of empty time to think about her upcoming punishment and the
next full moon. Mouse’s offer of an apprenticeship started to look
appealing as a way of being busy again.

Finally, Sanda decided to head out. She
didn’t feel comfortable visiting Mouse, lest she be asked about the
apprenticeship again. The last she’d seen of Garrett was when she
encountered him chopping down that tree in the woods. Sanda would
take some food over to him, if only to see his newest
sculpture.

She packed up a loaf of pine nut bread, some
cheese, and a few thick slices of deer meat, and headed over to
Garrett’s cottage on the edge of the village. He invited her in
easily enough and thanked her for the food, offering to share it
with her, but he was obviously troubled. His face was haggard,
redness rimmed his eyes, and he’d let his beard go.

They spread out the meal on a table in a
living area more like a workroom than a home. As they ate, he
continually glanced over at a wooden sculpture of a lean, mountain
deer that stared back at them through polished black eyes.

“Is that what you’ve been working on?” She
couldn’t help but ask him. The piece was so slender and delicate,
but the deer conveyed a sense of strength, of self assurance that
made it seem almost alive.

Garrett nodded at it, “Yes, worked non-stop
on it,” he said, tearing a piece of bread off the loaf. “Couldn’t
get the image of the deer out of my head.”

“It’s beautiful,” Sanda said, “I feel like
it’s really watching me.”

Garrett popped the bread into his mouth,
nodding again. When he didn’t say anything more, Sanda was
compelled to return to her meal. They finished in silence.

“Do you need help getting it down the
mountain?”

“No,” he said.

“It’s no trouble, I’ve needed something to
do,” she said.

“I’ve already taken it down to Ekras,”
Garrett interrupted. “He rejected it.”

“Oh,” Sanda said.

“He doesn’t want to see me again. Threatened
to tell the council about me if I came back.”

“He probably doesn’t mean that. Give him some
time, eventually he’ll realize how rash his response has been.”