Lib Novel Page 25
“He’s a man, he had to find some relief at some time. Suella is okay, you just don’t know her,” Gamzin says. I give him a dirty look and turn my face away from him.
Lonnie chuckles. “We’ve all visited Suella at one time or another, Hope. She provided a service to the community, just as you have with your healing abilities. That’s how you have to look at it.”
I ignore them all because I don’t want to speak about Suella or the sex she provided for all the males I know.
Swift giggles. “Come on, Hope. Forget about all that, let’s pick up our pace a little before we stop to eat lunch. I’ll hunt for rabbits for tonight later, and we’ll have our bellies full before we sleep.”
As if mentioning her, we all turn when we hear, “WAIT FOR ME!” and see Suella rushing toward us with a backpack on her back. Wearing a pair of shorts that are hardly big enough to cover her butt, and a t-shirt that has holes showing more than enough of her bare chest and belly.
I ignore her and continue walking but can’t help but overhear her speaking to all the males, and I see Swift grinning as she looks at me out of the corner of her eye. I give her an eye roll before marching a little in front of everyone, even though the bag on my shoulder and the box I’m carrying are weighing me down.
Conrad, Stein, Theo, Ronnet, and Heath jog up from behind, and join us along with Aster, Karia, and Eliza. All rogues that I’ve healed at one time or another.
Karia walks over to me and takes the bag from my shoulder. “I’ll carry that one for you, Hope. I only have one bag and it’s not heavy at all. I can carry yours and then the box won’t be such a burden.”
“Thank you, Karia. That’s nice of you.”
“You saved my life. This is the least I can do for you.” Karia gives me such a lovely smile that it warms me.
Swift steps up to my other side and rolls her eyes before whispering, “If Suella stops to have sex with anyone, we are not waiting for them. We’ll just carry on walking. Honestly, she’s devouring them with her eyes like they are a damn hot dinner. Anyone would think she was sex starved, and we all know she had sex only a few hours ago, because we can all smell Ronnet on her.”
We all freeze for a moment when we hear Gamzin shout, “PROTECT YOURSELVES!”
Looking around, we all drop what we are carrying, and either stand ready, or shift into our wolves. Swift has easily shifted into Red and is standing in front of me defensively.
Berrit, who’d been right behind us while walking, dropped the massive amount he was carrying and changed into his wolf, launching himself at the no-man’s-land rogues that have appeared.
Snarling, growling, tearing, screaming, it’s frightening. I see a rogue sneaking up behind Aster who is trying to fight off a rogue who has hold of her arm. I pick up the cauldron that Berrit had dropped, and I swing it with all my might, hitting that rogue in the head. He drops to the ground, and I cringe when I see one side of his head caved in. I look up at Aster and she gives me a whispered thank you before we both look around to see what is happening.
There are rogues going down to the group and I can’t help but be proud of my friends, who are rogues the same as myself, but they are fighting well, and taking out the threat quickly.
As soon as the last no-man’s-land rogue is down, Gamzin shouts. “PICK UP EVERYONE AND LET’S MOVE. DOUBLE TIME PEOPLE!”
I grab the box and a bag and start walking fast. Swift is carrying five bags and everyone else has something, even if it’s not what they were originally carrying. We hightail it from the area as fast as we can, and don’t stop for lunch. In fact, we don’t stop until we are well into the Blood Pearl Pack territory.
Blood Pearl Pack patrol warriors find us resting in a small clearing. Huddled together is an appropriate description. Gamzin quickly steps toward them and explains what is happening. We all wait for the warriors to contact their alpha.
I can’t help but think how great it is to see female she-wolf warriors. Who would have thought we’d ever see such a thing!
“You can stay and rest. Are you here for the night or are you moving along?” one of the warriors asks.
Gamzin responds quickly, “We’ll stay but move early in the morning. We have some injuries we need to look at and treat. Are we allowed to hunt for rabbits, and are we near to a water source?”
“Water is not far. I’ll take one of you to get that, but only two of you can go hunt for food.” The second warrior gives a flick of her head for someone to follow her. Graham picks up the cauldron and a bucket and follows the warrior to get water.
“Swift, Heath, you two hunt for meat,” Gamzin says and turns, throwing out orders for everyone to organize a fire pit, an area to sleep, and to help me find what I need to make drinks.
I’m busy finding lotions to cleanse and help fast healing for everyone that has been hurt and notice out the corner of my eye Suella sitting with her back against a tree doing nothing. I flick my eyes around and everyone is doing something except her. Gritting my teeth before I say something nasty, I turn to Lonnie, who has a nasty gash on his forearm.
It’s an hour before I’ve cleaned everyone up. We have the water boiled and drinks made, and a second cauldron of water with wild onions, bracken fern leaves, stinging nettle stems and leaves, and mushrooms, simmering ready for the meat to be dropped into it once it is cleaned and diced.
By the time everyone has eaten, we’ve cleaned up the area and settled down to rest. My eyes are drooping. I lay next to Swift, who is already asleep and softly snoring. I’m just slipping into sleep when I hear grunting and heavy breathing. When I realize what I’m hearing I snap loudly, “Can you not keep your legs closed for a while? We don’t all want to hear you having sex, and tomorrow you can carry as much as everyone else since you have so much energy left.”
Everything goes quiet, and I hear chuckling from around me as well as a few female giggles. Obviously they all think the same as me, but weren’t coming out and saying it.
Chapter 14
CONNELL