Abandoned By My Mate

Crushes on Soldiers

"How is he doing?" Dran called after an hour or two.

"Good," I replied, "His color is already starting to come back."

I smiled happily at Casi, he was still asleep, but at this point it might have been because he was tired. His wound had stopped bleeding a while ago, and the change in him was immediate. Casi was still slightly pale, but it was much better than it had been. His bandage would need to be changed at some point, but as of right now it would be best to let him rest undisturbed.

I looked down at my hands, my fingernails had the green blood of the stuck underneath them, but I had wiped the rest off on my formerly pink dress. The smell emanating from me was vomit worthy, but if I smelled like this while in the mating run no one would want me. I grinned at the thought, settling in against the wall.

My eyes grew heavy as soon as I relaxed, but I sat up quickly, determined to keep an eye on Casi. He was quite handsome, and extremely muscular, his abs moving as he breathed. Most lycan males I had met were handsome though, so while I appreciated his beauty it wasn't anything remarkable.

The bloodloss must have been more significant than I thought if he was still out after so much time had passed. He must have been wounded when he first ran into the trolls, I recall him clutching at his abdomen while warning us. The adrenaline and all the running he did would have made more blood pour out of the wound. Casi let out a long groan, squinting at the sunlight.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, letting out a breath of relief as he looked around the carriage.

"I've been worse," He rasped, his voice deeper than usual from lack of use, "What happened?"

"Well you fainted," I said, smirking when he winced at my choice of words, "We packed your wound with yarrow to help stop the bleeding and cleaned your wound with alcohol. I think you should be fine, but we should stop and see a healer just in case."

"A healer?" He repeated, his frown deepening, "We can't stop now, we've already lost time because of the trolls."

"I think your health is more important," I protested, my brows furrowing.

"Not to the king it's not," Casi huffed, his biceps flexing as he lifted himself up, propping his body against the wall, "We will all be in deep shit if you aren't there."

"One girl will really make that much of a difference?" I asked.

"Yes," He replied firmly, "Our orders have been given and to not follow the king's orders is a grave offense against the crown."

"Your wellbeing is more important," I repeated.

"It's not to the king," He huffed, letting out a pained groan, "I am sure I will be fine if I wait one more day to see a healer."

I rolled my eyes leaning back against the wall, "I don't agree, but if it's that important to you I guess there isn't anything I can do."

"Exactly," He huffed, giving me a lopsided grin.

I toyed with the tie I had left on my wrist, staring at the crescent moon that had appeared on my arm. Casi looked at me, his brow furrowing.

"It's always the same mark," He said, "They place it on the chosen, that way if they run there is a way for them to be identified."

"How many times have you done this?" I asked, "Escort the chosen I mean."

"This is the first time, but my sister participated two years ago," He explained, "She told me that all of the females got one, the males get a star."

"Interesting," I murmured, though Mayla had placed it on me before they had said I was chosen.

"Got to make sure no one escapes the mating run," He said with a yawn, shifting down slightly.