Catch, Curse, Release (Immortal Warriors #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Thirty-Five: Of Wolves and Men

A/N: The video in this chapter is Drowning Pool’s “Bodies.” Enjoy!

    

Of Wolves and Men

    

“I told you I wanted her dead!”

“No.” Randor’s voice was rough. “Your father wants her back alive.”

“I agreed to help you only if you killed her.”

“Aye, but your father gave me orders to bring the human back alive and I mean to see that she does. Canna ye see, the lass is mated to the McKenna bastard.”

“’Tis not a real matin’ band,” she protested. “I overheard one of Lord Eric’s own guards declare she was a witch who’d bespelled their king into believin’ she was his mate. The matin’ band is part of her magic.”

Randor gave Lord Oren’s eldest daughter a warning glare. “That may be, but I mean to deliver her alive either way. If she is a witch, her magic will come in handy against Wolfgard. If she isna, we can still use her against McKenna.” Randor didn’t bother to inform the impatient female he’d already made arrangements to keep the human after Lord Oren was through with her.

Lori opened her eyes and couldn’t contain the groan that escaped her throat. Her wrists and ankles were tightly bound and her face felt like it had gone several rounds in a boxing ring. She tried to open her eyes but that was a lot easier said than done.

“That isna the bargain we struck, Randor. Your word is good for nothin’,” came the hostile reply.

Lori didn’t have to open her eyes to hear the sound of flesh hitting flesh. There was a small cry of pain before Randor spoke, his timber low and threatening, “Doona presume to judge me you half-breed bitch. My honor belongs to my king. Never question it again.”

Lori fought through the pain and lethargy that had sunk into her muscles and managed to finally open her eyes.

Randor stood a little ways away from her and he wasn’t alone.

Cynn was on the ground by the captain's feet holding the side of her face where he’d struck her. She stared up at him with so much hostility Lori wasn’t sure if it was really the same girl she knew. Feeling Lori's eyes on her, the young maid turned her attention back to her; the unbridled hate in her eyes froze the very blood in Lori’s veins.

Lori made a sound between a sob and a gasp as her brain tried to process what she was seeing. It couldn’t be Cynn. She was part of Wolfgard, loyal to Eric and the immortals. But more importantly, she was her friend.  

The pretty maid raked her eyes over Lori before looking back at Randor, “If you willna kill her then I will,” she threatened.

Lori shut her eyes as Cynn's words cut through her like a knife; the pain in her face was nothing compared to the searing pain in her heart.

Randor's face was a hard mask, the deep rumbling in his chest the only indication that she was pushing him too far again. “Doona overstep yourself – you are still nothin’ more than a Wolfgard slave.”

Cynn bristled under the insult. She rose to her feet and though Randor was quite taller, she managed to stare down her nose at him. “You will regret those words, brother.”

Lori couldn’t fight the gasp that escaped her mouth. Cynn looked over at her again and smiled, but it was brittle and cruel, nothing like the warm, open smile of the girl she once knew.