The King's Cursed Bride

To the Capital: Part 3

One of the men swallowed, his throat bobbing. It was the man who most often let Mera ride his horse. He'd been called "Tian" earlier.

"Y–Yare wolves? You're certain?"

A howl pierced the air. The forest muffled noise, and Carissa guessed the wolves were even closer than they'd sounded.

Carissa grabbed the reins to Ryther's horse and urged it closer before mounting in front of Ryther, her back toward him. "We're almost at the Capital. Maybe we can make it there before the Yare wolves can." Unlikely, but hopefully it would ease their fear enough that the Yare wolves would lose their scent.

Tian mounted behind Mera, and the men urged their horses into a gallop. Ryther leaned over Carissa as his horse sped through the forest, his chest smothering her back. Every muscle within her hardened into ice. She didn't do well with men touching her, especially men who weren't Elon. But the situation called for it.

The other man's horse raced ahead of them, since it was only burdened by one rider instead of two.

Carissa glanced over her shoulder. The yare wolves were slipping from the trees and congealing into a massive pack behind them. At this rate, they would soon catch up. Which mean it was time for a revision in her plan.

Before she could act, Tian slipped off his horse and rolled to the ground before standing to face the wolves.

Mera glanced over her shoulder. "Tian!" She jerked on the reins, but the horse seemed to sense the wolves behind it and instead ran faster.

It seemed Tian had already revised the plan. She might as well join him. Carissa slipped beneath Ryther's arms and landed on the ground, darting out of the way to avoid Mera's horse.

She darted toward the wolves and drew her dagger, adrenaline rushing through her veins until her fingertips tingled. The wolves ignored her, a few focusing on Tian and the rest in pursuit of the horses. She darted in front of Tian just as a wolf lunged.

Her dagger pierced through the back of its open mouth, its teeth scraping the skin off her wrist. She yanked the dagger back out and plunged her dagger into another wolf.

A shout from Tian made her whirl around. A wolf had sunk its teeth into his forearm and was yanking at it viciously, its nose contorted in a snarl. A few seconds and a quick slice later, Carissa severed the wolf's head from its body, and Tian pulled his arm to his side. She only caught a glimpse of his blood-coated arm before she turned to fight another wolf.

Tian tried to fight with his remaining arm, but his swings were growing sloppier. They'd been fighting for at least a half hour, and his blood loss likely wasn't helping matters. If only they had some Y'thapa.

The sound of thundering horse hooves made Carissa glance over her shoulder. Ryther was bent over his horse, his body parallel to his steed's, heading toward the pack of Yare wolves.

When Ryther veered his horse away at the last moment, the pack broke away to follow them. A few lingered, their hungry yellow eyes glowing like lanterns as they approached Tian. After Carissa finished mowing them down, she ran to Tian.

She stopped in front of him. "Are you all righ—"

His body went limp, and he thudded to the ground.

Carissa rolled him onto his back and shoved his sleeve up to examine his forearm. The ripped skin revealed exposed pink flesh beneath. If it became infected, he might very well lose his arm. But she didn't have any supplies to clean wounds with.

She glanced down at her wedding ring. It was unlikely to work, but it was worth a try.

She removed her flask from her pack, poured water over the man's wounds. Then she hesitated. Should she put the ring on him? Touch him? She placed her hand near the wound, touching the unmarred skin. Nothing. She slipped the ring on his finger and poured more water onto the wound. Still nothing.

She sighed and slipped the ring onto her finger. "Well. Any advice, Elon?"

"Who's Elon?"

She peered over her shoulder at Ryther. "Where are the Yare wolves?"

He grinned. "Let's just say that I know the forest well—even better than the wolves."

"You're saying you lost them?"

He winked in reply.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well, you didn't answer mine, and I asked first." He dismounted his horse and lifted Tian into his arms. "Who's Elon?" He draped Tian over the saddle then gestured Carissa forward.

She shook her head. "I can walk. You should ride back with him before he bleeds out."

"You're the lighter of us. The horse will travel faster with you. And besides, Mera is waiting by the gates so you can enter with her."

"But the Yare wolves—"

"Aren't coming back. Now ride." He heaved her up into the saddle, and before she could even shudder at his touch, they were galloping toward the Capital.

Carissa caught one last glance of Ryther over her shoulder. If he was clever enough to lose a pack of Yare wolves and thoughtful enough to save her at the risk of his own life, perhaps she'd underestimated him. Or perhaps he was a more powerful enemy than she'd first realized.

***

Author's Note: So sorry about the late chapter! This semester has been incredibly hectic. I'm not sure it was my best idea to release a book, get a marketing internship, and get a boyfriend within the same semester. Not that I regret any of those decisions--especially the last one. But it feels like I've been running at 100 mph (or 161kph for my non-US readers) since the semester started. I obviously need to work on time management...

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy the chapter. <3 And I'm working on the sneak peek.