Page 34 of A Storm Rises

Mateo dropped his dagger. He fell to his knees. The black wolf with a white streak down its back jumped him and then…licked his face?

“Stormy, girl!” He hugged her as she rested her big paws on his shoulders.

Avalynn lowered her bow. “You know this wolf?” Stormy tilted her head, sniffed, and then bounded from Mateo to Avalynn. It circled her legs, jumping and twirling. “Uh…what is it doing?”

Stormy raised up on her hind haunches and pounced on Avalynn, who fell back. The friendly wolf towered over her and licked her face. “My Stars.” She moved her head to the side and held up her hands. “Does she greet everyone like this?”

“Stormy, off!” Mateo pulled the wolf away. His brows inched closer together. He squinted as if he didn’t understand what his beast was doing.

“Eiric is bleeding!” Selene shouted. “Help him!”

Avalynn scrambled to her feet and joined Selene. Eiric’s face had gone white as snow. His eyes were fixed and almost fully rolled back in his head. She touched his wrist. The thump of his pulse remained, but faint. “We need to move him somewhere safe.” She scanned the forest. “And quick.” But were the foxes waiting? Thank goodness for Mateo’s wolf.

“I saw a cave close by.” Selene pointed to the other side of the clearing. “Over there.”

Mateo took charge. “Let’s move.”

Avalynn gathered her arrows while Mateo and Finnian lifted Eiric. They trudged into the woods, following Selene. Stormy stayed by Avalynn’s side, as if assigned to her protection. She reached down and rubbed the wolf’s head. “Thank you for saving us, Stormy.” She could get used to this big, loveable beast.

Mateo’s wolf moved closer, as if understanding her. Avalynn wanted to know more about the wolf and more about Mateo. His family, his home, where the wolf came from. She shook her head, snapping to her senses. Why? It would only make things harder when she did what she had to do. She had been ordered to sabatoge him and that directive still lingered.

He was a lowborn. Plain and simple. And that would never change. She was a highborn bound for the throne. And that would never change either.

Mateo shifted his grip on Eiric’s legs while Finnian held his limp upper body. Selene led the way through the forest. She weaved her way through the overgrown brush, heading back the way they had come. So far, they avoided the magic boundary and another run-in with the foxes. Perhaps those deadly creatures needed a reprieve too.

Mateo never thought he’d be working with highborns, much less save one as detestable as Eiric Lind. But now, all hunters had a common enemy. What did that mean for the hunt? And for him winning? In order to capture one of the deadly foxes, he needed to survive. The only way to survive? Use the highborns to his advantage. Once he made his kill, they were on their own to figure out last place, death, and banishment of their people.

Even Avalynn.

He glanced over his shoulder at Stormshroud. Usually next to him, she was now trotting along with the princess. What a betrayal, but he could not entirely blame Stormy. If Mateo and Avalynn were not competitors, he would want to be with her too.

“Over here.” Selene veered off to an area thick with vegetation, and the cave’s mouth came into view.

Mateo had scoured plenty of caves with Stormshroud. They would check it before the others went in. “Stormy, go look.” He whistled, and she bounded with a leap and then disappeared inside.

Avalynn approached. “She came all this way to be with you?”

He knew Stromshroud had come for him, but she seemed to stay for Avalynn. “Or you. I can’t tell for sure.” His wolf had been so eager to join him when he left the Sublands. But now, it was as if Stormy had laid eyes on a beautiful maiden and abandoned all senses.

A smile crept across Avalynn’s face. She winked at Mateo. “Your wolf has good taste.”

Stormy trotted out of the cave. Selene pointed at the cave’s mouth and a dirt floor with plenty of fluffy leaves. “Lay him here.” Selene slipped off her satchel and set it under Eiric’s head. She looked up at Avalynn with pleading eyes. “What do we do?”

“Um…well…”

Did the highborns know nothing? They were too busy being pampered by maidservants and healers. He took off his satchel and found fruit, flat bread squares, water, and a small rag. It was a start. He took the water and the rag and approached Eiric.

Selene blocked his path. “How do I know you will not hurt him?”

“He is already hurt.” Mateo shook his head. He approached with a rag, not a dagger.

“Come on, Selene.” Gently, Avalynn pulled her back. “Let him help.”

He knelt beside Eiric and pulled the blood-stained collar down. Coagulated blood caked around the bite. A clean water rinse provided a better view. The sharp, precise punctures dotted the skin in a curved line. Fresh blood began seeping from the wound. “He needs stitching. If the wounds are not closed, he will bleed out.”

Eiric’s eyes opened. “What is happening?” He looked around as if in a daze. “Where am I?”

Selene fell to her knees and wiped his brow. “One of those horrid foxes bit your neck. But you are going to be fine now.” She glanced at Mateo. “Right?”

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