Page 137 of Moonlit Fate

“Easy for you to say,” she spat.

“Trust me, I’ve seen darkness.” I met her gaze. “But you, Aria, you have light in you. And I’ll be damned if we don’t figure out how to use it right.” I grunted, pushing against the ground. “I need to get up.”

But it wasn’t happening. My arms shook, and the world tilted as I stumbled, a sharp stab of pain slicing through my midsection.

“Atticus! You’re hurt!”

“Am I?” I mumbled, looking down at the jagged piece of wood jutting from my abdomen. Blood spread around it, soaking my shirt. I hadn’t even felt the branch pierce the skin. The rush of adrenaline had numbed the pain. My priority had and always would be her.

“Gods, no,” she cried out, crawling to me, her own exhaustion painted across her face. “This is my fault.”

“Stop that.” My hand found her cheek, thumb brushing away the tears trailing down. “This is not your fault.”

“How can you say that?” Her eyes were wide as she gestured to the disarray around us. “Look at the forest. Look at you!”

“Accidents happen.” I forced the words out, trying to remain conscious. “Especially when we’re testing our limits.”

“Accident? I did this to you!” Her trembling hands hovered over the wound.

“Focus on me, not the wound. We’ll fix this. I’ll be okay.”

“Can you shift? Make it back to the den, to Mia?” She scanned my face for signs of the immense amount of pain I was trying to hide from her.

“Should be able to,” I said, gritting my teeth at the idea. “It might speed up the healing.”

“Okay.” She gave a quick, decisive nod. She stepped back, giving me space. “Do it.”

Taking a deep breath, I focused on the change, on the familiar pull and twist of muscles and bones. My vision clouded as the transformation took over, fur replacing skin, limbs reshaping. The pain didn’t subside, though. It stayed, sharp and insistent.

I stood on four legs now, but the relief I expected didn’t come. Confused, I glanced down. For fuck’s sake.

We were surrounded by wolfsbane. No wonder the pain persisted.

“Careful,” I warned her through the telepathic link my powers allowed. “Wolfsbane.”

“Shit.” She looked around at the purple-tinged plants. “We need to move out of this.”

Growling, I limped forward. Each step sent a jolt through my body.

“Atticus, please hold on.” Aria’s voice was strained with worry. “I’m right here.”

I panted, my strength waning.

“Let me help you.” She nudged my side to offer support. “Can you do that thing you mentioned? Shadow travel?”

“Can’t shadow walk right now,”I told her between shallow breaths. “Wolfsbane’s done a number on me.”

She snarled in frustration. “Damn this forest! Please, whatever god is listening, help us!”

The trees still standing around us shuddered, leaves rustling in response to her call, but nothing else happened. We continued on our long walk to the den.

As we pushed our way through the tangle of trees along the river bed, and her eyebrows shot up in disbelief as she gazed down at me.

“This isn’t the path, is it?” she asked in surprise.

I grimaced as a sharp pain shot through me. The blood loss was really taking its toll on me. The encroaching darkness impeded my vision as I glanced around. Doubt crept into my mind. I had to be hallucinating because the forest had opened a path that brought us closer to the den.

“It is, but we’re much closer to home than we should be,”I said.

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