Page 34 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
Chapter Seven
Lucian
Astra Lakan cannot shift.
It had taken me two days of following her to come to that conclusion on my own before she told me. I’d figured that she either lacked the ability or her wolf was injured.
To add insult to injury, the forest is full of dangerous creatures who are watching her, viewing her as potential prey. I’ve been dealing with them, but there is more that plagues her.
Astra herself is also quite badly injured, and she is ill. The injury on her leg is not healing. She tries not to let it affect her, but she is clearly in the throes of fever. Eating nothing but fruit isn’t helping her case; even if she cannot shift, she needs meat. However, it doesn’t seem like she has the ability to hunt at this point.
I didn’t mean to interfere. The plan was to watch her, observe who she is. When I carried her out of that tree in the late hours several nights ago, I strayed from my plans. But she was so fragile and weak. And my wolf keeps wanting to rub up against her like a little pup.
When I killed the two rabbits, I didn’t think that feline of hers would take the credit. But it kept happening, and my irritation kept growing.
Did Astra really think a cat could take down two rabbits? That damned animal stared at me smugly while she received praise for something she didn’t even do.
That’s why I left the boar. Let’s see the girl try to chalk that up to the cat.
Of course, I didn’t account for the fact that she would panic.
I also didn’t think Gareth would be foolish enough to send men to hunt her down and kill her to prevent the truth of the whole matter from coming out.
I’m going to skin the bastard alive, I muse to myself as Astra holds out seventeen silver coins to me.
She thinks I’m a rogue mercenary!
She hit me. And now she’s trying to pay me, Lucian, Crown Prince of the Wolf Kingdom, seventeen silver to protect her on her journey. I don’t know whether to be insulted or amused.
I should say no, but my wolf is straining against me, rumbling happily at the idea of protecting this girl. Foolish beast.
But she is peculiar. I find her intriguing. I want to know how someone like her knows so much about herbs. To date, there has been no cure for wolfsbane. Wolfsbane poisoning means death. I was certain I was going to die.
But I can already feel the burning sensation in my blood fading. Whatever she did, it’s working. I owe her my life. I owe her a life debt, and I don’t take those lightly. I’ve only ever owed three people a life debt, with her being the third.
“Why are you going to Turnville?” I demand.
“My—” A flush crawls over her cheeks, making her eyes glitter. She looks adorable. “My friend is there. He offered to marry me, and Alpha Gareth said I could go, but then hechanged his mind because he didn’t want his daughter to…The point is that I kind of have a fiancé in Turnville.”
“A fiancé?” Annoyance creeps through me. “Turnville is a human village. You have a human fiancé?”
She nods. “He’s really sweet. I’ve known him for a few years now.”
“And what if your alpha tracks the two of you down there?”
She’s packing away the herbs, but her hands go still now. “He doesn’t know who Andrew is. He has never met him. And shifters aren’t allowed to cause chaos in human towns. He’ll leave me alone. Hopefully.”
The cat limps toward Astra, and she picks up the creature delicately. “Luna, meet—”
She gives me a quizzical look, and I clear my throat. “Lucian.”
“Lucian.” Her smile widens so brightly that it feels like the sun is shining from her face. “He’s going to look after us for the next couple of days. I’m Astra, by the way.”
She’s too trusting.
I do some stretches to assess my body, and I can tell I’m not fully healed yet. It’s going to take some time. Astra seems to have realized this, and she quickly reaches into her knapsack.
“I have some meat. It’ll help with your healing.” She takes out the cooked boar meat and hands it to me. It’s a huge chunk. I know she didn’t cook the whole animal, just portions of it.
