Page 61 of His Claim
“You’re doing well,” Varek said over his shoulder.
I rolled my eyes, brushing grime from my shirt. “Don’t talk to me like I’m a pup you’re housebreaking.”
A low chuckle rumbled from him. “Fair enough.”
We pressed deeper. Once, the tunnel forked into three. Varek crouched, brushing his fingers over the ground, sniffing faintly like a wolf on the trail. He pointed right. “That way.”
“How do you remember all this?” I asked.
“I’ve walked these paths more than once,” he said simply. “Memory, scent, and instinct. Together, they don’t lie.”
The silence stretched, broken only by our boots crunching on gravel. My thoughts drifted back to Kendra and Lia, my girls, my sisters. I missed them and I was looking forward to seeing them soon.
“You know,” I said softly, my voice bouncing back from the stone walls, “before everything went to hell for us, Kendra, Lia, and I got our hands on a bottle of bourbon from the black market.”
Varek glanced back at me, one brow raised.
I smiled faintly at the memory. “We didn’t know what we were doing. It tasted awful, but we passed it around until we were giggling like idiots. Then we snuck into this old mall, and there was this… Spirit Halloween store. Everything was still there, dusty costumes, plastic masks, wigs, the works. We tried everything on.”
The image bubbled up so vividly it made me laugh under my breath. “Kendra put on this giant hotdog costume, tripped over the bun, and couldn’t get back up. She was just this big hotdog with felt ketchup and mustard down her front, rolling around on the floor.” I felt myself grinning at the vivid memory.
“Lia found vampire fangs and a stupidly long black cloak. She wouldn’t stop swinging it up in front of her face and hissing at us, imitating this thick Dracula accent: ‘I vant to sssssuck yourblooood!’ I ended up in this witch hat two sizes too big holding onto a plastic broom. I couldn’t see a damn thing, but danced with that broom until I fell over.”
I shook my head, my heart swelling with love for those two lost sisters of mine. “We danced around in those stupid costumes until we collapsed in a heap. For that one night, we weren’t girls growing up in a world of wolves just waiting to be bred. We were just… teenage girls, being ridiculous.”
Varek’s expression softened. The light of the lantern made his pale eyes glimmer. He smiled, and there was a warmth there, a respect in the way he listened.
“I just can’t wait to see them again,” I admitted quietly.
Varek took my hand and squeezed it in solidarity, I guess, and we kept walking, the tunnel twisting downward. Gravel shifted beneath my boots, and I slipped on a patch of loose stone. His hand shot out instantly, catching my arm.
“Careful,” he said, close to my ear.
Heat spread through me where his hand gripped mine, strong and steady. My pulse jumped, and I muttered, “Thanks,” trying to shake off how much I liked the feel of him holding me.
His hand lingered just a beat before letting go.
The air grew colder as we descended, heavy and damp, and somewhere ahead a rumble echoed like distant thunder. My wolf stirred uneasily.
To distract myself from the tightness in my chest, I asked, “What was it like for you? Before. When you were human.”
He didn’t answer at first. His stride didn’t falter, but his shoulders stiffened. Finally, he said, “I was a soldier.”
I blinked. “Seriously?”
“Yes.” His voice was steady, but his eyes went distant, reflecting the lantern flame. “I enlisted young. I thought I was fighting for order. For a future.” He gave a humorless laugh. “Turns out the future had other plans.”
I studied him, trying to picture him clean-shaven, in uniform, standing tall with that same commanding posture. It wasn’t hard. He still carried himself like a soldier, straight-backed, disciplined, always scanning for threats.
“Did you like it?” I asked quietly.
His jaw tightened. “It gave me purpose. Discipline. But it took a toll. You see enough bodies, you stop believing in heroes.”
Something in his tone made my chest ache. “And Elena?” I whispered before I could stop myself.
His gaze cut to me, angry for just a second, but then softened. “She was the only thing that brought light to the darkness of our world at that time. When she was gone, all I had left was war.”
The words hung heavy between us, heavier than the rock above our heads.
