But Mara, as part of Trax's former pack, knew the lay of the land better than anyone else. If he sent Dee along ... It had been years since Dee had taken Julia out of that pack and escaped the territory; she wouldn't know the current territory lines. Dee could watch over them, though—as a purebred, she'd be able to sense the presence of wolves from far out, and would be a good fighter if need be.
"You would have to take Dee with you, for protection. How long would you be gone?" he asked. He felt a brief hint of shock from her, that he'd acquiesced so quickly.
"Just a few days at the most," Julia said. "Mara says that it's a day's run from here, dusk to dawn."
"For a wolf."
"So two days for a human. Two and a half, maybe."
"Then it would be five days before you returned."
"Less," Julia said. Damien was struck by the fierce desire in her tone.
"Less?"
"I'll be coming back as a wolf."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Julia
Damien took less convincing than Julia had expected. She sat beside him and held his hand, looking down at his leg in the splint. Now that he had agreed to let her go, she felt guilty to leave him.
"I don't want to go without you," she said. "I really don't. But I can't wait for you to heal. This ... thing between us ... "
"I understand," Damien said. His voice was firm, commanding, and she could tell that he'd switched roles—he was acting as alpha now, not just as her mate. "Dee will be able to tell whether there's danger. You, on the other hand, will be completely defenseless if any wolves do show up."
"Do you think we'll need to fight again?" Julia asked. In the last fight, she'd been a captive, helpless to do much but stand on the side and watch.
"If you do, I want you to have a weapon," Damien said.
"A weapon?" Julia's eyes widened. "Like a gun?" She'd never fired a gun before. Had never even held one.
"Guns aren't as useful as you might think," Damien said. "Wolves are fast. They fight at close quarters and the forest is dense. In a pack fight, they're all but useless."
"What, then?"
"You remember the box I asked you to store away in your closet?"
"You have a weapon in that and you didn't tell me?" Julia was aghast, but Damien just laughed as she hurried over to her closet. She stood on her toes and brought the box out, holding it gingerly between her fingers. It looked like a jewelry box, the dark wood gleaming. She opened the box lid. A leather sheath was at the bottom, the handle of a knife jutting out from one end.
She reached in.
"Careful," Damien said. "It's quite sharp."
Julia drew it out of its sheath as she lifted it out of the box. The blade whispered against the leather as it slid out, and Julia's lips parted as she held the knife up.
The blade was not terribly long—perhaps as long as one of Damien's fingers. The edge of the knife was curved, and both blade and handle were the purest white. She held it up to the light and turned it. The blade near the edge was so thin that it was translucent. It looked—she could not get the image out of her mind now that she had thought of it—like an oversized claw.
"Wolf bone," Damien said. "Shifters don't die easily. But this—" He shuddered. "This knife will kill."
"Show me how to use it," Julia said.
Damien reached behind her, his chest to Julia's back. His arm came around her and his hand slid down her wrist, his fingers moving carefully over hers.
"Just like this, it's a natural forward grip," Damien said.
"Like I'm holding it right now?"
"Yes, and you strike forward like this ... " Damien held her hand tightly and slashed the knife through the the air. A thrill shot through Julia's body, and she quashed it. This was no game. She slid the knife back into the sheath.
"Dee will help you practice," he said. "Julia?"
"Yes?" She looked up. Damien's face was solemn.
"Protect yourself. Come home safely."
"I'll try," she said, but it was only a whisper.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Damien
Damien argued with Dee for ages before they left.
"I've trusted your judgment before, but this is my granddaughter we're talking about," Dee said.
"She's my mate," Damien retorted. "And you will be there to protect her. I've given her my blade, in case she needs to use it."
"Blade?"
"I have a wolfbone blade. I told her you would show her how to use it properly."
Dee's inhale hissed between her teeth.
"Only as a precaution," Damien said. "I hope she will not have to use it."
"Those blades were used against wolves in the Purges," Dee said. "They're nothing but bad luck."
"Something I hope will help her in case she does need to take it out of her belt." Damien spoke calmly, though he trembled underneath. "The threat of the blade will be sharp enough."
"How did you get such a knife?"
"I stole it from someone who hunted me once," Damien said, and turned away to scratch an itch at his ankle. He did not want to remember that part of his past.
"They have a dark magic in them, I've heard."
"What have you heard? In all my search of folklore, I've not come across much at all."
"The story of Blood River—"
"That one, yes. Every pup has heard that one," Damien said. "But it's only a tale meant to scare children into keeping close to the den."
"Is it?"
At that moment the scent struck him: uncertainty. The fear of uncertainty. He started back at the scent. Dee? Dee believed?
"There aren't many other accounts of wolfbone blades," Damien said, keeping the surprise out of his voice. He'd scoured the literature, always searching for more, and nothing had ever to him suggested their veracity. And that Dee thought spirits might exist in reality was laughable—or would be, if he was in a mood to laugh. He wasn't. "They were used in the Purges, yes, but that was before my time—"
"Not before mine," Dee said.
"How ... how old are you?"
Damien was struck with new consideration at the thought. Purebred shifters lived longer, much longer than their hybrid counterparts. Her blood was pure—did that mean Julia would live as long as Damien? Or longer? The full import of what her journey might achieve hit Damien like a branch he had not seen coming.
"Probably much younger than you think. I was only a child during the Purges. But still, yes. And Julia will be, too."
"If she does it? If she shifts? Or would she still live as long?"
"Nobody but one god knows what time it is we have," Dee quoted.
"And that god knows all, and knows that time is not." Damien touched his fingers to his lips at the same time Dee touched hers. "But an average is just that. I would like to know if I am likely to be outlived by my ... by Julia."
"Or by your children," Dee said.
Damien was silent. Dee got up from her chair, the wooden legs scraping just slightly against the floor.
"I've outlived my share of family," Dee said, the sigh in her voice as worn as thin cloth. "Julia is all I have left."
"Then I'm glad you're there to protect her," Damien said.
"You know how precious she is," Dee said. "I didn't think you would let her go."
Damien paused. He could change his mind and order her to stay. Order her to wait until his leg was healed enough to go with her. But the rift between them was so great that he dared not keep her—and lose her.
"I know she'll come back," Damien said. His voice resounded with confidence, but inside he was hollow.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Julia
Julia sucked air between her lips.
Damien lay in her bed. Their bed. She sat at the edge of the bed, looking out of the window. The half-moon could barely be seen along the edge of the tree line in the distance.
"Tell me what you're thinking," Damien said.
"You know what I'm thinking." The words were out before Julia could stop them. She wanted to reach out and pluck them back out of the air as soon as they had left.
"I know how you're feeling. Nervous. Sad."
"And a little hopeful," Julia said. "I hope that when I come back, we can start our family."
"I hope so too," Damien said, tugging his fingers into the waistband of her jeans. "For now, though, this will have to be a purely recreational exercise."
Julia couldn't help but laugh as he pulled her towards him and into a deep kiss.
"Recreational, you say?" she asked. "And you with a broken leg? I'm looking forward to playing with you when you're not all broken up and bruised."
"Never mind that," Damien said. "I want you to strip for me."
"I hate to remind you," Julia said, leaning forward to press a kiss to her mate's forehead, "but you're blind."
"Then you'll have to stay pretty close," he said, running his hands down Julia's sides. "So I can feel you."
"Alright," Julia said. She unbuttoned her blouse as Damien's fingers slipped down after hers, smoothing over her skin. Damien curled one finger down into the top edge of her bra.
"Hey now, no peeking!"
"Sorry," Damien said, but the grin on his face belied his words.
Julia pulled off her top and threw it to the ground, standing up to unbutton her jeans. Damien's hands moved down over her h*ps as she shuffled her jeans down.
"Turn around," he said, in a voice that left no room for argument. Julia complied. His hands cupped her bare ass, squeezing, kneading, as she stepped out of her pants. His touch made her ache with desire, his fingers sending sharp thrills of pleasure down her nerves wherever they touched.
Julia turned back suddenly, leaning forward over Damien. Damien's hands moved across her stomach as she unclasped her bra and pulled it off. As soon as her br**sts were free, Damien was cupping them, pinching one nipple with his strong fingers and rubbing his thumb roughly over the other. She wanted to scream with pleasure.
His lips sealed over her breast, his tongue working in slow insistent circles over her nipple. She gasped as he seized her nipple between his teeth, the cool air of his inhaled breath perking her nipple, making it hard.
"Damien, oh, Damien," she moaned. She took his hand and moved it between her legs. She pulled down her panties and led his fingers to where she was already dripping wet and hot. He thrust his fingers inside of her and she yelped in surprise.
"Come here," Damien said.
"Where?"
"Here." Damien tugged her forward, taking her leg with his strong arms and pulling her onto him so that she was kneeling over him, straddling his chest. He slid down between her thighs and before she could say a word his mouth was on her, there, kissing her most sensitive flesh.
"OHHH!" she cried, the hot pressure of his tongue moving in slow circles over her. Her body trembled, every muscle shivering in bliss and anticipation. Each stroke of his tongue on her made her rise closer and closer to ecstasy, his lips sucking and licking in a ever-increasing tempo.