C5 Chapter 5

It took a moment to think through the fog of lust that overcame Adda—which she blamed entirely on being drunk with exhaustion—to realize he was pointing. Up. Straight up the side of a nearly sheer incline.

She glanced from the impossible precipice back to the man pointing up it.

Taking a deep breath, she swallowed.

Many, many things were wrong with her life at the moment; too many to be ogling strange Shifters. Plus, she had already learned that lesson, painfully, and she hadn't even cleaned up the resulting mess yet.

“There is a cave above this rock face,” he pointed again, this time toward a chunk of rock that protruded at an angle. “You will rest there for a few hours while I keep watch...if you think you can climb it.”

Adda studied the cliff. How did he expect anyone to climb that? And she didn't see a cave either.

But he looked serious. Okay, maybe he could climb it...legendary Shifter, indeed. But she certainly couldn't, even if she had been in top shape.

She shifted to her human form—it was hard to make arguments as a wolf. As soon as the transformation was complete, she shook her head.

“I can't climb that.”

Both eyebrows rose now, but whether it was because of her statement, or because it looked like she had been tossed down a few cliffs, she could not decipher. He studied the cliff, and then her, once more.

“I can carry you up.”

A picture of herself dangling over his shoulder, naked, her backside in his face, popped into her head.

“Uh...no. That won't work. We can just find somewhere else to rest. I can go for another hour at least.”

It was a lie, but a necessary one, as far as she was concerned.

“We rest here,” he insisted. “If you will not climb, then you can hold onto my back. It shouldn't take anymore skill than getting you out of those tunnels.”

Adda opened her mouth to protest, but it ended up dangling there as she processed his words.

“You got me out of the tunnels?”

“I carried you, yes. Your sister is the one that collapsed them,” a bemused tone lined his statement.

Collapsed them? That was...extreme...and it sounded just like Lisrith. She tried not to think of the prisoners that had remained in the far reaches of the cavern. They would have been buried with the rest. Innocent men and women, but maybe peace could be found in the situation. They were definitely in a better place now.

She risked a direct look at the man's eyes once more. If he had been there, maybe he already knew of her troubles.

He did not look at her, though, hadn't past that first speculation. Instead, he studied the cliff face, concentration furrowing his brows. At last, he seemed to make a decision, and strode toward the rocks. Reaching up, he grasped a tiny protrusion.

“Coming?” he called over his shoulder.

Huh.

She supposed she owed this man a debt. Two, if she counted the incident with the Shifter pack.

“Why follow me all the way out here?” she approached him, but didn't get close enough to touch. How was she supposed to hold on? All those muscles looked smooth. There wasn't even a squishy part at his waist to dig her knees in.

“You are wasting the little time we have gained.” He turned his attention down the path he had created, as though the Alpha and her warriors might pop into view at any moment.

“Are you sure they will follow us this far?” Why waste so much time and effort? There were plenty of creatures loitering about the forest they could be spending their time dispatching, a fact that Adda had learned firsthand the night Bakkus betrayed her. A most disturbing fact. The Quatori had gained dangerous ground.

“We didn't hide our trail. Illaise will not give up so easily.”

“You seem to know them well. Are they friends of yours?” Maybe even his pack before going rogue? If so she could understand his choice.

“No. Now hold on, or I will climb up and leave you here.”

Adda snorted. “You won't leave me here, you just rescued me...again. It would be a waste of your efforts.”

His forehead thunked forward against the rocks. It almost looked painful and she felt bad for teasing him. He had saved her, and it was her exhaustion they were stopping for, not his, she'd wager. She sidled in closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulders loosely, trying to keep her woman pieces from smashing against him intimately.

“You will have to hold tighter than that.”

“I'm sure I can manage like this.”

“Suit yourself.”

With a great thrust of his legs he pushed off from the ground and her toes were dangling in mid-air. He was right about the grip, too. She decided that falling flat on her ass was more embarrassing than her breasts pressed to his back, so she scrambled up until she was pressed hard against him.

“Wrap your legs around my waist,” he instructed.

Even without the sexual implications, the suggestion made her blush.

“I can hold like this.”

“Maybe, but you're cutting off my air supply and I would like to make it to the top.”

Oh. Well, when he put it that way. She pushed herself up farther, so that her legs were wrapped firmly about his waist. He truly was a giant of a man. Careful not to let go too far, she loosened her grip on his neck.

He had climbed a quarter of the way since she began maneuvering herself and she ventured a peek downward. It wasn't a vast distance below them, but it did encourage her to firm up her grip. She imagined what might happen if they both toppled backward.

She managed to hold mostly still for the rest of the climb, until he encouraged her to climb up him and get herself onto a narrow ledge. It took her some time to manage the feat, mostly because of the aforementioned muscles and their smoothness. She worried that she might have stuck her heel in a few uncomfortable locations on her way, too. When she did reach the ledge, she pressed herself back until there was room enough for him to join her.

Dawn had broken into the sky enough to see his foul expression when he rose, brushing himself off. He did not meet her gaze, a grace of Shifter society, though not one often practiced by rogues. Popping his head over the edge of the ground that supported them he scoured the trail below, almost as though he expected to be followed.

“So...a bear huh?” Adda asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“It is a new development.”

“Does it come with the surly attitude, or is that your own special gift?”

The glare he sent her direction was much deserved, unfortunately. She had done nothing but hinder and make work for the man. She raised a hand in apology.

He was facing the other direction, away from the trail and toward the cliff they...he had scaled. There was a small crack in the rocks, triangular in shape. It sort of made a cave at the back of the ledge. If there hadn't been so many piles of rubble in the deepest parts, she might have been able to hide herself away. As it was, it was more of an indent in the rock than a cave.

He turned to her, the expression on his face daring her to complain, or say something witty, perhaps. Wisely, she kept her thoughts to herself.

After a moment, he relaxed a little, gesturing to the ground, inviting her to sit.

“I will keep watch.”

He strode to the edge of the cliff, and turned himself away from her, as if he intended to do just that. Not a conversationalist, she guessed.

But to what end would he keep watch? He had saved her, and she needed rest and would gladly take it. But then what? She couldn't just haul him along on her desperate quest for a cure, could she? He didn't seem like the type to be hauled anywhere. He seemed more like the type to do the hauling.

'You are correct in thinking his goals do not match up with yours.'

'Oh? And what are they?'

Silence.

Adda rubbed her forehead and worked her way over to a softer patch of dirt and rubble. The ground wasn't exactly forgiving, but she could see the advantage when it came to defense. She settled herself, digging a couple rocks out from beneath her butt cheeks.

He had relaxed with her compliance, and she studied him again. Everything about him screamed warrior, from his build to his proud stance, so what was he doing rogue in the forest? And chasing after her, of all things?

There had been warriors in her pack, too, though none would have been match for this man. Bakkus sure wouldn't have been. There was something about him that was simply primal, wild, and, if she wasn't mistaken, a little dangerous. Like the forest itself.

She needed to know more about him, especially since, for the moment, it appeared she was dependent upon him. That's what she told herself. The truth was, she simply needed to know more about him. How was it he could seem familiar to her? She felt as though she was trying to recall a dream, one that kept slipping through her memory. Maybe talking to him would make things clear.

Yet it was impossible to interrupt his strong silence.

She poked at the ground some more, disliking the surge of attraction she felt, too. It was stronger than it had any right to be. Such things were foolish. Hadn't she spent days beneath that mountain learning that lesson? Hadn't she foresworn mates, and men in general?

She was tempted to feign strength by sitting up for a while and waiting for him to speak to her, acting as though the entire ordeal hadn't strained her energy and she wasn't on the verge of collapse. She decided against it, however, or rather, her body decided for her. Once sitting, it kind of took control and slowly toppled to the ground, her eyes closing even before she had completed her descent.