Chapter Fifteen

 BLOOD IN THE DARK

MILA 

I stepped out of the servant hall just to get some air. The night was cold, but I liked it. It was quiet. No noise. No shouting. No drums.

I needed silence after everything that happened today.

I walked toward the wood pile to check how much work was left for the morning. My side had stopped bleeding, but it still hurt when I bent even a little. I placed a hand over the bandage and sighed.

Then I heard footsteps.

I turned slowly.

Bren stepped out from behind one of the sheds.

His face still had bruises. His eye was swollen. His back was probably still bleeding under his shirt. And his eyes burned with hate the moment they landed on me.

“You,” he hissed.

I froze, not because I feared him, but because I didn’t want more trouble.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“You ruined my life,” he spit. “Because of you, the prince punished me. Because of you, the whole pack saw me beaten.”

“You stabbed me,” I said simply.

“I did nothing wrong!” he yelled.

I shook my head. “You almost killed me.”

He moved closer. His breathing grew fast. “I should have finished it.”

“Walk away,” I told him. “I don’t want to fight.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” Bren screamed.

He rushed at me before I could take a step back. He grabbed my collar and slammed me into the wooden shed. My head hit the wall. My side burned. I pushed him, but he was stronger.

He punched me in the stomach.

Pain shot up my ribs. I gasped and grabbed the wall for balance.

“Stop,” I said, trying to stay calm.

“No,” he snarled. “Not until you stop breathing.”

I blocked his next hit, but I was slower than usual. The stab wound made it hard to move fast. Bren tackled me, and we both crashed to the ground. He climbed on top of me and punched me again.

My vision blurred.

“Stop,” I said again, holding onto his wrists.

“I’m going to kill you!” Bren shouted.

He pulled out a knife.

Again.

Before he could bring it down—

A huge dark shape rushed past us.

A wolf.

A very big wolf.

I didn’t see where it came from. One moment Bren was above me screaming, the next moment the wolf slammed him off me and threw him across the dirt. Bren rolled, cried out, and scrambled back.

The wolf growled loudly. Its fur stood up. Its eyes glowed.

I couldn’t see its color properly in the dark, but it wasn’t Bren’s family wolf. And it wasn’t a rogue.

Who was it?

Bren screamed and ran.

The wolf chased him for a few steps before stopping, turning back toward me.

I held my breath.

The wolf stared at me for a long moment.

Too long.

Then it turned around and disappeared into the trees.

My heart pounded.

Why would a wolf help me?

And who was it?

I pushed myself up, holding my side.

Footsteps rushed toward me. “Erwin!”

Selena.

She ran with a small basket in her arms. Her face was pale and scared.

“What happened?” she cried. “You’re bleeding again!”

“I’m fine,” I lied.

“You’re not fine!” she shouted. “Come with me.”

She helped me walk back toward the servant quarters. I didn’t want to lean on her, but the pain forced me to.

When we reached the small washroom, she grabbed cloth and warm water.

“Sit,” she said.

“I can do it myself,” I muttered.

She glared at me. “I said sit.”

I sat.

She knelt beside me and cleaned the cut on my arm first, then the wound on my side.

“You attract too much trouble,” she said quietly.

“I didn’t ask for it.”

“That doesn’t change anything.”

Her hands worked quickly, gently. She was quiet for a moment, then whispered, “I was worried.”

“You don’t have to be,” I said.

“I know,” she said softly, eyes focused on the bandage. “But I still am.”

She looked up at me. Her face was close. Her eyes were warm. Something about the way she stared made my stomach twist.

“Erwin…” she whispered.

She leaned forward, her lips inches from mine.

I put my hand between us. “Stop.”

She froze.

Her face fell and she looked away fast. “I… I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Just… don’t.”

She nodded, embarrassed. “I won’t.”

Before anything more could be said, her mother burst into the room.

“ Erwin!” Marge shouted, stumbling over names in her panic. “Selena! I can’t find your sister!”

Selena’s eyes widened. “What? She was supposed to be folding the sheets!”

“She is gone!” Marge cried. “I checked everywhere—behind the kitchen, in the storage shed, in the back yard—she is not there!”

Selena stood quickly. “We have to find her!”

Marge was shaking. “She is only ten… and it’s dark… something could happen—”

“Let’s go,” I said, standing despite the pain. “Where did you last see her?”

Marge wiped her eyes. “Near the wash line.”

We rushed outside. Servants and guards started searching. Everyone shouted her name.

“Lila!”

“Lila, where are you?!”

“Lila, answer!”

Selena ran ahead. I stayed close behind her, my side burning with each step.

We spread out around the area behind the servant hall. The woods were darker here. The stream close by. My heart tightened when I thought about Bren running off earlier.

“What direction did she go?” I asked.

“Maybe toward the stream,” Selena said, breathless. “She likes picking stones there.”

We hurried toward the stream, calling her name.

Marge sobbed behind us.

“Lila! Please answer!”

Then Selena stopped suddenly.

“Erwin… look.”

My stomach dropped.

Lila was lying by the water.

Her dress was torn.

Her arm was cut.

Her face was dirty and streaked with tears.

She looked terrified.

Selena ran to her. “Lila! What happened?!”

The girl sobbed and clung to her sister. “A bad boy… he grabbed me… he pushed me down… he tried to pull me somewhere… I kicked him and ran…”

Marge cried out and pulled her into a tight hug. “My baby… thank the moon you’re alive…”

I looked around the trees.

Whoever hurt her was gone.

But I knew one thing—

This pack was getting more dangerous each day.

Selena wiped her sister’s tears. “It’s okay now. You’re safe.”

Lila looked up at me. “Thank you for helping find me.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You came,” Selena whispered. “That means something.”