Chapter Five
At first, he thought something was wrong with Nix. He moved slowly, tired easily. Even with his injury, there was something more to it. But he was spirited.
"Keep up," he called over his shoulder. He could hear the eye roll, feel Nix's glare on his back as he muttered something unintelligible. It did the trick though, and Nix picked up the pace.
A few minutes later, he was falling behind again.
"Don't make me carry you over my shoulder like a wayward child," he called back.
His words were meant to spur him on again but instead, Nix stopped. He turned around, folding his arms.
"What's the hold-up?"
"I'm tired," Nix groused.
It took effort not to roll his eyes. "Can't you shift back to a bird?"
"The transformation takes magic. Magic takes energy. Our people don't have a lot. Our Shaman had to lend me some just so I could get as far as where I found you. Besides, with my shoulder…"
"You wouldn't be able to fly. Right."
"You should just go on ahead. I can follow your trail."
Yeah, because that was just the kind of Alpha he was. One who turned his back on an injured man, who'd leave his mate alone and vulnerable in the forest.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" he queried, walking back towards him. "Because that's what it sounds like. Like your people sent you here, but you'd rather be somewhere, anywhere, else."
His words had a startling effect on Nix, his eyes widening before he sank to his knees.
"Alpha, please. I meant no disrespect. I give myself to you, freely. I'll guard my tongue and I won't speak without your permission."
Orion, feeling the frustration build within him, clenched his hand into a fist. He'd spent too long alone, too long on edge, watchful and waiting for the next incursion into his territory. He didn't have the patience to deal with this shifter.
"Get. Up."
Nix scrambled to his feet.
"You don't kneel in my presence, like a slave. You don't bow your head when you talk to me. And you don't wait for my permission before you speak. I don't know what your people told you about being mated to an Alpha bear, but it's a relationship, a partnership, centered on a connection between two people."
He waited for some sign of acknowledgment from Nix, getting the slightest nod after a long pause.
"Okay. I need to reach my home, preferably before nightfall. You're going to have to come with me and you need to keep up. I can carry you if it comes down to that."
He could see the face Nix made at that suggestion.
"Unless you have another idea how we'll get home?"
He felt Nix was holding something back, could sense a reluctance to answer.
"If I could rest, just for a minute or two, I'll do my best to keep up," was all that he offered.
"Fine," Orion replied, reaching into his pack for the flask of water.
Nix sank to his knees again, then leaned forward, letting his lower body rest against his arms on the ground. It was an odd position to rest in and it gave Orion an interesting view of Nix's body. He was wiry and thin, but there were muscles on his arms and legs that suggested he wasn't unused to physical labor. Setting the flask down next to him, Orion circled his prone form, still trying to get his senses around what was in front of him. Man, shifter, Wiccan. All that and maybe more. Omega? He hadn't asked and Nix had yet to volunteer.
While there was no way to remain clothed as a shifter, the change in size and shape shredding anything a shifter wore, clearly transformation was different as Nix wore pants and a t-shirt. As Nix leaned forward, his shirt slipped, exposing his lower back.
"What's this?" he asked, stepped closer, letting his fingers trail across the soft skin of Nix's lower back. There was the image of a bird, wings outstretched, etched in inky black on his skin.
Nix shivered beneath his touch.
"It's my people's custom," he murmured.
"Hmmm," Orion said, dragging two fingers slowly along Nix's spine, pushing up his t-shirt in the process. There was another tattoo on Nix's uninjured shoulder. A wolf. He traced it with his fingers. The urge was there, to touch him, to kiss the cool skin of his back.
Forcing himself to back away and put some distance between them, he let his hand drop to his side.
"Five more minutes and then we need to be on the move again."
Orion leaned against a nearby tree, watching the shifter seemingly sleeping against the ground as the minutes ticked by. He straightened, ready to wake him, but before he could speak, Nix moved, rolling his shoulders with a murmur of pain and arching his back in one flowing movement. Sitting back on his heels, he stretched his arms up above his head, then got to his feet, picking up the flask as he did.
Stepping closer, mouth dry, Orion took the flask from Nix's hand and drank deeply. Up close, Nix looked better, less tired, but there was an odd flicker of guilt in his expression that made no sense to Orion. Unless it was guilt at delaying Orion reaching his destination. Nix was a strange contradiction, throwing insults at him one moment and begging his forgiveness the next.
"Let's get going," he said, deciding to walk side by side with the other man in the hopes of keeping his pace up.
"Where are we going?" Nix said, as if it had only just occurred to him to ask.
"To Briar Hill, my home from home."
He hadn't meant to, never, but the Alpha's hand had been on his back, all that shifter energy spilling from him in waves. And he only took the tiniest amount, so small that the bear would never notice. Nix watched him carefully afterward, looking for signs that he'd worked out what Nix had done but other than a puzzled glance, there was no sense of suspicion from Orion.
The Alpha walked by his side this time, instead of ahead. When the energy he'd siphoned off began to fade, he slowed again. He tried to push through. It couldn't be too much longer.
"Not built with much stamina, are you?" Orion commented. "Do you need to take a break?"
He didn't stop, but he put his hand on Nix's good shoulder as they walked. The contact allowed him to siphon more energy, just a minuscule amount, but it kept him moving, even though he bristled at the Alpha's words and tone.
"No, I'm okay," he said, walking faster.
"Good," Orion replied, keeping his hand on Nix's shoulder. Nix guessed the Alpha meant it as a guiding hand or for support. What would he do if he realized Nix was stealing from him?
It was a known ability in his people, the ability to move energy from one person to another. Just among their own kind though. Nix could take from Orion only because he was part-shifter. In his people's experience, others viewed their abilities on a spectrum that ranged from suspicion to outright disgust.
He gave Orion another sideways glance as they walked. There was no sense of awareness in his expression. Nix knew he couldn't let his guard down. Not if things were to go to plan.
The sun was just setting when Orion pointed into the distance.
"There's the house. Not far now."
That was a house? It looked huge to Nix's eyes. At least two floors, lots of windows. The fading sun glinted in the glass.
"How many people live there?" There had to be dozens.
"Just me."
"By yourself?" How could one person live in such a huge place?
"Bears are solitary creatures, for the most part. I spend part of the year in Evenfall, the ancestral home of my family."
Just the thought of it made him angry. His people eked out their living in one-roomed huts while this bear had a mansion all to himself. The contrast couldn't have been starker and reminded him of why he was there. He had a purpose to fulfill.