Chapter Eleven

 

The swim across the Golden Claw River left Axel and Whisper both feeling chilled. The temperature had dropped a few more degrees as the night wore on, and the water in the river was already losing its summer warmth.

But going back to the town of Bear Hollow itself wasn’t an option right now. The dangers of running straight into a Gilt Hollow raid were far too high. Still, Axel knew they had to do something to warm up. He could attempt to build a fire, but without any matches or flint, it would take a long time. He had a better idea.

“Let’s go find Kellen,” he said.

Whisper’s eyes lit up as she looked over at him. Even in the darkness, he could see that she liked that idea. “Do you know where he lives?”

“Approximately. I think we can get close enough to sniff him out.”

Whisper nodded, and Axel started walking in the direction of the forest caves near where he hoped to find Kellen. Kellen was the wolf shifter and former Shifter Games competitor who secretly lived deep within the forests of Bear Hollow. Kellen couldn’t be seen in the town of Bear Hollow itself, because if any of the soldiers from Gilt Hollow saw him and realized he was alive, he’d be in big trouble. The nobles would be furious that they’d been tricked, and Kellen would surely be put to death.

But Kellen was happy to live in the forest. If one believed the rumors that circulated around Bear Hollow, Kellen had found a warm cave near an underground hot spring. He lived there, hunting and foraging, and supplementing his wild diet with food that his lifemate, Viv, brought out to him. Many of the Bear Hollow shifters visited Kellen on a regular basis. Axel hadn’t visited Kellen yet, but he’d heard enough talk that he hoped he could figure out where the man was hiding out.

Sure enough, when Axel started getting close to the area of the forest where he knew several caves were located, he caught the unmistakable scent of wolf shifter. Whisper must have smelled it, too, because she excitedly clapped her hands, almost like a child who had just discovered a candy store nearby. Axel grinned at her, wondering how he’d ever thought that he could spend his life pretending she wasn’t his lifemate. She was perfect.

“Kellen must be close! I smell wolf,” Whisper said.

“Me too. Come on, I think it’s this way.” Axel led Whisper off toward their left, hoping that Kellen’s hideout was close and that he was in it. Whisper wasn’t complaining, but Axel could tell she was freezing. She couldn’t completely hide her shivering, and her voice shook a little when she spoke. Axel guessed that the hideout was probably still about a five minute walk away, so he was pleasantly surprised when he rounded a corner and came face to face with Kellen sitting on a large rock. Beside Kellen sat his lifemate, Viv.

“Well hello, Axel. Hello, Whisper. We’ve been expecting you,” Kellen said with a cheeky grin.

“You have?” Axel raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Viv nodded and hopped down from the rock. She grabbed a thick blanket that had been folded behind her and handed it to Whisper. “Here, this will help warm you up.”

Kellen hopped off the rock as well, and handed Axel a blanket. Axel hadn’t been as cold as Whisper, but he was still grateful for the warmth of the blanket. His skin had felt chilled ever since swimming across the river.

“You knew we were coming?” Whisper asked. Axel had been about to ask a similar question, and he looked expectantly at Kellen and Viv, waiting for answers.

“Viv came and told me that you guys might be showing up. A shifter from Gilt Hollow snuck across the tunnel to warn everyone in Bear Hollow that the Gilt Hollow soldiers might come to attack tonight. Apparently the soldiers almost caught you guys when you were on the way back from dropping off the fairytassel sage poison. A lot of people figured you’d stay away from Bear Hollow tonight out of fear that the soldiers would be there, and would be attacking anyone who tried to enter city limits.”

Axel sighed. “Yeah. We had a close call back in Gilt Hollow, and we were afraid to go back to Bear Hollow because we thought they must be guarding the perimeter. But if a messenger got in and Viv got out, the soldiers must not have made it over to Bear Hollow.”

Viv nodded. “You’re right. The Gilt Hollow soldiers never showed up tonight. We think that they didn’t realize that you guys were Bear Hollow shifters. They must have thought you were some of the shifters that belong to one of the Gilt Hollow noble houses. I had a feeling you guys would be looking for shelter with Kellen, though, so I came to let you know that Bear Hollow is safe right now.”

“Shit,” Whisper said. “But that means that all the shifters in Gilt Hollow are having a hard time of it tonight. The soldiers must be interrogating all of them.”

Kellen shrugged. “I’m sure the soldiers are giving all the shifters over there a hard time, but don’t worry too much about them. No one will hurt them too badly, because they’re all considered the property of the various noble houses. And no one wants to piss off the nobles. The Gilt Hollow shifters can handle being harassed better than the Bear Hollow shifters.”

“I guess that’s true,” Whisper said. “Still, I feel badly for them.”

“They’ll be fine,” Kellen assured her. “Be glad that Bear Hollow has escaped another raid. For now at least.”

“For now,” Axel agreed. “I’m sure they’ll be more coming.”

Viv frowned. “Well that was a given regardless of whether you guys got caught with the fairytassel sage poison or not. Gilt Hollow is on a roll lately. And not a good one.”

“Well hopefully this fairytassel sage poison plan will work, and will slow down their roll,” Whisper said. “I’m not sure how much more of these raids we can take.”

Kellen grinned at both of them. “I think you’ll be surprised at how well the poison will work. Viv told me all about the plan, and I can tell you that it shouldn’t be too hard to secretly poison all the soldiers and guards at the Shifter Games. Those guys are physically strong, but they’re not that smart. And during the Games they don’t always pay attention very well. They’re supposed to be carefully guarding the Arena and the shifter competitors, but many of them are too busy placing bets on the matches to do their jobs properly. Some of them even get drunk. Not all, but some. If this fairytassel sage poison is as powerful as everyone says, those soldiers are gonna be wiped out.”

“Good,” Axel said. “And then we need to fight to wipe out the rest of the Gilt Hollow citizens who want all of us shifters dead. I’ve had enough of living like this.”

Viv nodded. “We all have. And I’m glad that the Bear Hollow shifters are on board with the resistance now. It’s time for things to change. Come on, I’ll show you two the fastest way home. You’ll want to rest up and get into your own warm homes, I’m sure. There might not be a lot of time for resting in the next few weeks. Once Gilt Hollow realizes it’s under attack, the shit is going to hit the fan.”

Axel agreed, and he gladly bid goodbye to Kellen and followed Viv through the forest—but only after promising Kellen that he’d come back to visit soon and check out the hot springs. Axel had been meaning to do that, anyway. He didn’t know Kellen well, but the man seemed down to earth, and had tricked the Gilt Hollow nobles into thinking he was dead. That showed a certain amount of cleverness, and Axel had a feeling that he and Kellen would get along well.

For now, though, it was time to get home, and to get Whisper home. The blankets wrapped around them helped to fight back the cold, but Axel could tell that Whisper was still uncomfortably chilled. She needed to be in a warm hut, perhaps with a warm beverage in her hand. The sooner they got out of this chilly forest, the better.

Thankfully, the paths Viv led them down had them back to Bear Hollow in no time. Axel thanked Viv and bid her goodnight, then asked Whisper if she wanted to come stay in his cabin.

“My place is closer, and I have plenty of room. It’ll be warm, and you can borrow some of my clothes. They’ll be way too big on you, yes. But it’ll be fine for sleeping. I’d rather you get inside and rest than keep walking across town.”

Whisper nodded without even saying anything. Her teeth were chattering, and Axel was sure that even the thought of spending one more minute outside felt torturous to her. He led her into his spacious hut, found her the smallest clothes he could, which were still huge on her, and then went to make some tea. He brewed it as hot as he could, then came back to hand her a steaming mug. She sat on his couch, wrapped in a fresh, warm blanket, and soaking in the heat from the fire.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he reached to brush a stray strand of hair back from her face.

She took a long sip from the tea before answering. “Better. For a while there I thought I was never going to be warm again. And it’s only September! You’d think I wouldn’t be such a wimp, when it’s not even close to actual winter yet.”

Axel shrugged. “You’re not being a wimp. The nights can turn cold rapidly, and the river is cold. But you’re safe and warm now.”

“Safe for the moment, at least. How long do you think it’ll take for the soldiers to come raiding again?”

“Not long, unfortunately. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came back tomorrow. They’re going to be in a bad mood when they can’t figure out who gave them the slip tonight. And there’s no one they like taking out their rage on more than the Bear Hollow shifters. But try not to worry about that right now. Just worry about getting warm and getting some rest.”

Axel leaned over to kiss Whisper gently on the lips. He was happy to find that her lips were warm now, thanks to the heat of the room and the tea. For a while, her whole face had been so cold that it had seemed to take on a slight bluish tinge. When he pulled back to look into her eyes, she was staring back at him with uncertainty.

“Axel, what’s going to happen between us?” she asked in a soft voice. “After what we did tonight…things are different.”

He smiled at her, hoping that the smile was reassuring. “Things are different. I’ll never again be able to look at you as just my best friend’s little sister. Although, if I’m honest, I haven’t been able to look at you like that for a long time. I’m not sure exactly when things changed between us. It was probably a gradual thing. All I know is that somewhere along the line, things changed and I realized what an amazing woman you are. I’ve always known you were beautiful, smart, and fun. But I tried for a long time not to allow myself to think of you as an available woman because, well, you were Whisper. You were Oskar’s sister.”

“And now?” Whisper chewed on her lower lip as she looked back at him, the nervousness evident in her eyes.

“And now, I realize what I should have realized all along. You’re my lifemate.” Axel paused to let the words sink in, but it didn’t take long for Whisper to react to what he’d said. Almost immediately, tears began to form in her eyes.

“I was hoping you’d say that. I felt the lifemate bond when we made love. At least I thought I did. But I wasn’t sure if you felt it and I thought maybe I’d imagined it because I wanted so badly to feel it. And…and…” Whisper trailed off, apparently too overcome with emotion to continue.

Axel covered her mouth with a kiss, letting his lips linger on hers for a moment until he felt her relax. When he pulled back again, she was smiling. That was a good sign.

“I definitely felt the lifemate bond forming between us. But that came as no surprise. Over the last few weeks, and especially the last few days, I’ve been realizing more and more that the feelings I have for you are so much deeper than just friendship. You are one of my best friends, yes. Like I said before, you’re pretty much my best friend now, even more than Oskar. But what I feel for you goes beyond that. I feel a deep, romantic attraction to you. I feel the lifemate bond between us, and I know you and I are meant to be. I’m just hoping that you feel the same.”

“I do,” Whisper said in a hushed, almost reverent voice. “I tried to tell myself that we were just friends, too. Especially when I thought that you liked Violet. But it was so hard to see you and not run up to you and kiss you. Over the last few weeks, I’ve realized I want you more than anything. I want you so much it hurts.”

“You know there was nothing between Violet and me, right? That was all her, trying to push her way in to my life. And if I led her on, it was completely accidental. I did my best to be firm and clear with her that she and I aren’t a thing.”

Whisper sighed. “I know that now. It’s actually kind of adorable how clueless you are about women sometimes.”

Axel laughed. “Thanks…I think?”

“It’s true!” Whisper was laughing too now. “Women are always hitting on you at the bar and you don’t even realize it. I swear sometimes it’s like you’re off in la la land.”

Axel groaned. “Well, I try to be straightforward with women. It’s not my fault that you’re all the most complicated creatures on earth.”

Whisper only laughed harder.

Axel couldn’t help but smile. “Look, the one thing that is definitely not complicated about all of this is the way I feel about you. I love you, Whisper. I hope you don’t think I’m crazy for saying that when neither one of us have really had time to think about what we did back there in the forest. But I don’t need to think about this. I know, deep down inside of me that I love you. I know that you’re my lifemate, and I swear I will protect you and take care of you for the rest of my life. There’s no one else out there for me. Not Violet, and not any other woman. I don’t want anyone else. No one could compare to you. I think we make a great team, in so many ways, and I hope that you’re willing to walk through this life with me as my lifemate and partner. But even if you aren’t, I’ll never go looking for someone else. From this day forward, it will always be you, Whisper, and only you.”

Axel held his breath and forced himself to stop talking. He knew he was starting to ramble, and he didn’t want to overwhelm or confuse Whisper. But he wanted so badly to explain to her what he felt in his heart. Even though his explanations weren’t perfect, he’d done his best. The smile she gave him a moment later lit up her whole face and told him she’d understood. Not only that, but it told him that she had similar feelings.

“I love you, too,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. “You don’t have to worry about going through life alone, because I’m determined to be by your side. No matter what the next weeks, months, or years bring, I want to be with you for all of it. I know you’re my lifemate, and I’ll do my best to be the absolute best partner you could hope for.”

Axel let out his breath in a long relieved sigh. “You’re already the best. You’re so wonderful, without even trying. Hell, you even remember the anniversary of my father’s death. You’re so caring and thoughtful. You work so hard at the bar. And you’re so much fun. Not to mention you’re drop-dead gorgeous. I can’t believe how lucky I am, that destiny chose you for me.”

“I feel like the lucky one.”

Axel grinned. “Let’s say we’re both lucky and call it even?”

Whisper grinned back. “Okay. Deal.”

Axel lifted Whisper off the couch in his arms, his strong shifter muscles easily cradling her blanket-covered form. He carried her to his simple bed made of a pine straw mattress, putting her down gently before climbing in beside her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close, breathing in deeply and savoring the sweet smell of her.

There were tough days ahead. That he knew for sure. But for now, he wanted to enjoy resting here in the safe warmth, with his lifemate secure in his arms. She must have wanted that, too, because she sighed happily. Within moments, her breathing had softened into the steady rhythm of sleep. In that moment, despite all of the challenges the shifters in Bear Hollow faced, life was perfect.