SWNOVELS Chapter 5
Chapter 5 My rescuer carried me away from the village and set me down at the base of a big tree. My head was still a little blurry and woozy. I sat down and rubbed my temples, curling my knees to my chest. “Are you Nora?” he asked again. I looked up at him, opening my mouth to speak, but paused. He was so handsome it seemed impossible that he was one of these mangy rogues. “I-I am,” I confirmed. “Th-thank you for saving me.” His dark eyes studied me hard until I felt like my clothes had been stripped away. I looked down at my b*dy to make sure I was still dressed and I hugged my knees closer so his x-ray vision couldn’t penetrate me. “What do you want from me?” I asked, my voice trembling. I’d been arrested, tortured, exiled, abandoned, starved, and nearly eaten all in just a few days. I didn’t need this guy gawking at me like I was some freak of nature. “You’ll never survive out here on your own,” he stated bluntly, putting his hands on his hips. I glanced up at him, my cheeks warming as I realized he still didn’t have a shirt on. His skin was golden-tan and there were some smears of dirt on him. That didn’t take away from the steel cut of his pecs and abs. “I can take care of myself,” I insisted stubbornly. I sighed and shook my head. I missed Clara and I was beyond worried about her.[1] “I would have been able to if I’d had my wolf.” “Your wolf is gone?” he asked, coc king his head to the side. In all this time, he hadn’t made a single expression, other than his eyes staring at me so intently. “Yeah. She is. So, go ahead, keep staring at me like I’m a big, wolfless. freak,” I muttered. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on my knees. I knew these words were not fair for whom had just saved my life. I just couldn’t help it. But he didn’t spit a word. Silence. I could still feel him looking at me, or I should say, inspecting me. Penetrating, like a hawk. I could still feel him looking at me. I wondered why he wouldn’t leave me alone and how he knew my name but I didn’t really want to talk to him. I wanted to be left alone. However. “Without a wolf, you definitely won’t survive out here,” the guy repeated, but in a different tone. Groaning, I looked up at him again. He hadn’t moved since the last time I looked at him. The sky above him was turning gray from the rising sun. I had barely gotten any sleep all night! “You don’t need to rub that in,” I growled. “I’m not. I’m offering you a solution,” he said. I stopped glaring at him, creasing my brow instead. “What kind of solution?” I asked. “Marry me,” he stated plainly and without any emotion. The moment seemed like a lifetime. “Wh-what!?” I asked. I leaned away from him, as far as I could with the tree behind me. The bark dug uncomfortably into my back. “Marry me and you’ll be protected,” he said again. I shook my head, tears brimming my eyes. As if things couldn’t get any worse! Now, I was being solicited by some random guy to get married? What was this place? “I don’t even know you,” I pointed out. My brain couldn’t process any of this. I felt like I’d fallen into some alternate universe. “That’s not the point,” the man murmured, shifting his b*dy to look at the group of wolves that had attacked me. My heart sank at his unsaid words. He didn’t have to say anything for me to know what he meant. If I didn’t accept his proposal, I would be in grave danger of being attacked by those wolves again, and next time, I might not be so lucky to have some handsome stranger save me from being eaten. It was not a proposal, but a threat. One that might just save my life. The mysterious man turned back to me and held out his hand in the empty space between us, his eyes never leaving mine. Part of me was screaming to run away and decline this stranger’s request because I didn’t know who he was or if I could trust him. But the other part of me knew that this was what I needed to do to survive in the Rogue Zone. I may not know this man, but he seemed to be the answer to my current dilemma. It’s a deal, and we would be allies. My rescuer gave an impatient huff and snapped his fingers. He wasn’t going to wait for me to think about it too much longer.[2] Nora. Be brave. “I will marry you for protection, but only if you do one thing for me,” I said, thinking about how I could play this to my advantage. “What do you want?” he paused. Weird. Did he just smile? I took a deep breath, trying to understand this man’s strange expression and the way he was watching me, but I didn’t give it too much thought because I didn’t have the time. “I want you to help me find my lost wolf,” I said. There was no way I could figure out what happened to her on my own, especially since I couldn’t return to my own pack territory. My rescuer smirked, the first expression he’d made since I met him. “Fine. I will help you find your wolf,” he accepts too quickly, stunning me momentarily. [3]
Tentatively, I reached out and took his hand. With a grunt, he tightened his fingers around me and pulled me to my feet. Before I could utter another word, he was pulling me through the woods. “Where are we going?” I asked, running to keep up with his long strides. “We don’t have a lot of time. This has to be made official or they will come for you,” he said. “You mean, right now?” I asked, panic rising in my chest. He just nodded and quickened his pace. I gasped and ran even faster. My feet kept snagging on roots. I willed myself not to trip or I had a feeling he’d just drag me rather than stop and help me up. The man pulled me into a clearing. The sun was just high enough to make the clearing glitter with golden dewdrops that hung from the leaves and stuck to the grass. I sighed, forgetting about everything else as I looked around the glittering, fairy clearing. The ground was sca ttered with yellow and red leaves and there were little white and blue flowers blooming on vines that grew on the trees. It was the most beautiful thing I’d seen since I got locked up. “What is this place?” I asked, my voice a soft whisper. “It used to be a temple of the Moon Goddess. All that’s left is this,” my savior told me. He pulled me up to the base of a white marble statue. Overgrown with moss and the vines with white and blue flowers, stood a statue of the Moon Goddess. She looked so peaceful and serene, even though she’d been left in the woods to be overgrown. I bowed my head to the statue in silent prayer. “Take my hands,” the man said. I turned toward him and took his hands. Everything was happening so fast. I’d agreed to this, though, so I couldn’t back out now. Before the Moon Goddess, we held hands. Songbirds started to sing around us. “Here, before the Moon Goddess as our witness, I accept you as my bride and my mate,” he said. That was the lamest, most vague vow I’d ever heard. This was technically a contract marriage, though, we didn’t need to devote ourselves to each other eternally. “Here, before the Moon Goddess as our witness, I accept you as my bride and my mate,” I repeated. “I will protect you, honor you, and our marriage, based on the conditions we’ve agreed on,” he continued. “I will stand by you, honor you, and our marriage, based on the conditions we’ve agreed on,” I said. When I’d learned that Jeremy was my mate, I’d dreamed of what our wedding would be like. It was nothing like this quick, emotionless, overly formal event in a hidden field, no matter how beautiful the location was. “Then before the Moon Goddess, we are wed,” he said. He pulled more toward him. We hadn’t agreed to seal it with a k*ss, and I definitely wasn’t ready for that… or anything else. He leaned in and placed a quick, warm k*ss on my cheek. Then he let me go and stepped back several paces. In a daze, I lifted my hand to my cheek where I could still feel the press of his l*ps. I looked around, wondering what crazy dream or nightmare I’d wandered into. I was married. And it was nothing like I’d ever imagined. The wedding I’d imagined to Jeremy had been in front of all our friends and family, an event we could share with the whole pack. We could have had it in front of the pack house, under the stone arch that had been built hundreds of years ago. I’d even started dreaming of the dress I’d wear, all white and sparkling. I looked down at my torn, d*rty, and ratty clothes. I hadn’t had a fresh change of clothes since I was locked in the dungeon. In this state, I felt anything but attractive, anything but romantic, and somehow, this perfect stranger had chosen me to marry. Less than an hour had gone by since this guy had saved me and we’d barely exchanged more than basic pleasantries before rushing into marriage. My life couldn’t get any weirder. “Wait,” I said suddenly, slapping my palm to my forehead. “I don’t even know your name.” I’d married a guy without even knowing his name. I had to be crazy! My new husband smirked again, the light in his eyes brightening in amusement. “My apologies, dear,” he said with a funny emphasis on the word ‘dear.’ “Who are you?” I pressed, setting my hands on my hips. “My name is Blake,” he said, nodding. His serious expression had returned. “Okay, Blake, it is nice to meet you, I guess,” I said, shrugging. “Take this,” he said, holding his hand out. I opened mine and he dropped a ring into my hand. It was a dainty, golden band with moon symbols etched around it. There were three cut diamonds on the ring, representing the full moon and the waxing and waning crescent moons. “Where did you get a ring like this out here?” I asked. I tried it on my ring finger. It was a little loose, but not enough to sl*p off without me realizing it. “It doesn’t matter,” Blake said dismissively. I glanced at the ring on my finger. It was both simple and elegant. I got the sense that it was worth a lot more than the average mate bond ring. And here was Blake, just carrying this ring around like he was expecting to find a wife in the Rogue Zone. Awkwardly, I looked around the clearing. Again, I took in its beauty. If this hadn’t been such a rushed ceremony, I could see it being a really pretty place for an actual wedding. I rubbed my hands on my thighs and then shoved them into my pockets. I glanced at Blake. He hadn’t moved much. I wasn’t sure what he was waiting for but he didn’t seem like he was going to be the first to speak. “So, what now?” I asked. His face broke into a charming, yet disturbing, smile.b