The Mountain Ch. 11

Warder did not come to visit her.

The camp was still set up in town and the Sylphen had taken over a number of the larger public buildings. Lucy was staying in one of them--a former nature center that had been turned into a sort of medical facility. A Sylphen healer named Seastone came to see her every day. And a small contingent of warriors whose names she did not know always guarded the door.

The Sylphen were everywhere. Except for her mate.

Despite the stalled treaty negotiations, the warriors fortified their camp outside the town square. Lucy could see an abandoned house from the window of her room, ivy curling over the porch railings and rounding the edges of the roofline. Two days later, she woke up to find the ivy was gone. The boards had been removed from the windows, too, and the porch was cleanswept. The Sylphen were filling the empty spaces that had been left behind when the island was shut off from tourists.

At first, Lucy observed it all with some measure of indifference. Her leg ached and so did some other, distant part of her. An emptiness that she knew had to do with being abandoned, but that she refused to accept as her own. Warder must be forcing emotions on her through their bond.

Although, his absence suggested he hardly cared enough to do so.

Seastone worked on her injuries using that now-familiar blue light. Told her that she was lucky her kneecap hadn't shattered. "Then, it might have taken hours for you to begin to heal."

Hours. For injuries that should have left her helpless without access to the mainland hospital. If Seastone was so powerful, why didn't she try to protect the island? Ysabel's barrier was little more than wisps of clouds now, burning off more and more at each sunrise.

At first, Lucy felt so much better physically that she didn't understand why Seastone kept coming to see her. But after several nights of restless sleep, she realized that the healing, while remarkable, was incomplete. Her knee protested at the lack of movement while she lay in bed, but it also ached if she tried to walk more than a few steps.

She wondered if Warder was avoiding her not because he was angry, but because he suspected her current state would not allow for sex. She wanted to believe that was true, to convince herself that the bond between them that everyone made so much of was false and entirely physical.

But Warder, for all of his secretive ways and gruff silences, had seemed to enjoy spending time with her. Always, his eyes found hers when they were together in a room. His sheer focus on her when they weren't even touching sometimes felt as intimate as a caress.

Whatever kept him away, Lucy told herself she would be a fool not to appreciate the distance.

#

A few days into her convalescence, Cenia was the one to deliver her evening meal. Lucy was so happy to see her that it took a moment for her to realize what the horrible showdown in Ioanni's workshop meant for the other woman. Grace had been a scheming, manipulative person. She had also been Cenia's mother.

Lucy tried to offer her condolences. But Cenia's pale cheeks turned red and she shook her head and avoided Lucy's gaze until she fell silent.

"It is a shameful thing," said Cenia. "I should not speak of it."

"She was your mother," said Lucy. "There is no shame in being sad to lose someone, no matter how complicated."

But Cenia only shook her head. "Please stop. I do not want to talk about it. It is not the same as it would be for humans."

And as much as Lucy wanted to push to make sure Cenia was okay, she hesitated. It was the first time Cenia had taken pains to remind her of her human status as a barrier between them. She didn't want to risk the one person in her life right now who felt something like a real friend. Especially not after learning the truth about Sheera.

So, she dropped the subject. And she didn't comment when Cenia's face, usually bright and open, took on a pinched, far-away look. And because she did understand what it was like not to want to speak about certain things, she didn't ask Cenia about Warder, either.

Instead, she asked the question that had been on her mind since she met the healer. "Is Seastone an omega?"

"Yes," said Cenia, pleased, as always, at her interest in their shared dynamic. "Her healing power comes from the bond."

"If she has power like that, can't she help shield the island?"

"Most omega are more limited in their power than Ysabel." Cenia looked down at her hands, staring at them as if she wished she, too, could summon light.

Lucy wondered if that was part of the reason for the distance between Cenia and her mother. Grace seemed like the type who would have expected a powerful omega for a daughter. Someone useful for her own selfish ends.

She didn't ask. Not about Grace, and not about what it was that made Ysabel so different. Warder had already explained to her what she and Ysabel had in common. The reason that Lucy's powers might show themself to be "useful", too.

Their human heritage.

#

Cenia continued to visit, bringing most of her meals. They talked about all sorts of things -- questions Cenia had about the town and, sometimes, even questions Lucy had about omegas. But Lucy could not bring herself to ask about Warder. Instead, she asked if her parents could come visit. Cenia said she would find out and less than two hours later, they were at her bedside, staying until Seastone returned and shooed them away.

Lucy couldn't help but wonder why Cenia wasn't the one to bring Warder into the conversation. It had always bothered her before how she and Persephone deferred to him even when he wasn't there, as if he were omnipresent. Now, he haunted her and it seemed as if everyone had agreed not to speak of him. Was Warder angry that she had disobeyed his orders to go to the church? It was the first time she had asked for his trust and she had broken it. But could there be trust between them, considering how things had started? How they still were?

The next morning, Seastone hummed a haunting, unhappy-sounding note while she palpated Lucy's knee. "It hasn't healed as completely as I would expect."

"It feels much better," said Lucy. She winced as Seastone triggered a sharp ache. "Mostly."

"Warder is young and newly mated," said Seastone. "Remind him that he must hold you. That his purr will bring you peace and speed the healing."

"Of...of course," said Lucy. She couldn't bring herself to say that Warder had not come to her. She was surprised the healer didn't know. Maybe Warder wasn't angry about what had happened. Maybe it had simply made him realize how very inconvenient a mate was going to be with danger encroaching on the island. She had no real proof that what she had been told about mating was true. The bond between them would surely fade if they both ignored it.

That night, she assured herself that she was right while she muffled hot, angry tears with her pillow.

#

The next morning, Cenia came earlier than usual. Her blond hair was smoothed into a neat bun at the nape of her neck and her face was flushed. The severe style only made her look more ethereally lovely. She had been training with the warriors. She may have seen Warder.

Still, Lucy could not bring herself to ask about him like a lovesick puppy. Instead, she asked after his shadow. "Is Persephone all right?"

"Yes," said Cenia, obviously surprised. "Did you want to see her?"

"No," said Lucy. "I just wondered."

She had hoped that Cenia would say, "she's with Warder." But it was as if Cenia was deliberately avoiding speaking his name, too. She pushed away the realization that she was dying to hear someone speak it. That knowing he existed and that others spoke of him as they always had would help her to settle into the melancholy emptiness she felt without him until she emerged on the other side.

There had to be another side.

"If you would like to visit your parents again, I can take you after breakfast. Seastone says your knee isn't completely healed, but walking will be beneficial now."

"Thank you," said Lucy, brightening slightly. In her parent's familiar house, she could pretend that she was whoever she had been before.

It had been six days now since the confrontation on the mountain. Six days since Warder had declared that his father ruled the world outside the island as a king. Six days that the strange sense of emptiness from his absence had grown within her, like waves--encroaching, receding, but never stopping, never silent.

"Are you ready?"

Lucy looked at her tray. It was still half-full. She had only nibbled at the edges of a piece of toast. Usually, Cenia worried over that sort of thing, encouraging her to eat. Today, she seemed distracted. In a hurry, even.

"Sure," said Lucy, ignoring her unease. Even Cenia might not wish to spend time with her. The woman was kind to a fault, but her loyalty was to Warder. Perhaps she knew that Lucy was no longer favored. "We can go."

"Oh, good!" said Cenia. "We can move slowly." Her body language belied her words. She was jittery, almost, moving from foot to foot like she had to slough off excess energy.

Lucy followed her into the hall, nodding to the guards who let them pass and then fell into step behind them. Within only a few feet, they found themselves stopped by a cart of cleaning supplies blocking the hallway.

A woman scurried out of the room next door, carrying a plastic spray bottle. She startled at the small crowd and rushed to push the cart out of the way. "Making my rounds," she said. "No one told me..."

"It's fine!" said Cenia brightly. She stepped a little further down the hall and wiggled past the cart until her back was to the faded wallpaper. "We'll move out of the way!"

Lucy realized that Cenia was beckoning to her. She glanced back at the guards, bemused, and cautiously squeezed herself closer to Cenia. "We are more in the way here than..." she stopped, something catching her attention about the room where the cleaning lady was rapidly tidying.

The small room wasn't much to look at. It was the mirror to her own, the same high window and a metal bed frame with sheets stretched over a thin mattress in military style. There were papers scattered on the floor and a pile of laundry on a wooden chair that the woman was setting to rights. It should have been unremarkable, but Lucy's senses were changing. Warder's scent hung in the empty air.

Lucy looked at Cenia and the other woman ducked her head in acknowledgement. She hadn't been fooled by the fact that Lucy refused to ask for details about Warder. Because of what she was, she knew how Lucy felt. And she was showing her that Warder had never been far away.

Lucy's stomach clenched at the sight of another woman tidying Warder's things. Casually touching the space he occupied. Close, but distant. "Why?" she asked quietly, mindful of the guards.

Cenia shook her head. "He wants to know you are all right," she said quietly.

"He's avoiding me."

"He's been here every night."

Lucy wasn't sure what to make of that. Warder had not hidden from her before. More importantly, he had not hidden her from others. He had paraded her through the dining hall after they were mated. He had threatened to knot her there at the table if she denied him. And now he was hiding without any explanation.

No. That wasn't right. Her strong, certain, frustrating mate would not hide. Rather, Lucy was being hidden. The outsiders were coming. More Sylphen, including a father who Warder had denied while making all of his choices with him in mind. Warder insisted he had not planned to mate Lucy. He hadn't strategized or thought it through. Now, with reality racing towards him, he was ashamed.

Cenia was too innocent to realize it. She probably thought that what Warder was doing was sweet.

"I'm really tired," said Lucy. "Maybe you were right."

"Oh!" said Cenia. "You don't want to see your parents?"

"Maybe tomorrow," said Lucy. "If you're sure they're safe."

Cenia nodded. "Of course. Of course, you're all safe."

#

That night, Lucy listened for sounds in the adjacent room, even as she wished that she could ignore what she knew. Cenia had intended to help her, but knowing how close Warder was made her miserable. She had been injured and he didn't care. That night at Mrs. Monroe's house, it had felt as if something had changed. Or, at least that there was the potential for change. A future where she did not blame him quite so much. Where she could lean in to the rightness of desiring him despite how much she wanted not to. And now he was showing that he could drop out of her life like a stone into water.

She curled up into a ball, the pain of Warder's rejection throbbing inside her more insistently than the pain in her knee. She let it wash over her. Then, slowly, she felt another feeling cutting through the misery.

Anger. White hot and intense. She clawed at it, dragged it closer. It was so much better than feeling pathetic and unwanted. Anger. Justified, clear, and burning inside her.

She was at the door before she could stop herself, throwing it open only to find one of her guards blocking her path. "Do you need something?"

"Let me out, please."

"I will call for Seastone if you are in pain."

"I am not in pain. I want to leave this room. Let me out."

"I cannot do that." The man looked wildly uncomfortable despite his impassive warrior stance.

"You would physically stop me from leaving this room?"

The discomfort deepened. He betrayed himself then with a slight glance to the right--so fast, Lucy would have missed it if she hadn't known what she was looking for.

"I figured as much," she said. "Afraid to piss off the Alpha." The anger was burning inside of her, eclipsing everything else she might possibly feel. She turned around, slamming the door shut again in the guard's face and marched over to face the wall behind her bed. She slammed a fist against it hard enough to hurt, intensely pleased at the ringing noise it made in the quiet building. She slammed the wall again and then kicked it with her foot, hissing in renewed rage when the movement sent a jolt of pain through her healing knee.

She was raising her palm to slam it against the wall for a third time when she felt the air in the room shift.

"What are you doing?"

She turned to find her mate standing in the doorway. The hallway behind him was dark and Lucy wondered if the guard had fled before or after Warder became aware of her. He was wearing only a loose pair of pants, the bulge of his cock clearly visible where they hung lightly against him. Lucy recalled the way his bare chest seemed to radiate heat when he held her, the feel of his muscles like silk over corded steel.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice harsher than it might have been if she weren't fighting the lust that coursed through her at the sight of him. "Sneaking around like a ghost? Avoiding me?"

Warder's jaw ticked ever so slightly. Lucy peered at him in the dark room, taking a step closer despite herself.

"You're actually mad," she said. She was beginning to understand the meaning of even the smallest glimpse of emotion. Warder did not reveal his inner life easily. "Is this supposed to be a punishment?" She gestured to the room around her, the wall that separated them.

"Is it a punishment now when I withhold myself from you, mate?"

Lucy would have blushed if she wasn't already burning up. "You're mad that I ran away and you're actually hiding out and sulking like a child."

"I was sleeping," said Warder. "But you seemed to demand attention."

"I was doing what I thought I needed to do! I was trying to help my people. You would have done the same."

"It helps your people for you to make all this noise?" Warder asked.

"I was talking about the antenna," said Lucy.

"I see. It was helping your people to draw my father's attention to this island."

Lucy fell silent. Not simply a hint of emotion this time, despite the fact that his face remained empty. A torrent beneath the surface. One that she suddenly seemed certain could engulf her completely. She took a deep breath -- whether to steady herself or to prepare to keep shouting, she wasn't sure. It did nothing to calm her and she felt certain that Warder's heart was beating in the same troubled rhythm. She was as aware of him as she had been that first time, when she had dragged him towards her amidst that strange and all-encompassing desire.

Silence surged between them. Anger that balanced on a knife's edge between violence and lust.

She realized that she was waiting for that energy to lead to sex. Her mind easily began playing out the seemingly endless scenarios that ended with Warder buried inside of her, his heavy knot tying them together. She could meet him with anger or with submission and he would master both, giving her permission to let it happen, to take only what she wanted and to give as little as possible.

She took a deep breath. Warder moved and she felt a tremor run through her. He was going to touch her. To close the space between them and --

When he left, he did not even slam the door. It shut with only the slightest whisper and all of the air in the room went with him.

#

His mate challenged him. Her eyes wet with unshed tears.

Not pain or sorrow, he felt certain. Tears betraying anger as hot and inescapable as his own. They were both angry--emotions a tangle through their badly strained bond.

She had been wet for him. He had scented it easily across the distance between them, the scent of her like a drug. It was torture to know exactly how she would feel beneath him, around him.

So often, he had been afraid to break her. Cautious that, in her eyes and with her human expectations, he would easily become the monster she believed him to be. Now, underneath the desire he had always gentled for fear it would consume her, he felt something intensely more dangerous.

He wanted to hurt her.

If that was what it took to force her to accept him as Alpha, he desired it. It was a feeling that scared him not because he would act on it but because he knew what it was that allowed such an intention to spark inside him. It was the same madness that had driven Hadren, but with a finer edge.

His father's legacy.

#

The next day, when Seastone clicked her tongue disapprovingly at her knee, Lucy barely resisted the urge to kick her.

"It still is not as well as I would hope."

"I can walk on it," said Lucy. "Cenia said you told her it was good for me."

"Yes," said Seastone. "Few things improve with neglect."

Lucy glared at the gentle omega. "So I can go walking around today?"

"Yes."

"So, maybe you could tell my mate that it would be stupid to keep my locked up in this room."

"You are not locked in."

"I'm not allowed to go anywhere."

"You may go where you please as long as your guard accompanies you. You are small. There is no reason they cannot carry you if you find you reach your limits unexpectedly."

Lucy blinked at her. "Warder said that?"

A smile touched the omega's lips. "Warder is not the sort of Alpha who would challenge a healer."

Interesting. "I can go wherever I want with my guard," Lucy said, repeating it to be sure.

"Your guard will be very aware of any part of the island that may be unsafe," said Seastone. "Yes."

"Great," said Lucy, brightening. Her annoyance with the omega receded. She was a kind woman, after all. She only wanted what was best for her patient. She didn't know how twisted things were between her and Warder. "Thank you."

#

Lucy knew it wouldn't take much convincing to get Cenia to take her to Warder. Unfortunately, it turned out her guard for the day did not include the young warrior. Instead, Persephone was standing outside of her room accompanied by two additional warriors who had been a regular part of the rotation.