Chapitre 15

The rumble came straight at us like a huge storm. Suddenly Zelos darted around to me and sprinted towards me. His blood red eyes were completely fixed on me. I tried to sit up, but the cut on my thigh sent a searing pain down my leg.

Zelos tore the ground from under my feet. He had bitten into my coat like I was a puppy. I dangled in the air, unharmed by its fangs. He stormed away from the rumble. I narrowed my eyes and made myself as small as possible.

We almost flew down the slope.

The wind threw my hair around, only Zelo's hot breath warmed me a bit. The rumble followed us and the earth began to tremble with fear. It wasn't a wolf chasing us...

It was getting closer. The trees behind us arched in our direction. An anxious gasp caught in my throat. A wall of ice and snow rolled towards us, destroying everything in its path. Trees were uprooted and fell under the force of the avalanche. I narrowed my eyes, but Zelos avoided all obstacles. The noise chased us.

It was getting closer. The ripping of cloth almost died out in the noise. I fell a little toward the ground.

My coat.

He tore.

Everything happened at the same time.

A scream escaped my throat.

I fell towards the ground.

A force threw me forward.

"Zelo-!"

My words choked as the force threw me in all directions like a toy. Zelo's warmth disappeared. The avalanche roared in my ears. My head was spinning like I was dizzy. Everything went black. I blinked. Darkness enveloped me.

It was dead quiet.I felt nothing but icy cold eating through my clothes. Did I lose consciousness? I sat alone in the dark. The calm after the storm. There was hardly any air to breathe. I scanned my surroundings with my fingers.

Snow.

In front of me, beside me, above me. The avalanche had buried me.

"Zelos!" I shouted, but the wall of snow muffled my voice. I was sitting in a freezing cold prison from which there was no escape. My teeth started chattering and I couldn't stop them. I was alone underground with little air and completely shrouded in darkness.

My gloved fingers began digging above my head. I shoveled the snow aside. But the darkness continued to weigh on me like a heavy cloak. Not a ray of light penetrated the snow.

How far could I be buried?

Fear narrowed my windpipe and I could hear every panicked, gasping breath in my prison. It was tight, it was cold and it was getting closer and closer. I heaved myself through the small hole that had formed. I dug and dug, but nothing changed. I closed my eyes and waited.

The dead silence lurked around me.

I couldn't panic.

I slowly raised a hand over my head and loosened a little more snow. He fell sideways into the passage I had already cleared.

Why didn't he land on me?

If I was digging up, it would have landed on me.

I was moving in the wrong direction. My head was heavy as metal, unable to think about it.

gravity.

Where did she move to?

The dull pain in my leg echoed through my body.

The blood.

I heaved myself into a seitz position and removed my gloves before catching some of the hot liquid. It immediately ran down the side of my hand and dripped diagonally to the floor.

splash.

I take a deep breath.

The avalanche had clouded my senses.

I wasn't allowed to dig over my head, but to the side.

As a test, my fingers scratched next to my head. The ice cold powder flew against my cheek and melted in seconds. My laughter echoed off the narrow walls. I put my gloves back on and shoveled the snow aside, keep going. That had to be the right direction.

"...beth."

A voice boomed through the snow and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm here!" I yelled, digging faster.

"Elizabeth!"

The voice was louder, relieved.

Suddenly, the first rays of light broke through the snow. The ceiling above me lifted, revealing red eyes.

"Zelos," I murmured and he held his hand down. He was standing almost a meter above me, so much snow separated us. The sun made his moon-white hair shine.

"Come on, take my hand," he said, kneeling on the snowy ground. I was still crooked in my hollow, so I pushed myself up and grabbed his paw. It pulled me out of the earth in one piece, back to the surface .

My head was pounding with confusion.

I wrapped my arms around his torso and hugged him tight. The tension fell from my bones as I took a deep breath of fresh air. Tears of relief pooled in the corners of my eyes.

I could breathe

I could stand

And I knew where was up and where was down.

Zelos took my shoulders and searched my body.

"I'm fine," I said, but there was no stopping him. He growled when he saw my thigh. The adrenaline had numbed the pain and the cold did the rest.

"You're not well," he growled. His eyes began to glow. "Davin!"

I looked around.

Here in the valley it looked like a bomb had hit. Thrown up chunks of snow mingled with small trees and branches. The avalanche had left a trail of chaos and the trees on the sides were still bowing.

The other warriors had also arrived.

Davin stumbled towards us through the snow.

"What happened here?!" he shouted. "We heard the avalanche and followed your trail as fast as we could."

"It's a good thing you weren't buried too. Go ahead and set up camp. We will rest here and walk the rest of the way tomorrow."

Davin bowed, gave me a pitying look and walked over to the other wolves. I take a deep breath. My stomach turned a bit. The strength in my legs diminished. I blinked.

The blood loss was noticeable.

The clouds escaped my mouth at shorter intervals. It wasn't a small scratch. If I didn't wash the dirt out of the wound, it would become infected. I wanted to squat down, but Zelo's hands on my hips stopped me.

"You're pale. We're going to have to tie that leg," he said, and before I could react, he lifted me up into the air and pinned me against his chest. I snuggled closer to the warmth, which was like a log fire. "Don't fall asleep!"

His voice pounding against my head snapped me back to reality. Something whimpered next to us. Kerberos was standing next to his master and a pair of eyes were focused on me. He looked almost pitying.

"I'm fine," I murmured, leaning my leaden skull back against Zelo's warmth.

"I think your body sees it differently," he said, a faint smile lifting the corners of my mouth. Despite his words, his expression was dead serious. He stared at my leg like it was about to fall off.

"And I think the moon goddess has a real hatred for you."

"She can't hate me that much. She gave me you", Zelos growled and stopped. His words touched my soul.

The world around us stopped.

Suddenly the pain and tiredness were forgotten. My heart did what it wanted anyway. I stared at his lips. Without thinking about it, I closed my eyes and leaned in his direction.

"Ah!"

A burning stab pierced my thigh and down my entire leg. I stared at the wound lurking there, filthy and open. Fresh blood covered the dried dirt.

My stomach twisted.

Fear clogged my throat.

Zelos started to sprint, careful not to move me.

I buried my hands in his shirt and closed my eyes.

****

Zelos stormed across the snow desert. The icy wind numbed the wound again, but I knew what was happening inside my body. If she stayed like that for long, I would get blood poisoning and die in agony.

My stomach started tingling.

A shadow of fear clouded my mind. I didn't want to die. Especially not here, with Zelos. We haven't had a chance yet...

His eyes kept shooting at me for a millisecond before refocusing on the path ahead. We broke into the next stretch of forest and into the darkness that the fir dresses brought with them.

A blazing fire cast its golden light against the tree trunks around us. The hum of voices drew closer.

"Davin, we need alcohol and cloths!" Zelos ordered, completely in character. The flames blazed close to a rock. We pushed through the ranks of warriors. One of them laid a cloak over the snow against the rock by the fire.

Zelos marched towards it and knelt down. My fingers tightened in his shirt. He paused.

"I won't go away," he whispered. My foggy head released my grip and Zelos laid me gently on the fabric. Even sitting down, I couldn't keep myself upright. The cool rock behind me dug into my back, but it was mine only support.

Zelos knelt next to me and held my hand.

"I'm sorry, Lycan Zelos. We've got stuff but no alcohol," Davin said, looking at me. "She's very pale."

Zelos growled while the bees of panic began to buzz in my body. Somehow we had to disinfect the wound before it did any more damage.

The flames danced before my eyes.

I squeezed Zelo's hand, which was my only anchor. He followed my gaze to the sizzling heat.

"Fire," he whispered, closing his eyes. "Bring me a blade!"

My thoughts jumped back and forth. They looked for a way to escape, but the fire was my last hope. My knees trembled as if from an earthquake of my fear.

"Here, Lycan Zelos," Davin said, handing him a dagger.

"Thanks. Go and distribute the tasks to the warriors. Guard has to be kept", Zelos replied without turning away from me for even a second.

The flames reflected off the silver blade. Zelo's fingers carefully felt my thigh and he looked up at me as if asking for permission. I nodded imperceptibly, unable to get anything down my shrunken throat.

Zelos grabbed the fabric and tore it further on the sides of the wound. For the first time I saw the splendor caused by a stone in the ground. Dried blood glistened on my leg. The skin was torn and stood up.

The cut wasn't too deep, but red mingled with black. I could almost feel it throbbing as if it had a life of its own.

A smell of iron and pus filled my nostrils. My stomach turned. The nausea scrambled up the walls and I did my best to swallow it down and keep it down.

"Make it quick," I gasped.

Before I threw up.

Zelos let go of my hand for a second and turned towards the fire with the blade. Only now did I see the other wolves staring at my wound, fascinated and horrified. They probably weren't used to the fact that what they saw as a small scratch didn't heal immediately.

Zelos growled.

"We need watchmen for the night, hunters, go!"

The warriors awoke from their shock and scattered. Zelos held the dagger into the fire and waited. The tremors traveled from my knees through my body, but not from the cold.

The metal changed color until it looked like the surface of the sun. My breath got shorter. A whimper from my side distracted me.

Kerberos sat a few feet away from us and stared at me with a head. His ears were laid back and his yellow eyes shone with pity. For the first time I didn't feel afraid of the hellhound.

The fear was for something else.

"Do you want to do it yourself?" Zelos asked and knelt down next to my wound with the glowing blade. I pressed myself closer against the rock and shook my head. I squeezed my lids and leaned back.

"Please hurry up," I gasped.

Tears pooled behind my closed eyes. I clutched my fingers in the coat beneath me. Then I felt Zelo's warm hand on my knee.

He held me.

I inhaled and held my breath.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Fire licked my wound.

A squeak escaped my throat.

I tried to pull my leg away, but Zelo's paw on my thigh held me in place. My nerves screamed like they were dying. Big tears fell from my eyes. The seething pain at the wound smothered everything else. I could hardly breathe.

Beads of sweat ran down his back and forehead as if they could put out the fire. My throat was raw.

Finally the burning died down and cold air took its place. The tension left my body. I sagged and gasped for air. Zelo's hand came off my knee.

I opened my eyes.

"You did well. It's over," he whispered. In his hands he held a cloth soaked in water. He carefully dabbed away the dried blood. With the other hand he stroked soothing circles over my thigh.

The touch eased the pain.

A deep breath rose and fell in my chest.

I blinked and leaned back against the stone.

My eyelids were heavy as lead. Zelos carefully lifted my leg. I was just able to see him wrapping a white cloth around the burned-out wound.

"All done. You can sleep," he said, but his voice seemed far away. My muscles were limp, my head tired. But my heart pushed the last words out of my parched throat.

"Stay here..."

A new warmth joined me and Zelos put an arm around my shoulders.

"I'm not going away..."

I leaned against his side and enjoyed the crackling in front of us. My head rested under his arm where I felt safe.

Everything was fine now.

I barely felt a kiss on my hair that lasted for a few seconds. I snuggled closer to Zelos.

My head swam further away into dreamland.

Birds chirped in the trees. I sighed and breathed in the fresh forest air. Despite the cold air, I felt warm all over. I opened my eyes. The crackling fire greeted me, its smoke rising into the sky.

Silence.

The flames kept my feet toasty warm despite the winter around us. The other heat source was Zelos, whose arm was still wrapped around me. His head rested on top of mine, surrounding me like a heater.

The white fabric lay around my wound and I hardly felt anything.

The other warriors lay scattered around the fire. Only Davin sat up straight, staring absently at the sparkling snow. A scratch in my throat disturbed the calm of the morning.

I tried to choke back a cough, but my throat craved water. I cleared my throat as quietly as I could, but Zelo's head immediately lifted from mine. His red eyes scanned my body before meeting mine.

"Sorry," I said, but my voice sounded like a branch snapping. I turned away and tried to cough the itch out of my windpipe.

The rustling of paws in the snow rang out and interrupted me. Kerberos took a few cautious steps toward me. In its right snout it held a water bag. The other heads kept a low profile.

I didn't move away from him.

That seemed to give courage to the giant dog.

He dropped the treasure just in front of me and stared at me expectantly. As if in slow motion, I reached out and lifted the water bag out of the snow. Kerberos began to wag its tail and a soft smile spread across my lips.

"How nice that you understand each other a bit," Zelos murmured next to me and pressed a kiss on my head.

I opened the pouch and took greedy gulps of the cool water. It washed the itch out of my throat and I sighed in relief. Kerberos ran excitedly away between the tree trunks.

"Thank you," I murmured and looked deep into Zelos' eyes. So many emotions were swimming there that they had to mix and be reflected in mine.

"Not for that," he replied, brushing a strand of red hair from my forehead. His touch was gentle and I closed my eyes for a moment.

"Betty, you're fine again!", Davin called and I winced. Zelos closed his eyes and turned his head to the side as if he were internally fighting against the hatred towards Davin.

He had a talent for destroying a moment.

My smile widened.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said, but I didn't want to let go of Zelo's embrace. "What happens now?"

"We'll eat soon and then finally leave. The warriors are already waiting for us in silver crowns," said Zelos.

***

The mountains passed us with their snow-capped peaks. Above us was a blue sky and a sun that made the ice sparkle like diamonds. My breath froze in front of my nose.

There was no trace of the chaos of the last day.

From the avalanche.

My wound was the only legacy.

Silvercrown couldn't be far.

Despite the winter wind, I felt cozy and warm. Zelos carried me on his back. His hands were warm under my thighs while my entire upper body was pressed against his muscles. My cheeks must be bright red, and not just from the cold.

The protest was useless. Zelos had sent Davin and the troop of warriors ahead, only to pick me up shortly afterwards.

"I can really walk," I murmured next to his hair.

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. you're still hurt The wound mustn't open up again", answered Zelos and demonstratively adjusted me in his arms.

We continued up the mountain and I gripped his shoulders tighter with my fingers. Zelos laughed.

"I won't let you fall, don't worry," he said as he climbed the steep mountain without slipping. "I've saved you too many times for that."

"Sorry, but without me you'd still be sitting in that dark hole in Mountain Shade," I said.

"Yes, and without me there would be no more Berg Schatten," he replied. "I think it evens out."

"What happened here in Silvercrown?" I asked. Zelos had been away for a few days while I was locked in the room with Kerberos as guardian.

"Silverblood killed old Alpha and his son, but they made a mistake. You left Luna Mayra alive. With the help of the prisoners and you, we were able to very quickly pull the pack to our side," said Zelos. "The occupation by Silberblut was only a few weeks ago and the living wanted their country back."

"So Silverblood is driven out of the mountains entirely?" I asked.

"They retreated to Riverclaw. They won't get into the mountains that easily anymore. It cost them many casualties back then, but now the mountains of Silvercrown are impregnable. Not even Alpha Eros could do anything with his army."

My heart skipped a beat.

"What will Alpha Eros do when he finds out what happened?" I asked, hoping my voice sounded normal and not overly curious.

"We'll see when the time comes," Zelos said thoughtfully. If he noticed something, he didn't show it.

"So we're not going to attack Iceclaw?" I asked, feeling relieved. A roar of laughter vibrated through my body.

"Attack Iceclaw? In the entire history of werewolves, no one has ever tried to anger Iceclaw," he said, laughing.

"How so?"

“Firstly, the distance. It would be an all or nothing game because the warriors couldn't retire to their pack", Zelos said while we reached the top of the mountain. We stopped. "Secondly, Alpha Eros has two packs, so to speak."

"Two?" I asked and before Zelos could protest, I pushed away from his back and resisted his grip. A little reluctantly he put me down on the snow and turned to me.

"Hardly anyone thinks of the nomads who live north of Iceclaw by the infinite sea. No one can say exactly how many there are. But as long as they stay in the north, we won't have any problems," said Zelos.

His lips lifted slightly as he looked down at me.

My stomach knotted at the look in his ruby eyes. He was amused by my questions. Sometimes in the world of werewolves I felt like a clueless kid. I shifted my weight and a dull ache shot up my leg. I tried to keep a rigid face, but Zelo's gaze immediately fell to my thigh.

"It's nothing," I said, walking a few steps in demonstration. I turned into the valley and marveled.

On the other side of the slope sat houses with smoke billowing out. They were hidden among the trees. The house at the top of the mountain stood out.

"Wow," I whispered, taking a step toward the pack to get a better look. My foot slipped on the uneven snow. "Ah!"

Shock pinched my stomach. I waved my arms, but two strong hands stabilized me under the armpits. Zelos lifted me back to the steady ground and heat shot into my cheeks.

"Thanks," I whispered, looking over my shoulder. His hands traveled to my hips, leaving a hot tingle in their wake.

"This is the pack house of Silberkrone", Zelos said and pointed to the house at the top. I followed his interpretation. The sun made the ice crystals on the trees blink.

I rolled over in his arms. He looked down at me. His eyes shimmered with life as I felt inside. My heart started beating faster.

"Davin can't interrupt us here," I said and an elegant smile spread on Zelo's lips.

The sun was reflected in his silver-white hair. I put my hands on his upper arms.

"What are you up to?" he asked in an innocent tone, but his eyes told a different story. His lips were the color of a sunrise. How did it feel when they met mine?

I looked back and forth between his eyes.

"Without you, there would be no more shadows of the mountains. I should thank you," I whispered.

At my words, Zelos pulled me closer to him. My heart was pounding in my throat with excitement. A storm simmered behind his eyes as if he could barely contain himself.

But I didn't want him to hold back anymore.

The feelings in my stomach ran storm.

"Do you actually know how tempting you can be?" Zelos growled. "I've wanted to try those lips since the dungeon. You always jumped around in front of my nose, like a rabbit in front of a wolf."

i grinned

“But apparently the rabbit wanted to be caught. Otherwise he wouldn't be standing in the wolf's arms right now," I answered. I was more awake than I had been in ages.

"Good," whispered Zelos.

Everything around us froze into nothing.

He leaned down towards me and I stood on tiptoe. The tension between our eyes flickered.

We got closer. His fire radiated towards me. I closed my eyes. Our lips touched.

They were soft and warm. Fireworks exploded in my stomach. The kiss was gentle and I pushed my hands up Zelo's shoulders. A contented growl shook through our bodies. Our lips moved together in oneness of pleasure.

His fingers trailed down my back, leaving a hot trail of sparks. A sigh jumped from mine to his lips and Zelos pressed me tightly to his body.

I had been waiting for this all along.

Finally we could be close.

But I wanted more.

Zelos growled hungrily and took control and I gave it to him. My body was a minefield of sensations, all going up one after the other.

But at some point my lungs screamed for air.

I reluctantly pulled my head back and gasped for fresh oxygen.

Zelos wasn't finished yet.

His hot lips traveled over my jaw and down my neck. The sensitive skin tingled with the enjoyment.

"Zelos," I moaned.

My voice sounded strange to my own ears, but Zelos only answered with a satisfied growl that vibrated through my nerves.

I gasped.