Chapter 76
Chapter 76
+25 Bonus
Avery’s POV
The minute the silver arrowhead pulled from the wolf’s flesh in the careful grip of my pliers, Gideon shifted. Fur and bone wavered in the nauseating, disconcerting fisheye lens of transformation, and then Gideon was crouched on the forest floor beside me.
“Avery.” He said.
He might have been greeting me as we passed in the street. His tone was deceptively calm.
Then I saw the way his eyes were flashing. The wolf gold was still in them. His wolf was feeding him strength for healing.
Silver was a powerful toxin for werewolves. It interrupted natural processes and inhibited healing. Even worse, in great enough quantities it could cut a human off from their magical side entirely, or sever the wolf from their soul.
It was a cruel weapon, and a potent one for rogues to be carrying in these woods.
“Your shoulder! I need to bind it.” I gulped as I noticed blood was now pouring from the wound near Gideon’s shoulder. As I had feared, the wound had traveled closer to the center of his body when he shifted.
Now that the arrowhead was removed, black blood oozed from the wound flecked with silver. His body was trying to heal, but the alchemical weapon inhibited it.
If the contamination was deep enough, the wound could even become infected. An Alpha male in his prime, like Gideon, healed incredibly quickly, but even against his potent magic, this was a serious wound. Most wolves would already have succumbed to the pain and blood loss.
I pawed through my bag, pulling out crushed dried herbs and some of the healing salve I had made for Madelyn. That would do.
I pulled out a spare nightgown I had packed and used my teeth to tear a notch in the hem and tore it to bandages.
Through it all, Gideon just watched me. I noticed his eyes flicker over the contents of my bag, but I ignored his pointed stare. There would be time to talk about that later.
For now, we needed to get Gideon to the point we could leave these cursed woods and get to somewhere more safe. If Zara knew where I was, she could send more wolves to intercept us.
How had she even communicated with the rogues anyways? There were variables here I didn’t understand. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my mother had probably never received any of my correspondence.
When I approached with the bandages, Gideon mutely unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged out of it to give me access to his shoulder.
I gulped as I brought up some of the spare linen to daub away the blackish blood. His muscles shifted distractingly under his skin. I hesitated, then placed my hand on his arm to hold him still while I pressed salve and herbs into his wound.
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Chapter 76
+25 Bonus
One the wound was treated, I used the strips of fabric to bind a folded pad of cloth over his injury. It had slowed bleeding somewhat, but was still staining the makeshift bandages faster than I would like.
I frowned at his shoulder, then shifted my gaze to Gideon’s face.
He was staring at me. Studying me intently. I swallowed again, but met his gaze.
“Hi.” I whispered. I didn’t know what else to say.
His eyes were still disconcertingly shifting between stormy grey and wolfish gold in the moonlight, and they glowed with an eerie light as the magic in his blood worked overtime to try and heal him.
“You left.” He growled.
“I did.” I didn’t see any point in denying it. It was obvious from looking at my bag and how I was dressed.
“You’ve been avoiding me.” It wasn’t a question.
I just nodded. It was true.
“Why?” The question came out forcefully and loud. I flinched at his vehemence.
I didn’t answer.
Gideon’s hand landed on mine and squeezed. It didn’t hurt, but it stilled my movements. His skin was feverish hot, like there was a furnace stoked inside of him.
“WHY?” He asked again, gritting his teeth in pain.
“You’re burning up.” I frowned, putting the back of my other hand on his cheek. “Silver fever p>
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