Ryleigh wanted to shoot upright, but Austin still kept her immobile on the forest floor.
"What..." She looked around her. Then her eyes found Austin, who was hovering above her, a bruise forming around his right eye. "What happened?" she asked, clenching her eyes shut with a gasp as pain shot through her arm.
His eyes narrowed. "You don't remember?"
Ryleigh shrugged, forgetting for the moment that every movement made discomfort travel through her poor limb. She flinched and shook her head. "I remember waking up." Her eyes flitted to his hand still firmly on her shoulder. "Would you let go of me already? I'm not going anywhere, clearly. How by the Goddess did I dislocate my shoulder?"
"You fell." He drew back, though he kept kneeling beside her, ready for anything.
She struggled into a seated position, careful not to move her arm. "Well, that's lame. Did I do that?" She looked at his black eye and reached for him. He pulled away, wincing. She clacked her tongue and let her hand drop back to her side. "So what, I punched you?"
"Yes."
She pulled her mouth into a pout, nodding. "Did you deserve it?"
"No."
"I'm not so sure. Help me up, would you?" She extended him her good arm. He got up, took her hand and pulled her up. When he released her, she moved her hand back to her injured limb, holding onto herself with a pained expression.
"You really don't remember?"
"No. I guess my wolf took over again. I remember her wanting to, but I fought it, and then I don't know anything until I came back to my senses here."
"This is getting out of hand, Ryleigh."
Ryleigh couldn't deny it, but wouldn't admit it. Nor would she admit that her heart burned like a funeral pyre every time he spoke her name. There was just something about that husky voice pronouncing the combination of syllables most personal to her that had her feeling a little weak in the knees. But of course she blamed it on the fact she had just run like a maniac through the woods in the middle of the night, in her grievous state, with a dislocated shoulder.
She stole a glance at his face. Even though she had no recollection of her punching him and couldn't verify whether it had been justified, she regretted it. His face was a work of art and no one had the right to damage it.
He caught her looking and she turned her gaze down towards herself, brushing some twigs off her body. The both of them were still stark naked – but of course neither of them would admit the attraction they felt for each other. Denial was easier.
"We should go back," Ryleigh said. She only took a few paces before turning back around. "I don't remember how I got here."
Austin rolled his eyes and took the lead. "Ridge needs to set your shoulder."
"It can wait."
"Are you crazy? Of course it can't wait."
"He's probably sleeping. It's the middle of the night, in case you didn't notice."
"We'll wake him up. You can't walk around with a dislocated shoulder, Ryleigh."
"Then I'll set it myself." She inspected her injured shoulder, prodding it cautiously with her right hand, grimacing.
"Have you ever set a shoulder before?"
"No, but how hard can it be?"
She didn't need to look at him to know he was staring at her like she was insane, though he was rather late to the party if he was only realising that now.
"You're not going to set your own shoulder and that's final."
"O, boy, the beta is putting his foot down. How I tremble!"
"Don't mock me. You need medical attention and I'll make sure you get it."
"No."
He stopped, spinning to face her. "Why? Why won't you let Ridge help you?"
She sighed. She was cold, naked, tired, scared, in pain – the last thing she needed was to have an argument. "Just drop it."
"Not until you give me a reason. A good one."
Ryleigh shook her head and started moving again, pressing her arms tighter against herself. She felt her chest itching to cough, but she held it back, both because it would hurt and because she didn't want Austin to witness it.
"Ryleigh, talk to me." He caught up with her, effortlessly falling into step beside her. "I'm not unreasonable, you know."
She shot him a glance. "If you say so."
"Come on. Just tell me why you don't want to go to the infirmary."
In an attempt to get away from his questions, she increased her pace, but the only thing that came from that was her missing a root sticking out from the soil and tripping for the umpteenth time that night. She tipped forwards and only just managed to break her fall with her good arm. The coughs she had been suppressing now burst forward. With only one hand up to par, she had to choose between supporting herself or covering her mouth. Not wanting to fall face-first into the dirt and not strong enough to drag herself upright, she chose the former. Bright drops of silver dripped down her chin and onto the ground.
Austin's hands slipped around her chest and he pulled her up unto her knees. Her muscles had gone numb and she sagged against him, her body convulsing with every cough. She pressed her fingers against her mouth then, silver and saliva coating her palm.
"Good Goddess," Austin said, his voice hardly louder than a whisper. He was behind her, and she was glad for it. She didn't think she wanted to see the look in his eyes.
"He... He..." Every time she attempted to speak, a cough would interrupt her.
Austin supported her with one hand, and with the other he drew her hair out of her face. "Easy."
The coughing died down to a painful wheezing. She pulled loose, scrambling to her feet. Her hand flew out to steady herself against a tree. "He'll keep me there," she said, her eyes straying towards Austin. "If I go to the infirmary, he'll keep me there."
Austin's gaze was latched onto the silver-coated leaves on the ground. "Perhaps he should. I thought the bringing up silver had stopped."
"It has. Almost. I don't want to stay there. That place is depressing."
He pressed his lips together, one corner of his mouth twitching. "Let's just see what Ridge says, alright?"
"He'll say I need to stay." She leant against the tree and wiped her fingers on the bark. Every inhale made knives wedge tight into her chest. Her shoulder was almost forgotten in exchange – a small consolation.
"He's the professional," Austin said. "If he thinks you should stay –"
"I can't stay in bed all day. It kills me. And those beds suck." She disengaged herself from the tree, teetering a few steps. Austin's attempt to help was met with a sharp, "Don't."
"Well, you can't walk around with a dislocated shoulder," he said. "Can you just stop being stubborn for one second and let people take care of you? Look at you, you can barely walk."
"I'm fine. Ridge can set my shoulder, but I'm not staying there. Promise me."
"Ryleigh..."
"Fine, I'll set it myself." She grabbed hold of her botched arm, hissing. He snatched her hand away, grasping it firmly in his.
"Stop that. Goddess, stop being so self-destructive. Would it really kill you to accept help?"
"Yes." She pulled her hand loose and sped up. "Are we almost there?"
"Not really. You ran pretty far."
She groaned, but said nothing.
"At least take my arm." He offered it to her and with a sigh, she slipped her arm around his. Instantly, his touch spread like a wave of comfort through her body, calming her lungs.
"I'm not going to the infirmary if you're going to make me stay there," she said, looking down at the ground to make sure she didn't miss any other obstacles.
"I'll see what I can do."
Ryleigh clenched her teeth but didn't argue. She knew she could push him far, but she also knew that once he reached his limit, he wasn't budging. They walked on in silence, both avoiding meeting the other's eye, yet constantly catching it anyway.
*****
Meanwhile, Austin's wolf stirred inside him, restless and annoyed. Austin was pretty pissed himself – at Ryleigh's stubbornness, her midnight breakouts, the fact he was strutting stark naked through the woods – but he got the sense his wolf was angry at something else. It was moments like these it would have been useful had the animal been able to talk to him. Luckily their bond was strong enough to get by without words.
Whereas Austin was focused mainly on Ryleigh, his wolf was focused on hers, and some careful prodding showed that he was none too pleased with the way Ryleigh talked about her animal counterpart. In fact, he seemed rather convinced that there was nothing wrong with her wolf at all.
______
A/N: Austin's finally catching up to Ryleigh's lies. Maybe he'll finally learn not to trust a word she says.
As always, thank you for reading!