Chapter Seven: Point of No Return

Dylin's heart twisted into painful knots as he daubbed a cool damp cloth over Fen's forehead, trying to soothe the incoherent Omega. He trembled slightly as he adjusted the blanket over his mate, as the poor creature started to stir restlessly. He said again as his feverish eyes look up at Dylin in blind need. "We h've t' fin' th' stone."

"Fen, you need to rest, love." He presses his mate's thin shoulder carefully into their mattress, swallowing against the tightness of his throat as he struggled. "Fen, please, let me get the healers." He rubbed his thumb over the sweat dampened fabric of his soft tunic, begging his mate, "At least Rhowena."

"No, N'body can know." Fen looked up, his shifting blue eyes like cold steel, even as tears leaked from their corners. Fen's hands clutched at Dylin's, who couldn't deny him a single wish. "Please, D'lin. No 'ne." Dylin's thumb gently soothed him, as he sighed. "Ple'se. I'll s'eep. Stay." Fen pulled at Dylin's jerkin, eyes begging outright as Dylin adjusted the blanket covering his mate once more. "Please."

So Dylin stayed. Even as his every instinct screamed for him to rush to his mother, or the village elders, anyone really who could direct him along this murky path. He longed for guidance, someone else who could tell him what to do, to point the pair in the right direction. Who could tell him how to keep them both alive through the quest ahead, so that they might enjoy the paradise they were supposedly fated to bring about.

Dylin sighed, letting Fen pull him into their bed, settling his restless Omega into his arms, curling around his back. Fen slowly relaxed in his arms, as Dylin started to untangle his sweaty curls, though occasional tremors wracked his body, as he trembled beneath whatever spell the thrice damned book put him in. Stiles soothed him as best as he could, his hands rubbing soft circles on his mate's stomach and chest, holding him as tightly as he dared.

Oh, what the proud, strong Alpha wouldn't give for a quiet, simple life, far from any adventure or chaos. A life where the only worry to be had was the addition for their latest litter, and the concern of an over full stomach for their precious little ones. A joyous, rich life filled with the pitter-pattering of tiny paws, sticky hands, and the radiant smile on Fen's face as they put their young pups to bed.

With his wedding gift, the Token of love he was to give his perfect mate, he hoped he could convey those sentiments. He hoped that the set of soft rabbit skins would show Fen exactly what he was promising as they tied their lives together. The soft white fur from the first catches of his winter traps would swaddle their pups, the silky coats of the animals protecting their fragile babies just a little while longer from the harshness of the world. He hoped each of their braids could use it in turn, passed from each collective birth to the next, and when the time came, it would warm Fen's lap on cold winter nights, as their wrinkled hands warmed by the fire.

That was Dylin's promise to his mate. That they would live the happy life they deserved, free of the fears of Providence. So Fen's eyes could shine like the cloudless sky, without the threat of the rogue Lord who would kill them all. Fen would smile one day, Dylin would see to it.

Though, he thought, as his mate lie still, and he glanced at his sleeping face, he was smiling now. In the dusty sunbeam filtering through the window, Fen's beauty was ethereal. His skin glowed in the evening sun, the soft light turning his skin to the porcelain of the humans drinking cups. As Fen's mind wandered the fantasy realm of his dreams, he smiled at the visions he was given.

Dylin made up his mind in that moment. As he watched his mate sleep, he resolved his plan. Anything else he could provide they could find or hunt on the way. He would keep Fen safe through this ordeal, Gaia herself couldn't tell him otherwise.

So he carefully snuck out of the warm bed, collecting the two packs and various traveling supplies they would need. By the time dusk turned to the pitch dark night, he was ready for his mate. By then, they were prepared to venture into the world beyond the forest.

"Fen?" He gently roused his Omega, kissing his sleepy forehead as he slipped his small feet into thick solid shoes, lined with sheepskin for warmth and comfort. "We have to get going, love," he murmured, as Fen's hands fumbled with the tough clothing Dylin placed in his arms. "We're going to find the Thunderstone."

"I don't know where it is, though." Fen accepted his lighter pack, the worn leather straps sitting on his slim shoulders as they slipped past the patrolling sentries. He nonetheless took the lead, somehow finding the widest game trails that lead steadily northward. Northward, to the arid grasslands, and the Beyond. A wild unknown of strange, exotic cities and even more exotic peoples. Dylin couldn't imagine what to expect from this journey, but he knew that he would die to keep his mate safe.

He could only hope it would be enough for the harrowing ordeal set for them. From the massive beasts that roamed the open savanna, to the hostile native people of the lands they would travel to, he had little hope of making it out unscathed. But he would eat his tail if Fen didn't.

No matter the cost to his own life, Dylan was certain that Fen would live to be a grandmother, to be a great grandmother, even. That even if he was an old, battle scarred alpha missing a limb or two, Fen would be as beautiful and perfect as he was now.

The pair of Wolves slowly made their way through the darkness of the deep forest, unaware of the adventure that awaited them beyond the home they knew.