He shook his head, doing his best to free himself from my grasp. I couldn’t allow that. I was his protector. Someone hurt him on my watch. I needed to handle it.
“Finn. Tell me. Who hurt you? Is that why you fell?” If he was attacked and stumbled, it would explain how he ended up in the trench. Unless… “Did they push you?”
Whether he didn't understand or he just didn't want to answer, he kept shaking his head. I wanted to keep pushing, buthis teeth were chattering. He was too cold to stay out here much longer. I needed to get him clean.
With quick efficiency, I cleaned off every inch of his skin. He wouldn’t take the bar to clean his privates himself, so I apologized before doing that as well. I didn’t linger, just made sure he was thoroughly cleaned before moving on. By the time I was done, his pale skin was pink in the moonlight, and his lips were turning blue. I wasn’t nearly as dirty as he was, so I quickly scrubbed and tucked him against me, using my body heat to keep him warm as we came out of the water.
I had no clothes with us, and I wasn’t touching the soiled ones, but Godr proved he was a good brother by having a blanket waiting to cover Finn. I cared little for my own nudity, used to undressing around my brothers to bathe or change. Finn was shy, not even comfortable to have his chest exposed, and I didn’t want to parade him in front of the clan and embarrass him further.
The blanket wasn’t enough to warm him, but it kept him covered as I marched us back to my tent. When I set him on his feet so I could dress him, his legs went out from under him and I had to lower him to the bed so he wouldn’t hurt himself. I tugged one of my tunics over his head, lacing the front tightly so it wouldn’t fall off him.
I spared a moment to pull on some legwear before wrapping the blanket around Finn and scooping him up again. When I ducked out of my tent, my brothers were waiting for me, each with a worried expression on their faces.
“Have Zoya meet me at the fighter’s fire.”
Verus was quick to respond, nodding his head and running off to fetch the healer. With the cuts and the unhygienic fall, I didn’t want to chance Finn getting sick. I marched him away from the village center and to a fire nearer to the edge of the forest. There were smaller fires, since eating all together couldget tedious. The fighters lived all together for easier training and their fire was second biggest after the village center. I wasn’t bringing Finn near the clan again until I figured out who attacked him.
He trembled in my arms, his face hidden against my chest. His hands were icy cold, but I didn’t flinch from the touch. He could take what he needed from me.
A few fighters sat around the fire, probably the first to greet the new arrival so they could escape to have a more relaxed gathering. They shot me curious looks when I joined them, but none asked questions. Janis, a fighter who I’d fought alongside a time or two, offered me some ale, but I shook my head, sitting as close to the fire as I would dare and curling myself tighter around Finn. He accepted the hold without a sound. It worried me. Normally, in his upset, he made plenty of noise. Little whimpers and sniffles to let me know how he felt. Now he was silent and unmoving, his breathing shallow like he was trying not to move an inch.
“Korvash,” I whispered, ducking so he could better hear me. “Tell me who hurt you. It’s my job to keep you safe.”
No reply. I wanted to rage, to tear through the celebrations to find who’d attacked my Finn. I couldn’t without releasing him, and nothing, not even vengeance, could pull me away from him now.
Nine
“This place is bad enough without being tainted with people like you.”
I thought I’d finally escaped that mindset. No one I’d met thus far had even batted an eye at a male tribute, or my budding relationship with Rath. But that was probably because I was never outside of his sight. No one wanted to pick a fight with someone that big and skilled at hunting. They waited until he was away from me to tell me how they truly felt.
“You’re only a hole to fuck. He’ll toss you aside the minute he finds his bondmate. It won’t be a boy. It’ll be a woman who can give him what he needs.”
I’d stupidly tried to protest, arguing that Rath wasn’t interested in women, just like me. It made the angry woman violent, and she lashed out, slapping me so hard her nails cut into my skin.
“You don’t belong here.”
“You’re a freak.”
“Whore.”
Each shout was like a physical hit, and I retreated on instinct. I hadn’t realized they were herding me in a certain direction until the middle one smirked at me.
“Let me show you where you truly belong.”
Then she pushed me hard enough to send me into the waste filled trench. I cried out in surprise, which caused them to run, but she’d pushed me hard enough that I got stuck, and no matter how hard I fought, I couldn’t get free. I was humiliated and scared when I heard Rath’s voice. I tried to stifle myself so he wouldn’t find me there, but he found me anyway. He had to climb into the mess with me to get me out and no matter how hard I tried to keep myself away from him, he still ended up covered in waste.
Now, sitting in front of a smaller fire, I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t look at anyone. I made myself as small as possible and stayed silent. Who knew who else felt that way and was just waiting for me to be alone. If I hadn’t been so obvious about how I felt about Rath, maybe they would have left me alone. Then I wouldn’t have dragged Rath down with me.
“Over here,” Verus’s familiar voice said solemnly as he approached. I heard footsteps, but I didn’t look up. Not even when Zoya spoke to me.
“Finn. Are you hurt? Can I see?”
No. I didn’t want to show her or anyone else. Admitting I was attacked by a woman and she won would get me tossed out faster than my father had thrown me away. It only added to the humiliation. I was supposed to be a man, supposed to be able to protect myself. But I only ever disgraced the people connected to me. I was better off alone.
“Korvash,” Rath urged, his tone tight with irritation. I wanted to do what he told me, just so he’d hate me a little less, but I couldn’t.
They whispered to each other over my head, but when I wouldn’t look up, Rath took things into his own hands like he normally did when I wouldn’t listen. His grip on my jaw was tight enough that I couldn’t break free, but loose enough not tohurt me. He lifted my face and turned it enough to show Zoya the cuts on my cheek. I kept my eyes squeezed shut, tears slipping out unbidden.
