“I need your paw again,” she said softly, reaching out to him, and the wolf held it up to her.
Rannick had managed to position himself to be able to see better. He still could not fathom what he was seeing, a wild beast seeking help from a healer. Which begged the question, did the animal instinctively know she was a healer?
Bliss bent her head close to the wolf’s paw and the animal did the same, watching her every move. She dug as gently as she could, prodding the stone to move and it finally did. A few more prods and it surfaced enough for Bliss to pluck it out. She tossed the offending stone behind her.
“Wait,” she cautioned when the wolf moved his paw away, holding her hand out to him. “I must make certain it has not turned putrid.”
The beast returned his paw to her without hesitation.
She examined it closely. “It looks good and no doubt you will see it healed with a few licks.” She smiled and released his paw.
The wolf stared at her a moment, then moved closer to Bliss.
Fear clenched every muscle in Rannick, and he was ready to charge the beast, but shock froze him as he watched the wolf rub the side of his face against her leg several times.
Bliss understood the wolf was thanking her, and she rested a gentle hand on his head. “You are most welcome, my friend.”
The wolf backed slowly away, not taking his eyes off Rannick and soon disappeared into the woods.
Bliss turned and went to Rannick, who stood shaking his head. “I cannot believe the wolf let you tend him let alone that he sought your help, and that he thanked you.”
“Most animals instinctively know when a human will offer help rather than harm them,” Bliss said. “I was startled when I first saw an injured squirrel go to the healer I learned from while we were collecting plants in the woods. She helped him. I watched time and again her tend different animals and birds as well. They knew her hands healed and that her heart was kind.”
“Still, you not only took a chance with your life, but you disobeyed me,” he reminded.
Bliss placed her hand on his chest. “When it comes to healing, Rannick, I ask that you trust me. I know when I can help someone and when I cannot.”
He rested his hand over hers. “As long as healing does not put you in harm’s way, I will trust you and allow you to heal.”
Her smile bordered on a laugh. “You cannot stop a healer from healing.”
He leaned his head down until his forehead almost touched her. “Maybe not, but I can stop my wife from healing.”
Arguing with him would prove senseless, so she slipped her hand from beneath his.
Rannick felt a jolt to his heart, as if she had torn herself away from him. It eased when she took his hand and locked her fingers with his and he wasted no time in closing his firmly around hers. He wanted to hold on to her, keep her close, and never let her go. He was insane to think that way, insane to think the curse would not recognize that he cared for his wife and purposely yank her away from him. The thought troubled him, but he refused to let go of her hand, let go of her.
Rannick scooped the basket up and they made their way back to the cottage as clouds rolled in overhead.
Bliss was quick to gather the damp garments off the tree branches and place them over the benches in front of the fire to dry. She placed the roots she had collected on top of a chest to dry, then giving her hands a quick wash in the bucket of water near the hearth, got busy fixing supper.
Rannick sat on the bed watching her. After a several minutes, it struck him how graceful her movements were, more like a noblewoman than a peasant whose endless toil produced aching and gnarled fingers at a far too young age. Each day he saw more beauty in her face. He caught it in the corner of her eyes as they wrinkled when she smiled and the way her face brightened when something caught her interest and the scrunch of her brow when deep in thought and the contentment when she slept in his arms. Of course, a troublesome thought had to interfere… she was his wife, and the curse would eventually strike her.
He recalled something she had said, and his protective instincts reared up in him. “You mentioned something about being threatened before when healing. Who threatened you?”
“Men who had more to drink than they should have and some who believed themselves more knowledgeable than me because they tended men on the battlefield.”