by Willa Hart
“You’re my bound-mate, you’re the Wolveskin Queen, and now you’re the most important living creature to me and to this pack. I’ve given you what is only yours, and you’ll give me your heart, your love, and you’ll be our Queen—”
“But I am also the fated-mate—”
Rex holds up his hand and takes a deep breath. “I know. And while it’s difficult for me to accept, it’s clear to me that the Goddess has expectations of us all. She’s asked me to grow in my thoughts of what a relationship is, and I shall do so. We’re bound.” He presses his lips to mine. “And forever shall we be.”
I sink into his kiss. The warmth in my heart grows. I know that I can do whatever the Roya Kingdom asks and the Wolveskin Pack requires, for not only am I given strength by the Goddess, but I’m bound and loved and strengthened by the bond of the men who love me.
“So let it be,” I whisper. I close my eyes. Rex’s arms hold fast around me. I surrender to sleep with the knowledge that I’m safe by his side.
Chapter Sixteen
Rex
I exit the Room of Knowledge. My hands shake. An unfamiliar feeling clutches my heart. I’m a warrior. My greatest weapon against fear is courage, but even I, King Rex, tremble with what the Goddess Luna and the White Wolf require of me.
How can Luna and the White Wolf ask this much of us?
“You look shaken, brother.”
I turn toward the voice. Eregos leans against the front leg of the black wolf statue outside the Room of Knowledge. Insolent even in repose.
Heat chases away my fear. This place, that statue, they are not for leaning against as though bored.
“The Room of Knowledge is forbidden to you,” I say. I stand straighter and stare into my older brother’s eyes. “When you abdicated your place in our pack, you gave up your right to enter the Room of Knowledge.”
“I don’t need the Room of Knowledge to know what’s coming for you and all of us.” He pushes off the statue and walks to me. While he smiles at me, it’s the smile of an enemy. His smile does not reach his eyes.
“And what do you believe comes for us?” I ask.
“Death,” Eregos says.
He’s not wrong, and yet I cannot acknowledge that Eregos knows as much as the Goddess has shown me.
“Are you foolish enough to threaten me and the pack?” I ask.
“Death by humans, my brother.”
Deep breath.
“You’ve let your desire blind you,” Eregos says. He tilts his head. “The scent of your human is on you.”
Anger pulses through me. Anger for Arianna’s threats, for Eregos’s return to the pack, and for the council’s doubt. Anger over what Luna and the White Wolf showed me. Anger that I can do nothing but wait.
“Your human Queen shall be the death of us all. Would it not be better for the pack to be rid of her and—”
Rage blinds me. My wolf, hot and fierce, growls. Three steps and I have my brother pinned against the statue of the black wolf, my arm against his windpipe.
“You don’t get to threaten me or my bound-mate. You remain here by my grace. Should I hear another word that even seems like a threat, you shall die by the Wolveskin King’s hand. There shall be no one to mourn your passing, and your soul shall find no place in the White Wolf’s pack.”
Eregos, with his still-insolent smile, appears unphased by my threat. I press harder on his windpipe, the need to impress upon him that I’m in charge, that I rule the pack, that he is required to yield. This need is deeper than simply the sibling rivalry of a younger brother or proving my autonomy and authority. This need is a King who must protect his Kingdom.
“Do you understand?” I ask.
“Yes,” he finally hisses out, his voice raspy and wheezing.
I yank my arm from his throat. Disgust winds through me for allowing Eregos’s words to cause me to react in anger.
“I am aware that humans are violent and that they will have war. I’m also aware that Meela is only half-human. She is half-Wolveskin as well.”
“A point that neither the pack nor the counsel seem to think is important unless she can shift. While I may not agree with Arianna’s delivery, I do agree with her words. Meela must shift for the pack to follow her. For them to see her as anything more than a false leader, a human who has bewitched their King, they must see her as much as a Wolveskin as a human,” Eregos says. “Otherwise, I fear that her being Queen may tear the pack apart.”
“How convenient for you. The pack is torn and you’re here to take a part of it and be their proper leader.”
“Ha! Brother, you should consider removing that chip from your shoulder. I have no desire to stay and live in a cave deep in a mountain with statues and traditions thousands of years old. No, I’m not the one that wishes to lead your pack if it’s torn apart.” Eregos leans closer to me. “The threat to you does not begin with me, and yet it is perhaps even closer to you than I am.”
He walks to the flame beside the black wolf statue and passes his hand through the fire. “What did the White Wolf tell you in there?” he asks. His hands flick through the fire. A low growl rumbles through the black wolf statue. “Easy boy, I mean you no harm.”
Grrrr.
“My visions are for me to understand.”
“Yes, but was there mention of the Uprising?”
“Dreg business is not anything I’ve ever seen in the Room,” I say.
Eregos lifts an eyebrow. “Dreg business? Oh no, brother, I’m not asking about Dreg business. I’m asking about the uprising you’re about to face here, in Wolf Mountain.”
I want to deny Eregos’s words, but I cannot. Not after what I witnessed in the room.
“Arianna.”
“She’s your female Alpha and just as much of a warrior and leader as you,” Eregos says.
“She’s impetuous and arrogant and strong-willed.”
“And a loyal warrior and a full Wolveskin,” Eregos says. “The way I see it, if you wish to maintain the integrity of the pack you have two choices.”
“Which are?”
“Banish Meela.”
“Never,” I say.
“Then Meela must fight Arianna, and Meela must win,” Eregos says.
My stomach folds in on itself and slicks with fear. I close my eyes. I too can think of no other way.
“There is no other way, brother,” Eregos says. “And I think your bound-mate knows that as well.
I pull my brows together. “Wait…what are you saying…?”
“The moon is full in two nights,” Eregos says.
My gaze darts around the chamber and up to the glass ceiling above us. The quiet of the moon and stars peers through the glass above as though taunting me with their presence. “Oh no…no, no, no, no, no.”
Meela, I send her a thought. There is no response…but I see through my mind that Meela is in the main chamber with the pack. Eregos’s eyes meet mine. I turn and I run.
Chapter Seventeen
Meela
Fear is false. Fear is false. Fear is false. Fear is false. I mumble the words under my breath as I walk through the hallways of the Wolveskin lair toward the main meeting chamber. I know what I must do, even though neither of my fated-mates nor my bound-mate would agree with my actions. Or perhaps it’s better to say that the Goddess Luna and the White Wolf have chosen these actions for me.
The room is filled with Wolveskin. Most are in their human form and clothed, but some walk and lie on the stone floor of the meeting chamber as Wolveskin. I scan the group. She isn’t here. Arianna is missing. Brianna, Rex’s Beta stands beside the great hearth. I tap her on the shoulder.
“Yes, my lady, King Rex is not here. He has—”
“I don’t seek King Rex,” I say. I look past her toward the doorway that leads to the forest beyond. “Is Arianna here?”
Surprise registers in Brianna’s eyes but she quickly recovers. “No, Lady Meela, she is not. I believe that she’s left for a hunt that will take her until
tomorrow. Would you like for me to get King Rex for you?” She moves in front of the doorway leading into the forest. Her nose twitches. Out of the corner of my eye I see movement.
Three wolves dash in through the front entrance. The lead wolf is bigger than the other two, with reddish-bronze fur.
My heart patters hard in my chest. I can’t move. This is the huge wolf that inhabits my nightmares. I do not move. Fear is false. Fear is false. Fear is false.
My hands clench into fists by my side. They will be little use to me against her razor-sharp teeth. The Wolveskin smells me before she sees me. Her head turns, and she whips around to look at me. Her hackles rise and she takes one slow step after the other. Her lips curled back. Spittle falling from her canines.
Grrrr.
I do not move. I do not flinch. Her head is bigger than my head and chest. She is immense. A muscled killing machine. She stops in front of me. The heat of her breath blasts me. With one move she could rip off my face.
There is complete stillness in the main chamber. Every noise, every movement, every breath but mine has stopped. The entire pack is paralyzed. What to do? I am their King’s bound-mate, but Arianna is their female Alpha Wolveskin. Who do they call off? Who do they save? Who do they fight for or against? For a pack bound to hierarchy, this doubt is chaos.
The silver ring around the pupil of Arianna’s eye pulses. She is in there, barely holding her wolf back from killing me.
And I suddenly feel it. A stirring, a deep roaring that rips through me. A growl terrible and vicious and fierce. A need to rage and fight and create space for myself. A vicious creature that will force Arianna to back away and submit. Arianna’s gaze flickers. She takes one, then two steps back. My teeth grind and my jaw aches.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” I say. The sound of my own voice is unfamiliar to me, like a rumble in my chest. “The moon is soon full, and according to Luna and the White Wolf, that is when we shall wage war. I present to you my challenge.”
She steps forward again, her lips curled back. She’s even closer now, so close the wetness of her breath covers my face. I swallow. I have nowhere to go. My muscles tighten and my eyes grow wide.
In a flash a great wolf leaps across the chamber and bounces onto Arianna. She yelps as they roll together. They rise up and both transform into humans.
I let out a long breath. I’ve clenched my fists so tightly that I’ve dug bright red half-moons through the flesh of my palms.
“No, Meela. Arianna, you cannot—”
“It’s done,” Arianna says. Two handmaidens walk forward to give her a robe. She pulls her red curls from her neck and shakes her head. A wicked smile unfurls across her lips. “I accept your challenge,” she says, and glances at the Wolveskin pack milling about the main chamber. She turns to Rex. “It would seem that your Queen wishes to become Alpha female.” Arianna, gives me a pitying smile. “It’s too bad that she is woefully unprepared for what this challenge means.”
“Meela?” Rex shakes his head and looks at the ground. He sighs.
“It’s a full moon in two nights,” Arianna says. “Perfect for a challenge and well within my authority to accept.” She glances at Rex. “She’s only half-Wolveskin, if that”—her green eyes laser onto me—“and she’ll need someone to explain to her what she’s gotten herself into. I’m guessing that she has no idea what this challenge entails.”
Rex sighs and looks at Arianna. “You’re truly going to do this?” His gaze is steely, and there is something that passes between them as though he’s telling her what this, her winning this challenge and killing me, will mean for their relationship.
“A pack needs two leaders,” Arianna says. “An Alpha female and an Alpha male. You and your father have convoluted the pack hierarchy, and if you weren’t so compromised you’d see the confusion you’ve created. It’s up to me as Alpha female to fix the problem.”
A chill courses through my body. I am the problem she intends to fix. I shall either kill Arianna or be killed. There is no in-between based on the look she gives me.
“I’ll prepare her for the match,” Rex says. “We shall begin at sundown tomorrow.”
“She’ll need a second,” Arianna says. “And it must be a female.” Arianna looks around the pack that stands around the chamber. They silently watch what has transpired before them. Each knowing that the next forty-eight hours shall determine the fate of their pack. “Is there any female here, that would even want to be your second? So likely are they to die?” Arianna walks around the edges of the group. Meeting the gaze of every female Wolveskin that is present. One by one they drop their gaze. Each of them acquiescing to her dominance.
“I’ll be her second.” The voice comes from the side of the chamber. Through the crowd, Brianna elbows her way up from the back of the room.
A smile breaks across Rex’s face. He nods at his Beta.
A low growl passes over Arianna’s lips. Arianna’s entourage flanks her position. They face me and Brianna. “You know where that leaves you when she’s dead, don’t you?” Arianna asks.
“It shall leave me on the side of my King,” Brianna says. “And that is the side that every Wolveskin who’s a member of this pack should be. Just because one has the authority to do something, Arianna, doesn’t mean that they should do it.”
Arianna’s lip pulls back and fine copper-colored fur sprouts on her arm. “Then we are ready.” She looks at Rex.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. His nostrils flare and he climbs the rock in the center of the chamber. “When the moon is next full, the female Alpha contest shall commence at sundown and the wolf who returns on the dawn shall be Alpha.” His gaze lands on me, and his eyes hold sadness. There is nothing I can do to reassure him. I know the path I’ve been instructed to take.
Arianna’s hard gaze lands on me. Her voice drops. “I smell him on you. I shall take great pleasure in peeling the flesh from your bones, bit by bit until the scent of our great King is ripped away from the stink of you.” Her shoulder bumps me as she and her entourage leave the chamber.
“My Queen,” he says softly as the crowd of Wolveskin break apart and head back to their respective rooms. “I wish you hadn’t done this,” he whispers in my ear. “I fear…” His words drift off and he shakes his head. His gaze flickers past me.
“Sir, I will come for her at dawn.” Brianna walks up and stands beside us. “We have much to do.”
King Rex nods. “Thank you,” Rex says. “I know…I know what you have offered me…us.”
“It’s my honor,” Brianna says. She tips her head and turns.
“Rex, all will be well,” I say.
“My darling, you’ve just thrown the gauntlet down to a stone-cold killing machine. My pack has never before seen a female warrior like Arianna. Even I could fail to best her in the woods. In an Alpha challenge…I…” He appears at a loss for words, and that is what causes me the greatest pain, that there is fear in my King’s eyes.
I lean in and he wraps his arms around me. His worry clings to me as though I’ve been draped in a coarse wool gown. He presses his lips to the top of my head.
“Oh my beautiful Queen,” he whispers.
Do not worry, I think. Please.
He takes a big breath and releases me. I look into his eyes. “Come my lady, we must speak about the challenge and then we must sleep. Brianna will come for you at dawn. We have two days to prepare you for the fight of your life, and no matter what Luna and the White Wolf have requested that you do, two days is not nearly enough time.”
Chapter Eighteen
Taraz
Darkness creeps along the edge of the sky. Wind whispers through the trees. The air is cold, and a light dusting of fresh snow is on the ground. We remain in the Dark Forest and have not yet crossed onto Roya land. An owl hoots in the distance. The Wolveskin prowl through the forest. Near enough to guard us but far enough away not to bother our horses. I can’t see them through the trees, but I feel their
presence. Wolf Mountain is far enough in the distance now that the peak is barely visible, but Ninaku is still far enough away that, until today, we’d not yet entered Roya lands.
We stop deep in the valley, before a long climb to the land on the far side of the Great River, behind the Ninaku Slum. I’ve not ever approached Ninaku from this side. It’s a difficult approach. There are few patrols that come through this area, and this part of the forest is known for raiders and unfriendly surprises, even to Eliterrati with mindslay capability.
“They told us to wait for them here,” Nixal says, and spits onto the ground from his seat astride his horse. The forest is thick here, the trees so tall and immense with branches so dense that it’s dark and damp even at midday. There is a palpable tension in the air. My horse shifts uneasily beneath me.
I lean toward Jix. Now that the path is wider he rides with his horse beside me. “Who does Nixal mean when he says them?” I ask.
“I believe it’s the leader of the Engineers Guild,” Jix says. “It seems that Kaxon has been named head of the revolt and the temporary government. He’s also the one who has been developing the anti-mindslay technology.”
“Fascinating,” I say. Because it is, plus I want to convince myself of my excitement to elbow out the dread that weighs heavily on my mind.
Ah brother, have you finally sorted out that not everyone has the best interest of other people in their heart? Sarkany thinks.
I glance at Sarkany, sitting on his horse beside me. He lifts an eyebrow and gives me his all-knowing look.
It’s true, I pull my eyebrows together. I was just wondering what we’d be worth to Vlissimal—a sort of bargaining chip?
I doubt you’re the only one that’s thought as much, Sarkany thinks. He glances toward Nixal, our companion on this ride. I have little trust for that one. Sarkany’s gaze slides from Nixal, past me and toward the woods. He tilts his head ever so slightly. My horse shifts beneath me once more. I open my mouth to speak to Jix, and then it is as if time stands still.
