by Aubrey Rose
For hours we ran like this, until the sun was dipping down below the mountains and the thin light coming in through the tree branches died out. The moon was already rising on the opposite side of the hills.
“Make camp here,” Alekk shouted. “No fire until after dark, then we’ll have one large fire in the clearing. One fire only. Tent up quickly and be ready to go tomorrow at first dawn.”
“Alekk—” I said, wanting to ask him when we were going to arrive. By my estimation, we should get to the edge of my pack’s territory by the next night. But as I spoke to him, his sisters came out from behind the trees. They wore long pelts of white fur, and their dark hair cascaded down over the dresses. Leah walked behind them, her head bowed.
“Brother,” the older sister said. Villa, that was her name. Villa and Sara. I kept their names in the front of my mind and avoided their glances. “We must discuss our plans for tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Alekk said, kissing Villa on the cheek, then Sara. “It was a good run today.”
“We made much ground. Now, dinner?”
“Yes, of course,” he said. He snapped his fingers at Leah. “Take care of my human slave, girl.”
“Yes, sir,” Leah said, bowing shortly.
“I hope she’s been of good use to you, brother,” Sara said.
“Very useful,” Alekk grunted.
“So useful you would leave her your robes?”
I flashed a glance up to Sara, who was eyeing me warily.
“I’m overheated from the run,” Alekk said, waving the idea away casually. “And I’ll need them washed to get the human scent out of them.”
“Very well,” Sara said. “I’ll have one of the soldiers see to it.”
The two sisters walked away with Alekk between them. I watched from under lidded eyes until they had passed through the trees and disappeared farther away.
Chapter Eight
“Has he fucked you yet?”
I spun around to see Leah coming out from behind one of the firs that loomed overhead. Her pelts wrapped sleekly around her thin frame, and her long hair hung in loose waves behind her. She must have taken out the braids before shifting to run; her hair was only slightly curled.
“Well? Has he, human?”
I blushed, thinking of the way Alekk had touched me in the sleigh.
“No,” I said. “Not that it matters to you.”
I held my head high, trying to assume a dignity I didn’t possess. Face it, I was a mess of red frizz with a human body. Leah was right to look down her nose at me. But her eyes softened in concern.
“Be careful. Whatever he tells you, he’s only saying it for his own reasons.”
“And what are his reasons?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“But you know he’s lying to me.” I arched my eyebrows in skepticism.
“Don’t let yourself be one of his pawns. Don’t fall for him because of what he tells you.”
I saw a twitch on the side of her lip. A crinkle of a frown that disappeared. And underneath it: jealousy.
“Did you fall in love with him?” I asked.
Leah turned away. Her profile was pale against the dark firs behind us.
“There’s nothing more dangerous than trusting a man,” she said. Her eyes looked off, but she wasn’t seeing the frost on the branches. She wasn’t seeing anything, except maybe something from long, long ago. “Especially the Scarred Prince.”
Around us, amid the trees, wolves skulked and sniffed. I didn’t want to say anything that could be overheard by them. The sisters might have spies among the soldiers. Hell, Alekk might have spies among the soldiers. Who was I to know who was the good guy and who was the bad guy?
“How did he get his scars?” I asked instead.
Leah dropped her eyes away from the trees.
“Haven’t you heard the stories?” she asked. Her tone was half sneering.
“I’ve heard legends,” I said. “I’ve heard fairy tales. But I never knew anyone who had known the Scarred Prince.”
“You still don’t,” Leah said. “I don’t know him. Nobody knows him. Not truly. He doesn’t open up.”
“But the scars?”
Leah sighed, biting her lip. She, too, looked nervously around the trees where the wolves were congregating.
“I’ve been witness for a few of his wounds,” she said. “Early on, right after Trax was killed, there were many wolves who challenged him for alpha status.”
“Challenged?” That was what Blaise had been talking about before our birthday feast and the ceremony.
“Have you never seen a wolf challenge his alpha?”
I shook my head no.
“It is an impressive fight, always. The only ones who challenged Alekk were the strongest of the security guards. They thought Alekk was too young, too immature to lead. And maybe they were right. But the gods must have disagreed with them, for Alekk always won the fights. At the cost of his skin.”
“That’s where he got the scars?”
“Some of them. The ones across his back were claw marks from the first contender. He’d knocked Alekk down and batted him around a bit, playing with him. Giving him a second chance. Alekk took it. Nobody thought he would win that first fight. But his back healed in stripes.”
“And the contender?”
“You don’t heal from a bite in your throat,” Leah said blankly. “Alekk played weak until he saw his chance, and then he lunged. He didn’t let go until the contender had stopped moving, and then he limped away to heal.”
“And there were more contenders against him?” I asked incredulously. I couldn’t imagine how anyone who had seen Alekk kill someone would willingly fight against him.
“You seem surprised. Were there no challenges in your pack?”
“Never,” I said, thinking of my blind father. Then I stammered again, not wanting her to know how much I was a part of the pack. “I mean, not that I saw.”
“I suppose a mere human wouldn’t be allowed to watch those ceremonial occasions,” Leah said, brushing my experience aside.
“And that’s where he got the big scar?”
Leah blinked slowly, her eyebrows knitting at her forehead.
“No,” she said. “No, that was long, long before. That was—”
“Leah!”
We both turned our heads to see the older guard, Rikash, gesturing to Leah.
“Come! We need help preparing a meal!” he cried out.
“Can I help?” I asked. I was curious to talk more about Alekk, about what had happened before his father died that had given him his scar. But Leah brushed me off.
“We’ll talk later,” she said. “Sit and try not to cause trouble.”
She treated me as a child. I’d come all the way from my own pack to sacrifice myself. To prevent a war. And still, everybody treated me as a child. I sat down, wrapped in Alekk’s robes, and tried to channel my irritation into heat.
Chapter Nine
After a short hour of soldiers swarming over the hillside with supplies, the tents were all raised in a circle around a clearing in the wood. The sun dipped below the horizon, and soon a large bonfire was blazing away in the center of the encampment.
I had to hand it to Alekk, he’d picked a good spot to camp. We were on the opposite edge of the ridgeline, and the bonfire smoke wouldn’t be visible in the dusk or afterward. And the mountain itself blocked out the view of the fire. We weren’t near any of the territory trails. It was a perfect spot to hide. Unless there were scouts coming from our pack, we would be completely invisible.
And there weren’t any scouts, I knew. There was nobody in my pack’s territory. My dad had ordered everyone to leave, and what would Alekk do when he found out that I had told him the truth? Would he kill me if I was useless to him? I hadn’t thought about it, but if there was no possibility of war, there was no reason for him to want to marry me.
The thought stabbed a sharp pain into my heart. I swallowed i
t back. We were so close to my territory, it would be easy for me to run away. Well, not easy, not with all the soldiers around now, but if I could slip away for a moment, I would be able to make it across the river and lose them that way, the same way Alekk had lost our tracker.
Looking out into the trees, I saw a soldier out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look at him, and he dropped his eyes. I looked around, finding more than a few soldiers who had to avert their stare.
Were they watching me because Alekk had told them to do so? Were they just curious about a human, or were they guarding me? I didn’t know, but I had the hint that escaping this camp might be a bit harder than I’d originally thought.
The bonfire blazed ever-higher, the flames licking up towards the sky.
I walked toward the fire, Alekk’s robes heavy around my shoulders. It was warm close by, and a half-dozen soldiers had set up skewers of meat. I realized with a shock that they’d killed a deer and field-dressed it before cutting off strips to eat. They weren’t carrying food if they didn’t have to. This was a highly efficient army, all wolves who were made to fight.
As if to echo my thoughts, two men began to circle each other in front of the fire. They tore their clothes off while circling.
I looked around. Nobody else seemed to think anything of the fight. Some of the other soldiers even shouted for them to hurry up and get started.
“Why are they fighting?” I asked a soldier.
“For the whore,” he said, spitting into the clearing. It was then that I saw Leah standing on the other edge of the clearing, watching the fight with folded arms.
The two men were naked now, and beginning to lunge forward at each other. They stayed human for the most part, only letting themselves shift into wolf form briefly when they attacked. Their growls grew louder as they began to circle each other more tightly, leaving no space between them.
A growl—a slash of a paw, and then they backed away from each other.
“Come on!” the soldier beside me shouted. “Fight or I’ll fuck her for both of you!”
It was the only push they needed. Both of the men lunged forward, and I saw the sprout of fur as they crashed into each other, rolling across the ground. One of the men had clawed the other, but I didn’t see the wound before he shifted into wolf form. Blood matted their fur as they rolled over each other, snapping and growling.
The men around the campfire shouted and cheered as the fight went on. Finally the fight ended when one of the wolves stumbled and the other one caught him, pinning him to the ground with jaws gripping his throat. I drew a sharp breath. Would the victor kill the other soldier?
A cheer rose from the crowd, and I saw the champion back off, shifting back into human form. His naked body gleamed with blood in the firelight, and he raised both fists into the air in triumph. The other soldier didn’t bother to shift back. Limping, he made his way back into the crowd and disappeared. I let my breath go. At least this wasn’t a fight to the death.
“Who’s next?”
It was Alekk’s sister, the younger one. Sara. She strode forward and stood in front of the fire. Her dark hair whipped around her face and her white pelts shone red and gold, reflecting the fire’s fury.
“Nobody!” a voice from the crowd cried. “There aren’t any more whores in this camp!”
“Who’ll fight me, then?” Sara asked. She smiled, a thin smile that reached across her face. “Whoever beats me gets to keep me for the night.”
“I’ll take that bet!”
It was a young man who came out of the crowd and into the clearing. He grinned at Sara, who bowed ceremoniously at him.
“Careful,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt you too badly, or you won’t be able to handle me tonight.”
She only smiled.
I moved forward so that I was at the front of the crowd, watching the fight. The man lunged forward, and without any noise, Sara had leapt over him, kicking the back of his neck. He crumpled to the ground, groaning. He couldn’t even pull his body up. Sara kicked at his limp body, sending him rolling. Her strength was insane. She threw him around as though he was a small child.
“Stop, Sara.”
I gasped. It was Alekk, moving forward. He was shirtless and his broad chest gleamed in the light of the flames. I could see the thick cord of scar coming down his neck now. It wrapped down one shoulder blade and around his side, disappearing at his hip under his leather trousers.
“Brother,” Sara purred. “I thought it would be fun to do a little sparring.”
“You’ve done quite enough for tonight,” he said. His voice was low, but the wind brought his words across the clearing.
“Fine,” she said. “The men only want a bit of fun. Don’t you?”
A cry of agreement rose from the soldiers. They raised their fists, pumping at the air. I didn’t have to be in wolf form to sense the blood lust that ran through the crowd. They were an army, and they wanted to fight.
“You can’t barter yourself away in a fight,” Alekk warned.
Sara laughed, her dark hair rippling behind her.
“Who says I would ever lose?”
“Don’t,” he said. His voice made it clear that it was a command.
“I’ll obey, brother,” she said, her smile melting across her face. “But the men must have someone else to fight for. It will warm them up before the battle we’ll soon face.”
Her eyes turned around and settled on me. My fingers trembled at my side.
“How about your human whore?”
My breath froze in my chest as all of the soldiers’ heads turned to look at me. Alekk’s ice blue eyes glittered with anger. Sara had obviously known that I was a sore spot for him, because she smiled innocently. A lying smile.
“I’m happy to warm up the soldiers,” Alekk said. “Anyone want to fight me?”
He glared around the clearing, daring anyone to stand up to him.
I saw a few furtive glances my way. A growl from behind me made my hair stand on end. Then, two men stepped forward.
“One at a time or both of you together?” Alekk asked.
The soldiers looked sideways at each other and grinned. They stepped forward and positioned themselves on either side of Alekk.
I swallowed the anger that had risen in my throat. Alekk was going to fight two muscled, heavily trained soldiers at once? For what? To show off? Was he really insane?
As the two men circled Alekk, I thought of the terrifying prospect that Alekk would lose. Two men.. tearing me apart… Fear raced through me like fire through dry brush. This was what Leah had warned me about. I had been stupid to trust Alekk.
And yet, as the two men circled and circled and did not strike, my worry snagged somewhere inside. Alekk winked at me and feinted, a quick lunge that made both men jump back nearly a foot.
Alekk laughed, exposing his throat as he leaned his head back. The top of his scar gleamed gold in the firelight.
“Two of you, and you can’t even take a throw at me? Who are you? You are no warriors!”
One of the men growled and leapt forward, shifting as he rose into the air. His eyes flashed wild and his fingers grew claws for a moment.
Then he was met in the air by Alekk. I hadn’t even seen him jump! But there he was, crashing into the man’s side and rolling him across the ground. The man yelped as his body thudded, then scrambled to gain back his footing. He put his arm in the air to brace against Alekk.
Alekk was not there.
He was already on the other side of the clearing, chasing down the other man. All around me, soldiers cheered as their alpha drove the man back, back, in the curve of the clearing circle, with jabs and kicks into the air. His blows barely tapped the side of the soldier’s body, but he could have drawn blood if he wanted.
It made me breathe more easily to see him attacking, herding the two men to one side of the clearing.
Then he changed. I saw the change, not a shifting of the limbs or the growing of fur but ins
tead a look in his eye. He jumped out and kicked high, sending one of the men flying backward into the other. Both went tumbling to the ground.
“Come!” Alekk roared, pacing in a large curve in front of his men. Sweat glistened on his forehead and chest. The fire was high and burning hot, and fighting next to it must have been excruciating. But Alekk had a grin on his face.
“Fight like wolves, you thirsty cubs!” he cried out.
The two men scrambled back, and split up as they advanced on Alekk from both sides. Their eyes had both taken on the curious glisten that made me think they were no longer men, not on the inside. They were wolves, showing it in the speed and strength with which they fought.
It was impossible, that they would be able to shift internally first. But somehow they could do it. I didn’t know if that was something I could do. I’d certainly never tried it.
The two wolves leapt forward together, and my attention snapped back to the fight. They hit Alekk at the shoulders and he tumbled backwards. His body landed with a hard thud on the ground. I couldn’t help clasping my hands together in front of me. I quickly dropped them. Nobody should know that I cared for him in any way.
God, I shouldn’t care for him. And yet, my body cried out to hold him, to pull him up and away from harm. I stood and waited and stayed human.
The growls from the men turned into snarls, and then they were shifting completely, becoming wolves.
Alekk shifted too, a split second later. He sprouted dark fur, falling backwards into a pouncing stance, haunches raised. His dark tail swept the ground and his eyes—oh God, his brilliant blue eyes—looked directly into my face for a moment.
One of the soldiers leapt and tore with his teeth.
But he came away with only fur in his jaws. Alekk had rolled out of his grip and now he pounced. He brought one of the wolves to the ground, holding his throat in a lock jaw. The soldier whined, a high pitched sound that made me cringe to hear it. I can only imagine what it would have sounded like had I had all of my senses as a shifter.
Alekk stepped back and pawed the ground. The wounded soldier dragged himself to the sideline. The remaining soldier jumped back, his jaws snapping.
