by Leia Stone
The animal lowered its head, wheezing and sputtering. Hopefully, I’d smashed his trachea. Go, me. Dad would be proud … if I lived to tell him. I sucked in a deep breath through my nose to scent the wolf.
Male musk and heavy pinewood smoke, something wolves did to mask their scent. Of course it was a male. Females didn’t initiate dominance fights nearly as often as males. I stared him in the eyes, begging my wolf to come to the surface.
Come on, baby. Shift and tear this guy in two.
The wolf stilled, cocking his head to the side.
My wolf hesitated, and shame burned my cheeks.
Not again.
“Nai?” Noble called.
His voice was far off, but it was enough to spook the wolf. He snarled at me before darting into the trees.
“Coward!” I screamed as my legs crumpled. I collapsed in the sand, dropping the glass shard and staring at the stars above me while they swirled.
Shit. My arm hurt. As the adrenaline from the fight wore off, pain throbbed through my arm from my wrist to my elbow. I panted, trying to maintain consciousness while blood seeped through my fingers and soaked into the sand.
Someone set me up. They set me up good.
This wasn’t a dominance fight. That was done in front of peers and witnesses. This was a mother-freaking ambush.
Even though I didn’t know why, I did have an inkling as to who could’ve set this up. No matter how many times my father and I did that damn drill, calling up my wolf when under duress had always been my biggest weakness. Only someone from Crescent could know that.
But was Nolan’s wolf that psycho? He would benefit from my death, but to do it like this, in a dark patch of forest without anyone around, it was low, even for him. I wasn’t aware of any other enemies though.
So before I died here, bleeding out on the sand, I wanted to know one thing:
Did my freaking cousin just try to kill me?
If I survived, I’d ask him with a sword in my hand for good measure. The coward.
“Help!” I managed to get out before weakness pummeled me. How was there so much blood? I leaned over and saw the stained red sand around my arm. It was clumpy; my gash was still free-flowing.
Did he hit an artery? More dizziness gripped me. Or was that fear?
Things started to spin when I heard Noble shout; his voice louder than before which, hopefully, meant he was closer.
“Over … here,” I gasped.
Seconds later, I felt his presence, and relief coursed through me. As the darkness rushed up to meet me, I was scooped up by a pair of giant muscular arms, and the owner’s smell hit my nose like a truck.
Rage.
“Get a healer!” he shouted, and I looked up at his face. Those eyes … were they the eyes of my masked mate?
His fingers went to my pulse. “Who did this?”
I knew then, without a doubt, that if I said Nolan’s name, my cousin wouldn’t survive until morning, and I was only 48.3% sure it was him.
“Your eyes … so green…” I mumbled, trailing my fingers along his cheek before finally losing consciousness.
Chapter 12
I came to with a pounding headache. Muffled voices filled my ears and clanged through my head. As I pried my eyes open, images solidified with a snap.
Kaja and Nell stood on either side of the bed, both leaning directly in front of my face.
“Thank the mage!” Kaja gasped, her hands fluttering over me.
“You scared the magic out of us! Don’t ever do that again,” Nell warned.
Kaja nodded, her expression pinched.
Behind them, Noble stood at the foot of the bed, his nostrils flaring; his eyes practically shot fire. Honor leaned against the window, arms crossed as he stared. When our gazes collided, his eyes narrowed.
I sat up, and Nell grabbed pillows from the bed next to me to stuff behind my back for support.
Two rows of beds ran parallel the length of the brick walls, all the beds made up with white sheets and all unoccupied except mine.
I was in a hospital. One hundred percent certain of that. The castle? Maybe 50/50 sure. The alpha king probably wouldn’t invite me into his personal space. The memory of the attack roared through my mind then, and I stared at my forearm, tracing the puckered scar.
Yikes. The skin was pale—even for me—but the jagged wound was healing.
“You lost a lot of blood,” Honor said, pushing away from the window. He winced as he came down on his right leg.
I wondered again how he’d gotten the permanent injury and why it didn’t heal. Also … why didn’t anyone talk about it? There was a story there, but could I ask him? Not today. Today, I was the patient.
Frowning, he stepped forward and then halted as Noble approached my bedside, cutting Honor off.
My gentle friend growled, and Nell scurried back, allowing Noble ample space.
“Who did this?” he demanded, his voice sharp and full of anger.
I blinked, thinking it was Rage or Justice, but no. Gone was my sweet friend; he was all fierce and full of hatred.
A vise closed around my chest.
Shit.
My suspicion that Nolan was at the bottom of it was just that—suspicion. What with the shock and all, I wasn’t even 50.7% sure.
Noble was scary though, and I rethought my earlier assessment of him. That was a creepy-ass-scary-as-hell-Mr. Hyde-switch he had going on. I was 99.99% sure if I told him I suspected Nolan, my cousin would be dead.
“I’m not sure,” I croaked, the statement sounding more like a question. After sipping at the lukewarm water Kaja held out for me, I tried to deflect. “What time is it?”
“Bullshit,” Honor said from the growing shadows filtering in by the window.
Fear trickled in, and I let it fuel anger as I glared at the silent brother. “Excuse me?”
He approached my bedside again, limping softly as he did.
“I read people,” he said, nostrils flaring. “Very well.”
My palms broke out in a sweat. What was with my two sweet boys going all ragey-alpha on me?
Noble nodded to his brother before facing me. His fierce expression softened, barely. “This is an official investigation, Nai, so tell the truth. Do you have any idea who did this?”
Official investigation.
My heart pounded, climbing up into my throat. I really didn’t know. Not a hundred percent. I couldn’t implicate someone and ruin their life over a hunch. Even if it was my asshat cousin Nolan. I sighed and then said, “No. I tried to scent him, but he covered it with pine smoke.”
“Why didn’t you shift?” Honor asked. “Your wolf is better suited for a fight like that.”
I frowned, hesitant to share my secret, and Noble patted my good arm.
“Whatever it is, you can tell us. We want to help.”
After sucking in a deep breath, I blurted, “Stress makes it hard to shift. Always has. I … can’t control my wolf.”
Every wolf I’d ever known had no problem shifting when in danger. In fact, it was easier when in mortal peril. Not me.
“What?” Noble stared at me like I’d just grown another head. “That makes no sense.”
Honor snarled at Noble, more animal than human, maybe because he didn’t like his brother pointing out my weakness when he had one of his own. But when he spoke, Honor’s words were clear and full of pity. “How? The wolf instinct makes it impossible not to shift.”
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, “Well, somehow my wolf never got the memo on rules of instinct.”
I had no idea why she hesitated. After years of trying to force her, my father decided extra lessons in hand-to-hand combat were the best backup plan for my wolf, who locked up in life or death situations.
“Does your entire pack know your weakness?” Honor asked, his hand going to massage that spot on his right leg that must be causing him pain.
Calling it a weakness hurt, but he was right.
I knew where this
conversation was headed. “Yes, but I doubt the wolf who attacked me was Nolan.” Moving my position slightly, I winced when the movement sent a sharp zing deep into my bone. I knew Nolan’s wolf’s markings and smell, but there was magic to cover that up, so I wasn’t sure.
“Damn,” Honor said as if he wanted it to be Nolan.
Noble shared a look with Honor, and the latter nodded.
“You need lessons,” Honor said, fur rippling down his arms. “That’s a weakness no shifter can afford.”
“Sure,” I said. “Where do you propose I squeeze that in? Saturdays might work, assuming I’m not cramming for fire or water classes. Or the alpha studies in the gym. Not to mention serving meals in the dining hall.” I shook my head at the absurdity of their proposal. “I don’t have time for one more thing.”
Noble sucked in a breath. “Nai—”
“You can’t afford to not take time for this,” Honor snapped. “How can you expect your pack to follow you if you can’t shift when there’s danger?”
I glared at him, forcing myself to keep my eyes off his injured leg; it was rich coming from him. “It hasn’t affected me … so far.”
Honor crouched and stared at me eye-to-eye. “It just did, Nai. That’s why you’re in here.” He gestured to the healing ward I lay in and straightened. “Lessons start Saturday night, 8 p.m. sharp.”
Then he turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
“What the mage is his problem?” I grumbled, picking at the edge of my blanket. Lessons? Honor was going to teach my wolf to shift in danger? Hah. Good luck. My father had been trying for years.
Noble shook his head, making it clear he wasn’t pleased either.
“You almost died, Nai. Everyone is really wound up about this attack.” Noble pursed his lips. “No one knows if you were the specific target or just the best opportunity to strike at the heirs. Think of what it could mean if our own kind was uniting with the selkies and betraying us. It could put others at risk, not just you, and there’s the tension with the other shifters too…”
Wolf shifters uniting with the other shifter races to pick off heirs? I shivered at the thought. I’d never asked anymore about the selkie incident, and the boys didn’t offer anything up.
“But the attack on me was an isolated incident, right?” I argued, my voice still sounding raspy. “Or have there been others?”
“As much as I hate to say it, you’re the only one. Hardly reassuring at this point.” He gave my good hand a squeeze. “Feel better. I’ve got to report back to the king.”
Then he, too, left the room.
My attention bounced from the door and back to my friends, who swarmed back to the bed again.
“Whoa,” Nell said.
“Super whoa,” Kaja agreed, her brown eyes as big as saucers. “What’s up with you and the Midnight princes?”
Speaking of… “Where’s Rage?” I asked. “He’s the one who saved me.”
I needed to thank him. Big-time. The memory of his green eyes flashing fire when he scooped me up set my heart fluttering.
Both girls shared a look, a look that one hundred percent promised I wasn’t going to like whatever they said.
“He’s briefing the king on the attack. Justice too.” Nell forced a smile, the flat-lipped kind that wasn’t really a smile at all. “You legit almost died. It’s Sunday afternoon.”
Sunday! I’d slept almost twenty-four hours? That was scary, but I was going to focus on the fact I was… not dead. “Why are they only briefing the king now? What happened? Why didn’t they brief him last night, right after the attack?”
Kaja scooted onto the bed, and Nell sat at my feet, but Kaja’s bouncing indicated she was nearly bursting with something.
“Spill,” I told her more urgently.
She grinned. Leaning forward, she dropped her voice to a whisper. “Rage lost it. He was white as a sheet when we arrived on scene, yelling orders at everyone. You looked like a ragdoll in his arms.”
On scene. Yelling orders. In his arms. My stomach dropped. I wanted to hear more, but I also needed to tell someone my suspicion.
“I think Rage or Justice might be my fated mate,” I blurted and then chewed my lip, waiting for their reactions.
Nell’s mouth popped open into an “O” shape, and her eyes widened.
Maybe I should’ve kept that to myself.
I glanced at Kaja, who grinned hugely.
“That makes sense,” my BFF said, nodding. “But which one?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. They both have the same green eyes, but I’m leaning toward Justice … he’s nicer to me.”
Beowulf also had green eyes, but my gut was telling me my mate was a Midnight brother.
Saying Justice’s name out loud caused a twinge of tightness just under my breastbone. Wait, did I want it to be Rage or Justice? Ugh.
This was going to kill me.
“If a Midnight prince is your fated mate, that’s going to be some dra-ma,” Nell concluded.
A sigh escaped me. “I know. Okay, tell me what happened at the beach. I don’t want to think about who my mate is anymore.”
Kaja nodded, picking up where she left off, “It was the strangest thing. After I found some mage wine, I was on my way back to the beach to look for you when a messenger told me I was needed urgently at our dorm. He delivered a note saying Rue had been badly injured, so I raced to the house to see—”
“The whole thing was a setup,” Nell added, her voice low. “I told Rage—”
“I even gave him the letter,” Kaja piped in.
What the heck? Whoever attacked me knew I was close friends with Kaja and that she’d be looking for me on the beach, so they lured her away? That meant this was a two-person job. One to attack and one to distract. Maybe more. “I was looking for you.”
After I explained how the attacker drew me away by mimicking her voice, Kaja cursed.
“Maybe it wasn’t a random attack.” But was Nolan smart enough to coordinate something like that? Not at all. Leaning forward, I asked, “What about the messenger?”
“Gone,” Nell said. “The guy wasn’t any of the messengers from around campus or the castle, and Rage made them all do a lineup in case Kaja could identify him.”
Dread slithered down my throat, through my chest, and settled at the bottom of my stomach—the cold weight making me nauseated. I sank into my pillows and closed my eyes, waiting for my stomach to settle.
“Anyway, Prince Courage brought you here, but the healer mage couldn’t wake you up. Justice was so upset he went rogue—totally disobeyed the king—and went to Dark Row.” Nell swallowed hard.
I sat up so fast my head spun, “Wait, what?”
Kaja nodded, picking up the story. “He forced a witch there to make a healing potion to awaken you. He just left.” She pointed to the door. “Otherwise, you might still be asleep.”
I sat up straighter, my fear overcome by shock. Okay, that settled it. Justice was my mate…
“He went to Dark Row?” I cleared my throat and pressed on. “As in the deadly black market?” Even watching Kaja’s head bob up and down, it didn’t register. “As in the ‘don’t ever go there’ market where people are murdered over magical things?”
I ended my question with a flourish meant to encompass all the artifacts and potions one could get—usually for a very steep price. It was legendary, and not the good kind. Definitely not a place for a prince. My father told me all about it.
They both nodded. “Rumor is, he had to give his blood to pay the price to save you.”
Holy shit. Justice was my mate. That was proof. Right there. No one else would do such a thing.
“Oh, girl, you should’ve seen Prince Courage,” Nell said as if to prove my conclusion wrong.
Kaja nodded. “Rage never left your side from the time he picked you up until Justice returned. We could hear him all the way from the hallway, screaming death threats at the healers.”
&nb
sp; “From the hallway?” I repeated, trying to process.
Nell patted my leg as she said, “They wouldn’t let us in until you were stable.”
Kaja snickered. “More likely they didn’t want us in while Rage was thrashing that one guy.”
I frowned. Maybe Rage is my mate. Oh mage, I was so confused.
I rubbed my temples, wishing I could go to sleep for another day or ten…
“Nai…” Kaja placed a hand on my shoulder. “You do have a hunch who did this, right?”
I sighed. “Maybe…” But would he go to that much effort? “Nolan was my first guess, but I’m not sure.”
Kaja nodded as if this made perfect sense. “He definitely wants to be alpha of your clan, and he hasn’t exactly been welcoming.”
Nell scrunched her face in obvious disagreement. “But that’s so obvious. Not to mention unethical.”
Pretty sure ethics weren’t at the top of Nolan’s priority list.
“This would take some thought,” Nell continued, oblivious to my judgy thoughts. “Who else hates you?”
I was barely out of ICU, and they wanted me to weigh-in on my nemesis’ identity and evil plan?
“No idea. I’m so nice and lovable,” I joked.
Kaja agreed, but Nell snorted. “I was thinking Mallory could have done it. You know, she and Rage dated last year for a hot minute, and she’s been glaring daggers at you since you arrived.”
“Mallory?” I asked.
“Evil Barbie,” Kaja translated.
Oh yeah, blood loss had done a number on my brain.
Barbie would kill me over Rage? She had to know life didn’t work that way, right?
“No,” I huffed. “It was a male wolf. I could smell him.”
Nell waved me off. “Well, obviously she wouldn’t do it herself. I’ll bet she hired someone.”
Kaja shook her head. “Murder, Nell? Really? No, it’s definitely Nolan. You should tell the princes so they can confront him about this.”
Pretty sure I knew that wasn’t the best plan—even without a gallon of blood.
