Page 61 of Blood Princess

We couldn’t shift until we’d crossed into the Black Forest. Cordovan had warlocks placed in all the border towns, on the lookout for wolves. Even though we knew how to move through the towns undetected, there was still a risk of being spotted by hunters and townsfolk, who would sell us out to the Vermillion Knights for gold.

We were almost at the border. The trees of the forest loomed before us when the second shock came.

We both froze, eyes wide. I tried to breathe - but there was nothing there.

Silence. Dead silence. Tearing through us like a black hole, emptiness rippled through the centre of the bond.

“Where is she?” Fillian gasped, reaching out a shaking hand to clutch my sleeve. “Valko, where’s she gone?”

I grabbed his arm, forcing us into a run. The silence was all-consuming, tearing through me, rendering me speechless. My only focus was on them. Lucien was there, a faint star to our broken constellation. It was dark, not a single shimmer of red to guide our way.

Lucien was screaming, his wolf howling in despair. I could taste the tang of silver in his blood, feel his rage boiling over, hiding the deep rift cleaving him in two.

I kept us running, the faint mist signalling the line of the border. We couldn’t stop. No matter how much pain burned in my chest, we had to reach them before I could give in to my fear.

“Valko, what’s happening?” Fillian asked again, sounding as terrified as I felt.

I wouldn’t think it. I couldn’t think it. But already images of dead faces, family members and friends caught and murdered, glassy eyes, blue lips, and nothing left of the wolves they once were.

I had to stay calm. If I let my panic win, my wolf would take over and I wouldn’t be able to help them. But maybe my panic was needed.

We burst through the barrier, plunged into the darkness of the everlasting night.

“Shift. Now,” I commanded.

Fillian did not need an order. Dropping onto all fours, he growled as his clothes ripped, and golden fur erupted all over his body, his eyes shifting from innocent blue to harsh, glowing yellow. Ears and snout forming, along with giant paws and thick claws, ready to tear flesh. We would need them for whatever had attacked our mates.

I shifted with him. The tense blow of pain was nothing compared to the agony pounding through me. Older and stronger, my wolf was larger than his, but Fillian was fast for his size.

We took off, both knowing the path, bounding through the trees as fast as our legs would carry us. Lucien’s fight had gone. His rage had subsided, and now all I could feel was the expanse of his despair as his heart beat with one word: Ruby.

She was gone.

I reached for her, and still nothing.

My lips pulled back over my teeth and a snarl ripped from me as I put on an extra rush of speed.

Fillian was frantic. He was losing control, just like he had when I found him with Ruby two days ago. I needed to stay grounded, send him calming energy even though I was close to breaking.

Shadows of trees whipped by us, gnarled branches, some familiar, some strange. This was our usual path to the markets, but the forest twisted everything, including the darkness.

We needed to get to Lucien. If he was dying - if Ruby was dead - I’d never forgive myself for leaving.

But, with the loss of her essence from the pack bond came the sinking realisation that our trip to the market wasn't my idea.

She had whispered to me late at night when I was half asleep, creeping into my heart. But my wolf didn't care. Our sole focus was reaching the cave.

It was taking us too long to return; time passed too slowly as my body wore down. At an easy pace, it took us a day there and back to the villages. At full speed, it only took us hours.

Lucien’s life was slipping away. Fillian was crying out with each step, his wolf whimpering and whining as we continued to run. He couldn’t cry tears in his wolf form, but Lucien’s anguish was enough to rip us apart. The pain caused me to stumble, but I quickly regained my footing. My wolf was in charge, my sanity held by mere threads.

I needed to feel her again. Just one more touch, one more sense of her through the bond, so we knew she was alive. Even if she tricked us, she couldn't disappear like that. It wasn’t possible unless she was dead.

I was certain we sped by a shroud of ghouls dragging themselves alongside the path towards our den, out in the hope of an easy meal.

Lucien’s energy was fading quickly, but I was already forming a plan. My shoulder still burnt, so the silver must have entered him there. But, if we kept him outside, it should prevent the worst of the spread. I only hoped we wouldn’t have to fight off the ghouls while we tried to heal him.

I smelt Lucien’s blood before I saw him.

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