Peering around me, I gauge the reactions of those who fought for Silas. I can tell there are some who are still unsure what to believe. Before I have a chance to narrow in on what concerns remain, Silas drops his protective bubble and cuts in, “Don’t listen to a word that filthy liar is spewing. She wants to tempt you away from the truths of this world.” Just the sound of his grating voice causes red hot fury to travel up my spine.
“That’s enough from you, Silas,” I shout, then to make sure he doesn’t try interrupting me again, I add a command mingled with magic. “Not another word. All of those who fight on your side already know what you believe. What they don’t know is the truths I can give them. They deserve to make up their own mind on who to believe.” My final words cause a few of the mistrusting individuals to sway in my favor. Silas throws his arms up and his cheeks move like he’s trying to open his mouth but his lips remain sealed.
A man steps forward, his brows furrowed. “You would let us choose for ourselves?” he questions.
“Absolutely. It’s not up to me to tell you what to believe, that’s all on you.” I confirm for him.
He nods his head and steps back again. I catch him murmuring to the man next to him. “Lord Silas never gave us the freedom to choose. It’s always been his way or the dungeon. I’m choosing the side of being able to live my life the way I want.” A few others who heard him nod in silent agreement.
Glancing around, my eyes land on some of the wolves. When they came out of regaining their memories, some of the wolves shifted back into human form, conjuring clothing to cover their forms. The wolves who didn’t shift, hold anger in their eyes. All of them except for one. The lone wolf holds immense sadness in its gaze, making my heart clench. It spots me looking at it, and then takes a tentative step forward.
It reaches the edge of my vines and pauses. I can finally tell the wolf is a young female, which is surprising to see since birthrates have become almost nonexistent. She places the tip of her paw on one of the flowers in an action, reminding me of someone testing the temperature of pool water. My vines pull away from the ground below where her paw is trying to step, then they clear a path for her to reach me. The vines have detected her trustworthiness, and she approaches me a little faster. Her tail is between her legs and her head is low to the ground. Her eyes glance up at me with a mixture of hope and fear.
When she stops in front of me, I kneel down so I’m not towering over her. She gives me the most heart-wrenching puppy dog face, and to top it off, she whines. “Are you stuck in your wolf form, cutie?” I ask her. She reaches out and nudges my hand with her nose and gives a quick lick. “I can help walk you through connecting with your magic so you can shift into your human form,” I tell her, thinking her issue is the same as the shifters who showed up at the castle.
She shakes her head and paws at my hand with her front left foot. I open my hand, and she places the paw on my palm. I lay my other hand over it and try to puzzle out what she’s trying to tell me. My hands heat with magic and I send it into her, searching for anything it can detect. There are several places where her bones have broken and healed incorrectly. The bones aligned enough for her to be able to walk on it, but because it didn’t heal perfectly, she’s been prevented from shifting again. The pain she had to endure must have been immense.
The little wolf whines again, and I realize a tear is tracking down my cheek. The longer my magic surrounds her injury, the more it allows me to see exactly how it happened, and to experience her pain. I know how to fix this for her, but she’s going to experience a whole lot of pain to get there. “I’m sorry, little wolf,” I sympathize, while giving her the nickname I just used in my mind without thinking. “I can help you, but it’s going to hurt.”
She licks my hand once more in understanding, and I get to work. A warm glow shines between my palms with her paw in between them. The healing magic breaks her bones and realigns them properly. A few pinched nerves are fixed and she lets out a whine with the pain. A few individuals step forward in concern, but ultimately choose to stay where they are.
The moment the healing finishes, she shifts into human form and throws her arms around me. I quickly place warm clothes on her, so she isn’t exposed and run a hand over her hair in comfort as she breaks down into my shoulder. When she pulls back, strength pools in her eyes. She’s primed to explode when she whips around and faces the direction where Silas is standing.
She looks right at him and points her finger. “You! You did this to me! For all the times you lectured us on providing the only place we would be accepted, the only thing I’ve ever seen from you is hatred for us. If one of us didn’t act exactly the way you wanted us to, you would punish us. I stumbled across your path once, and you crushed my paw under your heel. That’s not acceptance! You would drown us in fear of even stepping foot outside of the compound. Made us believe we would be hunted down and stripped of our power with a single glance from the lost royals.
“Well, look around,” she yells, lifting her arms and turning in a circle. “I don’t see a single person trying to strip powers. In fact, it appears some have been given back their powers that you said were stolen away from us! I think the only person here who’s been telling lies is you, Silas. They didn’t even try to attack us until we made the first move. And what did you do? You stood there behind a shield doing nothing. That’s not being a leader. It’s not showing us we’re the family you said we were. A family shows nothing but love for each other. All you’ve ever shown was disgust and envy.”
I am ensnared by this little wolf. Not because of what she’s saying, but because she has such spitfire held within her soul. Okay, it doesn’t hurt that she’s saying the same things I wanted to say, only with much more effectiveness than if I had done it. Who’s more believable? The inside girl, who’s just been given the freedom to speak her mind, or the big bad opposing Queen they were sent to murder? Gazing across the faces of the rest of the holdouts tells me she’s convinced them of what side they want to be on.
Those who chose to stick with Silas give off a distinct aura, causing those who spurn him to give side-eye glares. A division between the ranks spreads out as the two sides step away from each other. Little wolf takes a step to place herself between me and William. She pops a hip out and places her hand on it, sending daggers with her glare toward Silas.Yep, I’m keeping her.
There are now three segregated groups of people in the valley, my soldiers, brave individuals who branched away from Silas, and those shadowed with evil. He’s down to about fifty followers, and if looks can give an accurate depiction, Silas is spiraling into a psychotic break. With bugged out eyes, a dark red hue to his complexion, and his mouth unable to open, he’s a sight to see. He can see as clearly as anyone else, the tides of this war are firmly against him.
“Time’s up, Silas,” I taunt, removing the magic keeping him silent.
“Listen here, you fucking whore. The universe chose me as the rightful King of this world, and I won’t let you hold me back,” Silas spews. I’m sure if I was standing close enough, I’d be covered in spittle. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a vial of blood, holding it up so we can see it. “Marcellus will remember who his true master is in just a moment.”
My heart drops, and my stomach churns, dread filling my entire body and spilling into my soul. William has reassured me a thousand times that Silas won’t be able to control him again, but in this moment, it just doesn’t seem like enough. I want to reach for his hand, but the little wolf is still standing between us. The only comfort I’m able to find is when Will laughs. The throaty sound is filled with genuine amusement. “That blood won’t do you any good, Silas. I spelled every drop of blood you got from me to be useless against me, or anyone I care about.”
Surprise flashes across Silas’ face so quickly I’m not entirely sure if I actually saw the expression correctly. His eyes narrow with a glint of pure hatred. “There’s more I can do with your blood than just controlling you, or harnessing its power. This is just one example of how you’ve always fallen short of brilliance. Such a disappointment. I’ll be glad to be rid of you,” Silas seethes.
Will rolls his eyes and steps forward to restrain Silas so he can be sentenced for his crimes. In the same moment, Silas brings up a new protective bubble around him. It doesn’t pass my notice that he has once again chosen not to protect his followers, but is only concerned with himself. There’s a faint red hue to his shield, something I’ve never encountered before. I’m left to assume it has something to do with his use of blood magic to put it up.
The red opaque bubble begins to pulse, the color becoming stronger, then fading out to almost clear, before becoming darker again. It resembles the beating of a heart, further giving me the impression of it being linked to blood magic. I send my own magic toward the bubble, testing it for its weaknesses and hidden truths. As I prod, Silas pulls out a bowl from his pocket and pours the tube of blood into it. He chants under his breath and desperation grips me. Ihaveto get his shield down and stop him from completing whatever spell he’s trying to perform. I know this with more assurity than I know my mates have been destined to complete me in every way.
“No more fucking around. I want this asshole out of our lives,” William encourages me. My magic clutches onto the molecules of the shield, battering against it, trying to create fissures to pull it apart. Silas’ chanting grates against my nerves, and I focus even more of our combined magic into destroying the bubble protecting him. A growl of frustration escapes me as a bead of sweat rolls down my neck.
Since I control our combined magic, my mates fan out around me with swords drawn, making sure I’m protected on all sides. Our soldiers move to separate Silas from his followers, making sure they aren’t able to join him once I break the barrier. From the corner of my eye, I catch William rubbing at his chest, a puzzled expression marring his beautiful face. I frown, wondering what could be causing his reaction. Just as I’m about to question him through our bond, a faint crack reaches me from the shield.
The sound pulls my full attention once more. My sense of triumph is doused when I spot the struggle of Silas trying to hide a smirk. Why would he be pleased with his protection crumbling under my pressure? Another crack sounds, this time significantly louder, bouncing back off the mountains surrounding us. The rhythmic pulsing of red stutters, and a new pulse pounds through it. Something is off about how often it beats now.
A shout of pain disturbs the resounding crack. William falls to his knees, one hand shooting out to catch himself before face-planting into the snow, the other clenching his chest. His face is almost the same shade of the clean snow surrounding us, having drained of color. He groans as he tries to breathe in. I don’t even spare a moment of thought before I rush to reach his side.
My knees plunge into the soft ground, the cold bite of melting snow seeping into the fabric of my jeans is barely noticeable with the pounding of my heart. I grip his face in my hold, forcing him to look at me. Despair replaces the usual joy in his gaze. I search his body for a wound. I’m frantic, worry clouding my thoughts. Lunatic laughter fills my ears, unable to penetrate my fear.
Marcus crashes down beside me, trying to help find the cause of his twin's reaction. My other mates crowd in closer, and for once, their proximity doesn’t offer me any comfort. William catches my hand in his grip and holds it over his heart. “Darling.” His pained voice causes tears to prick at the back of my eyes. William’s panting begins to even out and a faint shade of color comes back to his face. The erratic beat of his heart gets stronger, and with his waning life signs returning, I finally hear Silas’ evil laugh.
Chapter 22
