We may as well have been in Outer Lassig.
We shook our heads in awe, smiling like goofs at one another. I laughed and then hugged Agatha. “It might be hard to track us all the way to here.”
Agatha shook her head and laughed. “Who are you and where is my best friend?”
The smile left my face, I looked down at my shift, embarrassed. “Thank you for coming Aggie, you didn’t even hesitate.”
“I wasn’t given a chance!” she said, playfully pushing me. “But of course, Fey.” She shook her head in determination. “We have to try and understand yourletter.”
She looked around tentatively, eyeing a mountain of a man leaning against a cart. We moved on, heading towards an opening further up. More and more people were gathering there. I began to feel very nervous all of a sudden.
It was like I couldfeelthat everyone was on edge. Groups of men were talking in hushed tones, while others with arms crossed cracked knuckles. Beyond the square was a large spire of stone. A pillar.
The Pools of Prophecyfloated into my mind. Iknewthat was the name.
We came to the square and the atmosphere was thick; violence solidified. I could hear a woman singing. Men around us were asleep. Why on earth were they all napping in the square under this harsh sun?
Where a tingle of a feeling had run through me before though, a lightning bolt struck me now.
A loud howl echoed into my head. It was the sweetest, most precious sounding howl I’d ever heard.
Except I’d never heard a howl. In my dreams where I was a werewolf, I was always alone in a castle.
But this howl melted through my mind and made me weak in the knees. I felt a deep longing for whoever made that sound.
Then I saw him.
He bounded across the square, leapt a cart in one move and slid to a stop in front of two children playing. He caught the fists of two gigantic men who’d been advancing towards the pillar of rock.
He crushed their hands like they were twigs and broke their arms. They screamed in pain and a riot started. Only to stop immediately.
The single man stood there, shining with power and command. His hair flowing like a mane, the robe around him was taught from his muscles. His body bulged with health. If he’d been dressed as a beggar, it could only be a ruse.
He looked like a god.
He was the best looking man I’d ever seen.
And everyone stood awaiting him.
A screech cried in the air, making everyone in the square flinch. But the lone god-wolfman stood rigid.
I was moving forward before I realized what I was doing. Eyes followed me and my brain screamed for me to stop, but I couldn’t listen to it. My heart howled along with the wolf I’d just heard in my mind.
He looked at me, as if he’d heard my howl. My heart reached out to his, and I felt his reaching back. I extended my arms forward and fell to my knees. I looked up at him, my neck exposed and breath heavy.
I wanted him to mark me. I wanted him to make me his. I wanted–
“What is this?” he snapped, sneering down at me. Then looking around at the men. “What trick is this?”
The love that was blossoming in my heart faltered. The heart that had been reaching back at me snapped shut like a gate, imprisoning my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. This felt worse than Aunt Teetee’s death. This felt worse than–
“Who are you?” he growled.
I looked back up into eyes that I knew I loved, a face I wished to see every morning when I woke, arms I yearned to be held by–
“I’m your fate,” I said, weakly.
Chapter 6
