Page 5 of The Chosen Fae

Now it had to look like more wolves owned the territory, and the four encroaching wolves turned tail and ran off.

After the fight, both Rune and Stone were heaving, their mouths bloodied, their tongues hanging out of their mouths, their hearts beating hard.

Then suddenly, Stone nosed her muzzle and licked her face. She breathed in deeply and let it out. Then she licked him back, and they lay down together and just rested.

He suddenly jumped up and ran off. She was afraid that the other wolves, or even more of them, had returned to get revenge.

But she didn’t smell or hear anyone coming. Not until she heard Stone return, but he wore leather breeches, boots, and a long shirt belted at the waist. She smiled. He had finally turned into his fae.

Long silver-white hair flowed over his shoulders, and his blue eyes were brilliant. He was beautiful, like the silver moon on a dark night.

2

"Because the two competing wolf packs refuse to agree to a unified pack under a unified leadership, it's time for the Fae Wolf Games," Moon Gazer said, watching over the two lone wolves, Rune and Stone, as they met up with each other in his glen.

"Aye. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" her twin sister asked.

"Yes, I'm sure of it. We've never had lone wolves in the games."

Star Gazer sighed and folded her arms across her waist. "But they will be at a disadvantage. They're not used to teaming up or competing against other wolves, as the wolves do in the packs."

"We have to select new pack leaders who will fight for what's right and not be at each other's throats. The packs in the valley need integrated leadership. Both Stone and Rune are from families that are in the competing packs, though they don’t know it. Even if they don't win, I believe they should compete to further their education in the way of the wolf fae. What would it hurt?"

Star Gazer worried her favorite wolves would be hurt because they weren't the same as the other wolves.

"They can fend for themselves. They've shown they can since they were young pups. It's time for them to meet up with other wolves. We can see where they stand," Moon Gazer said. "I know you're worried about them, but how can they prove themselves otherwise? I doubt they'll come out on top, but I believe it would be a good experience for them."

"You're not concerned about them?"

"Living alone? Yes, I am. And I'm also afraid they might start a pack of their own, and then we'll have three packs to deal with, which we can’t allow."

"True. They seem to be fond of each other, even though they stay apart from one another for the most part."

"So what do you say?"

"It will be traumatic for them." Star Gazer worried about how they would react if they were caged up, something that they had never experienced, and forced into a new environment that was both unfamiliar to them and no longer their own territory.

"They'll do fine. And if one of them doesn't win the game, no big deal. I want to see how they'll do. Don't you? They haven't even had any real interactions with other fae as fae. If anything, it will be a good experience for them to learn how to deal with other fae if they give them trouble. They'll learn to accomplish challenges that they've never been exposed to. Most of the other wolves have done things like this, but they'll have new experiences to handle as well."

"All right. Let's do this." Star Gazer hoped at least one of their lone wolves would win. Though she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Even if Rune or Stone could win the challenges, could he or she also bring the packs together? Could they unite the packs and lead them? That would be the biggest challenge of all.

The day when fae guards, at least that's what they looked like, came into Stone's territory, he didn't know what to think. The royals Stone had met, the dragon fae shifters, had been generous and kind. But these fae had cages, and that made him sure that he was in for trouble. Someone had it in mind to move him from his territory. He was sure of it. He snarled and snapped at them. They threw an iron mesh net over him.

He couldn't shift into his fae. He couldn't transport like the fae—something that had shocked him when he wanted to see what Rune was doing yesterday, and suddenly, he’d been standing in her glen. Once he’d shown her how he could do it, she had tried, and she had been thrilled that she could also.

The heaviness of the net forced him onto his side. He growled in frustration and anger. And then he saw Rune come to aid him. He wanted to shout to her to leave. To hide. He howled. She attacked one of the fae. She would be caught just like him. And he hated that she would be. Then a net was thrown over her, and she collapsed under the weight of it. Like him, she couldn't move, her eyes worried, but also filled with anger. She snapped at the men as they hauled her into one of the cages.

He did the same, but he couldn't bite through the heavy chain net, and the next thing he knew, he was also inside a cage and being carried off. Then in the blink of an eye, they were both transported in the fae way to separate cells. There, they were taken out of the cages. Once they were locked up, another fae, this one wearing long blue velvet robes and a beard, waved at Stone's iron net and it vanished.

Stone rushed the iron grates keeping him hostage and snarled and growled at the wizard. The wizard moved to the next cell where Rune was being held captive, and then he made Rune's net vanish with a flick of his wrist. She rose to her feet, but instead of going after the wizard, she walked over to the grate that Stone and she shared and put her nose through it. Stone joined her and nuzzled her face with his, then turned into the fae.

She shifted also. "What do they want from us?"

"To steal our glens? I don't know."

"To participate in the Fae Wolf Games," the wizard said. "I'm Bentan. You are here on the request of Star Gazer and Moon Gazer, the goddesses who watch over the rune stones and keep peace in the wolf territories where you belong."

"Who?" Rune asked.