AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 21
The guard shovedhis hands against my back, and I stumbled into a cobblestone courtyard, a strangled cry caught in my throat. The manor surrounded us on all four sides with red stone. I’d never been here before. Not many people had. It reminded me of aprison.
I hugged myself, scanning the balconies looking down on where westood.
“Keep moving.” The man prodded my shoulder, and I cried out loud as the piercing ache ripped through my shoulder like shatteredglass.
Blood dribbled down my arm, and every step grew sluggish. The world tilted around me, and I stumbled in a zigzagline.
We passed through open wooden doors, a manicured lawn waiting for us. Dense trees surrounded the area and beyond that lay a great wall that circled the manorproperty.
“Please.” I turned to the man. “Will you help me? I don’t want todie.”
“Help you? A fucking wolf who eats humans? You deserve everything coming your way.” He hissed the words, and I glanced back at the manor and its arched windows, but not a soul looked out to witness this atrocity. Where did the rest of the royal familylive?
Ahead of me, I found the priestess, yawning as if I’d inconvenienced her.Bitch. Two more guards stood on either side of her. And Santos was there too, unconscious, tied to a tree by the neck as if he were a dog. I shivered. What had they done tohim?
When I laid eyes on the guillotine nearby, I lost my breath. Who the hell had one of those devices in their backyard? The blade looked rusty from use—or was the metal stained with blotches of blood? She was officially insane because it meant she’d used this before. How many innocents had lost their heads? I shuddered and recoiled, picturing myselfdecapitated.
A flicker at the edge of the woods caught my eye. A fox jumped over a log and sprinted out of there. Exactly what I had todo.
My muscles exploded with a violent motion, and I darted toward a cluster of trees in the direction of the frontgates.
The guard snatched my arm and yanked me backward. But I tripped over my feet and crashed onto my butt, every inch of me screaming withpain.
“Get up,” hesnarled.
“No. I’ve done nothing wrong. You’re the monsters here, killing innocentpeople.”
The man dragged me across the grass, my body hurting, and he dumped me near thepriestess.
“Oh dear,” she mocked. “She actually thinks she’s aperson.”
The priestess grabbed my hair and pulled me up. I staggered upright, gritting my teeth, and was sick of being treated like a nobody. No wonder wolves hated us if this was how the guards treatedthem.
I held myself upright, despite my legs shaking and my vision wavering from the lack of blood, yet I held herglare.
“You will never be anything but a fucking bitch,” Ishouted.
She laughed, and rage bubbled in my chest. The earlier connection to my wolf had vanished back in the cell. Didn’t matter. I steadied my balance and head-butted her in the face. Sure, the pain ricocheted through my skull and down to my shoulder, but I bit down on my tongue until the throbbing stingpassed.
Her lower lip busted open, and she clasped her mouth, her eyeswide.
“I’m proud of what I am,” I roared. “Scum like you can never take thataway.”
The guard tackled me from behind, both of us hitting the ground. Air gushed from my lungs, and I hollered for the injustice of how much damage the leader had done toTerra.
“Set her up. Now!” She held a tissue to her bloodylip.
“You deserve so much worse,” Isaid.
I bucked against the guard, but another man joined, taking my injured arm, twisting it so much, I howled in pain. They pushed me toward the guillotine, and I wedged a leg up against the wooden frame, stopping them from pushing me closer. My heart raced and fire seared my brain as I gawked at the open basket where my head would roll. Sickness plunged into mygut.
Someone kicked the back of my knee, and I collapsed, crying, unable tostop.
A hand grabbed the back of my neck and pressed meforward.
“No!” Iscreamed.
