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"Where to?" Arrow asked, following my lead. “It’s your damsel in distress we’re rescuing.”
I hesitated a moment, looking both ways down the hall before I turned right. It was another instinct, but it had guided me faithfully thus far, so I wasn't going to start questioning it now.
At the end of the hallway was another set of double doors, and I flung them open like the first. Inside was some kind of literal fucking throne room. Some douchebag was seated in the high-backed chair in the center of the room, and he almost seemed to be expecting me. The sight of the golden-furred wolf leashed at his side on the floor simultaneously filled me with rage and relief.
Eddie.
The wolf's ears perked up and his wide eyes met mine, filling with the same relief I felt, even if it was short-lived. I wasn't sure if the fear that lit his eyes was on my behalf, or because of the monstrous thing I had become, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was safe, and by all appearances unharmed.
The sight of someone else's collar around his neck, however, undid the very last vestiges of my restraint.
ChapterThirty-Seven
EDDIE
Ihad learned plenty of interesting things about Leonidas during my brief time in his captivity.
The first was that his reign as alpha in his father's stead, while uncontested, was not universally accepted. There were plenty of his subjects who made no attempt to hide their disdain for him, and it was clearly mutual.
The other thing I had learned was that he assigned the most unpleasant and often the most dangerous guard shifts to those who questioned him, however tacitly or overtly, so when screams filled the mansion and he didn't seem in any hurry to react, I wasn't particularly surprised.
What did surprise me, however, was who—and what—came through those doors. Over the last few minutes, I'd had plenty of time to fear that it was Castor. When I saw the beast standing in the doorway, however, I was completely unprepared.
I recognized him, not only by the unmistakable sense he stirred within me, but also by his silver eyes, which were tinged with flecks of red. I’d never seen a wolf with eyes that weren’t some shade of gold, but I wasn’t surprised he was the exception. As cold as they were, there was still a hint of softness and recognition as those eyes fell on me.
It lasted only long enough for him to turn to the alpha wolf at my side. I had never seen anything like Castor, neither among the beasts we hunted nor the ones who lurked in my dreams. He was the most beautiful, terrible thing I had ever encountered, and all I could do was stare at him in awe for a moment.
He was taller than any other alpha shifter I had seen. His fur was jet black, and his head was longer and more sloped than a regular alpha’s. His claws were twice as long—curved knives of solid black. The fangs protruding from either side of his muzzle were massive as well, almost like a sabretoothed cat’s.
Arrow was at his side a second later, bathed in blood as usual. For once, he wasn't the one who seemed unhinged. Not in comparison to Castor, at any rate.
"Well," Leonidas said, pushing himself up from his chair. "Isn't this a surprise. And here I heard you couldn't shift."
Castor gave a furious snarl that seemed to come from the bowels of hell itself. I wasn't sure if he would be able to understand me in this form, but I had to try.
What are you doing?I cried.I told you not to come!
He shot me a withering look, and I froze, already on my feet.
Stay out of this,he growled.I’ll deal with you later.
Yeah, he could definitely understand. If there had been any doubt of the mate bond that had formed between us before, it would have vanished then.
My fur bristled in response to his gruff command. How was it possible for someone to piss me off and make me swoon at the same time?
"What's the matter?" Leonidas taunted. "You think I have something that belongs to you?" He gestured toward me. "He came of his own accord. On your behalf, actually. Are you so quick to render his sacrifice meaningless?"
Castor's response was a malevolent roar, his claws flexed at his sides.
Leonidas chuckled. "That's what I expected." He paused, studying Castor with a curious glint in his eye. "I thought the Order’s claim that the hunters had a hybrid working for them was bullshit, but it seems like they were right for once. You’re clearly no normal alpha. Interesting. I guess it stands to reason, with the way you poison your own blood like a science experiment."
"Does this guy ever shut up?" Arrow muttered. The guards on either side of the throne prepared themselves to shift, but Leonidas held a hand up to stop them.
"You came all this way, and it would be a shame to let you leave without putting ourselves to the test, would it not?" Leonidas asked, something in his tone putting me even more on edge than usual. "If you were a regular hunter, it would be one thing, but I am not a man opposed to an honorable fight. And I keep my word. So, what do you say? If you really want him, challenge me. One on one, alpha to alpha.”
Castor,I pleaded.Please don't.
Castor ignored me, taking a step forward, his eyes locked on Leonidas. He bowed his head in acknowledgment of the match to the other shifter, and Leonidas nodded in turn, unbuttoning the top few buttons of his shirt.
