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Collapsing with a yelp of pain, my wolf lost focus for a long moment as I fought to stay conscious. I struggled to keep my eyes open as I mentally encouraged him to get up and fight, blurrily watching as Mina scrambled to her feet before me.
“Careful now, little wolf,” she said mockingly. “You can’t win this, just lie still for me.”
Tugging up her shirt, she pulled something from a thin golden chain that lay around her waist. It sat flush with her skin and was hung with dozens of tiny, brightly coloured gems. They glinted in the moonlight, but I lost sight of them as she dropped her shirt back down.
She crouched low again as my wolf lay panting and bleeding in the dirt, the head wound she had given me bad enough that I had no chance of standing again yet. Fear and fury warred in my system, but I managed to keep enough focus on Mina to hear her words.
“Now I can’t kill you,” she murmured, a smug smile on her face. “Not yet anyway. But I do need you out of the picture until we leave.”
She held up the small crystal in her hand, no bigger than the nail on her smallest finger and glowing blue in the moonlight. Magic clearly swirled within it, and dread flowed through me as I considered what she had planned here.
“That annoying little bond of yours has protected you and Liam from the less potent gems I’ve tried, but I don’t need to be so careful anymore, do I,” she mused as she watched the power inside the stone dance. “This should keep you down for long enough.”
She stood over us again, a sly smile on her face as she dropped the crystal beside my muzzle.
“Sweet dreams, Noah,” she whispered, stamping her foot down and crushing it.
Tendrils of blue smoke twirled up into the air as she moved away, rising higher for a long moment before descending over my head and smothering me in magic. The air froze in my lungs as pain shot through me, my body shifting back into human form as I began to shake with a strong seizure.
Mina’s green eyes, almost identical to Zeke’s, watched curiously as I convulsed. My jaw clenched tightly as I tried in vain to gain control, to fight it, but the edges of my vision began to go dark.
I watched her turn away from me and collect the package from the ground, tucking it under her arm as she walked away without a backwards glance. I kept my eyes on her for as long as possible, locked in my failing body and unable to fight back as she disappeared into the shadows.
My entire pack was in danger. Mina was using magic against us and there was no way that she wasn’t working with the Queen. The treaty meeting was a trap, and if I let this spell win I had no way of warning them.
My vision faded further as I felt myself lose the battle to stay awake, the magic pulling me down too strong to deny. I managed to release a roar of fury as the blackness overwhelmed me, sending me tumbling into an unknown darkness and out of reach of those who needed me now more than ever.
Pulling myself back into consciousness felt like swimming against a tide. My head broke above water for a moment of light and air only to be dragged back under the surface, forcing me to struggle upwards again.
When I finally opened my eyes fully, the peace that met me was almost overwhelming. I’d been tossed around in the storm inside me for what seemed like forever, and the warm breeze on my skin as the sunlight spilled into the room felt unreal.
I groaned low in my chest as I tried to move and felt the heavy stiffness in my body. Propping up on my elbows, my head pounded in time with my pulse as I squinted at my surroundings.
“Well it took you long enough,” a voice rasped, making me jerk in surprise and fall heavily back down on the bed.
Ulf shuffled into view, a plate of food in his hands as he watched me struggle upright again. Once I was sitting, he handed me a cool glass of water before offering me the plate. I eagerly took both, the unfamiliar, empty weakness inside of me making me worry what effect Mina’s gem had long term.
“I need to see Liam,” I grated, my voice rough. “Like, now.”
Ulf shook his head. “I’m sorry, boy, he’s gone. They left for the peace talks yesterday.”
I straightened in shock, almost dropping my food. “What?”
The old man nodded at me as he turned to fuss over a steaming pot on the stove, adding pinches of herbs as he stirred it.
“You’ve been unconscious for nearly two weeks.”
I blinked at him as I absorbed the fact that Mina’s spell had done exactly what she needed it to, and my fight had meant nothing.
“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked, lowering himself gingerly into an ancient armchair by the fire.
I glanced around and realised I was in Ulf’s healing rooms, the heavy drapes open wide and letting the sunlight bounce around the eccentric space. Herbs and skins hung from the rafters, while stacks of books and papers lined the shelves. A small kitchen area framed one side, while a stone-lined fire pit held crackling flames in the centre of the room.
“Mina,” I replied, putting down my empty plate and running a frustrated hand over my face. “My wolf ran into her on the full moon. She was in human form and attacked me with magic. She has some sort of belt of crystals around her waist.”
Ulf nodded calmly and I narrowed my eyes at him. “This isn’t news?”
He sighed softly. “It is not a surprise, though it is certainly a problem.”
