AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hours later, I’m dripping in sweat and every part of my body feels bruised, yet I feel strangely content. While Rune kicked my ass most of the time, I did manage to knock him down a few more times and that gives me confidence that one day I’ll be able to fight like a true fighter. That maybe I won’t ever have to feel as vulnerable as I felt that day in the alley.
The sun has begun to descend behind the hills by the time Rune and I leave the training pit. Liberty and Kylan took off early to a meeting, and Jules left shortly after to check on Shade. While he never said when he’d return, his long absence has me concerned.
“If you’re okay with it, I’m going to swing into the shed so I can switch places with Shade, and then he can go home with you and Jules,” Rune says as he slings a bag over his shoulder. “You won’t have to go into the shed or anything. You can just wait outside. But if you’re not comfortable, I can take you home, and then return.”
“No, it’s fine. We can swing by there.” I pull my hair into a messy bun and secure it with an elastic Liberty gave me.
While I’m partially afraid of Slate, my wolf isn’t. And the other side of me doesn’t want to be.
He smiles and pats my shoulder. “You’re a brave girl, Lake. You really are.”
“I don’t feel very brave,” I admit as we start down the zigzagging path, venturing farther into the trees and in the direction of the shed, I’m assuming. “I’ve spent so much of my life being afraid of everything and everyone.”
He adjusts the handle of the bag higher onto his shoulders. “What was the Common Realm like?”
I shrug, massaging my tender shoulder. “Fast. Electric. Buzzing with too much energy. Almost everyone there is driven by the need to get more and be better. I’m okay with the being better part, but sometimes they stomped on others to get what they wanted instead of earning it.”
“Some wolves are like that here, too.”
“Like the king?”
His gaze glides to mine. “Did Jules tell you that?”
“No. I’ve picked up on a certain vibe that seems to arise every time anyone mentions the king.” I trail my fingers along the leaves as I walk. Like in my dreams, the leaves seem to magnetize toward my touch.
“You’re not wrong,” he utters, scanning the trees. “But you need to be careful saying stuff like that. If the wrong wolf hears you, it’ll get back to the king. And trust me; you don’t want that. He’s a punish first, never ask questions sort of wolf.”
I think of Philip’s family locked away in the kingdom somewhere. “Yeah, I picked up on that, too.”
“We should probably be quiet now,” he whispers. “There are pixies near and they’re the kind of creatures who love to cause mischief and spread rumors—”
Movement scurries through the trees, and I inch closer to Rune.
“They can’t hurt you,” he assures me. “We’re much stronger creatures.”
Easy for him to say. He didn’t just get his ass kicked repeatedly.
I stay on edge the rest of the journey to the shed, a small wooden building nestled in the trees near the far back hills.
“Wait right here,” Rune instructs as he cracks open the door. “I’ll send Jules right out.”
When I nod, he slips inside, the door banging shut behind him.
I face the trees in front of me, searching for signs of pixies in the leaves. All I can see is the swishing of branches followed by a lot of rustling. Then the giggling starts.
At first, the laughter is soft and teasing, but the noise eventually shifts into fitful cackling.
“Hey, you,” a feminine voice whispers. “Do you know if Shade’s in there?”
“Um …” I squint against the glow of the sunset. “Who’s asking?”
“I am.” She giggles.
“And who are you?” I tuck my hand behind me and fold my fingers around the door handle, preparing to run inside if I must.
“His lover,” she purrs, rising from the bushes across from me.
The what I’m assuming is a pixie has leathery purple skin, coal eyes, angled cheekbones, and a snake-like tongue. Her legs are long, yet muscular; her lips plump; and her blue hair bobs around her chin. She’s dressed in an outfit that screams kinky, the thin strips of leather barely covering her body.
