AllFreeNovel
Share Us
An assassin.
Rage burst in my chest like a supernova, radiating out of my limbs and every part of my body. My wolf burst out of me in an explosion of skin and hair, allowing me to leap across the bed at them with my jaws snapping.
They didn’t shift, either, which I expected. Most wolf assassins wouldn’t use silver in their repertoire as it was a dangerous thing for them to wield.
As if to punctuate that point, the assassin slashed at my throat. I dodged, ducking under, and snapping at their legs, but they managed to score one of my shoulder blades.
I let out a howl, jumping back. In the corner of my vision, I could see my wolf hide peeling back to reveal human skin gushing thick, red blood. An effect silver weapons had on my kind. It didn’t heal right away, either, as the metal prevented our natural abilities from doing what they did best.
The sound didn’t scare the assassin, who’d dodged my lunge, which meant they were at least worth their salt. Whoever was trying to kill me had spent quite a bit of coin, though. But what the sound did was notify my team, and my door practically exploded off its hinges as Oren and two others burst into the room.
That was enough to distract the assassin, and this time when I lunged, they didn’t dodge. I sank my teeth into their shoulder and shook them, slamming their head into the floor twice as I did.
That seemed to incapacitate the attacker before my men grabbed them. My inner wolf growling but satisfied at defeating an enemy, I shifted back into human form.
Too bad I’d forgotten about my stab wound.
I staggered, with Oren barely catching me, and I was confused as to why there was blood all down his sleeping clothes.
Oh, right. That was from me.
“Your Highness, we’re taking you to the healers,” he said, sounding panicked.
“No, Ayla. I want Ayla,” I rasped.
“Sir, the guards are already on their way to apprehend the criminal,” Oren whispered. “Are you sure you want them to see you with her?”
Dammit, he had a point. I was in terrible, burning pain, but it wasn’t life threatening. It just fucking hurt.
“All right,” I said at last, letting him haul me out of my room. We barely even got out of the hall before two staffers ran up with a gurney between them, which they basically bullied me onto.
I should have known I wouldn’t be taken to the infirmary proper. Instead, I was soon in a private suite I recognized from childhood. We were always taken here whenever an injury didn’t heal right away. Was this really necessary, considering how rarely we were sick?
The head healer for the infirmary strode in with her team, approaching my side with all the practicality I knew Ayla appreciated.
“Hey there, Your Highness,” she said softly as one of her team rolled up with a medical cart. “We’ve been seeing an awful lot of each other lately.”
I nodded, feeling cold, like my mouth was made of sandpaper. It was quite strange to be a shifter and be cold.
“Can’t say I’m a fan of that.”
“Me, either, Your Highness.” She offered me a small smile before her professional mask fell back into place. “Now, first I need to clean the wound to get the nitrate poisoning out of it. It is going to hurt.”
“I figured as much.”
“I’m placing a bite-guard into your mouth. Try not to spit it out, It will help your fangs not to pierce your mouth if you shift.”
“Thanks for the info.”
It wasn’t my first time with a silver injury, but it was by far the largest slash I’d ever received, going from somewhere behind me on my upper back, over my shoulder, then down my arm to the elbow, all of it bleeding still. How much blood could I lose? As a shifter, I wasn’t quite sure. We normally healed before anything became an issue, but this wasn’t good.
Maybe someone could throw me out the window, too. I knew it’d hurt less. Then the healer poured something into my wound. Whatever it was hurt so badly, I felt one of my teeth crack on the leather bit in my mouth. I screamed, but I couldn’t stop myself. If this was what healing felt like, I’d rather keep bleeding out.
The searing spread down my entire wound as the room filled with steam. I had no idea a knife wound was ten times worse than the bullet that’d once grazed me, but it was, the pain radiated out in waves.
“You’re doing great, Your Majesty,” the healer said while the others held my flailing limbs down. I knew I shouldn’t fight them, they were helping, not hurting me, but my body was reacting all on its own.
The pain seemed to last for ages, and I wondered why they weren’t sedating me, but I realized any meds or magic strong enough for a shifter might be fatal for one with a silver wound. So, I bore through it.Just breathe.
