AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His peridot eyes flicked over Hector and settled on Daphne for a beat before returning to me.
“My name is Avery Ward, and this is my friend Daphne. We used to be part of Moon-Ghost. And this is Hector…” I trailed off, not exactly sure how to explain his presence.
“The queen’s guard,” Hector helpfully filled in.
At the twin looks of disbelief on our Wind-Blood hosts, I smacked a palm over my face. We already had a lot to explain with the portal. Our sudden arrival had drawn attention—appearing in the heart of a pack’s territory was rather conspicuous—and now we seemed insane. Or dangerous. Two things shifters responded super well to. Fantastic.
“So the red wolf returns.” A figure pushed their way through the crowd, settling between the two alphas in front of me. The pack elder who had healed me after her grandson ripped out my guts. “Come. Speak with us.”
She led us back to the cottage, her long silver braid swayed as she moved through. Onlookers parted for her. She still had the energy of an alpha, even if she’d resigned from the post. Even if she walked with the pack’s alpha and alpha heir, it was her they moved for. Once in the cottage, she began to boil water and mixed a comforting set of herbs.
“Speak, red wolf. Tell us how we may aid you.”
A glance at the other alphas revealed a hint of confusion at the elder’s reaction. I summarized the journey as briefly as I could—how I’d been murdered by my fated mate, as the rumors said, and returned from the land of the dead to rescue Daphne, only to return anew. There was no easy way to explain I was now the queen of Hell, butHector had already spilled the beans on that one.
“The black wolf you described. The one who rules over death.” I held the elder’s gaze. “He’s trapped because of me, in a realm of eternal torture. I can open portals between this realm and Hell, but I can’t go to where he is. There’s supposed to be a passageway somewhere in this realm, and I was hoping you might have an idea where to look. We don’t have much time.”
Hecate had warned that appearing on the surface would make us vulnerable. I didn’t dare risk spending any longer than necessary.
But I would not return to Hell without Cole.
“Avery, this is…” Xander started, but the elder cut him off with a flick of her wrist.
“I know of where you speak. Xander will take you.”
He raised a brow in question.
“The center of the caves. Our pack has watched over them for many years, awaiting your return. Even as the tides shifted to favor the Moon Goddess, we knew the true one would return. And so we shall help you in any way we can, red wolf.”
Xander nodded, accepting the order. He may not have understood what I was asking for or why, but he would obey his orders.
In silent agreement, he guided us deeper into the territory. I hadn’t spent long here, but even the air smelled different than it had in Moon-Ghost. Less tainted.
“If we need to hurry, it would make more sense to shift so we can cover more ground quickly,” Xander said once we were outside of the center.
I glanced at Hector. He wasn’t a shifter.
“I can keep up,” he assured me.
“Then let’s do it,” I decided.
We shed our clothes and changed behind some bushes. Hector collected Daphne’s discarded fabric and placed it in his saddlebag; I let my vine clothing sink into the ground, since I could simply grow more of mine when I shifted back. Daphne brushed my shoulder, her dove-gray fur pressing into my side in comfort. I nudged her in return, grateful for her having my back on this. It was the first time our wolves had spent time together—after my failures shifting as a pup and the contempt my red fur earned me, I hadn’t bothered to change very often once we’d gotten to know each other.
Meanwhile, the ash-furred shape of Xander appeared. He was large, even for a wolf. Maybe only twenty pounds less than Cole. His attention fixed on Daphne for a long moment, head cocking as he examined her, breathing in her scent.
A growl began to stir in my throat at the delay the same moment Hector said, “I’ll remind you, my lady said time is of the essence.”
Xander made a sound in his throat like he didn’t care much for a guard keeping him on schedule, but he broke his stare. He turned east and began to run. His pace was too slow for me at first, and I nipped at his heels, urging him on. It earned a growl, but he sped up. A glance back at Hector confirmed that, true to his word, he was keeping pace with us. He might not have the supernatural speed of a wolf, but he had some preternatural gifts and had years of military training to hone them.
It took half an hour to reach the opening of the caves. I paused at the entrance, half-expecting to have reached the entrance to Tartarus itself. Xander huffed, chastising me in a wolf way for stopping.
We entered the caves.
It wasn’t possible to run through the winding paths, so we shifted back. Daphne changed back, while I grew another dress for myself and attempted shorts for Xander.
“I think I’d show less if I was naked,” he griped.
“I’m a magical wolf, not a seamstress,” I retorted. But I did manage to loosen them with a twist of my wrist.
