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“We’ll have to go up,” I wheezed.
With trembling limbs, I climbed up toward the crevice. The ground shuddered again and scree fell from the ceiling.
“Go!” Grae shouted as the air whooshed again.
Another whip-like tongue shot out, wrapping around Grae’s throat. The juvleck scuttled into the tunnel, its giant scaled body taking up the entire entryway. It loomed over Grae, its spindly legs pinning him to the floor as its tongue squeezed the life out of him.
Without thinking, I grabbed a rock and leapt. I landed on the armored scales of the juvleck’s back. It thrashed, trying to buck me off as I smashed the rock into the back of its head. It released an ear-splitting cry but didn’t let go of Grae. I slammed the rock down again and again, battering its tough shell. It wailed, writhing to the side and crashing me into the wall. Pain stabbed through my shoulder, but I didn’t stop. With one final cracking blow, the juvleck dropped, its legs giving out, throwing me forward.
I scrambled for Grae, unwrapping the lifeless juvleck’s tongue from his neck. He gasped, sucking in air as his bloodshot eyes bugged. Angry red blisters ringed his neck.
I helped him to his feet and pushed him up toward the crack in the earth. He barely squeezed through, shoulders scraping against the stone as he pulled himself into the sunlight, but I was sure nothing in Aotreas would keep him from getting out of this tunnel because I felt the same way. He reached down for me and pulled me up after him.
I collapsed on top of him once again, my chest heaving. The air was fresh with the salty brine floating in the breeze. We’d made it to the ocean.
“Are you okay?” I traced my hand around Grae’s bruised neck. He nodded but couldn’t speak, each breath a rasping wheeze. I grimaced as I tried to lift my smashed arm. “We need to shift.”
Grae’s hands shook as he reached for the hem of his tunic.
I stopped him. “Shift. Shred your clothes,” I instructed. “We’ll leave them behind anyway.”
He screwed his eyes shut, clothes ripping as he morphed into his glorious Silver Wolf. He shook the scraps of fabric from his fur and I sighed, knowing he’d be all right.
“Never again.” I looked into his gleaming Wolf eyes. How had Navin survived that place? How had anyone? “No more gold will ever come from that mine. No more people should have to face those beasts.”
I took one last look at that ominous crack in the earth and shifted into a Wolf.
Red and gold trees covered the land, stretching out to the craggy fjords and crashing ocean waves. Pillars of smoke rose from little villages that stretched across the vast peninsula. The capital was a distant red dot on the horizon. Even from Sevelde, I could see the red stones, the entire city a deep burgundy. The rushing river below my paws ran all the way to the capital, twisting through smaller towns and ending in a vast and glorious lake. Gold and red spires shot up from the center of the lake—the palace. From the mountains of Taigos, all the way to Sawyn’s door, that eerie river ran the entire length of my entire kingdom.
“Eager to run through the forests of your homeland, little fox?” Grae asked in my mind, racing after me as I thundered through the forest. “Or eager for something else?”
“All of it.”
His voice turned husky. “All of it.”
He chased after me, nipping at my heels. I heard his chuckle echo in my mind as he ran faster, an unburdened howl splitting the air. I howled in response to the sound of my mate as I chased him through the dark forest.
The sun set beyond the far hills as we kicked up leaves, thundering through the night. The further we ran eastward, the sparser the forest became as the roaring of waves replaced the sound of crickets and hooting owls. Grae slowed to a stop as we reached the cliffs. Far below, the moonlight gleamed off the choppy ocean waves. Sprays of mist floated up from the waves crashing into the rock. The salty scent mingled with the earthy loam. I howled to the moon again, overcome by the sweeping views.
I took off, racing around the fjords, dipping inland and back out to the sea. Golden leaves danced in the breeze above us as the waves crashed, sea foam flying into the air. I ran and ran, the sweet song of Olmdere filling my veins with the same molten gold. We’d made it out the other side.
I was home.
I chased that crescent moon along the cliffs until my muscles burned and my soul hummed. The moonlight called to me along with the ocean waves, begging to touch my skin, and, with a final leap, I shifted back into my human form. I held my hands skyward, my toes sinking into moss, salty air coating my skin.
Panting deep breaths of sea air, I felt reborn, as if the land was claiming me as much as I claimed it. I tipped my chin up toward the moon, feeling her bless me and welcome me home.
With a final sigh, I dropped my hands and turned to find a Silver Wolf watching me from the shadows. Grae’s golden eyes beamed through the darkness, and I suddenly realized I was standing naked before him.
I fought the urge to cover myself. Not here. Not with the moon on my skin and the sea at my back. I took a step forward, then another, toward that Wolf and his hypnotic golden eyes.
Grae prowled forward, his growl rumbling through me and straight to my core.
I stepped back, leaning against a tree trunk that twisted sideways against the winds. My heart pounded as I let him stalk toward me. I felt each step of his paws echoing through my body. When he was a hair’s breadth away, he shifted, golden eyes morphing to dark umber, smooth muscles and sharp jawline replacing his silver fur. My lips parted at the intensity of his stare and the sight of the rest of him. His chest brushed against my peaked nipples with every heaving breath and I could feel him hard and ready against my belly.
My throat no longer stung, my blisters gone and my shoulder healed. My many wounds from the mines and the fire before that were now blissfully absent. Grae’s own smooth bonfire scent finally replaced the stench of smoke in my hair. My heart and mind and soul still felt their stings, though, and there was only one thing that could ever heal me of that.
His eyes drifted from my lips to search my eyes. “It was always you,” he rumbled, and his words made heat pool between my legs. “My mate.”
