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Kings and their plans—for gold, for power—it was a hungry, bottomless pit, not so different from what Vellia had told us of dark magic. What was the difference between a greedy King and an evil sorceress? All they both wanted was more.
“He can’t kill me now that we’re tied together,” I whispered, hating that my voice wobbled. “But he’ll make the pack hate me.” My gaze dropped to my feet. “Everyone will call me runt behind my back. They’ll think you’re shackled to me. And there are no other Golds to come to our aid—it’s just you and me... and Briar.”
With my sister’s name, I prayed to the Gods to have even halfof Briar’s composure. My emotions always seemed bigger than hers, as if the well ran deeper within me. The slightest look or ill-spoken word could swing me from one extreme to the next. Briar seemed immovable compared to me, steady, easy, calm—words never used to describe me. It’s what would’ve made her a beloved queen . . . when there was nothing easy to love about me.
Grae’s long finger lifted my chin until I met his storming eyes. He held my gaze for a moment, as if hearing all the worried thoughts in my mind. “You have no idea, Calla, not one bit.” I bit my lip as he said my name like a prayer. “It is you and me—and that’s all I’ve ever wanted. My whole life, you have been my best friend, little fox.” My eyes welled, a burning lump in my throat, my emotions so beyond my control now. “I counted the days until the next full moon because I was so eager to see you. And when circumstances kept us apart, it broke me.”
His confession stole the air from my lungs. He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip, and I stared up at his perfectly angular face and intense eyes. Breathless, desire flamed anew, and it blasted away all my doubts. The rest of the world faded away when Grae looked at me like that. My fears could wait. Nothing mattered in that moment other than him and the way he stared at my mouth.
“You are brave, and smart, and vicious,” he said, “and so breathtakingly beautiful that it hurts not to touch you.”
I reached out and pressed my hand against the center of his chest as though I could feel the ache inside him. Grae reached up and covered my hand with his own, holding my palm to him.
“Then touch me.”
My soft plea unleashed him, his hands snapping to my waist and hoisting me up. I wrapped my legs around his narrows hips, the soft flesh biting into his belt as my mouth met his. My heart exploded from my chest as his tongue skimmed the seam of my mouth and I opened to him. That hot, branding kiss made my thighs clench tighter to his sides, my hips tilting of their own volition.
He groaned and spun until my back collided with a tree trunk. I gasped as he pinned me there, the rough material of my pilfered dress doing nothing to keep the bark from scratching my back, and I rubbed against it and him, wanting more of any sensation caused by Grae.
I opened my eyes for a second to see nothing but feral lust in his gaze. It was a magic unlike any other, one that burned me up with wanton need, wanting him to press into me until I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. That mating bond begged to be fulfilled in every way, the moon practically screaming at us to realize our fate.
I pulled Grae’s face back to mine, delighting in the carnal smile on his lips. His hands slid up the fabric of my tunic and he growled as he skimmed my bare backside. His fingers kneaded my ass as he pulled me harder against him, the outline of his erection straining against his trousers. I arched into his touch, heat pooling in my throbbing core, as I rocked against him. I had done nothing like this before, and yet, nothing had ever felt more right. As if by magic, I knew exactly what I wanted—needed—how I was desperate for him to touch me, fill me, cry out my name, and make me come undone.
My hands dropped to his belt buckle as a crack rent the night sky. We both jolted, looking up to the eerie green clouds that blocked out the moonlight. A trickle of fear traced down my spine.
“What in the...” I murmured as Grae set me back down on my feet, any disappointment vanishing as my warrior instincts kicked in.
Without a word we ran into the clearing, gazing out toward the tallest spires of the castle peeking above the tree line. Bolts of green lightning shot down upon the castle as swirling storm clouds spiraled above. Acid rose up my throat as I stared at the verdant light. Rooks cawed overhead and emerald flames licked toward the sky.
“Sawyn.” Another bolt of lightning zapped from the sky, itscrack echoing through the mountainside. “We’ve got to go help them.” I swallowed the thick lump in my throat and took off into a run—not toward the castle, but deeper into the woods.
“Where are you going?” Grae called, easily keeping pace beside me.
I glanced over my shoulder at him. “To get my dagger.”
We raced into the silent hall, shoving through a wall of darkness. Trails of smoke swirled from snuffed-out candles. Heavy clouds obscured the windows, leaving only the eerie green glow haloing one figure.
Sawyn, sorceress and unlawful ruler of Olmdere.
She was surprisingly young, appearing to be even younger than me, even though the earliest stories of her were from when my parents first met many decades ago. She had a tall, slender posture with smooth skin as pale as starlight, and bloodred hair. Her eyes glowed an unearthly green as flickering emerald magic seeped from her. Luminous tendrils of power reached out toward the cowering crowd. Her obsidian robes floated on an invisible breeze as she slowly stepped toward a person at the far end of the hall.
Everyone crouched and shielded their eyes apart from the object of her attention, frozen in a trance in front of her.
Briar.
My sister’s eyes filled with magical light, a shimmering, vicious green. Briar’s expression was utterly vacant as she lifted her hand out to Sawyn.
A scream tore through my chest and I unsheathed my dagger, blindly running. Grae charged forward by my side. Sawyn looked over her shoulder, her thin brow arching into a peak. With a flick of her hand as if shooing a fly, we flew across the room. My stomach lurched. That iridescent magic circled my legs and wrists, slamming me into the unyielding stone wall and pinning me there. I thrashed against her bindings, but they did not budge.
Sawyn let out a throaty laugh. Her voice was elegant and deep, like the woody notes of a lute. “Ah, Prince Grae, I wondered where you’d scuttled off to. Such a heroic entrance, you should take notes, Nero.” She darted a glare between me and where the King hid behind his throne. “Even your servant has more spine than you.”
Servant. She didn’t know I was a Wolf, let alone the child of her sworn enemies. Her ghostly eyes scanned me from the muddied hem of my plain brown tunic to the amber stone hanging from my neck. “A protection stone.” Her eyebrows lifted in amusement. “We shall see.”
She turned her attention back to Briar, whose hand froze in midair, waiting for Sawyn to return. Desperately flailing, I tried to break my restraints as I bellowed my voiceless screams. Whatever magic held me to the wall had silenced me. The harder I strained, the more my eyes blackened.
I darted pleading glances around the room to the pack, but not a single one moved.
Cowards!I wanted to scream. If they all charged forward at once, they could overtake her. Her magic couldn’t keep them all at bay. Would they have fought if it was their king standing before the sorceress instead of my sister? But Briar wasn’t their leader, only a token, a symbol—and not even that, anymore, was she? Regardless, a symbol wasn’t worth dying for. I thrashed against my magical bindings. Why wasn’t the King giving orders? Why wasn’t he even trying to save her?
