Winter's Wolf (A Court of Shifters Chronicles #1)

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  “I am not giving anything to it. I am stating what is.” Elron rolled his neck.

  “We need to go, guys.” Wren rocked back on her heels. “I can’t imagine the poker game is still going.”

  “It might be…” Matilda grinned. “It was some jackpot.”

  “Either way, we should go.” Wren looked over her shoulder. “I don’t think talking about this more is going to change anything.”

  “Talking usually fails to change things,” James agreed. “Ainsley, my fiancée, she tells me that all the time. I think it is her way of getting me to shut up when she doesn’t want to listen to me anymore.”

  Wren laughed. “Yeah… might be.”

  “Ok. If no one else is going to go first, I will.” Preston put a hand to his chest. “I’d appreciate it if you decide to follow me.”

  “Come on, don’t play the hero.” I remembered that age well enough myself, and I remembered the recklessness.

  “Why? You want to?” Preston frowned.

  “Of course he does.” Wren linked her arm with me. “But he doesn’t have to play it. He already is.”

  Preston laughed. “Ok, you don’t have to get that crazy.”

  “No one needs to be the hero.” James adjusted the belt that held his sword. “But we should probably go.”

  “You sensing danger?” Elron glanced all around.

  “Yes, my anger at having been awoken in the middle of the night for nothing.” James laughed.

  “Very funny. Don’t worry. We’re going.” Without a glance back Wren started toward the trees taking me with her. “Ready for this?”

  “I suppose so, but would it really matter if I wasn’t?”

  “No.” She tightened her hold on my arm. “Not at all.”

  At first nothing happened. The woods were just that. Woods. Admittedly my wolf howled to be let out, sensing danger. I held him at bay. Wren was comfortable with my wolf, but I didn’t know how the others would feel. I glanced back to make sure Preston hadn’t shifted either. He was still in his humanoid form, but his expression was pained. I knew he was fighting the same urge I was.

  “It’s okay if you shift,” Wren whispered. “It’s only natural. That is your stronger form.”

  “I can control my wolf.” I could. It was one of the first rules I’d learned as a child. The second you let your wolf know he could control you, you’d never be the same again. In some ways both sides of you were connected, but in other ways they were at odds. Finding a way to balance the two sometimes felt like a full time job in itself.

  The air grew hazy, heavy almost, like syrup. But not sweet. It had no taste or scent at all.

  I looked at Wren and she caught my eye, but neither of us said anything.

  No one said anything, and that said a lot considering Preston was with us.

  The air got thicker, and it became harder to see. We’d walked into some sort of fog. I felt Wren’s arm linked with mine, and I focused on that rather than the reality that I was recklessly heading toward an unknown that could very easily lead to my death and the death of two people I loved.

  “Okay then,” Preston whispered, the only sound in the otherwise near deafening silence.

  The ground started to shake. I became disoriented, not sure what was up and what was down. I lost track of everything but the feel of Wren’s arm. There was a sharp pain somewhere. Everywhere. It was impossible to know. Then there was darkness. Complete and unyielding darkness I couldn’t possibly escape.

  I blinked. There was the faintest slit of light coming through.

  My vision normalized. All I could see was white. We were surrounded by ice and snow. There wasn’t a hint of color or life anywhere.

  “Here?” James groaned. “It had to be here?”

  “This place is more winter than Winter Court,” Wren breathed.

  “Well, Frost.” James looked at me. “It looks like you may be meeting the Arcos after all.”

  Wren

  Long after my eyes adjusted to the icy landscape, I still struggled to understand what had just happened. One second we were stuck in the fog in the woods between the Spring and Autumn Courts, and the next we were in darkness. Then we were in this ice world.

  “Wow.” Awe and confusion vied for my attention until I finally expressed my thoughts. “That was something else.”

  “Yes, it was.” Frost rubbed the back of his neck. “As is this.”

  “You get used to it eventually.” James pulled out his sword. It glowed a bright green. “The moving between worlds. Now there are other forms of travel you never get used to. But let’s not talk about those today.”

  “Nice sword.” I gestured to the glowing blade. “Wanted to show it off?”

  He laughed. “Just checking on it.”

  “Does the color mean anything?” Frost asked. “Or just a fan of theatrics?”

  “It means I’m a true Guardian. Nothing much.” James smirked.

  “You have your sword out. Is this place dangerous?” I may have been talking to James, but my eyes immediately went to Frost. If it was dangerous why hadn’t he shifted? He was usually quick to shift when he sensed I was in danger. I often took his protectiveness for granted, but now I craved it.

  “Nah. Not really. I mean I think I got rid of all of the undead who were here, but Icentris, that’s where we are, seems to be at the center of trouble most of the time.”

  “Then why would the chasm have sent us here?” Preston looked up at the cloud-filled sky.

  “It may have sent us here because it is the center of the trouble.” Elron leaned down and brushed his hand over the ice covered ground. “We are here to stop the Dwellers, are we not?”

  “Yes. Yes we are.” How was the real question, but I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. I just knew something in me had drawn me to Energo, and that same something told me this was the only way.

  “Do we need to worry about these Arcos?” Frost was still in his human form.

  “Why haven’t you shifted?” I had to ask. It made no sense.

  “I don’t know.” Frost looked down at his body as if looking for a physical answer. “I haven’t had the pull to. But I can if you want. If it would make you feel safer.”

  “I trust your judgment.” I mustered all the enthusiasm I could. “You’ve never been wrong.”

  He laughed. “Oh, I’ve been wrong, but usually not about danger.”

  “I don’t feel the pull either.” Preston did the same kind of examination his older brother did. “But boy did I feel it in the woods before we came through here. I had to fight it with everything I had.”

  “Why?” Elron studied Preston and then turned his attention to Frost. “Do you mind my asking? Why fight the natural instinct?”

  “Because we lose control of ourselves when we are our wolves,” Preston explained. “It’s hard to hold onto logic and reason.”

  “Very reassuring.” James returned his sword to his belt.

  “We wouldn’t hurt those we are aligned with, but our wolf is an instinctual creature. It is focused on defense and hunting,” Frost continued.

  “And mating.” Lacey grinned. “Don’t forget that.”

  “Is that always a thing?” James stretched his arms above his head. “The whole heiress with a wolf?”

  “It is tradition.” A traditional that dated back as far as I knew. “And it is the essential.” The fae world as we knew it would change forever if we didn’t.

  “Essential huh?” James raised an eyebrow. “I know some parts of mating are essential for me.”

  “It would take some time to explain.” Lacey met my eye.

  “Then give me the quick summary. And have no fear I will be judgmental. I have dealt with my fair share of strange traditions and rituals.” He tapped his sword.

  Ok, he had a point. A glowing sword was a bit odd. “Every ruling fae must take a wolf as a mate. It is the rule.”

  “But why is it the rule?” James emphasized the word why.

 
“James, it must be a secret.” Elron took a step toward his friend. “We cannot pull secrets from those pledged to keep them close to the heart.”

  “There will be no secret keeping. We are listening to these people,” He gestured to the rest of us, “instead of fighting the Dwellers as planned. We at least deserve to know what’s going on.”

  I met Lacey’s eye again. It’s not that it was a secret. Everyone back home knew why it was. But because of that we never had to explain it to anyone. Somehow explaining it made it feel like a violation somehow. But James had a point. “If we explain this to you, then you have to explain anything we ask.”

  James nodded. “Ok. I can work with that deal.”

  “I am sure you know high fae have gifts.”

  “I may have heard that.” James whistled.

  I glared at him.

  “Okay. Okay. Of course I have heard that. I haven’t been living under a rock.”

  “Although we are born with these gifts and they only need to develop, they also need some help to fully thrive.” It was so strange, sharing this information while standing in a foreign world. Albeit, I was standing in a foreign world that somewhat reminded me of home. It was impossible to exist in snow and ice without my thoughts going to Winter Court.

  “Help, eh?” James started toward some sort of structure in the distance.

  “Yes, help.” Lacey hurried behind him. “From a mate.” She started to slip, but Preston caught her arm before she hit the ice.

  She steadied herself. “Thank you.”

  “I suppose you aren’t used to the ice,” Preston teased.

  “Thankfully not.” She looked down at her pretty pink shoes. “But I guess I should have worn something a bit more appropriate.”

  “Even if we weren’t in the ice…” Preston put an arm around Lacey to steady her again, but he shot a look at Frost as if to make sure it was okay.

  “I would have lent you better shoes,” Matilda bent down as if about to untie her own shoes.

  “No.” Lacy shook her head. “Thank you, but I’m fine.” She gave me a look. She wasn’t kidding about Matilda being loyal.

  “Ah, and only the wolf can help you fully actualize the gift.” James stopped and turned back toward us. “That is fantastic.”

  “Fantastic?” I tried to tone down my frustration, but I couldn’t. I was exhausted and hungry and not in the mood for anything let alone being mocked. “Do you have to be condescending?”

  “I am not being condescending. I am being fully honest.”

  “Honest?” I let out a slow breath. “Right.”

  “Ok. Sharing is great and all, but shouldn't we be concerned with where we are?” Preston adjusted his arm around Lacey.

  “Yes. One should never let their guard down in Icentris, but have you let your guard down?” James turned around and started toward the structure far off in the distance again.

  “It is weird how content my wolf is,” Frost muttered. “Very strange.”

  “You are in a different world.” Elron walked alongside us. “Things change.”

  “So my wolf can’t sense danger?” Frost bristled.

  “I cannot speak to specifics, but nearly anything is possible.”

  “Nearly?” Matilda wrapped her cloak tighter around her. “Not anything?”

  “There are limits on everything.” Elron looked up at the sky.

  “I agree. Mostly.” Frost tightened his hand around mine. “But not on everything.” He looked into my eyes, and I knew exactly what he was talking about. It was about us. About what had always been between us but was only growing stronger now.

  He released my hand with no warning.

  “Frost?” I eyed him with alarm.

  His body went rigid. “Something is coming.”

  In a flash and haze both Frost and Preston shifted into their wolves. I’d seen Frost shift countless times, but this time felt different. He was my wolf, and somehow I felt the shift as if it were happening to me.

  Everything changed inside, as if I were being torn in two only to be put back together. I struggled with the new sensation as I watched James and Elron pull out swords.

  I wanted a weapon. I needed a weapon, but I knew the small dager I carried, nearly identical to the ones clutched by Lacey and Matilda would do little to protect me. Instead, I picked up Frost’s bow and arrow. I wasn’t a champion archer like Frost, but I could do more with that than I could with the small dagger I carried.

  I tried to open my senses. What had Frost and Preston sensed that I hadn’t? I saw nothing. I heard nothing.

  Then I saw it. Them. The shadows that had not been there seconds before were forming behind everyone in my group. I tried to speak up, but I couldn’t. Instead, I stared up at the sky, confused at how shadows could be changing so quickly. “What is happening?” I finally got the words out.

  “Dwellers.” James spoke so calmly. “We knew they had not all crossed over yet. So what is the plan?” He looked at me.

  “Plan? Me?” I felt panicky.

  “Yeah. You are the one who suggested we come back here.”

  I watched as the shadows grew larger. I glanced over my shoulder knowing full well what I would find.

  Then the choking started. It felt like two hands were on my neck, squeezing.

  Frost leaped toward my shadow, but he fell back. His own shadows started to choke him.

  Anger surged through me as I watched him thrash. My body shook. My heart raced. I pushed off my shadow as intently as I could. I felt the hands loosen, little by little, and I finally got use of my hands and arms again. I adjusted my bow and aimed for a spot in the distance, somehow knowing, albeit not consciously, that I needed to shoot in that direction. And not just shoot. To aim perfectly. What had Frost said? Even a fraction of an inch could mean the difference between life and death. I let the arrow fly, and everything went dark.

  The ground started to shake. I didn’t know which way was up or down, but the choking subsided.

  I could breathe fully now, but I still couldn’t see. I fought to open my eyes and saw nothing, absolutely nothing.

  “So you are the one causing all this trouble with the chasms.” James' voice sounded far away. I tried again and this time my eyes opened. There was a hazy fog in front of us.

  “What?” I stepped back, and warm, protective arms wrapped around me. I leaned back into Frost. A shirtless and human Frost. “Mine,” the word slid from my lips, and I knew it was true as I always had. Frost was meant to be my mate.

  Frost

  Amazing. Wren was amazing. Completely and utterly amazing. And she was absolutely meant to be my mate. The surge between us while she worked her gift was incredible, as was the way our bond had deepened over only a few days once we gave in little by little to the undeniable attraction we shared.

  I lay beside her in our tent listening to her even breathing. My mind was racing thinking over everything that had happened that had led me to that spot.

  The Shadows had been far worse than James had described. I tried to push off those memories, but they came surging back.

  I noticed Wren’s shadow first. At first it looked only as a shadow. Dark, off to the side of her, but then it seemed to materialize into something solid, an entity of its own. I was my wolf so my vision was strong yet narrow. I started to lunge for it—this shadow that was going after Wren, but something had me around the neck. Choking me. I fought against it, almost free, when it tightened further.

  The ground started to shake. I struggled to keep my eyes open as my shadow choked me more, at least I assumed it was my own. The choking subsided some and my eyes were more fully open and they found Wren—her hands outstretched toward the sky with my bow at her feet—standing right in front of a hazy line. The shadows were gone.

  And I understood. Immediately, even as my wolf, what had happened. I shifted back to my human form and moved to comfort Wren.

  “Frost?” Her eyes were still closed.

  “Yes, l
ove. I’m here.”

  “Did all of that really happen?”

  “You mean you are opening a chasm and saving all of us from the Dwellers?” I still struggled to understand how she’d known how to do that. But High Fae always had a gift.

  “Yes. That’s what I meant.” She rested her head on my chest.

  “Then, yes. It happened.” I pulled her more tightly into my arms. “You were incredible.”

  She lifted her head. “Why is everyone so sure it was me?”

  “You mean other than the fact that you were standing right at the line with your hands up and shaking?”

  “Yes. That may all have been circumstantial.” She put her head down again. “And what about what James said? About me being behind all the other chasms?”

  “Ignore what he said. It doesn’t really matter. We know you can do it, and we work from there.” I’d been thinking over his statement as well, but I couldn’t fathom how she’d opened chasms without knowing she was doing it.

  “But I have a duty to protect our people. And that means protecting them from me.”

  “They don’t need to be protected from you.” I cupped her face with my hand. “None of this is your fault.”

  “You truly believe that?” Her voice quivered.

  “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

  Her expression relaxed, and she snuggled into me. “It has been a few hours.”

  “And was everything else last night real?” She ran a hand down my chest.

  A totally different sort of memory flooded back. Naked skin. Kisses. And possibilities I couldn’t wait to explore.

  “Yes. That was real.” So real. And amazing.

  “I’m ready now.”

  “Are you sure?” I’d assured her I understood why she hadn’t wanted to have sex. Because sex for us would be something else entirely. Something out of body. We both knew I’d claim her as my mate. Now that the pull had gotten as strong as it did, there would be no way to stop myself.

  “Yes. I love you. Why wait? Why wait when I also know the strength it’s going to give us in our fight?”