by Sara Snow
I’d overstepped just now, stepping in when my father was more than capable of defending himself and his honor.
“You may leave, Elinor.”
I nodded at my father’s words and got up without sparing a glance at Levi. I walked stiffly out of the room because I could feel the Council Member’s yellow eyes on me. I had just challenged Levi, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t let that slide.
11
Elinor
The sun's warmth on my skin soothed me on my walk through the forest, although the tingling sensation from the sweat pushing up through my pores felt slightly uncomfortable. Adjusting to the increase in sensation from my new power would take time. The wind combed through my hair gently, but I still felt on edge. Ever since the awakening of my new power, my chest ached. It felt like the power was pooling there, waiting to be released.
I wanted to release it, but who knew what would happen if I did? What I needed right now was a distraction and some space away from that yellow-eyed weasel. I growled as I twisted my dress, the tight corset squeezing me. I missed the freedom I felt when I wore my Guard’s uniform, and oddly enough, I missed the adventure Cyrus and I had embarked on to save Skye and . . .
My thoughts trailed off as I thought of Ms. Clementine—and how badly everything had gone. The world was in shambles, and I didn’t want that. But I realized deep down that it was the adrenaline rush I’d ached for all these years.
I’d ached to be out in the world, but now it was bittersweet.
I frowned.
Okay, it was now mostly bitter.
I had seen so much death. And I felt like I was going to overload with the memory of it. I’d always known the world could be a dark place, but I hadn’t really experienced it for myself until now. Yet the things I’d witnessed hadn’t made me want to turn and run. No, they made me even more determined to protect those who couldn’t defend themselves.
I gazed down at my hands and then folded them into fists. Now I had more power, power that could do so much, but Levi wanted to lock me away.
Desperate to release the excess anger I felt every time my thoughts turned to Levi, I pulled my dress up at the sides and started to run. As trees passed me by in a blur, I laughed, thrilled by the significant increase in my speed. At this rate, I had to be faster than even Will. The power in my chest warmed my body as it flowed to my legs, pushing me even faster. Soon the bright forest grew a little dark, and I realized I was deep in the woods, where the thick canopy of trees above obscured all but a few rays of sunlight. Here, no birds were singing, and at night, it was the most dangerous part of the forest. This was where Will had saved me for the first time.
This was where everything began for us.
That night, he’d killed two of his own to save me, a young and foolish wolf who’d ventured out on a full moon. Blinded by rage at my father's attitude and actions, I hadn't exercised even a modicum of caution on a night where I was most vulnerable. Knowing I couldn’t shift because of the full moon hadn’t stopped me from running off, angry at the world.
I smiled as I thought of the way Will had appeared, cloaked in darkness, and then had followed me until I was back on my territory. We’d come a long way since that night. I thought of the way he fought by my side the other day, even at the risk of his own life.
I felt relieved that he seemed to have gained my father’s respect. It was nice to think that maybe the man I loved and my father could get along. But I knew my father’s lenience with this situation would only last until I told him I’d be leaving to become a rogue, a bounty hunter.
As I strolled forward, all I could hear was the sound of insects. And in my mind, it was as if the insects were saying the things I knew my father would. He’d argue that I had fallen under some kind of trick, that my feelings for Will weren’t real.
I snorted.
He’ll want to see Will’s head on a spike.
“Why are you always wandering off?”
I spun around, and Will removed the large hood that was covering his face. I ran to him and threw my arms over his shoulders. I hadn’t realized how deeply I’d missed his voice until I heard him speak. His arms held me tight at my waist as he spun me around. If I hadn’t been as strong as I was, he would have snapped me in two.
Finally, my feet touched the ground once more, but he didn’t release me. Burying his nose into my neck and hair, he inhaled deeply, and my body liquefied.
“Stop sniffing me like that. It’s disturbing.”
He chuckled. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.”
I pulled away from him as a thought occurred to me. “You can’t be here. I mean, we’re not on my territory right now. But still, you can’t be this close or out during the daytime. What if someone sees you?”
He pointed to his cheeks, which weren’t the standard pale white of a vampire. That meant he hadn’t fed yet. “All they’ll see is an ashen man. And I mask my scent when I walk during the day. That potion Saleem gave me was the strongest I’ve ever had.”
I scoffed as I shook my head. “Looks like Saleem just gained herself another customer.” Then I remembered what she and Scarlet had said they were going to do. “I wonder how things went with them. They said they were going to check out the location Arden had given us.”
Will shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything. But there is something I should tell you.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, judging by the seriousness in his voice. “I’m going home.”
I knew I hadn’t wanted to know. “I may or may not be going deaf. Please, tell me you didn’t just say you’re going home?”
He turned his back to me, the tail of his cloak brushing against his boots. “My circumstances have changed, so I need to return. But I won’t be gone for long.” He turned to face me. “I’m also going home to check if my mother knows anything about what’s happening.”
“You suspect her?”
“I wouldn’t put it past her. But whether or not she’s involved, I need to discover if she knows anything.”
I really didn’t like the idea of him going home. “She won’t find it odd that you care?”
“I won’t give her that impression. If she’s involved in anything that might affect our kind positively or negatively, as a general, I need to know about it.”
I nodded, despite the ache in my chest. “I understand. How long will you be gone?”
“I’m not sure. Long enough to not seem suspicious, but I won’t be gone forever.” He walked back over to me and cupped my cheek. There was something about his tenderness that always made me relinquish my trust to him. “Are you going to miss me?”
I looked up at him and nodded. I breathed deeply as his thumb caressed my cheek, and my eyes fluttered when he lowered his head to mine. My arms slid around his waist as his lips claimed mine passionately.
“I was so worried about you,” he mumbled against my lips. “There was nothing I could do, and I couldn’t get too close. It was maddening.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered back. “I was unconscious.”
For some reason, it didn’t feel right telling him about seeing the Goddess. But I’d wonder why, later.
He squeezed, tightened his hug, then ended our kiss. “What happened to you? You seem different, somehow. Even your body has changed.”’
I smirked. “I wasn't aware you were such an authority on my body.”
He arched a brow, obviously surprised by my flirting, and his eyes flashed red. “I'm not as much of an authority as I'd like to be. Maybe I should get a closer look, just to be sure." He smirked, and his blue eyes twinkled in a way that made my toes curl.
"But seriously, what happened?”
“Have you ever heard the stories about white wolves? About them being descendants of the first wolf, a direct descendant of the Goddess?” He nodded. “Well . . . those stories are true. Like Enchanteds, I have divinity. But while Enchanteds cannot shift, white wolves don’t lose that ability.”
‘“So,
you’re the strongest among your kind?”
I made a face. “I-I don't want to say I'm the strongest. There are probably other white wolves out there somewhere, and they might have even more divinity in them than I do. But I'm the only one I know of who has had her divinity powers activated. Even then, it's not like I'm unbeatable.”
“After what I saw the other night, the power you wielded, Elinor, would pose a challenge even to my mother. But you must learn to control it.”
I turned away from him, as Levi’s words came back to me. “I wounded so many of my pack that night. And I was the reason my pack and two others were attacked in the first place.” I bit down on my lip. “Maybe Levi was right.”
Will rested his hands on my shoulders. “I don’t know who this Levi fellow is, Elinor, but your pack would have been attacked eventually. Until we catch whoever is behind it all, no one is safe.” He turned me around to face him. “Thanks to you, Skye, and Cyrus, we now have an idea of what’s coming. Focus on that and the lives of the wolves you saved that night—nothing else.”
He pulled me into a hug, and we remained like that for a moment. He was right—the attack was inevitable. The Council clearly planned to continue hiding information in its misguided attempt to protect everyone. And while keeping secrets would prevent a mass panic, a random attack—especially on a full moon—would leave countless dead. Nobody would be prepared.
It was just hard for me to forget what the Goddess had shown me. I still couldn’t shake the memory of the fear of me in everyone’s eyes, even Cyrus’s.
Cyrus.
I needed to go see both him and Skye. “I spoke to my father about you.”
Will pulled away, but his hands lingered on my waist. “And what did you tell him?”
“Nothing much. I only told him you’re someone he can trust, someone who can help us in the war that’s coming. He appreciated the fact that you saved Jackson, and said he’d turn a blind eye to you being a vampire—for now.”
“Hmm, I don’t think my mother will be as understanding if she finds out what’s happening between us.”
“I’m sure my father’s lenience will only last until I tell him I’m leaving the pack. At least he said he’d call off everything with Elijah, so I’m saved from having to do that myself.”
“I’m sure he won’t approve of you and me, but he might surprise you and support you. You never know.”
I shrugged as I moved his cloak over his shoulder. He was wearing a black cotton shirt with the sleeves pushed to his elbows, and black pants tucked neatly into his boots. I touched the exposed skin on his arms gently, enjoying their warmth.
“We’ll see,” I grumbled. “You being a general is going to make things way more difficult for us.”
“Yes, it will. But I can handle my mother.”
I looked up at him. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, but I won’t be a general for much longer. I’ve had enough. So, I’ll follow your example and do what a little wolf has more courage than me to do.”
“How? How will you just walk away from being her successor? I think you said it yourself, Will—she’s not going to let you go so easily. Especially if you can father children and potentially create a new race.”
“Royals don’t die often, so they only rule for several centuries before passing the throne onto the next royal in line. It’s nearing the time for her to do that, so she must pass the throne on to someone, even if it’s not me.”
I nodded. “I see. It’s almost the same with werewolves. My father will step down as Alpha after Jackson comes of age.”
“Exactly,” he confirmed. “As for escaping her, I know of ways to make it so she can’t find me. I just haven’t felt the need to use them until now. Just leave my mother to me, and I’ll let you know if I discover anything useful.”
Elinor
I glanced over at Skye, and she gave me a small smile. I swallowed hard and nervously returned it, then looked down at the symbol Faelen had drawn on my stomach. This divinity test made me anxious, but I was doing my best to hold it together.
I was lying on the ground naked, with a white cloth over my breasts and hips. The symbol on my stomach was a circle with words I wasn’t familiar with written in the center. Faelen drew it with a concoction of herbs she had prepared that, oddly enough, smelled like lavender.
“Relax,” Faelen said from across the room as she blended other ingredients in a small wooden mortar bowl. “Inhale the lavender. It’ll calm your nerves.”
As lovely as the lavender smelled, I couldn’t forget where I was and what I was doing.
On my left sat Levi and my father, and on my right were my mother and Skye. Ione was present as well, watching closely as Faelen worked, obviously trying to absorb as much knowledge as she could. Meanwhile, I was lying in the center of the room, surrounded by lit candles. I felt like a sacrificial lamb.
The divinity test was a longer process than I’d thought it would be, and the longer it stretched on, the more nervous I grew. However, I was thankful that Faelen was performing it here, where I was surrounded by people I knew and trusted. Except for Levi, of course.
Faelen suddenly groaned, and when I looked at her, I saw her staring out at nothing, her eyes white. She rocked back and forth on her heels for a minute, then her eyes returned to their regular blue, and she looked around the room as if trying to remember where she was.
She took a deep breath. “I was just informed that two more packs were attacked.”
I sat up, grabbing the cloth over my breasts so I’d remain covered. “When?”
“Who contacted you?” Levi questioned.
“A fellow Enchanted. She’s a member of one of the packs under siege. That makes five packs that have been ambushed.”
My father exhaled audibly. “Once we finish this, I’ll have Connor follow up with those other packs.”
I lowered myself back to the ground and listened as Ione questioned Faelen about how she could mind-link with someone while conscious. Ione told her that so far, she’d only been able to do it via dreams, and even then, it was hard. After a brief explanation and a promise to go more in-depth with her later, Faelen gave the girl a small hug, then entered the circle and stooped down beside me.
She placed her hand under my head and helped me into a semi-sitting position. “Drink.”
She placed the wooden mortar to my lips while muttering incoherent words under her breath, and I closed my eyes and drank the foul-smelling potion. It was surprisingly warm as it slipped down my throat, and she lowered my head back down to the ground. My body felt weak almost immediately, and as much as I tried, I couldn’t move.
I could hear Faelen muttering more words, but they sounded more and more distant. With my eyes half open, I watched as she straddled me, drank the rest of the potion, and then began rubbing her hands together.
I focused on the sounds being created as she rubbed her hands together, and then my body jerked upwards as she pressed both hands down on my stomach. The next instant, I landed with a loud oomph inside my room. Faelen watched me silently by the door as I stood up and looked around in confusion.
“Uh, what just happened? Did we teleport or something?”
“No, we’re inside your mind, Elinor. You designed this room, probably for comfort.”
“Okay,” I drawled. “So, did you do it? Do you know if I have divinity?”
She chuckled as she walked towards me. “I did, and you do. But that was something I already knew.” She strolled over to my dresser and picked up a small hairbrush I’d used as a baby. “You realize Levi feels threatened by you, don’t you? You were smart to refuse to be taken to Romania.”
“Why?”
She turned to face me. “I’m sure you’ve already sensed his intentions. He’d do anything to get the power you have. He’s tried and failed in the past to gain the kind of power given to Enchanteds. That’s why his eyes are yellow. One of his experiments went wrong.”
“Why?”
I asked again. “Why does he want more power?”
She shrugged. “To become the head of the Council, or maybe to declare himself the king over all werewolves? Who knows? But he’s definitely power-hungry. That is why I arranged to meet you here and speak with you. I wanted to warn you to watch your back.”
“But why should I trust you? You work for him.”
Her face twisted with hate. “I don’t work for Levi or the Council. The Enchanteds serve the Goddess, and even though some think less of us, we do what we can to help and protect our species. We’re werewolves, just as much as those who can shift.”
“I know that. And I think it's wrong to treat Enchanteds differently simply because you can't shift. I've been thankful to Ione more times than I can count for all the ways she's helped our pack. I don't know what we would've done without her.” I walked over to her. “But I think there’s another reason you’re doing this. Am I right?”
“You saw her, didn’t you?”
I tried not to react, but she was inside my head. If she’d wanted to, she could’ve searched through my memories to get the information she needed. I should have been happy she had asked.
“Yes.”
“And will there be a price to pay for wielding the power you have?”
“Yes, but I don’t know what.”
She nodded. “That’s fine. I just wanted to make sure that if Levi ever discovered a way to take an Enchanted’s power, or yours, he’d suffer for it.”
I wasn’t sure what had occurred between Faelen and Levi, but she was definitely out for blood. “What did he do to you?”
“Not me, personally,” she answered. “But a friend of mine, an Enchanted, died during one of his secret experiments. The Council did nothing about it, simply swept it under the rug. I’m just waiting for the day he slips up, and I get to kill him myself.”
I said nothing in response, because really, what was there to say? If Levi had been performing experiments on Enchanteds, he should have been removed from the Council and charged long ago. My guess was that the rest of the Council was as curious as he was.