by T. F. Walsh
“Yeah, yeah, a Varlac who has no standing until he gets a pack of his own.” She rolled her eyes. “Big threat when you’re behind bars. Now listen, I’m a fool for even considering this, but I’ll help you save your pack.”
My thoughts froze. Had I heard her right? “Why would I believe you?”
She strolled along the narrow passage between the wall of the trailer and our cages.
“Because there are wulfkin out there right now deciding on how to best finish you off. Damir seems intent on using his hands to rip your head off your shoulders while Maxim is leaning toward several pack members ending you with an old-fashioned fox hunt. Yeah, you’re the fox.” Lutia sauntered closer, her fingers running along the metal bars as she passed. “Mind you, there are several others who have suggested more creative ways to eliminate you.”
I refused to pay attention to her exaggeration, despite the boulder expanding in my gut.
When Lutia passed the next cage, Mila leapt forward, teeth exposed. Lutia yelped and flinched, her back pinned flat against the wall.
Mila threaded a paw through the bars and reached for flesh.
“Pesky mutt.”
Mila snarled, drool seeping from her fangs.
“Good, Mila. Tear her leg off,” I said, just as Lutia lunged to the side in front of me, her cheeks flushing and inhales quickening. “You’re not any safer over here.” I cracked my neck and approached the bars.
Her retort flew fast. “You’ve always been an idiot. Maybe the dracwulf should have finished you off. And to think Sandulf actually contemplated giving you his pack when he retired. But I convinced him you’d be a threat because of your Varlac lineage.”
Every part of me vibrated from the fury pumping in my veins. “You’re doing a wonderful job of convincing me to give a shit about your plan.”
Her posture straight, Lutia said nothing at first. Silence fell between us. Only Mila’s occasional low growls resonated through the trailer.
“That’s the thing.” Lutia broke the stillness. “Everything I did was for Maxim. His orders were to cause disarray in the pack so he could attack without being detected. Fewer casualties on his side. But after spending more time with Sandulf, I started thinking differently. I decided to join him, help him fend off the Bulgarian pack. But then that bitch, Daciana, ruined the plan.” With a flick of her hand, she flung loose strands of ashen hair from her pinched face. “Why can’t anyone see that Daciana caused the pack’s problems? She was dating a human, exposing us to him. It led to Sandulf’s death.”
“I bet not being appointed female alpha aided in your decision.”
She blew warm air into her cupped hands. Mila yipped in her direction.
“That had zero to do with it. But now Sandulf’s dead, and … ” She shrugged. “I want to do the right thing. Give him what he wanted—protect his pack. But I can’t do it on my own.”
I struggled to respond. Every fiber in my body screamed to escape from the cage and make this squirmy weasel pay with her own life. Wulfkin who betrayed their family on a whim were more dangerous than your worst enemy. They followed no logic and had only one instinct—to protect their own ass. Without a doubt, they had to be stamped out.
An icy breeze whistled under the trailer’s door, shaking it against its hinges, and doing little to cool the inferno in my chest.
My arm snapped through the bars, and I snatched a handful of Lutia’s jacket, jerking her forward, whacking her face into the metal cage.
She yelped and squirmed in my grip.
Mila made a jumbled whimpering noise. She wanted in on the action.
I leaned in. “Why shouldn’t I kill you right now?”
“Because I can convince Maxim to spare your life.”
I softened my grip. She recoiled. I yanked her back again, banging her chest into the bars again. “I’m still waiting for a reason not to kill you.”
“Don’t you listen? I just told you. I’ll tell Maxim that if he doesn’t free you and forget Transylvania, I’ll turn myself in to the Varlac and tell them I murdered a human on his command. He’d be targeted by the Varlac and punished.”
She had a backbone, I’d give her that. Except, I suspected her threat to the alpha would be empty and she’d somehow manage to drag the Varlac into this mess without bringing any attention to herself. Then hell would break loose on everyone else.
“And what do you get out of this?” I mushed her face against the bars.
“I get to be part of your pack again?” Her eyebrows lifted.
I fought the urge to laugh at how ridiculous she looked.
“We start fresh with you as pack leader. It’s what you need to gain your parents’ approval.”
Her response caught me off guard, and I loosened my hold. She slipped free and leapt from my reach, rubbing the red line indented into the side of her nose.
Mila gnashed her jaws at Lutia, whose scowl could have scared a field of crows as she made for the door. It slammed shut behind her.
Lutia was broken in the worst possible way, and next time I laid my hands on her, she wouldn’t walk away.
The door handle creaked again. Mila leapt toward the entrance, a whine at the back of her throat.
Maxim strolled inside, flanked by two goons.
My throat dried up, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of Lutia’s threat about the alpha deciding how best to kill me.
I retreated into the corner, convinced I would die today. But then again, I’d been wrong before.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ALENA
I sighed in the chair across from Sonia, her divining twigs and tarot cards splayed out on the table between us. After Father had brushed me away, saying he didn’t have time to talk right then, I’d shuffled to Sonia’s trailer.
“I’m an idiot.”
The faint smell of sandalwood drifting through her trailer didn’t settle my nerves.
“I thought my dreams were a prediction, you know. Maybe I wanted to believe that Enre had arrived for me.” The next words refused to come because voicing them would make them real. When they did flow, they were barely a whisper. “But my dreams were a warning about him, weren’t they?”
I thumped my forehead onto the table. The wolf whined inside me, rolling and nudging. Images of what Enre and I did in the woods sent shivers up my thighs … and elsewhere. Couldn’t my body see I had been used? I’d behaved like some desperate wulfkin in heat while Enre played me to get insider information.
“How could I not see through his charm?”
Sonia patted my arm. “Honey, don’t blame yourself. He’s a fine specimen of a wulfkin, and most of the girls in the pack have been hoping for a chance with him.”
“You’re not helping. He’s our enemy, remember?” I lifted my head, and a tarot card stuck to my brow.
Sonia was quick to snatch it. She hummed as she studied it, her lips tightened. “Interesting.”
“What?”
She set the card face up on the table.
It showed a massive medieval tower pitched on a mountain with lightning bolts striking it from blackened skies. The structure was burning and crumbling, people leaping out of windows. It was the same card from an earlier reading. Tower—the destruction card.
My stomach clenched. I hated that card.
Sonia fiddled with the twigs around the table, turning them over repeatedly. The sound was hypnotic.
“The tower card’s been coming up for the past few weeks.” She tapped it with a crimson fingernail. “Change is imminent. And this is a chaotic type of change, where everything we know will be twisted on its head.”
“Not a fan of it.”
Sonia collected the tarot pack in one swipe and set them at the corner of the table. “Sometimes change is necessary. We should have left this place months ago. Destiny is forcing us because we’ve been dragging our feet.”
“What can we do?” I inched closer to the edge of my seat.
“Very little. The wheels ar
e in motion, so be prepared for a hard landing.”
A sinking sensation plummeted through my insides. “How can you be so calm when you pronounce doom and gloom?”
Sonia shrugged. “Panic isn’t going to help.”
“It helps me.” Up on my feet, I tugged down on my jacket and slipped the hood on with shaky hands. So, life was going to get worse. Great. “Thanks for listening to my ramblings. I better go feed Mila, it’s almost noon.” The reason I’d been avoiding the chore was a hesitation to confront Enre.
I pushed open the door to a light flutter of snowflakes coating the line of trailers.
“I’m always here for you, Alena.”
“I know you are,” I said over my shoulder and hurried outside.
A jittery sensation weaved through me. What was I supposed to do now? Wait for doom to hit? Father had said Enre had nothing to do with me and that I better not leave the circus grounds today. What was happening? Why wouldn’t he tell me about his plans to rescue Nicolai? Was he rescuing my brother today?
Shameful guilt blazed in my cheeks. The ache in my chest threatened to split me in half.
I stomped through a thick layer of snow and slush on a path between the line of trailers and the big top. My hands were tucked in my armpits. The sun didn’t warm the arctic chill settling in my bones. Voices from the tent filtered out; the pack was practicing for the show. Life appeared normal.
After making a quick detour to the mess tent for meat and a bucket of water, I reached Mila’s trailer. Her whimpers echoed from within, more than likely starving for food. She could eat nonstop. I’d love her metabolism.
Once inside, I shoved the curtains aside and found Mila pacing back and forth in the dimly lit space. Her breaths raced, her tongue hung out of the side of her mouth, and a permanent grumble trickled from her chest. I’d never seen her this upset.
My gaze drifted over to the cage Nicolai usually inhabited during full moons when he transformed into his wolf form. A limp body lay crumpled in the center of his prison. Enre. My heart jumped into my throat. I dashed to unlock his door, struggling with the key, realizing I had to use the new one on my keychain. Why did Father keep changing the locks on these stupid cages? It clicked open, and I burst inside.
“Enre.” He lay on his side, curled in a fetal position, his chin tucked into his chest.
I felt for a pulse at his throat—faint. His skin was ice-cold, his breaths shallow.
“Can you hear me?”
Hollowness lanced through me. This was Father’s work, had to be.
Mila’s low grumbles continued, grating on my nerves.
“He’s okay,” I said.
Though I had no idea if that was the case. A massive purple bruise smudged the side of his face, and a trail of blood dripped down from his mouth and over his chin.
I sat back on bent legs and rubbed a hand down my face.
What was I doing? Nerves bounced through my veins with uncertainty as I stared at him. Why couldn’t we have met under different circumstances?
Okay, I would heal him for no other reason than that he’d shown me sympathy and helped me try to rescue Nicolai. Somewhere inside him lay a decent wulfkin.
Climbing to my feet, I hurried out of his cage and retrieved the bucket of fresh water. I took my coat off, dipped a corner into the water, and cleaned his wounds.
Knowing my father’s bodyguards, surely there were more injuries. When I lifted his shirt, I gasped at the yellow and green welts on his ribs.
Enre’s hoarse voice snapped me from my thoughts. “Checking me out?”
I jerked back, hitting the bars behind me.
Mila yelped, drawing his attention.
“I’m okay.” His voice was scratchy and dry. He attempted to drag himself up onto his elbows but collapsed onto his back and moaned.
“Stay down. I’ll try to ease the pain.”
“Don’t,” he said. “Your f-father’ll be p-pissed.”
I didn’t care. I rubbed my hands together, visualizing healing energy building around them.
When I met his stare, movement whirred behind his bright, blue eyes.
Father should have tried talking to Daciana after she took over their pack. She might have been open to negotiations. Women weren’t as quick to jump into battles … Maybe the packs needed more female alphas.
Regardless, two of our scouts had been butchered by Sandulf. Father demanded payback. I suspected that once he drilled Enre for further insider information, he’d attack the Romanian pack.
Leaving my gloves on to avoid depleting myself of energy, I inhaled and placed my open palms inches above his ribs. Too many questions buzzed in my mind. Did Enre plan on killing my father? Had he meant what he said in the woods about us running away? And did he know about my mother’s death? But a different question spilled from my lips.
“Why’d you help me with Nic?”
His attempt at shrugging made him wince in pain, and his lips warped into a silent whimper. “Nic being in prison is a danger to us all.” His eyes clasped shut while he obviously rode a wave of agony.
During those few seconds, I yearned to lean in and kiss his worries away. The thought was crazy.
My eyelids closed as I imagined a white light streaming from my palms and into his injuries. I delved deeper into my mind, forgetting myself, and drove every last particle of positive energy into Enre’s wounds.
A soft touch on my arm roused me out of my focus. My eyelids flipped open, and a wave of nausea swept over me. The world tilted. I fell against the bars behind me.
“Are you all right?” Enre was sitting by my side, hands clasping my arms, his face so close his warm breath danced across my face.
“I’m okay.” The exhaustion gripping my limbs after a healing wasn’t new. At least it hadn’t knocked me out.
“Thanks for helping, but don’t ever endanger yourself for my sake.” He sat back on his bent legs.
I shrugged, uncertain how to respond. Why was he being a martyr?
He lifted his long-sleeved shirt to reveal his exquisite torso. Nope, don’t go there. It’s an ordinary chest. My wolf rolled around in protest, demanding we climb under his shirt with him.
“Some of the bruises are gone,” he said. “You have a magical touch.”
I leaned in closer, puzzled, and ran a hand down his firm stomach where the yellow and green marks had reduced in size. I’d never healed anyone this quick, ever. It was new. And I hadn’t passed out, either.
“I have no idea how you did that, but thanks. Even my thigh’s better.” He slapped a palm on his leg without so much as a twinge of pain on his face. “You’ve got some strong mojo. Your hands were on fire.”
I’d never expected my healing to be that strong through my gloves. Had my ability changed? I recalled Mother once telling me about my grandmother, who’d also had the touch of healing but then had gained the ability to control the wind with a single thought.
“Enre, why didn’t you tell me who you really were?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t sure how you or your father would react. But I can make him see reason if given the chance. I wanted to protect my family, like you trying to rescue your brother. Is that a crime? I never injured any of your pack. And I’d avoid that at any cost.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Maybe I laid a few punches into Blackie … I mean Damir … but he deserved it.”
“I don’t think Father will listen,” I said. “It’s your Varlac family and … ” The rest refused to come, and the rock in my throat hardened.
“What are you talking about?” His eyes narrowed.
I struggled with each breath, and my vision blurred behind tears. He had a right to know. “Levin Ulf murdered my mother.”
Wiping my eyes, I refused to cry in front of Enre. I’d finished with grief years ago, yet the wound seemed as raw as the day it happened.
He reached for my arm. I jerked back and climbed to my feet, holding onto the bars to steady my balance. I hurried across
the cell toward Mila’s cage.
“I had no idea my father did that. I’m sorry,” he said.
So, it was his damn father. Part of me had hoped it was an uncle or distant cousin. At least that would make it less personal. “I don’t need your sympathy.”
He shuffled behind me, but I didn’t turn.
“I left my Varlac family at the age of fourteen after I’d had enough of my father’s beatings.” His voice grew firmer, never quivering. “Father insisted I would be stronger for it. But how does a child fight against an untouchable lord?”
“That’s horrible.” I turned around.
Enre was barely a pace from me, arms by his sides. A crease marred the bridge of his nose. “I’m not my father.”
We stood there in a daze, paralyzed in each other’s gazes. Mila shoved her snout into the back of my thigh, nudging me into Enre’s arms. Strong, secure, and familiar. His heat pressed in around me. His lips were inches from mine. My breathing sped up.
My life was one messed-up pile of confusion. That moment was wrong on every plane of existence, and yet all I yearned for was to drown in his stare and never resurface.
“I came here to find a way to protect my pack.” His hands pressed into my back, drawing me closer, our bodies joining. “But I never expected to fall for you.”
His words brought more trembling, but I couldn’t lose myself in him. Too much was at stake. Pieces of my dream returned. Was Father at risk? I pried myself from Enre’s hold and ran to the door, desperate for fresh air before I did something stupid like declaring my love.
“I can’t do this. I’m sorry.” Slamming his cage shut, I locked it, in case Father returned. After I placed fresh meat in Mila’s cage, I rushed outside. The air squeezed out of my lungs, and my heart splintered.
An icy snap curled around me, my jacket rustling as I hurried around the trailers draped in white. The slush and mud had disappeared, and new snow compacted beneath my shoes.
Regardless of every doubt trickling through my veins, Enre’s admission that he’d fallen for me resurrected the tingles in my stomach. They were the same ones that had persisted ever since we met.