by Kamryn Hart
An ear-piercing squeal filled the air, and I was thrown back into my seat. It knocked the air out of my lungs, and I hit my head on the leather headrest. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if I had been prepared, but the suddenness was jarring. When I looked up, Den was dragged out of the roader by his alpha who immediately started pummeling him into the grass among the rubble. My jaw dropped open as I watched. I had never seen blatant violence like this. I hunted for food. I challenged bears in the forest to brawls, but I never killed unless I had to. The scarred werewolf looked like he was going to kill Den, and Den was his subordinate, his pack, friend, or family. Wasn’t he? The thing that bothered me the most was the fact that Den was not fighting back. It all felt… wrong.
“Stupid bastard,” the werewolf still seated beside me muttered.
“Why?” I whispered.
“Because he can’t talk about you that way. You’re his princess.” It seemed the least chatty of the three was willing to talk to me now. I wondered if it was to distract me from the horrible bone-cracking sounds to my left. I turned my eyes away because the sight of so much blood was unsettling. I didn’t know if the anger in my chest meant I wanted to jump in and stop it or if it was just anger over my own confusion.
“What was your alpha talking about before?” I asked.
“Wereas are rare, our females, you. The number of cubs born male vastly outweigh those born female.”
“So?”
“So most of us don’t have mates.” He smirked, and I decided I didn’t like the way he was looking at me either. “I won’t touch you though. I’m not stupid. You’re a werea way out of my league. Messing with you would just get me killed.” He glanced at Den as if to restate what he just said.
I thought about mates and how mates led to cubs. A werewolf claimed a werea and then they were mates. I didn’t know what claiming entailed, but I knew what made a cub: sex. I knew the general mechanics of it because of the animals I saw in the woods, but I hadn’t ever given it much thought. It appeared Den was either thinking about claiming me or sex and that was what brought on his punishment.
“Why am I here?” I asked.
“Because King George ve Paz of Paws Peak sent for you.”
I was exasperated. “But what does that mean?”
“Enough talking,” the scarred one growled as he shoved Den all bloody, black, and blue into the seat next to his at the front of the roader. “Nash, don’t let her jump out of the side. Keep her in the middle.”
“You got it,” the werewolf next to me replied as the roader roared to life and moved again.
Nash. I finally learned another name. By the time we got to Paws Peak, I might know their alpha’s name too. Not that it mattered. I didn’t plan on remembering them for long.
CHAPTER 4
SORISSA
SILENCE ENSUED. MOST OF the day was spent in the roader with breaks here and there. Just like we werewolves needed meat, the roader had to be fed gasoline which they kept in canisters tied to its back. There wasn’t a peep out of Den even though it was obvious he was in intense pain. I was certain he had at least one broken bone on top of all his cuts and bruises. I wondered why he didn’t use moonlight to heal himself. It was possible he didn’t have much to spare or maybe it was because his alpha wouldn’t have been pleased.
If I had found an animal in his state back in the woods, I would have killed it out of mercy and out of my own need for sustenance. I didn’t know what I would have done if he had been the one I found in the forest. Would I have killed him out of mercy or tried to heal him? Did it make a difference because he was the same species as me? As it was, knowing what I knew about Den, I would have opted for that mercy killing. I didn’t like him, but his suffering seemed unfair.
We passed fields and trees, a vast nature scenery, as the roader climbed mountains. There were still a few spots of snow on top of the higher peaks, but most of the mountains looked like the valley we had come from: green grass and colorful, blooming flowers. The trees, however, resembled my woods. The thought made my chest ache. The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows with all the mountains cutting through its light. I had almost been away from the woods for an entire day. I wondered if I would ever see them again.
The dirt trail the roader followed continued to wind up the mountains. The sun would duck behind cliffs and reemerge as we climbed higher and trees became thicker. It felt like a race: reach the highest peak before the sun sets.
We rounded another mountain, and I saw a big stone wall. It was the first sign of a kingdom, a standing kingdom. We headed right for the meshed iron gate. I deduced that we had, at last, arrived at Paws Peak. I squeezed Babaga’s parcel, feeling the brown paper about to tear under the pressure. I relaxed my anxious fingers, not ready to see its contents. I twisted my fingers in the twine to distract myself from the anxiety moving into my chest. We were going inside of fortified walls. It would be a lot harder to escape from inside. Did I really want to wait this out? Or did I want to do everything I could to escape even without moonlight to assist me? And where would I go? I didn’t have a home anymore. I could survive in the wild. I knew how to find food, but that wasn’t what I wanted either. I didn’t want to be alone.
The roader stopped in front of the gate that slowly began lifting off the ground. There were werewolves in armor on top of parapets, staring down at us. I had to crane my neck and shift toward the window near the empty seat to my left to see them because the walls were so tall. Each stone used to build the wall was as gray as the land outside of my woods. I didn’t like that. When the path was clear, the roader moved forward again.
It was just like those fairytales. Inside of the walls was a town: brick houses bundled together, stone-paved streets crisscrossing, and, of course, the denizens of the kingdom. They were bustling about. Some were carrying baskets. Others were lighting lamps. Then I realized something. These individuals didn’t move like the three werewolves with me. They weren’t as big. There was something about the way they were built. Maybe their eyes weren’t as intense. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but my eyes knew the difference. These people were humans. I didn’t know werewolves and humans lived together. Now that I thought about it, the fairytales I read back in the woods never showed the three species mingling. That seemed strange because why wouldn’t werewolves, humans, and vampires all be seen in the same place if they lived in the same world?
I flinched when bright lights exploded into the darkness. They were coming from tall poles in the distance. It wasn’t the same quality of light as the gas lamps in the area. They were much brighter.
“What are those?” I asked. “And why are there so many humans here?”
The scarred alpha grunted. “No questions, Princess. Not part of my job to answer your damn questions.” He was in a worse mood ever since he laid into Den, so I fell silent.
Was it more technocraft? That was the only explanation I had. They did have this monstrous metal beast called a roader. Why couldn’t they have magical lights too?
I spotted more werewolves in steel-gray uniforms as the roader took us forward. These ones were gathering around a woman, a female human who was skin and bones. One yanked a weaved basket from her arms, spilling some vegetables onto the ground. I could hear him bellow through the growl of the roader. “Equal portions! No more and no less unless you’ve been picked by the king to fatten up! Laborer’s don’t need fat!”
I frowned. Did this werewolf, this soldier, view this human as his prey? That would have been like me thinking of Babaga as my prey—which I couldn’t. We were too alike. She was practically my mother. She didn’t have a moonlight form, so we were technically different, but there was much more that was the same. Thinking of her as something other than someone I loved made my stomach churn. I didn’t like this exchange. I didn’t like Paws Peak or the werewolves that brought me here.
This wasn’t the world I wanted. Everything I thought I knew about the world outside was skewed. It was li
ke Babaga only wanted me to know the good things about this world, the kind things. But what good and kind things? I hadn’t seen a trace of them. Fairytales were nothing but fairytales after all.
I flinched when one of the uniformed werewolves took out his whip and slashed the woman hard across the back. The roader drove by without any compassion, and the woman’s screams rang in my ears as we neared the largest building I had seen yet: the castle. It had multiple towers all built in semi-reflective stones that almost looked more like metal. There were millions of windows, and it glowed in the oncoming night. The bright lights cast by the tall poles created abstract shapes across its surface as it reflected their lights as well as the last reds and oranges of the dying sun. It was spectacular. I would have called it beautiful if it hadn’t looked like the Maw of Hell.
As we got closer to the castle, the scarred alpha directed the roader to what sort of resembled a stable. It was blocked off with a big gate that seemed to open magically, revealing a shelter with a wide smooth floor. There were other roaders sleeping quietly inside. When our roader rolled up next to one of the others and its roaring died, the scarred alpha spoke, “Everybody out.”
I waited to get out until Nash got out. I didn’t want to risk any conflict—not yet.
“If you don’t want any strong-arming, behave yourself,” the alpha told me when I got out.
I hadn’t caused any trouble since we were just outside of Babaga’s woods. I thought I was doing well at avoiding suspicion. Maybe that wasn’t the case, or maybe he simply didn’t want to deal with any more shenanigans and felt a warning was in order. Whatever it was, I nodded my head submissively to play along. I continued to hold Babaga’s parcel in my hands, my one belonging, my only piece of home—aside from my clothes.
“Keep up, Princess.” The scarred alpha commanded. Every bone in my body wanted to rebel, but I needed to be patient. I kept reminding myself of that fact.
Nash shoved me forward and stayed behind me as the alpha led the way. Den walked with us, but he stood apart, the visible outcast in the group. He limped with each step he took as we made our way out of the shelter, but he kept up and didn’t complain.
The shelter was close to the castle, so it didn’t take us long to get to a small side-door entrance. A couple of soldiers were marching around the perimeter and stared at me as we entered. It was hunger. The way everyone looked at me so far was with hunger. Was I their prey too? Had I walked willingly to my death? I might have thought that if they hadn’t kept calling me “Princess” and praising my “rarity.” I was highly valued, and that had to be somehow in my favor.
I thought the kingdom was magnificent in a terrifying kind of way, but the castle was isolated in its own category of wonder. As soon as I stepped foot inside, I spotted several objects similar to gas lamps. One was close to me. It was attached to the wall and emitted the same kind of light I saw from those tall poles outside. I wondered if it would burn me if I touched it, but it wasn’t flickering like any fire I had ever seen. It had a constant glow that stayed the same intensity no matter how long I stared at it. I looked away when it started to hurt my eyes.
“C’mon,” Nash growled, nudging me forward with his elbow. “It’s a fucking lightbulb.”
“Lightbulb?” I asked.
He nudged me again, and I had to remind myself of the word I was really starting to hate: patience.
I stared at the floor that was polished to the point it reflected my face like a metal mirror as we passed through long and brightly lit corridors. There was a little variation from the constant gray in the form of a light-colored pearly material. It lined windows and was pieced together to create murals of the moon on the floor near those same windows. It was harsh and angry due to the red sunset. It looked like it would reflect any color cast on it, but the red was fitting. This castle was the most jarring thing I had encountered yet. It outdid the ash land outside of the woods too. It gave me a bad gut feeling, and I had a habit of trusting my gut.
“In here,” a soldier said, gesturing to a gray metal door as the alpha leading my group stopped abruptly. “The king wants her washed up and made presentable before he and Prince Charles meet her. A maid is in there waiting.”
“Understood.”
Nash nudged me again. This time I couldn’t help it, I whipped around and bared my teeth at him. “Stop pushing me. I’ve done everything you’ve told me to.”
“Except stay quiet,” the scarred alpha said with a snarl. He grabbed my arm and pulled me inside of the room. His fingers felt like they were digging into my flesh, and he nearly ripped my arm from its socket. It hurt, but I didn’t yelp. I refused to show this brute any weakness. Then he pushed me into a wall, breathing hot air on my neck as he leaned down. My skin crawled and goosebumps rose to the surface as he pressed his hard body against mine and placed his mouth on my ear.
“Bitches shouldn’t speak,” he said. “They should only do as they’re told. Princess or not. The only reason I don’t put you in your place right here and now is because you are Princess Sorissa va Lupin of Howling Sky, the Moonlight Child blessed by Lureine. Soon you will become the only princess Paws Peak has, and you have my respect, the entire kingdom’s respect, but it’d be fucking wise of you to remember that our king and his favorite son will not be so lenient when it comes to your insolence.”
He moved away after that, releasing me from the wall. I watched him, unblinking. I was prepared for whatever he might do next, but all he did was turn around and usher Den and Nash outside as he slammed the door behind them.
“What about that parcel the witch gave her? It could be dangerous,” Nash said from outside.
“Fuck that! I can’t take another second near her or I’m going to lose my mind. It’s fine. The parcel is fine. Now, move your ass!”
“You’d probably get cursed if you took it anyway. Right, Den?”
I held the parcel close to my chest, anticipating their return, but their footsteps faded away from the door. I let out a pent-up breath and inspected the room. A human female stood previously unnoticed by a wall, wide-eyed and pale. Her trembling hands were clasped in front of her dingy dress and her black hair was mostly hidden by a bonnet.
“Hello,” I said.
Her lips trembled, and she gave a jerky nod of her head. She turned to a large closet she could walk inside and returned with a dress the same bright yellow as the paw-print insignia the soldiers wore on their uniforms. She laid it out on a utilitarian bed which I might have appreciated if it hadn’t looked so metallic. The woman held out her hand to me after that. Her shaking seemed to have subsided some.
“We need to get you cleaned,” she said.
“I’m not dirty,” I protested. “I took a bath last night.”
She looked me up and down, frowning. “The king insists.”
“I don’t care if the king insists.”
She started shaking again. “Please, Princess.”
“What’s your name?”
“Please, Princess,” she repeated.
I thought about the woman getting whipped by a werewolf soldier in the town outside of the castle. I didn’t want the same to happen to this woman because of my stubbornness. She wasn’t trying to harm me. Besides, patience was in order. My worst enemy.
“As you wish,” I said.
This was what the woman wanted to hear. The words were like a cure for her shaking. She took me into another large room attached to this one. There was a bath in the center, gray and metal like some sort of trophy or centerpiece. She moved to a metal pole with a bulbous head that pointed into the bath and turned a handle. Water sprayed out of the head as if it were a metal raincloud. It was mesmerizing.
The woman touched the water and said, “The temperature is good. It’s all set for you. We must hurry. The king wants to see you as quickly as possible.”
“I’ll be back,” I said and turned tail before she could stop me.
I searched in the big main room for a place to hide
my parcel. I didn’t want it to be seen by the king after what I heard outside between the werewolves that brought me here. I picked a place haphazardly because I didn’t trust anyone else to know where the parcel was being kept, certainly not this timid woman. There was a space in between the bed and the nightstand where my parcel slipped in perfectly. It worked, but if someone was looking, they’d find it easily enough. I just hoped no one would be looking and that it’d be forgotten about. Out of sight, out of mind. I also hoped I’d be returning to this room so I could retrieve it later.
“Princess?” the woman poked her head into the bedroom as I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off my boots, pretending that was what I had intended all along. “No need for that. I’ll take your clothes. Come into the bathroom so you can jump right in. We don’t want you to catch a cold.”
That worked out well enough, but I knew this woman had no interest in my parcel. She was too busy going on about this order the king gave her to make me “clean” and “presentable.”
I stripped out of my clothes at the edge of the tub. I was hesitant to step into the downpour, but I got in and found the water warm and pleasant. Babaga lived off the bare necessities, and none of the books we read mentioned anything about technocraft. This was all new to me, and I wanted to understand how it all worked.
As the water flattened my curly hair and the dark strands clung to my shoulders, back, and breasts in a hug, I dared to close my eyes. Two nights. If I got through this night and the next, the third would be a full moon. I would have power again when my moonlight reserves were restored—if they were allowed to be restored. Maybe I should have taken a chance on my terrible odds. Maybe I had sealed my fate by entering this kingdom. Paws Peak was as big of a prison as Babaga’s woods.