Page 39 of Ruined Kingdom

My words ran dry, as did my relief when the creature stood up tall.

Only then did I discover that it wasn’t Kaine at all.

The creature in front of me was something else entirely—not to mention far less agreeable than any of the other forest creatures. It bore its teeth and made this awful hissing down that scrambled my thoughts.

I backed away, and it moved in closer.

What do I do?

It lunged at me, and I managed to dodge his swing, but it still caught my dress and ripped through the skirt.

I hit the ground hard but didn’t have any time to waste on registering my pain. I turned to see him swinging at me again with long, glowing pinchers. I rolled to the side, feeling the sharp end of his pincher scratch the side of my thigh.

Luckily, it wasn’t deep enough to disable me.

I dragged myself away as it tried to dislodge its pinchers from the ground. I was able to slip behind a big boulder while he wasn’t looking.

I pressed my back against him and tried to remain as still and quiet as possible while he searched for me. I could hear his feet scraping against the ground as he moved about the dark space.

Dammit, what do I do now? I sure wish I had a good grasp on these stupid shifter powers by now. What does a girl have to do to get light to shoot out of her hands again?

A footfall fell dangerously close to where I was hiding, silencing my mind and ceasing my breathing.

I covered my mouth with the palm of my hand and closed my eyes.

Then, a horrible screech echoed throughout the cave, deafening me from everything else.

I could feel rumbles through the earth and rock beneath me, alerting me to the fact there was a tussle of some sort. I peeked out from the rock and saw two large beasts fighting each other.

My hopes of being saved were dashed until I realized that one of those terrifying beasts was Kaine.

I couldn’t believe it.

He looked so different now.

What happened?

His arms were longer, and his wolf figure was more gaunt.

Clearly, something had gone very wrong with his shift this time—and somehow, I just knew who had a hand in it.

This was the Fae King’s endgame. He wanted Kaine to turn into this thing… Possibly even into one of them.

Kaine managed to get the high ground on the large cave creature, took its neck in his hands, and snapped it like it was a mere wheat stalk.

The creature dropped to the floor motionless, and Kaine stood over it, heaving in victory.

Kaine turned his head, catching sight of me with his big yellow eyes.

I trembled as I simply stared back at him, unmoving.

What else could I do? I couldn’t outrun him… I couldn’t fight him off.

Kaine approached me slowly.

The look in his eyes was unfamiliar, like he didn’t remember me.

My lips parted as I tried to call his name gently, but I was too frightened.

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