Page 10 of Hostile Holiday

She focused on breathing, and by the time he had walked to the palace, her chest still ached, but her breath came easier.

When he walked past the guards at the gate, she recognized lefty and righty. “Hey, guys.” Her voice was still a croak.

The guards looked at her with wide eyes, then stared at the wolf, and kept walking.

She had a thought and craned her head to the back.

Hunter muttered, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to see if you have a tail.”

“Why?”

“I wondered if it was wagging. You have wagging-tail face.”

She stared up at him, and he paused and looked at her down his muzzle. “It is not wagging.” His words were growled.

He straightened and kept walking. She was pretty sure she saw the swish of a tail behind him, but it didn’t reappear.

She waited until he set her down before she said what she was thinking. “Nice doggy.”

Chapter Three

“Did you call me a dog?” Hunter was staring at her.

“Um, yes? I haven’t been allowed around animals or polymorphs, so I am respecting what you are presenting as.” She bit her lip. “Is that incorrect?”

He growled and muttered, “That is politically correct, but I am not a dog. I am a wolf.”

“I apologize, butnice wolfyhas an odd ring to it.”

“Just call me sir, my lord, or Hunter. You are Orla, and what is your last name?”

“Lerothian. Orla Rhea Lerothian.”

He paused and stared at her.

She looked down at her shredded leathers and the green sweater on her arm. “I would ask if something was wrong, but your face says it definitely is.”

“The Lerothians are vile.”

“Yes. We are.” She shrugged.

Hunter paused. “You count yourself in their number?”

“I wear the name and was raised in their house, so yes.” She moved her left arm across her exposed abdomen.

“But you have no magic.”

“No. I was never able to access it. I can feel it, but it won’t come to me.”

“But you can read grimoires?”

“Sure. I can think of all the spells, but I can’t make them do anything.” She plucked at the sweater.

She looked at his leather breastplate covering his chest and the white fur-covered arms ending in claws that had taken chunks out of her leathers. He looked like he could claw her apart while ripping her throat out. He seemed to be a multitasker.

Orla waited for a moment and said, “Do you want to send me back? I am pretty sure I can give my brother a run for his money now. Not that it would be a fair fight.”

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