Page 33 of Wolf Marked

“I can’t see you!” Reaching out a hand, Astrid took another step but pulled back her fingers when they got too close to the pink crystals.

“I’m here. The reflective surfaces create illusions. Nothing will happen to you. I promise.”

Illusions? As she squinted at the rocks, her vision hazed over and everything shifted.Wait, is that…a break in the wall?It couldn’t be. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her. If only it was night and she had her wolf with her now. The keen eyesight would have come in handy.

Suddenly, a hand was on her shoulder and Bec stood beside her. “I don’t like this, Astrid,” he said, carefully. “You stay here. I’ll go first.”

“Erec said I’ll be fine.” Annoyance pinched at her. Did everyone believe she couldn’t do a thing on her own? Hadn’t she proven herself enough? “He says he’s right there.”

“I don’t like this,” Bec repeated. “It looks like you’re going to walk face-first into a wall of sharp rocks. I promised your brother I would keep an eye on you, and I—”

But she didn’t bother to hear the rest. Taking a deep breath to extinguish her lingering fear, Astrid shrugged off Bec’s warning and his touch. When she blinked, the rocks seemed to move before her eyes, creating a temporary cavern. Like before, it was gone as quick as it had appeared. There was only a solid wall staring back at her. She tried to swallow past the tightness in her throat, reminding herself that she could do this. No problem.

It’s just an illusion.

“Keep walking,” Erec’s calm voice echoed ahead. “I’m right here.” A silhouetted figure materialized, and slowly its features emerged, too—Erec’s blond hair, tilted smirk, and stormy blue eyes looked back at her. At first, she thought he was trapped inside the stone, but the longer she stared at him, the clearer things became. Erec was standing in the middle of a small opening, a sliver of space between two of the pink rocks.

“Just stay focused on me,” he repeated. He took her hand in his. Erec’s grip was stronger this time, more confident and comforting than it had been before, and in an instant, all the tension inside her melted away. “See? I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

“You did.” At least he thought she could do things on her own. Erec could have ledher through the entrance, hand in hand, like a parent with a child, but instead, he had let her discover it on her own. He’d known she could do it, and that belief in her was all she had ever wanted. A tingling warmth began to grow at the center of her chest, and she smiled.

Erec waited for the rest of the group to meet up with them before continuing through the passage. Astrid’s eyes struggled to keep up with the changes around her. It all made her head pound. Every once in a while Erec would guide her left or right, depending on the path’s curve. She had no clue where they were going, but the pressure of his hand was enough to relax her. Erec seemed to know exactly where he was taking them, and Astrid did trust him.

How had the pack known to come this way? It would be close to impossible for a person to figure it out on their own.

“Did my father know about this?” Her voice rebounded all around her, leaving her ears ringing.

“I told Filip. Marked it on his map,” Erec replied. “I found it the hard way years ago. Same with those sharp edges.”

Astrid winced just thinking about it.

“Svanna Rock is probably the safest place for your pack right now,” he went on. “It was a good choice by your brother. Not many people know about its secret.”

She paused, her stomach flipping. There was more? “What secret?”

Astrid’s next breath froze in her lungs as the walls ended, and they were standing in a vast, open clearing. She gawked at the size of it. All around, in a protective circle, was a wall of sparkling pink crystals.

Erec stood by her side, smiling. “There’s an inside.”

Several tents had already been put up. Fires roared, and the mouthwatering scents of cooked meat and boiled fish filled the air. Axes chopped into tree logs for the start of cabin walls, and nearby, children laughed as they jousted with sticks like swords. So much commotion but so much joy. Astrid saw it on every person who rushed by, their hands full of supplies from the wagons. The air was buzzing from the pack’s excitement. Astrid’s insides hummed along with it, too. Everyone could feel it—the promise of home, of peace. This is where they were meant to be.

Erec couldn’t look away from Astrid, even as the rest of the group filed in behind them. Her childlike wonder and enthusiasm was infectious. Refreshing. He couldn’t help the grin lifting his lips. That was just another thing he admired about Astrid. Everything about her was so…genuine. He had never met anyone like her before.

She turned to him, her green eyes wide. “Why do they call it Svanna Rock? Do you know?”

He nodded, thinking back to the stories he’d heard over his travels about the place. “Tale says this is where Maurus lived, the wolf spirit we descend from. This was his palace of sorts.”

She gasped. “Really?”

Erec chuckled. “You know the legend from there, I’m sure. Everyone does. Maurus killed that innocent woman in the mountain out of jealousy, and when he came back to his home, his mate was dead. The sky spirits punished him for his deed, and all of his kind.”

Astrid held up one of her hands with the blue markings twisted around her fingers and palm. “Oh, I know that part well. Now we must find our true mate and stay with them under the Blue Moon to break the curse.”

“Exactly,” Erec replied. “But what you might not know is that Maurus’s mate was named Svanna.”

Astrid’s mouth fell open.

“That’s what I’ve heard anyway. Who knows if it’s true.” Erec shrugged. “Travelers like to weave tales to pass the time during long nights. There’s no way to know for sure if Maurus was even real, is there? They’re all stories.”

---