Page 41 of Pack Captive

There was no glittering marble palace inside the doors. Just a dark, stone stairway leading down.

I chewed my lower lip, then stepped in and shut the door behind me.

One way or another, it led into the Palace itself. And I wanted to know what Ryden was hiding that needed to be kept behind a door marked with powerful lunar wards.

Guttering oil lamps lit my passage down the stairs. The air grew cool around me as I descended into the earth, and I realized I must be far below the surface level of the lake. It was almost cold enough for me to see my breath by the time I reached a landing, and I found myself rubbing my arms, trying to stay warm.

There was another door on the landing, but this time I touched the door and unlocked the runes before testing it.

It clicked, proving me right, and I stepped inside.

When my eyes adjusted, I almost scrambled back out, but the door had swung shut behind me.

I found myself with my back pressed flat to the door, and a pair of pale green eyes watched me hungrily from across the room.

They drew closer, flashing yellow when they caught the light, then stopped.

Once my moment of panic had passed, I realized the wolf was in a cell. Thick iron bars lined the cell from floor to ceiling, and I had more than enough room to straighten up without him being able to reach me.

The wolf was black-furred, but his lunar runes were like nothing I'd ever seen before.

All pure, moon-blessed wolves had runes that glowed a brilliant blue.

This one's runes were bloody red, so deep a scarlet they looked like fresh wounds. I had the distinct impression of pain as I looked at them.

"Fenris," I whispered, groping for the door handle without taking my eyes off the wolf.

Who else but Fenris would have bloody runes?

The wolf cocked his head, a minute movement. Then he shifted, rising as his human form appeared.

He was as handsome as Ryden, the Alpha's dark inverse. Rumpled black hair, strong, lush features and bronze skin, eyes as pale as jade. He towered over me, even from feet away.

If it weren't for those bloody runes, he would've been breathtaking.

He leaned against the bars, blatantly looking me over. I realized I'd been doing the same thing to him.

"You're not Tyra." He flashed me a humorless grin, teeth white and sharp. "But you've heard of my people."

My heart was still galloping painfully. "You're not Fenris?"

He looked down at himself, reaching up to touch one of the runes on his cheek. "Not me."

I stared at him, unable to take it in. What had happened to him?

"How did..." My voice failed, and I gestured towards his face. "Are you one of the shadow wolves?"

He knew what I meant.

His hand dropped away from the scarlet marks on his cheek, but those green eyes never left my face. "One of the servants? No. They're made of nothing but blood and dust."

My stomach dropped, but I finally found the door handle.

I couldn't bring myself to turn it. I'd never met a Fenris wolf who could speak before, and it wasn't lost on me that he hadn't told me how his runes had turned red.

"How do you know Tyra?" I demanded. "Who are you, if you're not Fenris?"

Instead of answering right away, he made himself comfortable, draping his arms over the crossbars of his cell so he could hang there and stare at me. The shadows cast over his face made his eyes seem that much greener.

---