Page 147 of Empowering the Wolf's Heart

I couldn’t melt in a puddle on the battlefield. Thankfully, before I gave into the urge to throw my arms around the powerful black werewolf, howls sounded from just outside the wood line.

Yips came from the woods and werewolves streamed from the trees in both werewolf and human forms. I smiled, petting Shen’s head as Fen and Doc flanked us.

“Archers!” I yelled. I raised my hand. I waited until I could meet the eyes of the rogues before I dropped my hand. Arrows streamed past us.

An arrow thunked into my back hard enough to bruise. The cloak Shen gave me worked; it stopped the arrow from penetrating, but it sure as heck hurt and bruised my back right above my heart. Without Shen’s cloak, that arrow would have killed me.

I turned my head. Elder Timone stood there, his fingers still upraised from releasing the arrow… at me.

My heart stopped. I’d trusted him. He’d been on my side the whole time. I shook off my thoughts.

Ten men and women stabbed the other Reds beside them. I threw a blade, barely stopping another death even as my Reds realized what was happening and rallied around each other, taking down two of the betrayers.

A third traitor Red came for me. I shot him with my blowgun and he fell at my feet, foaming at the mouth.

His face… Hatred burned in his eyes even as he breathed his last.

Verand.

Ran's murderer was dead.

Blue eyes met mine. Graham. He turned, paving a pathway through other Reds we had fought and bled alongside. What was wrong with him?

As betrayal carved a burning path through my soul, Shen and Ran remained by my side. But my Reds were hard-pressed to deal with the six remaining enemy Reds and the rogues coming ever closer. Shen’s werewolves were rushing to meet the mages and rogues, but there were only about thirty or forty to their hundreds that streamed from the woods.

"Go!" I yelled.

Shen stared at me, his dark eyes narrow and glowing red beneath his hood. When did he shift forms?

Ack. Right now, don’t know and don’t care.

"Go. Save my people and keep them off us," I said, sending it along to both my bonds. A plea to protect my people, to help me.

Ran drew her head up as if appalled.

Shen bowed his head to express his trust in me. I nearly cried. He turned, taking down a rogue who was about to decapitate one of my Reds. Ran released a roar of displeasure, but went to meet the rogues behind me and unleashed her ire on them.

Elder Timone fingered another arrow. I blew a dart at him, but he ducked. It hit an enemy Red who was attacking Enforcer Markus.

“Why did you not just give her the Source-forsaken puppy? We could have lived peaceably, just as you wanted!” Elder Timone screamed over the howls and whimpers and roars behind us.

“Because I don’t betray my so-calledfriends,” I snapped back.

His face darkened. “She was right. You are too far gone. We had hoped perhaps your children would carry your legacy, but I realize now you would never allow that.”

“Why do you want my bloodline so badly? Why do you want the puppy?”

His eyes grew darker, and I felt I was staring at a demon instead of an ordinary man. “Do you not realize? Your Gift is the epitome of perfection for rule. You know the needs of your people and how best to meet them. You can create a civilization that reaches beyond the stars and catches the very sun! We have searched for a bloodline that contains your very Gift for ages, and now you, the culmination of all our hopes, must die. Although, your bloodline lives on; your siblings and their children may just bring forth a better ruler for our needs.”

“But whymyGift?”

“Did you not feel the power you got from the people? Have you not seen how creatures, big and small, are drawn to you? You could have ruled everything—become the first matriarch to rule the seven kingdoms, possibly the seven worlds. It would be a society founded on peace and linked to your Gift. All creatures would be cared for, all needs met.” His eyes glowed with pride as his vision swelled before him. “The blasted hellhound was a means for you to connect to Source—directly. From there, you would no longer merelyfeelneeds, but you couldmanipulatethem. You could make people happy, give them what you want to give them, and the world would findpeace.”

I blinked at him, even as I sidestepped a rogue who nearly impaled me with his claws. Ran snapped the rogue up with her tail and sent his twitching body into a tree as she ate a rogue that had attacked Shen.

Shen pounced on a mage about to release a vine into my archers, who were continuously fielding shots. My Reds attacked in groups of three to take down mages or rogues. I kept half an ear on the battle, even as I circled Elder Timone. I wanted to join my people, but understanding what was happening and why was more important. “What would’ve happened to the puppy?”

He shrugged. “The black mages would have disposed of the body, I am certain. And not only that, with him, we could transfer your Gift?—”

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