Page 76 of Wanted By the Wolves

“Tell me you have weapons in that bag.” I nod toward the small pouch, wishing I had at least a knife. Preferably, I’d have my dart gun, then we could take out the ferals from here.

“Me, that’s what we’ve got.” Gage raises his hand, eyeing me. “This is gonna hurt. Hold still.”

Before I even register his words, Gage draws a rune on my forearm with the mixture. It’s cool to the touch but not painful.I lift my brow, ready to give him shit, but he whispers something, and then my skin is burning. It’s the fires of death ripping through me in a painful blaze. It takes everything I have to keep still and quiet while it feels as if my insides are rearranged. Fur spouts and my claws extend, digging into the snow.

Gage repeats another chant, and the tattoos on his body glow. He grabs my hand, and a burst of magic passes through me, cooling the raging flames. In the wake of the icy magic, my body feels energized.

I pant, off balance and surging with a strange burst of power. “What the fuck was that?”

“A temporary power boost.” Gage lets go of my hand and pulls another satchel of herbs from his bag. “Find me some pinecones, acorns, rocks—anything I can spell.”

“It’s fucking winter.” The landscape is grim and covered in snow.

“Then snowballs. Just anything to throw,” Gage growls.

I crouch through the underbrush, digging around in the snow and brush as fast as I can. Eventually, I’m able to gather a small pile of snowballs and a few pinecones before returning to him.

I’m barely able to contain my wolf. He wants to charge in and kill them all. I force myself to wait but growl for Gage to pick up the pace.

“Take these.” Gage shoves a few small pinecones into my hand. “Once I subdue the ferals with my magic, we’ll use these to create a distraction. Throw them and haul ass. They explode.”

Okay. Apparently, Gageisthe weapon.

A voice rings out in the clearing, and a thundering round of hoots and cheers answers.

My wolf scratches at the surface, desperate to be unleashed.

I crouch, ready to spring. “On the count of three.”

Gage pulls me back to him, his eyes glowing. “Get her safe. That’s the only thing that matters.”

I shake my head, seeing the resigned death in his eyes. He’s not wrong about the probable outlook, but I refuse to accept that we’ll lose. We’ve made it this far, and our happiness is inside that clearing.

The king doesn’t deserve Nova or deserve to live for thinking he can take what doesn’t belong to him. I refuse to fail her, to let this be where our story ends. It doesn’t matter what’s in the way because the alternative isn’t something I can live with. I let that determination settle in, backed by the power of the spell charging through me.

“Fuck that. No martyrs.” I kiss Gage hard. “Now let’s go cause trouble.”

Chapter 43

Nova

The king’s man wraps his fist around the chain, tugging me closer. “Almost showtime, omega, and I can’t wait to hear you beg.” He licks his lips, his eyes focused on my caged neck.

My vision blurs, the dancing flames from the fire making it feel as if the world is gyrating.

In front of us, the king speaks to his subjects, droning on about fate and mates, his destiny as the king who has restored the power wolves lost. It’s laughable. He knows nothing about what it takes to be a mate or to rule as an alpha should.

I don’t laugh though. My head is spinning from the rising moon, and slick runs down my legs. Despite the cold, my body is flushed with heat. The cinnamon of my scent is thick, creating a cloud that seems to make the crowd of alphas inch closer with each passing minute.

Everything about this is wrong, an upside-down version of how a moon gathering is meant to be.

When I woke in the tents, the king and some guards from his inner circle were preparing some sort of ritual, but it wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen. I didn’t recognize the spells, though the salt circle and the crystals were familiar enough. They draineda feral and chanted around the circle while they drank its blood from a shared cup like a bunch of psychos. Then the assholes painted that shit on my skin, covering me in runes before fighting me into this dress.

My wolf is quiet inside me, the wolfsbane forcing her to retreat. I have no way to escape. Whatever happened to our magic when the original betrayer slew my family has spread and twisted itself into a sick darkness that has led us to this Alpha King. I want to cry, hide under my blankets in my nest back at the cabin, and pretend none of this is real. But despite the fear, I feel numb. My body is peaking, going into heat, but I’m detached.

I scan the circle with half-dazed eyes, landing on Dex. My formidable mate is chained to a tree, his arms raised above his head and his neck covered in the same wolfsbane shackles as mine.He locks eyes with me, and it isn’t my mate staring back but a hunter. Maybe that should ratchet up my fear. Somehow, though, the violence and madness in his eyes ground me, making it feel as if I’m looking at an avenging god.

The dark healer shoves me forward next to the Alpha King. I feel Dex’s gaze on me, which gives me the courage to face the sea of nameless alphas crowding before the king.

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