Page 5 of Fated Exile

Marcus, the eldest, cuts in.How do we know that's the direction we're going in?

A single voice threads through my mind, Roarke privately telling me,Delilah. Ambrosia is about to outpace this. If you need me to calm the warriors for you—

I've got this,I tell them. To the four wolves I say,I know we're going in the right direction because I feel it in my gut, like my father felt so many of his decisions. I'm not just a wolf—I'm a witch, too. The woman who led the vampires against is us some kind of witch, like me, and I've heard her voice in my mind. If we don't find her and stop her, she'll lead another attack against us, and we may not win the next one. I say we take the offense to her. What do you say?

The warriors eye each other. I sense their voices going back and forth through their pack connections, but I keep myself from listening in, though it sets my teeth on edge not knowing what they're saying to each other. They deserve a little privacy, and I promised myself that just because I've discovered my hybrid powers, doesn't mean I'll use or abuse them on my people.

After a long, tense moment, they turn back to me. Marcus, the shaggy, tan wolf, takes a step forward and nods his head with a finality. The others stand beside him. I nod back, dipping my muzzle—then twitch my ears around, whirl on my four paws, and race towards the vampire bitch.

Just in time, too. She was about to try to shake us off. Thankfully Finn's sharp nose roots her out easily, and soon enough we're following her through a bend in an almost-invisible path, towards one of the mountains rising above us.

To our left, vines creep up a sheer rock face. To our right, the ground falls off to a sharp cliff. Though I've felt the slope of the earth beneath me this whole time, it's not until I glance over to the right that I realize how far up we've climbed. The trees are thin and sparse between us. Little tufts of grass struggle to grow, as the fertile soil of pack land gives way to rocky earth.

Ambrosia leads us to a path between two cliffs. At first I think she's going to go straight through them, and I pick up the pace, not wanting to lose her distant figure. But she doesn't gothroughthe cliffs—instead she turns sharply to the left, and disappears into the black rock.

My hackles rise, and I tilt my nose up, scenting the air. Her scent trail disappeared along with her silhouette. It should make me want to run full-tilt towards her last known location, and that's exactly what I'm about to do when instinct kicks in.

Stop,I tell the pack, planting my feet firmly on the ground.Something is wrong.

Are you crazy?Wally swings his white-furred head towards me, ears pinned back.We're going to lose her any second now, and this whole ordeal will have been for nothing.

I'm not going to lead us into this headlong without thinking,I insist, though my legs are tense and ready to launch me forward. Eyes scanning the horizon, I feel trepidation rise within me.There's some kind of trap up ahead. A spell or... something. I'm going to check it out.

Roarke's brow furrows, and he eyes me sideways.Alone?

I can handle this,I tell him, letting my voice connect with his mind privately.I want to show them that I'm a leader. I can't do that with a shadow at my back.

If you say so.His tail swishes impatiently as he adds,But if I think you're about to get hurt, I'm not sticking back to watch from a distance.

Wouldn't expect you to,I tell him, my heart warming at his soft, protective nature.

Then I leap ahead, eyeing the path Ambrosia took. I keep my eyes peeled for any sign of danger, ears twitching at every chirping bird or skittering rodent. There are few signs of life up here in the mountains; my people's legends claim that the covens cursed them long ago. Now that I know my father was once lost up here for months, and that I'm a product of the connection he made with a witch in the caves, I can't help but wonder if that story was true.

Some part of me also wonders if she might still be alive in here somewhere. Though Niall claimed my mother died delivering me to my father's doorstep, he's claimed many things in his life. It's entirely possible that was a lie he told, or that my father told him, all to keep her away from me.

The thought quickens my pulse, even as I force my mind to dwell on the present. I take careful steps forward, leaning my weight on each paw deliberately, testing the ground for some kind of trap. I go over every curse I've learned that might apply here: curses to twist the eyes away from an entrance or portal, ones that make the victim believe there's solid ground where there is none, and curses to confuse a weary traveller come to mind. It's entirely possible that if I follow Ambrosia's path exactly, I'll find myself falling down into a thousand-foot deep hole obscured by a spell.

I can smell the magic in the air, though. If any one of us can survive a curse, it's me. My hybrid nature is sure to help me here—because if it doesn't, what was the point of suffering through rejection and exile, if it didn't make me strong enough to survive?

Thinking of Bastian's lessons, I center my awareness down into the ground, then spread it all around me. My fur stands on end, an instinctual growl rising in my throat. Swinging my muzzle to the left, I inhale deeply and catch the source of the spell.

It's a booby trap that stretches from one side of the passageway to the other. The only way to follow Ambrosia is to pass it—but passing it means setting it off. I could try to unravel it, but I'm new at magic, and that would cost us precious time.

So my only option is to set it off.

Taking in a deep breath, I reach out to my guys and warn them,I've got this. Don't leap into danger.

Roarke hastily asks,Delilah, what are you going to do?

Trust me. You don't want to know.

Leaping forward, I head straight towards the source of the danger. My paws skim the invisible thread that marks the booby trap's path, then land on the other side. Whirling around, I look up towards the cliffs—and tense at the dozens of boulders falling directly towards me.

Letting my awareness ripple out, Ipushit upwards instinctively, like Bastian has shown me. I can sense the guys leaping towards me, ignoring my earlier warnings to come to my help. If I don't keep these boulders from falling, I won't be the only one trapped beneath their weight.

They could crush us all.

That thought is the one that gives me the strength to create a shield above our heads. The boulders race downwards, pulled by gravity—then abruptly halt mid-course as they hit my magic.

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