Page 38 of Moonmarked

“Right, then. I’ll be on my way,” I said, and I was going to ask her if she maybe knew which way Blackwater was, when…

“We will,” Maera said. “You’re going to Blackwater, are you not? It’s only a day away, they say.” And she nodded her head to the side to indicate the wolves.

“I-I…yes. Yes, I am. And which way is Blackwater, if you can tell me?”

“You don’t need to concern yourself with that. They know the way. They’ll guide us.” Again, that nod of her head.

“Oh.” My mouth opened and closed a couple of times. “No, no, I…you’re not going to Blackwater. You’re going to The Vale.” That’s what she said just now.

“I am—after I take you to Blackwater safely,” she said,and fuck if my heart didn’t burst in relief and happiness and in so much released pressure.

“You don’t have to do that, Maera. I’ll be fine,” I told her.

“I know because I will be there to make sure of it.” And she stepped back, waved her hand forward. “Come. Let me introduce you to my pack mates.”

She started walking toward the wolves, and I remained there for a good moment, stunned, muscles locked, mind wiped clean.

I knew my options here—I knew them well. I knew I wasn’t going to survive a trip to Blackwater on my own. It was a damn miracle I’d made it this far, but I had no clue what more awaited me ahead. If Maera and those wolves were with me, my chances of survival grew tenfold. If Maera was with me, I wouldn’t have to be alone.

“Coming?” she called when she was halfway to the wolves who were standing tall, their ears perked up, their yellow eyes on her every movement.

Fuck me, I am really doing this.

I followed.

thirteen

There area few things in life that I would never do no matter what. Things like, I don’t know—kick a baby, or put pineapple on my pizza, or ride a gigantic monstrous werewolf—that sort of thing. It was simply where I drew the line, and this was where I found out just how determined I was to stick by this list of things, even though the woman who had been a wolf once and who was analpha—pretty sure that meant a whole lot more than I was realizing at the moment—insisted that it was safe.

“No.” It was a simpleno.A definiteno.The kind ofnothat could simply never become ayes.

“It will be safe. They will not hurt you—you have my word.” She said this before just now.

I smiled politely. “I understand that, butno.”

Maera didn’t get pissed off or anything. Instead, she sighed and shook her head, smiled a little. “Then I guess we’re walking.”

That’s exactly what we did.

The wolves remained wolves, didn’t shift back into men. Maera said they felt like they could protect us betterthat way, and I’m sure she meantprotect her,but I was glad for it. They stayed at least fifteen feet ahead, walking slowly, looking about, sniffing the air, and the two of us followed on foot. I ate nuts and gave her some from my pockets as we did, and we drank the water from the bottle. We had more food, too—in the backpacks the men had carried. Apples and meat and bread, but neither of us was hungry yet.

“Here’s a question,” I said as we went. “You scratched me.” I pulled up the sleeve of my jacket to reveal the wounds. They had all closed, the skin over them red and raw, and it still stung a bit when I moved my arm, but I hardly noticed, considering the circumstances.

“I did,” she said with a deep nod. “You wouldn’t have survived the fall into the riverbed without moon magic—which is the magic that makes my kind.”

I raised my brows. “Moon magic. That’s nice.”

“It is. Werewolves weren’t always werewolves. Not sure if you heard the story before.”

Nowthatsounded like something I very much wanted to hear. “Oh—I haven’t! And Ilovea good story.”

Maera nodded. “In that case, this is the origin story of the werewolves of Verenthia.” Goose bumps erupted all over me already. “A millennia ago, maybe longer, our kind was a type of fae, guardians of The Vales, which are thresholds, unseen places between realms, dreams, and death. That is why they had shifting powers—they could switch shape at will. They shared their duty with the dire wolves of the land, until one day the fae king defied the stars, and tried to open a gate meant to stay sealed,” she said, her voice calm, as peaceful as ever. It was all I could do not to ask her to keep going faster.

“The wolf alpha tried to stop him and was killedbrutally in front of both their kinds. As punishment, the stars bound the fae’s soul to the wolf’s, to instinct and hunger, forcing his and all his kind to give way to the wolf under the moon’s call.”

With every word she spoke, my mind painted the picture for me as well as it could.

“With years, the punishment became a new form of power, and a new pact between wolf and man was made, so we learned to coexist. We learned to share the bond of moon magic, and that’s how my kind has lived for centuries,” she finished.

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