Page 47 of The Wolf's Prince
They were so very high up. The view from the main peak was beautiful. From where they now stood though, all he could see were treetops and sheer edges. The ground did not look or feel sturdy under his feet. He felt vertigo overtake him. Like at any moment, he might fall.
Taking a shaking breath, Nikolai reached out, carefully gripping the thin trunk of the closest tree.
He looked back the way they had come and saw in shock that it was far above them. He could still hear the party echoing. He hadn't realized how far down they had gone. He'd thought his mind was exaggerating, now he knew that wasn't the case.
Swallowing, Nikolai turned back toward the ledges they'd used as a path. His legs felt like jelly from the fear though and he knew he could not go alone.
“Help me up,” he said. “I want to return to the festivities.”
“Oh, come now. We were going to talk.”
The way she was speaking now sent a chill through Nikolai.
“Tell me,” she went on. “Did Soren ever mention me at all?”
Slowly, he turned and looked at her.
Her arms were crossed over her chest, her gaze was ice cold and glinting, her scarcely contained wolf on display in her eyes.
“Why would he mention you?” Nikolai asked slowly.
“I'm sure he did!” Eri suddenly snapped, and her snarl broke through the air. “Think back. What did he say about me, the omega your alpha was meant to mate with before youseducedhim.”
Nikolai stepped back but his feet lost their hold. He had to grip the tree, pulling himself back up with all of his strength.
“He didn't!” he insisted. “He didn't say anything. I didn't seduce Soren, I didn't have to. He wanted me from the start.”
He knew that this was not the time to be defensive or argumentative, but it was hard to stand there and let her say such lies, even when he was at risk of falling to his death.
“Lies!” she snapped. “He was mine!”
“Clearly not,” Nikolai argued, “or he would have been bound to you already!”
She surged forward, whatever self control she had left vanishing as she leaped toward Nikolai.
He shouted as she gripped him by the arm.
Suddenly, like he was light as a child, she swung him toward the edge. For a moment, Nikolai was looking at her smug face and then he saw people’s silhouettes from the peak above them, watching.
Any sooner and they could have saved him. He could have seen Soren again. As it was, there was time only for Nikolai to gasp as he became weightless at the moment just before he fell.
CHAPTER11
SOREN
Soren knew he should not have looked away for even a moment when he saw his mate talking to Eri of all people. He could sense her hostility even from a distance, but Nikolai was headstrong and independent, and Soren liked that about him. He could handle himself.
Or so he'd thought.
The moment he looked up and Nikolai was gone, he'd known he'd made a mistake.
Soren jumped up, searching frantically through the crowd.
“What is it?” Andrey asked and Soren realized he'd already gathered quite a bit of attention.
“Nikolai,” he said urgently. “Where did he go?”
“Probably to relieve himself,” Botan joked, but Soren didn't even crack a smile.
