Page 13 of The Forbidden Dragon King
There is a wild exhilaration in the air.
My foot slips on a loose stone on the narrow path. “Fuck.”
Exhausted, I stumble,catching myself against the jagged ruby cliffside. The spear slips in my palm, which is rubbed raw on the wooden shaft.
I gasp, gritting my teeth.
I change my grip, struggling to drag the spear closer to my body, as well as to untangle myself from the cloak.
Why did Bard have to be so tall?
“How on the holy moon do Alphas fight with these things?” I heft the weighty spear with a grimace.
I steady myself, pressing my back more firmly against the cliff wall, before forcing myself to peer down over the ledge at the woods below me.
A triumphant howl rises from the trees.
I hiss out a breath.
That’s close.
I panic, raising my head to sniff and try to catch a scent. The night is still.
Then I glance down at my dress, relieved that the runes are still glowing.
More howling joins the first…more than one wolf now…possibly a mated pair from the direction of the Moon Court.
I scan over the woods toward Orm. The capital coils in a circle around the court, which in turn is built around barrows, the burial site and shrine to the original Moon Court — the site of the Massacre of Orm.
My throat tightens at the sight.
“Goodbye,” I whisper. “I know that I promised to take revenge for you on the Shadow Vampires. If the fae make a deal with me, maybe I still will. On the other hand, if I die, I’ll join with you in the moon. Wait for me, okay?”
The barrows hold the graves for the thousands who died on that single, freezing night. Whole families, from Omega servants all the way to the Alpha King himself.
Raised as the only wolf who survived from that night, I’ve often wondered if others see me as a curse.
A ghost.
I’m nothing but a reminder of death and a past that they want to move on from.
Sometimes, I lie awake, haunted by guilt that I survived, while so many others didn’t, including the royal family and their sweet new baby.
Who will miss me, when I’m gone? I should have died twenty-one years ago.
Can fate make mistakes?
I feel sick, squinting up at the full moon.
It’s too bright. I’m too exposed here.
Shadow Gods, what does an Omega need to do to get some cloud cover, huh? I’d promise to be good but you wouldn’t believe me.
I bet Bard would know the rune magic to bring the rain.
Fae can control the elements, at least the truly powerful ones can.
I steel myself, before starting up the path again, dragging the spear after me. I clutch the cloak more tightly around myself, pulling the hood over my head to cover my hair.
