Page 12 of Wolf Caged
A flicker of excitement dared to dance in my veins, tempered by ironclad calm.
Patience.
I had waited too long for this to rush now. Such a tactic had not worked in the past and was the reason I was here now. I could not risk war, and war is what I would have if I disobeyed my high king.
My revenge needed to be swift and silent.
And merciless.
To do that and not break the pact between my breed and the seelie, I needed to find a more subtle approach. Success must be assured before I made my move or the high king’s retribution would be swift and merciless in return.
My seer had foreseen that silent vengeance could be mine, without consequence, as long as I possessed the key. Without the key, I would fail.
For decades, I had waited and watched, had tested the boundaries of the pact and learned patience, tethered to my kingdom and my sanity by her vision, awaiting the next one that would bring me the information I needed to secure my key.
Each night I had asked Neve what she had seen.
And each night she had told me the same thing.
My key would take the shape of a babe with an animal’s heart.
It had not made sense until close to ten years ago when Neve had experienced a clearer vision.
It was a wolf with a human heart.
A shifter.
My eyes slipped shut and I drew in a breath, drawing in the night and power with it. Strength to remain patient, to remain still and calm, in control as I neared my vengeance.
I had searched my kingdom, and then beyond its boundaries, and when Neve had a vision that the wolf was female, I had searched even harder. Every clue she had given me, I had used. Landscape. Buildings. Even faces. I had scoured fae towns and far-flung places, beginning to feel as if my vengeance would slip through my fingers forever.
Until that fateful day when she had awoken me with a roar that had shaken my castle.
Phantom cold sweat rolled down my spine beneath my onyx armour, my heart galloping as it had that morning when I had run to her, when she had told me the wolf would die if I did not act now. That I had to secure my futurenow. She had been pale, shaking, her eyes glazed as the vision held her captive, as she had frantically babbled what she had seen, details that had finally led me to this place.
I stalked towards the dark wooden barn, a wraith in the night, my senses on high alert, pinpointing the five males who had remained, and three others within the building. One heartbeat was more frantic than excited and I singled it out, unsure what to expect as I wrapped concealing shadows around me and entered the auction house.
The males gathered before me, huddled around a velvet-covered cage, obscuring it. Snarls and growls emanated from it, interspersed with flesh and bone striking iron. The scent of fear was strong in the room as I made my way to a vacant seat and I held my curiosity at bay as I casually relaxed into it, allowing my shadows to fall enough that others might see me.
But not the occupant of the iron cage.
The blond male who reeked of wolf glanced my way and then back again, a wary look crossing his face. He leaned back and tohis left, and glanced at the other wolf, this one a larger, dark-haired male I supposed was meant to be intimidating.
I inspected my nails.
Neither male were a threat to me.
Little in this world was.
Magic rose within me, tendrils of it spreading outwards, leaping in jagged motions towards the cage, unseen by the uncouth males.
And met with a powerful ward.
I held the ringleader’s gaze. He feared someone would snatch his prize and make off with it before they parted with their gold. The occupant of the cage rallied and attacked again, rattling it. Or he feared she might escape and he would meet with her fangs.
The spell also rendered her struggles useless.
Even I would need more time than she had to unravel the ward and break out of such an infernal cage.
