Page 163 of Wolf Caged
She lifted her snout and looked at me.
And snarled.
Raw rage blazed in her eyes as she took me in, and I knew how bad it looked, how wounds littered my body and blood soaked my tattered clothing, but these wounds would heal, and Malachi had pulled his punches, which had been more than I deserved for what I had done by breaking our unspoken covenant that this court would never own a slave.
The wolf looked at Jenavyr where she stood off to one side, the remains of Saphira’s blouse wrapped around her arm to stanch the bleeding from wounds my little wolf had inflicted when she had shifted, so desperate to reach me she had foughtmy sister. Panic emerged in Saphira’s clear blue eyes, fury directed at herself now, blending with the rage she felt towards Malachi and her instinct to protect, holding her within its power.
“Calm, Saphira,” I murmured, massaging her nape, trying to reach her even as I began to feel it was impossible.
The hold of her instincts were too strong, and the panic in her eyes was a blade that pierced my heart and made me try harder to reach her, to shatter their grip on her and free her from them when she could not do it herself, when she desperately wanted to be free.
Malachi moved.
Damn him.
Saphira snarled and lunged for him, but I gripped her fur and nape hard, barely managing to hold her in place. I drove her down against the flagstones, pinning her, staining her fur with the blood spilled by my fight with Malachi.
I glared at the demon, silently ordering him to remain where he was, to keep still so he did not provoke her again. Whenever the need to protect me rose, she lost whatever progress she made with calming her instincts and returning to me, I was sure of it as I massaged the tension from her nape, as she slowly began to relax beneath my touch again.
“Calm, little wolf,” I whispered, the feel of her fur soft against my palm warm and strangely comforting.
The tightness in her trembling body slowly subsided despite her growls directed at Malachi.
I knew the moment her wolf instincts loosened their hold on her, as if some deep part of us was threaded together and entwined, speaking to me, and I knew before I broke my hold what she would do.
She shot off.
“Let her pass,” I shouted to the members of my court blocking her path.
They were quick to part, but she leaped over them regardless, sailing high in the air as if she could not wait even a second longer to escape what she had done.
Vyr stepped forwards and looked at me and then in the direction Saphira had run, waiting for me to order her to go after the little wolf to keep an eye on her.
I shook my head, denying her, because Saphira needed time. Her actions had shocked her and she was likely questioning the reaction now, and embarrassed about her public show of force and how she had leaped in to protect me in front of so many people. I had to admit, I was a little confused about it too, and the more I replayed what she had done, the more that feeling I was on dangerous ground grew stronger.
“I like her,” Malachi grunted. “She has some balls.”
I levelled a black look on my spymaster as I pushed to my feet, gritting my teeth to hide my grimace as pain ricocheted through me.
Malachi looked me over, regret tainting his eyes, and I waved him away, not wanting him to feel bad about what he had done because I had deserved his wrath.
“I told you what would happen,” Vyr muttered as she came to me and frowned at the cuts that littered my chest, a concerned crinkle to her brow. “You need to see the court physicians.”
I shot her a black look too and then sighed as I looked off in the direction Saphira had fled, my gaze tracking over the endless trees and then up, to a little speck on the mountainside. The cottage. Every instinct I possessed told me she would run there, where she had shelter and was away from the world, could be alone to mull over what she had done and no doubt be angry with herself.
I would give her time to find her calm and her balance again, and then I would surrender to this growing demand within me and would go to her, reassuring myself that she was safe and thattoday’s reports from the woods were thorough and true and the harpies had moved north-west, away from the castle. I glanced at the ring I wore on my finger, one that matched the band on hers, the metal enchanted so it would shift with her. The white stone in the centre of the crescent moons twinkled softly in hues of the aurora.
White for Lucia.
I focused on that small crystal, willing it to reveal more. Needing it to reveal more.
The colour of it shifted, swirling with the rainbow hues of the aurora before it settled on a pure, clear amethyst.
Telling me its twin, the one Saphira wore, was still within the Lucia shadows.
Still close to me then. Still within my reach.
It was all the reassurance I could have right now.
