Page 43 of Wolf Queen Ruin
A woman who would do anything to save her child.
A woman with unmatched courage and determination.
The ring continued to pulse against my finger, a constant reminder of what I’d tried so hard to deny: that even immortals weren’t immune to the fundamental need for connection.
That even I wasn’t immune.
And that, perhaps, was the most terrifying realization of all.
Chapter thirteen
Luna
“TheDariénGap?”Theo’sbushy eyebrows shot up as he peered at me over his spectacles.“You might as well be planning a holiday in hell.”
I sat in my boss’s cluttered office, surrounded by ancient texts, amulets hanging from the walls, and the faint smell of sage and leather that seemed to follow him everywhere.A skull—probably human, knowing Theo—served as a paperweight on a stack of yellowing file folders labeledPay Stubs.Three different clocks on his wall all showed different times, none of them correct.
“Hell has better infrastructure,” I replied, scanning the weathered maps I’d borrowed from him.“At least according to the pamphlets.”
The Darién Gap—fifty miles of untamed jungle and swampland stretching between Panama and Colombia—was the only break in the 19,000-mile Pan-American Highway.A breeding ground for malaria, crocodiles, pit vipers, and poison dart frogs.A place so dangerous that even some cartels gave it a wide berth while some preferred to rampage right through it.It was a perfect location for an ancient artifact.
“This is no joking matter, Luna.”Theo tapped the map with a gnarled finger, his nail clicking against a spot where the paper had been repaired with tape.“The Gap isn’t just physically perilous.It’s supernaturally volatile.”
“Well, I don’t have a choice,” I said.“The first piece of the Shadow Fang is there, and my new partner I didn’t want is paying me good money to help him retrieve it.”
Theo sighed, the sound whistling through his crooked teeth.“The Wolf Queen’s Crypt has remained hidden for centuries for good reason.Her power was…well, powerful.”
“Because she could control all were-creatures?”I asked, remembering the legends my dad used to tell during pack gatherings, stories meant to keep young wolves in line, like:Behave, or the Wolf Queen will call your beast out against your will and attack.
“You know the legends?”
“Some.My father used to talk about her at pack ceremonies.”I traced the serpentine river path on the map.“She united the were-clans during the first vampire wars, then she disappeared when the truce was established.”
“That’s the sanitized version they tell pups,” Theo muttered, rubbing the scar that bisected his left eyebrow.“The reality was far messier.”
I waited, but he simply shook his head and circled an area near the Panama-Colombia border in red ink that smelled metallic.Not regular ink, then.
“This region is your best entry point.The old magic is strongest here, which means the boundary protections will be as well.”
“Boundary protections?”
“The Wolf Queen wasn’t just powerful.She was paranoid.”Theo pulled a small wooden box from beneath his desk, its surface carved with lunar phases.“She surrounded her territories with layered magical defenses that are still active centuries later.”He placed the box between us, sliding it toward me with reverence.“You’ll need these.”
Inside were two amulets on leather cords, each containing a dark amber stone with what looked like a droplet of mercury suspended in the center.The amber caught the lamplight, creating the illusion of something moving within.
“Passage tokens,” he explained.“They won’t get you into the crypt itself, but they’ll help you navigate the boundary wards without triggering the more aggressive defenses.The Darién Gap has ways of isolating travelers.Not all barriers there are physical.”
I lifted one amulet, feeling an odd vibration as I held it, a gentle thrum that synchronized with my pulse.I secured it around my neck.“Meaning?”
“Meaning the Wolf Queen valued her privacy and had the magical means to ensure it.”Theo tapped the amulet around my neck.“Keep this on at all times and stay alert for signs of her influence.”
“Signs like what?”
His expression turned grave, the lines in his face deepening.“Changes in perception.Heightened emotions.Vivid memories you can’t distinguish from reality.For shifters, her influence manifests differently than for vampires.She may try to reach your wolf, even though you can no longer shift.”
The thought simmered around that aching, hollow feeling inside me.My connection to my wolf had been severed about three years ago in the pack-banishing ritual—a wound that had never fully healed.
“I don’t have a wolf anymore,” I reminded him.“My dad saw to that.”
