Page 64 of With Fangs and Claws (The Wolf Queen 1)

I dreamed again of that massive horde of wolves, or was it a different one? These wolves strode across a plain I didn’t recognise, the ground arid and covered only by dead grass and the occasional spindly shrub, which they leaped over with ease. My view of them pulled back, seeing just how many there were, the desolate land virtually blanketed in wolves. And that raven I’d seen at the top of the tor? Perhaps it was my fear of what was to come, because I’d summoned it again. Its hoarse caw seemed to echo across the land, a battle cry for the wolves to follow.

And they did, swarming over stony ground and then mountain sides when they came to them, then I watched them claw their way over steep slopes and rocky precipices, some slipping and falling into crevasses below. But that didn’t seem to stop the mass of them, the raven leading them on. Because on the other side, there was greenery, rich lands spreading out as far as the eye could see. Familiar lands.

My heart was in my throat, small sounds of distress leaking out and, on some level, I knew that Gael held me closer as a result, but that didn’t stop the dream. The raven cawed out a challenge and the wolves answered, came rushing down the mountainside in an unstoppable wave, ready to—

“Darcy.”

I jolted awake to see morning had come and Dane was standing over me, staring at both me and his brother who was still wrapped around me.

“It’s time to get ready,” he said in a low voice. “Take the chance to have a hot bath, because we won’t be going near a bathhouse for a few days.”

“Mm…” Axe said sleepily and then rolled over to look at the two of us. “Looks like our brother is warming up to the idea of a mate now.”

Gael came awake just as abruptly as I had, removing his arms and putting some distance between us when he realised what he was doing. I shot Axe an angry look, but he just chuckled unrepentantly. I went to see if Gael was alright, but he rolled off the bed and stormed out of the room before I could say a thing.

“You should know better than to tease Gael,” Dane reprimanded him. “That can’t have been easy for him, reaching out for someone else.”

“He just needs to harden up,” Axe replied with a shrug.

“No, he doesn’t.” I shot him a dark look as I climbed off the bed. “You need to show him some respect.”

And I didn’t bother waiting for an answer, going next door to take my bath.

As I did, I saw Gael come back inside the inn. Evidently he’d slipped outside for a piss, but he paused in the doorway when he saw me. He just stared for a minute, the angle causing his hair to begin slipping back, almost about to reveal his hidden eye. He jerked his head down then, assiduously avoiding looking at me as he walked through the inn and out to the stables. I sighed and went into the other room, then set to washing myself.

“You ready for this?”Pep asked me once everyone was packed and the horses were saddled. I sat on Arden’s back, my horse shifting restlessly underneath me with his eagerness to get going.

“Not in the bloody slightest.”

“Wise woman,” she replied, the muscle in her jaw flexing as she looked up the line where Dane was talking to some of the soldiers that were coming with us. “Snowmere? That place is a bloody cesspool. I wouldn’t be going anywhere near it if the princes weren’t paying me so well.” She glanced sideways at me. “You end up wanting to come back to Bayard and grab some of Kelly’s pies? You just let me know.”

And as an added enticement, she pulled out a wrapped paper package that smelled of those delicious baked goods.

“I might just take you up on that,” I said, staring down the road we were about to travel. “Now, can I have a pie?”

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