Page 61 of Through Battle and Blades (The Wolf Queen 2)

“Best not make too many promises, brother,” Weyland said in a dark tone, then softened it with a smirk before pulling his own shirt off. “But this is one of your better ideas. I didn’t realise how much I needed this until you suggested it.”

I watched him with rapt fascination as he skimmed off the rest of his clothes, then dropped down onto all fours. His head jerked back and let out a roar before everything changed. Where there was a golden haired man, now there was a massive grey wolf. Axe joined him not long afterwards and then Dane pulled away to transform as well.

“Do you think you can shift?” Gael asked.

The first time I’d done it had been with Selene and the Maidens. I felt strangely shy about doing it in front of my pack. I just grinned in response, all bravado that I didn’t really feel, but I felt all of their eyes upon me as I divested my clothes. It didn’t feel right, doing this in a stable, the horses curiously content with having huge apex predators in their midst, but my hands dropped down on the straw-covered flagstones, my fingers crunching through the dried grass becoming claws and then… Just like letting a breath out, she came. She jerked her head up, scenting the air, filling us with knowledge I had no access to about the horses here, the building, the people who lived and worked in the stables… and them… We eyed the four wolves who padded closer in one tight pack and then we growled before taking off.

My legs were like springs, my paws barely touching the cobblestones as I ran off, knowing innately the way out of this stone jungle of humanity. I veered down streets, keeping clear of people who shouted as we passed, running, running until I came to Snowmere’s main gate.

A howl cut through the air, warning me not to take another step. My pack, they didn’t like me taking off ahead of them. In the way of wolves, I could hear their fear and their anger, their dire warnings of what would happen if I disobeyed… But right now, I was not their bitch, to be chivvied and ordered around. I howled back my response, full of derision, and then took off at speed.

There is something about getting lost in the machinery of your body. Just feeling your heart pump and your muscles work as hard as they can. I brought all of that power to bear, used it to careen across the foothills of Snowmere. There was no design to my journey, no end point in mind. I just ran, sucking the crisp night air into my lungs as the newly risen moon hovered above me. A much more slender sliver now, she marked the ticking away of the days before the challenge and the sight of it had my paws slowing.

Soon I will choose a queen, the Morrigan said inside my mind, her voice the sound of old growth trees creaking in the wind. One to rule and lead Strelae to greatness. My heart swelled at that idea, my lungs working hard to suck in air. Or one to bring about the downfall of all. Either way, I will eat. Her chuckle had my hackles raising. Soon, little queen-in-waiting. Very soon.

At that, my mates joined me, clustering in, nudging me with their heads, jostling me when they got close, snuffling at my fur. But once they had re-established contact, that’s when the fun began. The big dark wolf that was Dane came forward, tail wagging, his back stiff, his head raised high to provide an intimidating front. He stepped closer, rigid from all the tension in his body, my own muscles tightening in response.

We watched his every step, our lips peeling back from our teeth, letting out a small warning growl, but right when he might have attacked, he dodged forward, getting in my space, as he thrust his paws out, head dipping down in a clownish feint, before dodging away.

That, that jerking in and out of my space and then off again, had my body shifting with explosive power. I was off and after him and, being smaller and faster, I caught him, nipping at his heels before he wheeled around, meeting my bites with his own flashing fangs.

Have you ever seen wolves dance? It wasn’t quite the graceful thing they tried to make the dance of the Maiden. Wolves are natural jesters, throwing themselves up and around their opponents in acrobatic but graceless arcs, dodging in and out of each other’s space, sometimes colliding. And so, snapping at the others’ faces, simulating violence but never degenerating into it, we engaged in a symbolic kind of fighting in which no one got hurt.

This was an exorcism of sorts, one that actual wolf packs were forced to engage in. Tensions will form in any group of living breathing creatures, but those in a wolf pack needed to be resolved. They had to hunt, to survive as a pack, each member striving with everything they had to ensure the group’s survival, so petty squabbles had to be worked out in a way that didn’t harm the family unit. So they did it through play.

All of the adrenalin, all of the fear and anger was worked through as we leapt and wrestled, until finally we fell apart, panting. Then like iron filings and a lodestone, we were drawn in again, our noses touching, our muzzles burying themselves into each other’s fur.

And that’s when we came back to ourselves.

“Gods above, my bollocks are freezing off,” Axe hissed as the cool night air hit our now human skin. “Come here, Darcy. I’ll cuddle up to you and show you the best way to stay warm.”

“I’d intended to bring us to a cabin we keep out here,” Dane said, eyeing the moonlit landscape beyond. “We have clothes, a fireplace there.”

“And you’ve had yet another lesson in how you can’t control everything,” Gael said, then softened his words with the kind of rakish smile I rarely saw on him. Being out here, away from Snowmere and all the difficulties going on in there, seemed to suit him well, making me wonder. If we did as Weyland had suggested once, sloped off to the nearest Granian port and just ran away… “But I’m pretty sure it’s that way.” He pointed off to the thick stand of trees to our left.

“Then let’s get a move on,” Weyland said, cuddling in close, earning him a growl from Axe. “Gael, I don’t know how you’ve been able to bear it, being away from Darcy. The bond, it—”

“I haven’t,” his brother snapped back, but when Gael’s eyes landed on me, they burned bright. “And I hope you got your fill of our mate last night, because you won’t be squirrelling her away like that again anytime soon.” I stared into Gael’s eyes, knowing what words were about to come, but my skin still prickled in response when they did. “You’ll need to learn to share.”

“Share?” Just one word, but said in Weyland’s trademark purr it took on a whole other meaning, conjuring shadowy images inside my mind, where bodies, so many bodies, performed a whole other kind of savage dance. “Why, brother, whatever made you think I wouldn’t be open to that?”

I jumped when Weyland’s hands landed on my shoulders, then shivered, finally feeling the cold when he pressed his face into my hair.

“Then we should return to the citadel,” Dane said, his smile fading as the plotter, the prince, reappeared.

“No, we’re not doing that,” Gael replied, staring at his brother evenly.

“So, we’re…” Axe started to say, then let out a frustrated hiss. “You remember that I’m not a part of this, right? I just go and hit the things I’m told to hit.”

I wanted, needed to say something. What they were proposing… What I was thinking about, as we all stood there naked, it weighed heavily on me even as it slid across my skin, leaving me panting lightly. They would fight this out, I knew that, would fight for their right to a place by my side, and suddenly that felt all too much for me.

But not for the other part of my soul.

I didn’t even have to go down on all fours before I shifted back to fur, my wolf weaving between the men’s legs before taking off in the direction Gael had indicated, my nose working, picking up the scent of man, before I howled my challenge to my mates. I dimly heard their shouts and curses before I put on real speed, sprinting towards the trees.

31

I rose up on my back paws when I came to the door of the cabin, catching enough of the faint scents of my mates there to assure me this was the right place. I scrabbled at the latch and, when it popped open, I padded inside a dark space, the dust making my nose itch. I sneezed once, twice, before walking through the cabin and seeing the massive bed. I jumped up and, in the manner of dogs, I turned around once, twice, three times before settling on top of the covers.

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