Page 34 of Lost

“I ran away.”

A chorus of yipping and growling rippled through the dark. “Ran away? Were the other royals mean to you?”

“That’s none of your business.” I took a step toward the trees. “And you should watch your tongue. My brother is your Alpha.”

“The sister of an Alpha is no Alpha of mine, but if you truly are the daughter of the Tath Isia, then prove it.”

“Prove it? How?”

One of the wolves came out past the trees and stood before me, its paws digging into the snowy ground under our feet. I watched the wolf as it lowered its head and bared its fangs. “Your blood is all the proof I need.”

“Amara?” Tallin asked.

“Stay behind me,” I said.

“Don’t tell me you’re going totusslewith this wolf!”

“It doesn’t seem like I’m being given much of a choice. This is how the wolves do things out here. If I have to prove to them I am who I say I am, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

“You could get hurt!”

“So could they.”

The wolf padded toward me, as if to test me. I arched my back and lowered my head in response.. Tallin tried to hide around me, but he was out in the open here, and there were many hungry wolves lurking beyond the trees. He didn’t know where to go, what to do, or where to look. I had to keep him safe, but I also had to keep myself safe.

I circled the wolf, keeping my eyes on his. “You don’t want to do this,” I said, trying my luck at convincing him to back off one more time. “I’m telling you the truth about who I am. All you need to do is let me through, and my brother can explain everything.”

“If I were to just let you through,” he said, “My Alpha will make sure I’m eating nothing but scraps for the next month… and I like to eat.”

At that, he lunged, digging his paws into the snow and racing toward me on all fours. His sudden offensive put me on thedefensive.When he leapt toward me, his jaw wide open, his teeth flashing bright and deadly, I had to jump off to the side to avoid being bitten. The wolf went sailing past me, but I didn’t have a chance at getting in a hit of my own because Tallin was in the way, scrambling around beneath us.

“Sorry!” he yelled.

“Just find a spot and get down!” I said.

“I’m trying!”

The wolf came at me again. He was all snarls, and growls, and gnashing teeth, and I had to defend myself again. This time, his mouth came close to snatching my front paw. Too close. I had managed to pull it across his mouth and out from under his jaws only an instant before they snapped shut. This time, though, he gave me an opening.

I didn’t want to hurt him, but I didn’t have much of a choice, either. Instead of biting him, though, I reared up on my hind legs and launched my shoulder into his midsection. The force of the impact was enough to knock him off his paws and make him fall into the snow on his side. I snarled at him, showing him my fangs.

“I have you!” I yelled. “Your neck and stomach are exposed—you’ve lost.”

“Are we playing lords and ladies?” asked the wolf. “This is the Moon Forest. Your rules do not apply,” he hissed, and he scraped the ground and launched a handful of dirt and snow into my eyes. I had to shut them, only for a moment, but it was long enough for him to get back on his feet and throw himself at me.

He wanted to get a good bite of my neck in this time. I could feel him trying to maneuver his snout into position, but even startled as I was, I was able to keep him at bay. The wolf backed up, turned his head up to the sky, and howled a deep, long howl. As the howl trailed off into the woods, he lunged at me again, empowered, invigorated.

He wasn’t about to give up.

This wolf wanted my blood, and he was not going to let me go without tasting it. “Alright,” I said, “I didn’t want to hurt you, but you’re not giving me a choice.”

“There is only one choice in the wild,” said the wolf. “Eator be eaten.”

The wolf lunged at me one more time, a powerful rumble issuing out of its throat. I prepared myself, digging my own paws into the snow and getting ready to leap out of his way. He feigned left, pretending to hit me from across my left side, but I caught him in the act and moved to the right, catching him off guard.

When I clamped my own jaws around his leg and bit into his flesh, I felt two distinct, separate rushes. The first was rich with excitement, power, and strength. The second was hot, sticky blood. The wolf whose leg I had in my teeth thrashed and struggled, but I managed to topple him again and put him on the ground. I didn’t let go of his leg, either.

Even though I could taste his blood in my mouth, and I knew I was getting it on my chin and chest, I was not about to let him go—not until after he surrendered.

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