Page 40 of The Wolf Queen

As the Strelan king had done when he was in power.

“But they will never feel this.”

Her hand covered mine, squeezing it around the crystal, so I felt her heart beating, then Ayla’s, then Orla’s. At first they all beat in different rhythms, but as we stood there together, they aligned. Burst after powerful burst from the muscles inside our chests, pushing the blood around our bodies, keeping us alive.

“What do you want to do?” Selene asked, her eyes drilling into mine so that I couldn’t lie, not even to myself. Those pale blue irises seemed to cut through everything.

“I want to…” My throat closed up on that. “I have to save them.” I saw the panicked masses at Snowmere and knew that the same chaos was being played out over and over across the land as Callum consolidated his claim. “I have to protect them.”

I saw a dark shadow fall over Jan and Del, but the children’s faces could’ve been interchangeable with any number of Strelan children.

Or Granian ones.

Callum wasn’t going to respect the border between the two countries and I knew I had to somehow make the Granian king see that. Callum wanted to reclaim what was his. To reverse history, right a terrible wrong. The hard thing was I wasn’t entirely convinced his goal was wrong, just the way he wanted to go about it.

“I don’twantto do that,” I told Selene, confirming everything she had to say. “Ineedto.”

“The Maidens have always sworn themselves to the queen’s service,” she replied. “Every single one of our number will fight to the death to ensure that we do save our people.”

Death. I blanched at that, my grip on the sword loosening, but, together, the Maidens supported my grasp and it strengthened again.

“To the death,” Ayla echoed.

“But let’s not focus on defeat right now,” Selene said. “Focus on what you must do. The power is yours. The sword answers to you. It’s time to wield the power gifted to you.”

“But I don’t—” I started to protest.

“You do.” Something softened in each woman’s gaze. “You do. You just have to reach out and…”

I’d been pulled away from reality, in dreams or while awake, to see visions of things that were to come, and now the cave faded away to show me another.

“This way!”Pepin urged and I shook my head, the sight of her squeezing my heart somewhat. She had been by my side, helped me through so much, only to leave me behind the moment I got pregnant. But perhaps this was why. As I looked around, I saw she was hurrying people away from a burning village, the sound of howls in the distance letting us know who had perpetrated this crime. Dark shadowy figures lumbered through the remains of people’s houses.

Reavers.

I hated the sight of them, aberrations that they were, my grip on the sword tightening to the point of pain.

“Down here,” Pepin said, hurrying people down a straggling path between dense undergrowth and overhanging branches. It ended in a massive rock formation, where one of the boulders was bisected by a thin crack.

People made sounds of consternation, looking around, starting to protest, until Pepin waved her hand and a stream of blue light hit the cracked rock.Is that what my power can do?I thought to myself, right as the sound of rock groaning filled the air. The ground shook, people started to shout and shriek, stare around, looking for some sort of safe haven, and then it was revealed to them. The rock split like a pair of doors, giving the onlookers access to a cave much like the one I stood in. People fell silent, staring, until Pepin chivvied them forward.

“Inside,” she ordered, brusquely, then with urgency. “Inside!”

At the head of the track, back where they’d come from, was a Reaver.

It felt like the whole world recoiled from the beast as it took a ponderous step forward, sniffing the air, then wrinkling its snout to reveal bloodied fangs. My grip tightened reflexively, every muscle tensing, ready to fight an evil that was miles away. Then the bloody thing threw back its head and howled, calling its pack over.

“Now!” Pepin snapped, and everyone there moved as one, rushing into the cave.

“We have to help them,” I said, as I watched, somehow aware that the Maidens had been gifted with the same vision. “We have to protect them! We’re here in Grania and they’re…”

My voice trailed away and for a moment, the only sound was the Maidens’ noisy breaths and mine.

The Reaver howled to its fellows, like a hunting dog that had caught scent of prey, and it was answered by more. It didn’t wait for them though. It leapt forward, thundering down the track as the last of the people scurried into the cave. A woman shrieked as she ran, her little toddler slipping from her arms. Unharmed, but just standing there, the child was transfixed by the sight of the surging Reaver.

The beast would tear its head off, I knew that. I cursed the child, the mother, her grip, in a low voice, as she rushed back to her little one.

“No,” I said, at the same time as Pepin spoke. “No!”

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