Page 10 of The Wolf Queen

Her cry might’ve been enough to draw the attention of the sentries standing at the gates, but we didn’t care. We didn’t need the advantage of surprise to win the day. This time the odds were with us, not stacked against us, and we would prevail.

“Taking this garrison is just the first step,” I promised them. “We will take land, we will take food, for those we love.”

That stirred each and every one of them, even if many of them had lost their loved ones. Humans are social creatures, by nature. They forge bonds no matter what happens, holding tight to them against the overwhelming darkness of night. As I took my place out front, keenly aware of the role I played in tying us all together, I felt every eye upon me. Dane had sworn a blue streak when I’d said I would take the vanguard, but each one of my mates stepped forward to join me there now.

“But most of all,” I said, my voice cracking on the words. “We’ll take back what’s ours!”

When I thrust my sword into the air, they did too. And when I shouted, their voices joined mine. I reached out and touched each one of their minds, feeling the connections snapping into place over and over. I summoned forth their half-wolf forms, as I did my own, each one of us becoming the wargen beasts that Granian mothers still warned their children about, and then raced forward.

“Take out the sentries first.” I could hear Nordred’s voice, the voice of strategy, in my head, directing my intent. “Don’t let the fuckers shut the gates on you.”

I heard the cries of the garrison occupants, the shouts of orders but, while they were bleating in fear, we moved like the wind. There’s a power that comes from a collective, the one mind, one body, fusing with others to become more than the sum of their parts. And that was what we were now. The immediate objective, to take control of the entrance to the garrison, was communicated down the bond I shared with the others.

Soldiers came pouring out the gates. Instead of doing as they were ordered—to slam it shut—they appeared either ready to meet us head on or to run the other way. It didn’t matter, we greeted them all with sharpened steel. Slash, slash, parry: my sword was an extension of my arm, my will, cutting down anyone who dared to stand before me. And I did it all with the sound of Selene’s howl ringing in my ears.

The bond between the soldiers and me bucked and thrashed, like a newly haltered wild horse, each man or woman’s mind pulling at the bond, wanting to meet this threat on their own terms, but that’s not what happened. I didn’t crush their will, though at times I felt like I could. Instead, I reminded them of the objective, and pushed us all forward. Some Granians finally had the presence of mind to try and shut the tall gates, but we were there before them, my mates and I. Axe strode forward, planting his foot against the wood and shoving at it.

The look on his face when it popped open, that wild grin as he turned to me. I felt his rush of pleasure as if it was my own, as it reverberated down the bond. Callum’s way was to hold his Reavers in some kind of psychic chokehold, removing their free will. But the connections between us here was how it was supposed to be. Axe’s victory was our victory; Axe’s danger was ours too. A burly warden in chainmail rushed towards my mate’s back as Axe was turned towards us, urging us on.

“Fucking focus!” Gael snarled, parrying the stroke and driving the attacker back.

But I understood, I really did. What sung in my heart was a battle hymn, the unpredictable percussion coming from the clash of steel on steel, the chorus arising from our shouts. We would win this day, I just knew it; a victory sorely needed after such a catastrophic loss. And yet, I heard the Morrigan’s snicker in my head, reminding me of that loss, even as people fell before our blades, as we beat back the meagre amount of men manning the garrison, until finally the man who was in command fell to his knees, sword stabbed into the earth before him.

“We yield.”

He ground out the words, obviously having never thought he’d say such a thing, but he bowed his head, baring it to me, and that’s what had me stopping. The wolf recognised surrender when she saw it and she acknowledged that with a nod. I let my beast recede, leaving instead just a girl, something the commander noted. I watched the thoughts flow through his head as his eyes widened, then narrowed and I saw his grip on his sword tighten, right before I whipped mine up to meet his neck. The point pressed against the soft skin above his clavicle, making him reconsider whatever the hell he was thinking.

“Then I claim this garrison for the people of Strelae,” I said.

“Strelae?” The commander looked around wildly as his men began to mutter. “We have a treaty with the Strelans. The king—”

“Is dead.” Dane stepped forward, eyes blazing. “Our queen is now our head of state.” I didn’t need him beside me, but I liked it, and I stood taller. “A new king sits where my father once did, but this new king is one that will lay waste to everything and everyone, including soft, safe Grania.”

Perhaps these Granian men wouldn’t like the gift I was about to give them, but it had to happen anyway. I’d tried to reason, to provide evidence, to cajole the old Strelan king and it’d gotten me nowhere.

“The wolf that eats the world is coming,” I said and, at those words, the whispering in the crowd of captured men stopped, letting me know I had their full attention. “And he will eat you all, unless…”

Reaching out to touch another’s mind was a strange thing. It was like offering your hand to a stranger which in Strelae, they did as a matter of politeness. But here I felt minds shy away, jerk instinctively back or just ignore me completely, impervious as stone. But at least one of them was open and receptive.

He of the sheep heart. He who had prayed for help for his family, when he was sure no one actually would. It was he who stared at me now with the shining eyes of a recent convert. I held his gaze as Gael came closer, putting his hand in mine, blue fire appearing between us the moment we touched.

He had a wolf in him, this convict, this man. It paced and paced and paced, not able to lie down and die, nor to get free. Whatever wargen genetic combination made some Granians capable of taking fur was in him, and I coaxed it forward now. Cries went through the crowd as the man became a wolf. It whined, looked around and then got to its feet, trotting over to join our side.

“Wargen bitch!” the commander swore, ready to fight again, but like a breeze rippling through the kneeling captives, one, two, then a few more here and there of his fellow Granians got to their feet. More and more followed until many of them were standing with their hands open to show they held no ill intent.

“You’re her…” Private Higgins was the man with the medallion who we had seen at the altar in the woods, and he fished the necklace out now and clutched at it as he stared at me in wonder.

“Of course she’s the one,” Weyland said, all of his cocky confidence deployed with a disarming grin, even though none of us really knew what Higgins meant. Play along and find out, that was our plan. “Come forward, brothers…”

We’d talked about this last night, how to exploit the belief system of those who worshipped the wolf that ate the world, knowing that it would help turn the tides and weld them to our side, not that of their countrymen. It was a long shot, but it seemed that it would work. The men here had little connection to their ‘superior’ officers. Those in command were here to keep them put, not to build on the sort of brotherhood that came from fighting side by side.

But we could.

“I know you,” I said, a brave statement for the daughter of a duke to make. “I know how you came to be here. Sent down to the northern border to be cannon fodder in the fight to keep the Strelans out. Us out.” I stepped closer and the commander made a strangled noise, but my blade on his throat kept him silent. “But what if we weren’t the enemy?”

I watched the captured men’s eyes shift, looking at each other for guidance, but with a push from my mind, I caught their attention again.

“A dark force is coming across the border, one that rapes and pillages and destroys everything in its path, but I can make you strong, prepare you to meet that threat head-on for your lives, your family and the glory of the dread lord you worship.”

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