“It was my first time there. The bet happened way before that law was put into place. But I still got punished for what I did.” He points a finger at me as I start to open my mouth. “Don’t bother asking what the punishment was. I’m not going to tell you.”
“Oh, fine.” I yawn, stretching my arms above my head. “I’ll let you off the hook for now.”
“Are you tired?”
“Sort of. I think I’m, like, emotionally drained or something.”
He opens the door. “How about you go lie down? I’ll get you something to eat, and then you can take a nap.”
I nod, trudge back into the bedroom, and flop down on the bed.
Instead of exiting out the bedroom door, Legend jumps out the window, leaving me in the room with Rune, who does nothing but stare out the window.
After the silence becomes too maddening, I finally say, “So, rumor on the street is that you and I used to know each other.”
His gaze skates to me. “We did.”
I kneel up on the bed. “Was I annoying?”
He chuckles softly. “Sometimes you were. We all were, though. Especially Shade.”
I giggle, the sound music to my ears. I’m glad after everything that I can still laugh.
“You know what, I have an easy time believing that.”
A breeze gusts in through the open window as he sinks down onto the windowsill. “I never was, though.” He smiles cockily.
“I’m sure you weren’t.” I stretch out on my front and prop my chin against my hand. “Everyone keeps saying I was a good fighter. Did you ever fight me?”
“I did. And you were an excellent fighter. I’m sure those fighter instincts are still living inside you, waiting to be unleashed. All you need is some training.”
“Jules said you’re all going to train me.”
“I am.”
I smile, again surprising myself. “Are you any good?” I tease.
He shakes his head with mild amusement. “Shade was right; you are a troublemaker.”
“So is Shade,” I quip. “What’s your story? You seem to be a wolf of few words.”
“That’s because I don’t have much to say, in general or about my dull life.”
“Dull? I highly doubt that. You’re a guard for a werewolf prince. That has to have some excitement.”
“Not that much. Jules is a pretty self-sufficient prince.”
“What about girlfriends? Have you had any of those?”
He shakes his head. “Nope.”
“Okay … What about a friend with benefits?” Why, oh why, do I open my mouth sometimes?
His face contorts. “What the hell is that?”
Wow, I really dug myself a hole with that one, didn’t I?
“Um …” Do not blush, Lake. Don’t you dare. “It’s a friend you sometimes … do the funky with.”
He adjusts the strap of his waist holster. “Funky?”
Dammit, the translation is complicating this conversation. Or maybe I am.
“Sex.” Yep, and now my cheeks are on fire.
“You want to know if I have a friend I fuck sometimes?” Hilarity rings in his tone. “Out of all the questions to ask me.”
I roll my eyes at myself. “See, this is why Legend finds me so amusing. I always say the wrong thing. I seriously suck at socializing.”
“You’re not that terrible. And even if you were, so am I.”
“You don’t seem like it. You just seem quiet.”
“Yeah, says one socially awkward werewolf to another.”
I snort with laughter. “You’re funny.”
He laughs with me. “No, I’m usually not. You, apparently, just bring it out of me. We should hang out some time. Maybe if we did, I’d smile more and could get me one of those friends with benefits you were talking about.” He winks.
I start to ask him why he doesn’t smile often when the power dies.
As the lights click off, he springs to his feet and unsheathes his sword.
“What’s going on?” I sit up, peering around the darkened room in a panic.
“Lake, do exactly what I say, okay?” His heavy boots scuff against the floorboards as he crosses the room with his sword positioned in front of him. “Go into the closet and push on the back wall. There’s a trap door there that will take you to a safe room. When you get inside, lock the door and do not come out under any circumstances, okay?”
I noiselessly climb off the bed. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Someone’s in the house.” He presses his ear against the door and sniffs.
I search for some sort of weapon and end up grabbing a fire poker. “Is it …?” I realize I don’t even know my attacker’s name. Only his face and stench.
Moonlight casts across Rune’s face, revealing his worry. “I don’t know, but you need to hide, okay?”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine, just as long as you are.”
Hiding seems cowardly, but when he nudges me toward the closet, my feet move automatically. Once I’m locked inside the small, secret room behind the closet wall, I crouch down in the shadows, hold my breath, and listen.
The house is silent. Eerily silent. I hate the silence. It gives me too much time to think. Think about what will happen if it is my attacker. If he finds me. If he hurts Rune. And what if Legend returns? He’s a powerful fighter, but what if he’s caught off guard?
Shallow breaths rack from my chest as a thunderous crash shatters the silence.
“Where is she?”
Growls erupt, and the house vibrates.
“I know she’s in this house, Rune, so just hand her over and you can walk away from this unscathed.”
“Who says I’m not going to walk away from this unscathed, anyway?” Rune replies calmly. “I think you’re the one who isn’t going to walk away from this, Slate.”
Slate.
Slate.
Slate.
The name pounds through my skull.
My attacker’s name. The one who ripped my clothes off and hurt me in ways I never knew were possible.
How I recognize his name, I’m unsure, other than maybe my mind has started filling in the blanks from the memories of before I forgot. Perhaps I’ve met this Slate before, and deep down, under the veil covering my memories, I knew who he was when he assaulted me. After all, he seemed to know me that day in the alley. He knew my real name is Elora.
“Those are some big words for someone who’s outnumbered,” Slate mocks, cackling laughter echoing around him. “Even for the infamous Rune.”
Infamous Rune? I make a mental note to ask Rune about that later.
If there is a later.
No, there’s going to be. Stop thinking about that, Lake!
“You’re going to regret this, Slate,” Rune replies evenly. “Not just this, but what you did to her.”
“So, Elora told you, huh?” His elation makes my gut twist with knots. “Good. I’m glad. I hope it completely destroys Jules.”
Rune laughs darkly. “You think this is going to destroy him? The only thing it’s going to do is destroy you. Jules isn’t going to let you live after what you did. He’ll rip you apart, bit by bit, until there’s nothing left. You’re an idiot to think otherwise.”
“Jules doesn’t have the balls to kill me,” Slate sneers. “He’s always been a coward in that sense.”
“That’s because he’s never had a good reason to kill,” Rune tells him. “You gave him one by touching her.”
“I didn’t just touch her,” Slate says in a tone that makes me shudder and want to puke all over the floor. “I fucked her long and hard. She liked it, too. Screamed the entire time.”
A violent growl explodes from my chest as memories sear my mind. Slate and the other werewolf pinning me down. Clawing me. Bruising me. Beating me. Breaking me. And smiling as he did it while I cried.
Legend was right. He took something from me that day. From me and Jules.
A force
ful rage storms through me as I open the door. The light stings my eyes as I step out of the darkness, my vision brighter, bolder, as if I’m suddenly seeing through a different pair of eyes. My gaze drops to my hands where sharp claws have replaced my fingernails. I’m not sure why, and I don’t really fucking care right now. All I care about is one thing.
Making him pay.
I grip the fire poker as I storm out of the closet.
Four werewolves dressed in black crowd the room. I pay no attention to three of them, my gaze locked on the tall, bulkier werewolf with shaggy blond hair. And just my luck, he’s standing right in front of the closet with his back to me.
Snarling, I swing back the fire poker and spear the end through the back of Slate’s thigh. He howls in pain as he collapses to the ground face first, clutching his leg.
The other werewolves reel toward me, teeth bared.
Then, all hell breaks loose.
The bedroom door flies open and figures barrel into the room. I can’t see their faces, too consumed by rage, wanting to break the werewolf bleeding at my feet.
“I didn’t like it!” I scream as I kick Slate in the face, making his jaw snap and blood spew from his lip, as if I’ve somehow become strong. “And you know I didn’t! You know I fucking hated it!” I kick him in the face repeatedly.
Crashes, growls, and snarls suddenly become background noise, but one thing takes center stage. Hurting Slate. Taking back some of the fear he put into me.
“I fucking hate you! And I hope you suffer for the rest of your miserable life!” My vision explodes with vivid colors as I scream at the top of my lungs.
I hear the snapping of bones, and pain splinters through my body as I continue bashing my foot into Slate’s face.
“Lake.” Strong arms wrap around me, the intoxicating aroma of moonlight and violets chinking through my wrath.
Jules is here. Jules is here. Jules.
He holds my back against his chest, his lips grazing my ear. “I understand you’re angry—and you deserve to be—but if you don’t calm down, you’re going to shift. And without any lessons, you might not be able to shift back.”
My head bobbles back against his chest as I breathe in and out. In and out. In and out. Gradually, my vision dims to normal, my surroundings coming into focus, the pain subsiding from my body.
Once my vision returns, I notice the room is now occupied with at least half a dozen of Jules’ guards, all with their swords and knives aimed at Slate’s friends. Rune is standing in front of me, and Legend and Shade are by his side. Legend has his fangs out, and Shade has a few droplets of crimson on his forehead. And Slate is incapacitated at my feet.
How long were they all here? How much of my psychotic wolf meltdown did they see? Probably most of it, since they all seem stunned into silence.
“And you guys thought she’d forgotten how to fight and needed to be retrained.” Shade breaks the silence. “Clearly, you’re all stupid.”
Rune rolls his eyes, Legend shakes his head, and Shade winks at me.
“Nice job, sweetheart.” Shade cleans the blood off his knife on his pant leg. “You just saved me a couple hours’ worth of torture. Seriously, give me a few hours, and he’ll probably be ready to confess everything.”
“Confess what, exactly?” My voice is strained.
“Why he went after you, and why he was even in the Common Realm. Because, from the records, he was never banished there, which means he snuck in. The questions is: why?” Shade squats down beside Slate and wiggles the fire poker, eliciting a high-pitched whimper from Slate.
“Fuck you, Shade.” Blood drips from Slate’s mouth. “I’m not telling you shit, other than she’s going to end up dead soon.” A manic, choked laugh erupts from his lips.
Jules roars, tension rolling off him in waves. “If you ever fucking threaten her life again, I’ll cut out your fucking tongue.”
Slate continues to laugh, choking on a mouthful of blood. “Like you can. You’re so weak. Always have been.”
The sound of his laughter makes me sick to my stomach. Thankfully, Shade orders some guards to carry him out to the shed.
“And what happened in this room, stays in this room,” Jules commands as the guards prepare to take Slate away. “Understand? If anyone outside of this circle hears about this, you’ll all be punished.”
The guards nod. Then four of them drag Slate away by his arms, leaving a trail of blood along the hardwood floor.
Something needs to still be said, though.
My eyes zero in on one of the captives being held by two of Jules’ guards, and I gather up all the courage I have left. “Jules?”
He rubs his hands down my arm, soothing me. “Yeah?”
“That wolf over there … the one with the darker hair.” I sound braver than I feel. Where is my badass werewolf when I need her? “He was there with Slate. He helped him.”
The accused werewolf snaps his teeth at me. “I didn’t do anything,” he growls, struggling to escape the guards’ hold. “She’s a fucking liar.”
Jules releases me from his arms, stalks over to the werewolf, and cocks his head to the side. “You think I’m going to take your word over hers?” He folds his fingers around the wolf’s throat. “That would be an epic mistake on your part.” His lean arm muscles bulge as he throttles the werewolf.
“Please, Your Highness,” the werewolf wheezes, his legs giving out on him, but the two guards hold him up, not letting him sink to the floor. “I didn’t … I wasn’t the one who did it.”
“But you helped, which is just as bad.” Jules continues to strangle him, yet his voice remains chillingly calm. “But don’t worry; I’m not going to kill you just yet. I’m going to drag out your punishment until you’re begging for death. Then I’m going to drag it out longer.” Then he raises his free hand and slashes his fingernails across the werewolf’s face, peeling back the flesh. Blood seeps out from the wounds and drizzles onto the floor. “Put him in the shed, too, but in a separate room,” Jules orders the guards. “And put the rest of them there too.”
They nod then heave the bloody, whimpering werewolf out of the room, along with the other two.
Once the room is cleared out, Rune shuts the door while Jules wipes his bloody hand on the side of his pants.
“Well, that was interesting,” Shade muses. “Guess I’m starting to rub off on you.”
“Maybe,” Jules mumbles, hesitantly glancing at me. Uneasiness reflects in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that in front of you.”
“Why? I just mangled a werewolf with a fire poker.” The floorboards creak as I step toward him. “If anything, I should be saying sorry.” Tears veil my vision. Shit, I’m going to start crying again.
He snags the bottom of my shirt, jerks me toward him, and crushes me against his chest.
I decide that I could really get used to this. Being in his arms all the time. Hiding my tears against his chest.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Jules whispers, kissing my forehead. “Slate deserved what he got. He deserves worse and will get it.”
I bury my face in his chest as my guilt catches up with me. I reacted so savagely, so brutally, so unlike me.
I probably would’ve started crying again if it weren’t for Rune distracting me.
“Speaking of mangling. Lake, I thought I told you to stay in the closet,” he scolds me, but with a hint of pride.
“I know.” I dry my tears, rotate around, and slump back against Jules’ chest, too drained to move away from him. “I don’t know what happened. Something just came over me when Slate said that …” Breathe in. Breathe out. Do not start crying again. “And it felt like I was possessed or something. I didn’t even realize what I was doing until I was stabbing him.”
“That’s because you were in the process of shifting.” Jules rests his chin on top of my head. “Your wolf was taking over.”
“Really?” I scrunch my nose. “She’s fucking ruthless, then.?
??
A beat of silence ticks by, and then the four of them laugh.
“She’s actually pretty normal.” Jules steers me around to face him. “The first time I shifted, I clawed Shade’s leg. The first time Rune shifted, he clawed my fucking neck.” He resists a smile. “And the first time Shade shifted, he ate a bunch of bunnies.”
A laugh bubbles from my throat. “He ate little baby bunnies?”
“Hey, they weren’t babies. They were fucking huge,” Shade argues. “And they were fucking tasty.”
I pull a face. “Ew.”
“Don’t ew me,” Shade teasingly reprimands. “I know they eat baby cows and shit over in the Common Realm. That’s no better.”
“I’ve never eaten a calf before.” I glance over my shoulder at Shade. “And the only animal I’ve eaten is cooked, which I’m sure those baby bunnies were not.”
“Hey, don’t dis it until you try it.” Shade stretches his arms above his head through a yawn. “All right, my lovely, little princess and prince, I am fucking beat from all this guarding your asses shit. I’m going to take a quick nap downstairs. Then, bright and early tomorrow, the torture begins.” He rubs his hands together and lets out a wicked laugh before strolling out of the room.
“Sorry about him,” Rune finds the need to apologize. “He’s not as crazy as he acts.”
“He’s fine,” I promise. “And considering I just stabbed Slate in the leg with a fire poker, I really can’t judge his crazy.”
“You’re not crazy.” Rune tucks his sword into the holster. “In fact, I think you’ll fit right into our little group.” He spins on the heel of his boots then heads toward the door. “Training starts tomorrow, Lake. Be at the pit before the sun rises.” He exits the room, leaving the door open behind him.
I gape up at Jules. “Is he kidding me?”
Jules lightly tugs on a strand of my hair. “Nope. Rune’s a morning person. Don’t worry, though; I’ll go with you.”
“Yeah, good luck waking her up that early,” Legend remarks. “Lake is like a sleeping bear in the mornings.” He gives me a hug, and I feel the aggravation surge off Jules, but shockingly, he doesn’t growl. “I’m going to go crash in the guestroom. If you need anything, wake me up, okay?”