C5

"Which way should I answer to get you to help me?" the strange girl asks, her mismatched eyes locked on mine.

One eye is deep blue, and the other is a sharp forest green. My wolf thumps hard inside my ribs, scratching to get out. It is the exact same mismatched gaze as the Moon Queen. My heart hits my chest like a war drum, but I force my alpha logic to shut the feeling down. I have tracked down ten different female wolves with eyes like that across the territories. Every single one turned out to be an omega scammer trying to trick the High Alpha. There is no way this girl is my lost savior. The girl from my childhood was a brave little wolf, not a lunatic jumping off stone ledges.

"You do know the Great Hall has heavy wooden doors and wide stone hallways, right?" I growl, my voice deep and flat. "Normal wolves knock instead of swinging across mountain fangs."

I look her over, wondering if Uncle Louis sent her to test my temper. I have only run with four female wolves in my life, but my pack family knows my preference: a tall, silver-furred female with blue or green eyes. This girl is way too thin, though. She has a tiny heart-shaped face and a pointy chin that makes her look like a wild pixie. Her silver mane is done up in heavy braid-work with fresh forest lilies, exactly like a Luna prepared for a Sacred Moonbond Union. She is even wearing a long white silk gown with heavy lace trim. It looks like Uncle Louis copied my exact childhood memory of the Moon Queen and grew her into an adult wolf just to mess with my mind.

The enemy pack leaders have been trying to trap me for moons, offering gold or female mates to get the Adebayo Moonfang Pack to sign away our western hunting borders. “Once you take a beautiful female wolf to your bed, you will forget all about the ancient lands,” Santiago Cole had sneered at the last council meeting.

It makes my stomach turn.

The secret deals made after my rescue from the forest fire are locked under a blood-sealed pack oath. I do not even know the full terms of the treaty. My mother was never exiled or locked in the dungeons for setting that fire. The pack blamed a rogue omega, claiming he tried to hold the High Alpha's heir for ransom. I fought the elders on it, but the council trackers ignored my words. My cousin Magnus, who saw the whole attack, was sent away across the great mountains to a distant training camp, and Grandfather Lucien barred any guards from questioning my younger brothers, claiming the smoke had broken their young minds.

But the pack split went through, and my father took total control of the Moonfang Dominion. My mother vanished into the wild lands, ignoring my hunting calls. She always swore she loved us, that she would burn the whole world to keep her pups together. I saw that wildfire in her eyes. How could she give up her territory so easily?

"Doors and hallways are fine for a High Alpha," the girl says, breaking my train of thought. "They do not work for me. The enemy pack guards are blocking the doors to the next suite."

"Guards?" My jaw tightens as I scent the air. "Are you a rogue prisoner? A mad wolf locked up, so you do not bite the pups?"

It wouldn't shock me. Beautiful, wild females are always the most dangerous. I remember how gorgeous my mother looked in the old pack paintings before her mind snapped.

The silver-haired girl blinks her mismatched eyes, then lets out a soft, beautiful laugh. "I wish I were a dangerous rogue. That sounds way more exciting than being locked in a cage just so my family can steal my treasury rights."

A strange tug of pity hits my chest, and I feel like an old brute for being so harsh. She must have been terrified to risk the high mountain winds on that ledge. I know exactly what it feels like to be trapped. "Are you in deep danger?" My voice drops to a softer rumble.

"Not if I run before my aunt or my cousin finds my scent," she says, looking up at my face. "If the guards ask, your eyes never saw my wolf."

"Where do you think you are going?"

Her smile turns bright, but it is the sharp smile of a female wolf who knows no alpha is coming to save her. "If I walk out of your front door, the pack guards will smell me instantly. I am going to climb down to the lower ledges first."

I point my thumb back out toward the sheer cliff drop. "That way?"

She nods her head very seriously. "It is the only path left."

I step to the edge and look straight down into the dark valley. No safety nets. No thick moss to catch her if her claws slip. "Are you out of your mind, girl?"

"I thought about it logically," she shrugs. "If I fall and break my bones on the rocks, nobody gets the Moonfang Treasury. The gold goes to the poor packs, so I still win."

What a crazy wolf. "Call the Council Judgment Hall."

"The elders are in on it," she sighs, her shoulders dropping.

A sharp ache tightens right around my heart. Her trap feels exactly like the night my mother chained my young legs inside that burning cabin. Just because her aunt locked her in a fancy lodge room doesn't mean she isn't a prisoner.

"That is a terrible way to win a war," I tell her, hoping she will stay off the ledge. She might be quick, but one wrong step on the mountain stone and her life is over. I do not want her blood on my paws.

"A win is a win." She shrugs, her eyes looking totally clear and calm, even if her words are completely wild. "I will burn my own territory before they take it."

"No."

She steps backward toward the balcony rail. The moment her warmth leaves my side, it feels like a splash of freezing river water hitting my fur. I clench my fists tightly so I do not grab her waist. I usually hate it when female wolves touch me or try to rub their scent on my neck to claim me; it makes me want to snap my jaws because it feels like the chains from my childhood. But right now, my wolf wants this girl to stay locked in my grip. The feeling makes my ears hot.

"Do not dare hand me back to Lady Genevieve," the girl growls, raising her small fists up to fight me. "I will never let Tristan put his mate mark on my neck. They just want to drain my bloodline legacy."

"I am not giving you to them," I snap.

She crosses her arms over her chest, looking at my big shoulders. "I don't think your wolf is strong enough to carry me across the high gaps anyway." She points her chin toward the far side of the stone wall.

"I am strong enough, but I am not stupid," I growl. "I actually like being alive."

Her mouth drops open into a little circle. "Why do you care if I fall?"

"Because I am a sane Alpha. Any decent wolf would care."

"No, they wouldn't," she whispers softly, looking down at her bare feet. She must have a horribly cruel pack to think like that.

"I can carry you out through the main lodge doors if you want to escape your aunt," I add quickly, before she tries another crazy stunt. If she falls from my balcony, the council guards will hold me for a witness, and I have to be back at the Moonfang Citadel by tomorrow's sunrise. "Pull those stupid flowers out of your braids," I order, dragging her inside the bedroom so she stays away from the cliff edge.

"Fine," she says, ripping the lilies out. Her long silver waves fall all the way down to her hips. "Now what, Alpha?"