370

“Like my handiwork?” Terrence’s smug voice comes from behind me. “I used my own blood to create these drugs, so they obey me. They are invincible, and once they bring me your precious Alpha’s head, I’m going to display it in our bedroom. You’re going to look at his decaying face each night when you surrender your body to me.”

I give him a horrified look. There is something incredibly sick about this man.

“Behold!” Terrence suddenly shouts, his voice echoing over the fighting. “These are the wolves we once feared, Clan Leaders. And look at them now. They will be our slaves, nothing more. Roll it down!”

I hear the rustling of cloth from above and look up to see something being unfurled from the upper floor window.

“Jean Sanguinite has returned to us. I sent you the message with the prophecy. Our Queen has returned. She will lead us back into our golden era! It is because of her we have been able to subdue these animals! The Nelo Clan pledges its allegiance to her.”

His declaration spurs shouts from the men standing on the edges of the battlefield.

“The Risa Clan pledges its allegiance to the Queen!”

“The Azure Clan pledges its allegiance to the Queen!”

As the cries sound out, fury fills me. No wonder Terrence was so confident. He had lied. The clan leaders had already been told about the prophecy. And he’d planned to implicate me in front of Robert and his pack. He really did cover all his bases. Except, this man keeps trying to put me back in the box he created for me when I was a child.

I can see Arabella behind him. She is looking at me, her eyes helpless and distraught. My lips press into a thin line.

“You didn’t account for something, Terrence,” I sneer, finding him ridiculous.

He gives me an amused look. “I have always been two steps ahead of you. There is no way out. If, let’s say, your lover does survive, he will never accept you—”

“Not my lover, Terrence.” I blink twice at him. “My mate. He is mine, and I am his. And that’s the truth.”

The smug smile slips from Terrence’s lips. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.” I take a step toward him. “Now, what are you going to do in front of all the clans who have just sworn allegiance to me? Will you kill me? And say what to them? If my mate dies, by logic, I’ll die too, right?”

From the frustration on his face, he clearly never thought of this.

His hand grabs my neck, and it’s my turn to look amused. “Go on. What’s your next step? Are you going to kill me?”

His claws dig into my neck.

Arabella creeps forward, a blade in her hand.

“You whore!” Terrence spits, his eyes mad with rage. “You mated that animal?! After everything I did for us—”

I knee him in the balls, and he goes down with a strangled sound. Arabella runs forward with a cry, stabbing the knife into his shoulder. However, Terrence plucks it out and shoves her backward. “This is your fault! I’ll kill you!”

The knife descends, and for a heartbeat, I see the frightened little toddler who used to follow me around, calling my name. My body moves instinctively, and the knife stabs me in the neck.

Blood spurts out, and I hear an enraged howl almost instantly from somewhere among the fighters. From the corner of my eye, I see a large, familiar-looking wolf running toward me. Terrence appears horror-struck as I fall into my sister’s arms.

“No! Charlotte—I didn’t mean—”

I weakly yank the knife out, and more blood spills. He got an artery.

The terrified look in Arabella’s eyes has me wondering how much of her hatred was real and how much was her way of survival.

The wound is healing, but not fast enough considering the amount of blood flowing from me. I need to drink some...

Robert jumps in front of me, shoving Terrence away. He shifts into his human form, naked, and cradles me.

His expression is grim, and he seems to know what I need. He bites into his arm and presses it against my mouth in full view of his pack and the leaders of the other clans. I gulp down the blood greedily, my body ice cold.

A shadow falls over me, and my eyes find the reason for it behind Robert. My mouth pulls away from his arm as I see Terrence bring down the knife.

“No!” The scream emits from my mouth, and out of nowhere, someone has grabbed Terrence’s wrist.

My eyes widen as I see who it is. Or rather, what it is.

One of Terrence’s creatures has his hand wrapped around Terrence’s, stopping him from stabbing Robert.

Chapter 29

Charlotte Sanguinite

Robert leaps out of the way, with me in his arms.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Terrence shrieks. “Let go of me!”

But the creature doesn’t budge. Instead, it looks at me, as if asking me what to do.

I call it a “creature,” but on closer inspection, I realize with disgust roiling within me what Terrence meant by enslaving the wolves. I’m looking at a wolf shifter in a weirdly transformed state. His eyes are dull, and I can see my reflection in them.

What has Terrence done to them?!

“Release me! I am your master! You have to obey me!” Terrence is clawing at him, but the shifter doesn’t so much as flinch, ignoring the injuries being inflicted on him. “Why won’t you do as I say?!”

Something clicks in my head, and I say, quietly, “Take the knife from him.”

The shifter twists Terrence’s hand and rips the knife out of his hold.

“He’s listening to you.” Robert sounds shocked.