CHAPTER FIVE

SKYE'S POV

I did not realize how small the world could become until I was trapped inside a car with the Lycan King.

The leather seat beneath me felt too soft, too expensive. The windows were tinted dark enough that the outside world looked distant and unreal. Eryx sat beside me, one arm resting against the door, his broad shoulders filling the space so completely that I could feel his presence even when he wasn't touching me.

I kept my hands folded tightly in my lap and stared out the window. The Silvercrest Pack territory was disappearing behind us. The familiar pine trees, the dirt roads, the cluster of houses where I had spent my entire life—everything was fading into the distance.

I should have felt relieved.

Rhory was there. Medora was there. Luna Naila was there. The place held more painful memories than happy ones.

But as the trees blurred past, grief settled heavily in my chest.

That had been my home.

No matter how badly I had been treated, it was the only home I had ever known.

Astrid stirred restlessly inside me. The rejection wound still throbbed. Every now and then a sharp ache would lance through my chest, reminding me of Rhory's words.

You're nothing, Skye.

I pressed my lips together. I would not cry again. I was tired of crying.

Beside me, Eryx spoke for the first time since we left.

"Your wolf is in pain."

I turned sharply. "You can feel Astrid?"

His dark eyes met mine. "I can feel you."

Heat crept into my cheeks and I looked away quickly.

"That sounds impossible," I muttered.

"Not for mates."

The word made my stomach flutter.

Mate.

I still couldn't believe it. Less than twenty-four hours ago I had thought Rhory was my fated future. Now I was sitting beside the Lycan King with a crescent moon mark burning on my shoulder.

"Why did the Moon Goddess give me a second chance?" I asked quietly. "I thought a rejected mate was the end."

Eryx was silent for a moment before answering.

"Usually it is."

That wasn't reassuring.

"Then why me?"

He studied me with an intensity that made me want to squirm. "I don't know."

I blinked. "You don't?"

"The Moon Goddess rarely explains herself." A faint shadow crossed his expression. "I stopped trying to understand her decisions a long time ago."

There was something in his voice—something old and tired—that made me remember what he'd said in the car.

He had waited eighty years for a second chance.

Eighty years.

I couldn't even imagine living that long.

"Your first mate," I said carefully. "What happened to her?"

The temperature in the car seemed to drop.

For a heartbeat I thought he wouldn't answer.

Then he looked out the window. "She died."

His voice was flat, but the grief beneath it was unmistakable.

I swallowed. "I'm sorry."

He gave a single nod.

The silence that followed felt different now. Not awkward. Heavy.

I found myself studying him when he wasn't looking. He was younger than I had imagined a king would be, though there was something ancient in his eyes. His hands were large and scarred. A thin silver ring circled one finger.

Not a wedding ring, I realized. A memory.

As if sensing my gaze, he turned his head.

"You stare often."

I nearly choked. "I do not."

One dark eyebrow lifted.

"I was just... looking."

"That's usually what staring is."

To my horror, a laugh escaped me. A real laugh.

Eryx looked mildly pleased with himself.

"There," he said. "You look better when you laugh."

The compliment hit me so unexpectedly that I didn't know what to do with it. Rhory had never complimented me.

I turned back to the window before Eryx could see my face.

"Tell me something, Skye."

"What?"

"Did you truly believe you were worthless?"

The question startled me.

I opened my mouth to deny it, but the lie wouldn't come.

"I don't know," I admitted. "When people tell you something your whole life, eventually you start believing it."

"Who told you that?"

"No one directly." I picked at a loose thread on my sleeve. "It was just... understood. I was the orphan servant. Medora was the Alpha's daughter. Rhory was the Beta's son. Everyone knew where they belonged."

"And where did you belong?"

I gave a small shrug. "Wherever I was told to stand."

Something dangerous flickered across Eryx's face.

"That ends now."

My breath caught.

He said it so simply. As if changing the course of my entire life was the easiest thing in the world.

Before I could respond, the convoy suddenly slowed.

My body tensed. "What's happening?"

The car rolled to a stop. Outside, guards were already moving into position.

Eryx's expression sharpened instantly. The easy conversation vanished, replaced by something colder and far more dangerous.

A knock sounded on the window. One of his guards bowed as Eryx lowered it slightly.

"Your Majesty, the bridge ahead has been blocked."

"By whom?"

"We're not sure yet."

Eryx inhaled once, slowly. "They're in the forest."

The guard stiffened. "You can smell them?"

"Twelve wolves." Eryx's eyes narrowed. "Maybe thirteen."

My stomach dropped.

The guard's hand went to his weapon. "Should we clear the area?"

"No."

Eryx opened the car door and stepped out.

"Wait!" I grabbed his sleeve before I could stop myself.

He looked down at my hand.

I quickly let go. "What if they're here to kill you?"

A faint smile touched his lips. "Then they're going to be disappointed."

Before I could argue, he closed the door.

I watched through the window as he walked toward the bridge alone. The guards spread out behind him, but none moved ahead of him.

The forest had gone unnaturally quiet. No birds. No insects. Nothing.

Then a growl echoed from the trees.

Another answered it.

And another.

Figures emerged from the shadows one by one. Wolves in human form, armed with knives and axes. Their clothes were rough, their faces hard.

Rogues.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

There were so many of them.

Eryx stopped in the middle of the road, completely still.

"Leave," he said.

His voice carried all the way to the car.

The largest rogue laughed. "The great Lycan King travels with a new bride and only a handful of guards? The gods must finally favor us."

Eryx tilted his head slightly. "You smell desperate."

"We smell opportunity."

The rogue leader stepped forward. "Kill the king. Take the female."

Everything happened at once.

The rogues charged.

I gasped and pressed a hand against the window.

Eryx didn't draw a weapon.

He transformed.

One moment a man stood in the road. The next, a massive black beast exploded into existence with a roar that shook the trees.

My breath left my lungs.

He was enormous. Far larger than any wolf I'd ever seen. Black fur rippled over powerful muscles, and his silver eyes burned like moonlight.

The first rogue reached him.

Eryx's jaws closed around the wolf's throat.

Blood sprayed across the road.

I should have been horrified.

Instead, awe rooted me to the seat.

The rogues hesitated.

Eryx threw back his head and roared again.

The sound rolled through my bones. Astrid surged forward inside me, not with fear but with recognition.

Mine, she whispered.

The remaining rogues broke and ran into the forest.

Eryx watched them disappear before slowly turning toward the car. His silver eyes met mine through the glass.

And for the first time in my life, I understood why the entire continent feared the Lycan King.