The moment we hit the ground, Violet throws up an air-barrier that deflects two more arrows.“Where are they?” she yells.“Two in the trees—thirty degrees left. Two on the ground—twenty-five degrees right. One more possible straight ahead,” I say, my wolf senses on overdrive. I can hear their breathing, the creak of bowstrings, the faint shift as they draw.“Arrows incoming. I’m right, you go left. Drop me from the barrier—go, now!”She doesn’t answer; she just rolls one way while I roll the other. Arrows slice past and thunk into trunks.Violet hurls fireballs where I pointed, and figures drop from the canopy.I sprint through the undergrowth, circling wide so they can’t track me. No idea what kind of fae these are, but we’re outnumbered and who knows what magic they’ve got.Pressure builds in my chest. We need a distraction—something bigger.Suddenly my awareness explodes outward. Every sense multiplies; I can feel, see, hear everything. Off to the side, multiple wolves flicker—illus
Violet and I climb out of my truck in front of Bella and Jamal’s house.The Maiden coven uses the clearing by the river behind their place for most of their outdoor ceremonies—exactly where we’ll open the portal to the Unseelie Court.Circling around the tailgate, I move to grab Violet’s bag. We spent the night together and had another round this morning; I’m feeling downright cuddly.But Violet pulls the bag out of reach, taking half a step away. A guarded look settles over her face—one I haven’t seen in the few days we’ve been together. She’s always wanted my hands on her, always loved the southern-gentleman treatment, so this is… new.Brows furrowed, I ask, “What’s up? Did I do something wrong?”She flushes. “You didn’t do anything. I just… Look, I’m not ashamed of my sexuality, but I don’t want anyone thinking I used it to get where I am—or that I’m relying on you to take care of me. I don’t want people whispering that I slept my way ahead, you know?”I step back. “I’m sorry. I di
I have no idea how long we’re trapped in that fucking feast, but I know it lasts for hours.There’s no way we could’ve talked to as many people as we did without grinding through multiple, grueling hours.We’re both pulled in different directions, again and again.Seated just below the dais where Queen Titania and King Oberyn hold court, we’re surrounded by courtiers and high-ranking officials.The Gilded Mirror, high priestess of the court, wants to speak with Phoenix—mainly to ask how witches access their magic, since the fae draw theirs directly from the earth.Queen Titania introduces me to the High Thorn, captain of her guard. He wants to compare Seelie warrior training to ours. I try not to laugh at the idea.The Courtier Eternal tries to tell us a story about the last time a werewolf and a witch entered the Seelie Court.It could’ve been interesting, if he didn’t fall asleep mid-sentence every few minutes—only to wake the second we try to get up.Not subtle. Not cute.I’m also
Phoenix blows an air bubble around us, keeping most of the glitter off and our sightline clear.Both of us have shifted so that we’re facing sideways, presenting a smaller target for anything that might come at us.We don’t want to completely sink into defensive crouches—too engaged, too alert. That would peg us as threats.Instead, we stay prepared, but lazily slow. Like we’re unbothered by the melee and chaos erupting around us.“I’m gonna be scrubbing this shit out of my fur for weeks,” I mutter, plucking at my shirt. Glitter is one of the worst things humans ever created—right up there with pickled eggs and that plastic packaging on scissors that requires scissors to open.“At least it’ll make your fur look pretty. This crap will coat my magick,” Phoenix says, and that’s when it hits me.Fingering the talisman in my pocket, I mindlink him,They did this on purpose. To track your magick. To follow my wolf form.Fuck, Phoenix responds. You’re right.We’re going to have to find a way
Phoenix and I stayed up most of the night, crashing in the living room of his house, trying to figure our shit out. I mean, we’re leaving today. We have to be on the same fucking page.That’s the problem with working alongside someone you don’t really know—especially when you both have alpha energy. Which is hilarious, considering I’m technically beta to Kaia’s alpha and Phoenix is, well, a witch. Still, we both think we’re right.And honestly? We usually are. There’s more than one way to get shit done. We just have to agree that if the plan works, it doesn’t matter who came up with it. What matters is that we both make it out of this alive.After pizza, beer, watching Josh Johnson on YouTube, and trading a shit ton of memes, we finally got on the same page. I think we’re good now. We better be—with what we’re about to walk into.We meet Meredith, Fatima, Freya, Mikela, and Evanora in the large natural clearing the Mother witches use for most of their ceremonies.Looking around, I e
I touch the talisman connecting me to Phoenix so we can mindlink. Take the left flank. Distract them with some lights. I’ll come at them from the front and take out Jai.You know, I could just stun them both, Phoenix says lazily.I roll my eyes. I swear, he thinks he’s some kind of war strategist now. Yeah, for a few seconds—and then Jai will recover. It won’t be enough time for me to reach them, and I’ll lose the element of surprise. Jai will still be able to track me. This is better. I take out Jai while they go after you, and you handle Violet.His frustration snaps through the link. How about I just focus on Jai, and you go after Violet while she’s trying to find me?Oh my fucking Goddess, would you just listen to me? I fume. Jai’s the more important one to neutralize, but he’ll be expecting a magical attack. You can even see Violet burning energy to shield him. Just fucking wai—I don’t get to finish.A grunt bursts out of me as Jai jumps me.We’re wolves. We heal fast. So we don