Chapter 10: Hunted by My Alphas

An hour was enough to disappear from ordinary hunters.

My mates were no longer ordinary.

I ran north until the inn vanished behind hills and pine trees. Frost shattered beneath my paws while the cold sharpened every scent carried through the forest.

The first stream appeared less than twenty minutes into my head start.

I entered without slowing.

Freezing water closed around my legs as I followed the current east. After half a mile, I climbed onto a shelf of black stone where my paws left no prints. I doubled back above the stream, crossed a fallen tree, and leaped into the western brush.

Any hunter relying upon scent would continue east.

Asterion would recognize the deception.

So I prepared another.

I scraped false claw marks into the bark of three northern trees, then loosened stones along the western ridge. A careless wolf following my trail would trigger a harmless slide and lose several minutes climbing free.

Neither Asterion nor Faolan had ever been careless.

That only made the trap more insulting.

The head start thinned with every heartbeat.

I climbed until the stream disappeared below me. The northern boundary remained several hours away, marked by white stones beyond a narrow ravine. If I maintained my speed, I would cross before sunset.

Silver-blue light gathered beneath my claws.

I called only enough moonfire to warm the frozen earth. Three sparks separated from the flame and flew into different paths among the trees. Each carried a faint echo of my presence—nothing strong enough to deceive the marks for long, but enough to make the directional pull hesitate.

Pain answered beneath my ribs. But I ignored it.

The healer knew my wolf had recovered. She knew nothing of the divinity the poison had wounded.

I dismissed the moonfire before the effort could travel through the bonds.

For one hour, Asterion and Faolan had promised not to look for me through them. I did not expect their mercy to last one breath longer. The moment arrived without a bell or shouted warning.

Both bonds opened.

Winter entered from the southwest. Flame answered from the east. They had begun.

A howl rose behind me, deep and cold. A second answered from farther away, carrying Faolan's unmistakable challenge.

They had divided the forest exactly as I expected. Asterion would take the direct northern route and study every place where strategy demanded I pass. Faolan would follow the broken scent along the stream and trust instinct to correct him.

I sent a pulse of satisfaction east through the bond and ran west.

Faolan's amusement returned immediately. He knew I was lying.

I descended the ridge and crossed a field of stone where scent could not cling. Behind me, branches snapped beneath the weight of a pursuing wolf.

Too fast.

I looked back once. A pale silver wolf moved through the trees below. Asterion's blue eyes found me across the distance. He had ignored the direct northern trail. He knew I expected him to choose it.

I changed direction.

Asterion did not follow.

That frightened me more.

The reason appeared when a dark gray wolf launched from the brush ahead. Amber eyes flashed as Faolan landed where I would have been if I had continued another two strides.

I twisted away.

His teeth closed on empty air.

They had switched roles.

Asterion was not chasing my destination. He was driving me toward Faolan. Faolan had ignored the false trail because he knew pride would make me choose the highest, most difficult ridge.

Asterion released a short howl.

Faolan answered with two.

The signals were unfamiliar. They had created them during the years I was gone—a private language built through hundreds of patrols and battles fought without me. One warning shifted Faolan east. Another brought Asterion forward before I could exploit the gap.

They never crowded each other. When one attacked, the other watched the routes I might use to escape. When I turned, they adjusted without hesitation.

Once, both men had waited for my orders before taking a single step on a battlefield.

Now they required nothing from me except resistance.

I had trained them to fight beside me.

During five years of ruling together, they had learned to fight as one.

Now every lesson I had given them was being used to hunt me.

I sprinted south long enough to make them believe I was retreating, then cut west toward the loose stones.

Faolan followed.

His front paw struck the hidden trigger.

The ridge collapsed beneath him.

He leaped before the stones could trap his legs, but the slide carried him downward through dust and broken branches. Surprise burst through his bond, followed by delighted laughter.

I resisted the urge to look back.

Asterion appeared above the ridge.

He did not attempt to cross. His wolf stopped, studied the falling stones, and vanished into the trees.

He was calculating another route.

Good.

Let him calculate.

I crossed the ravine using a dead cedar as a bridge, then snapped a weakened branch behind me. The trunk fell into the gap and removed the easiest crossing.

The boundary was closer now.

Through the bonds, Asterion remained cold and focused. Faolan's heat moved south before turning north again.

Neither felt frustrated.

They should have been.

I had stolen time at the stream, trapped Faolan, and forced Asterion into a longer path. Yet their confidence never weakened.

The certainty followed me like another predator.

They were still controlling the direction of the hunt.

I forced myself to think beyond the obvious. Asterion expected me to choose the fastest path toward the marker stones. Faolan expected me to make the most defiant choice.

So I descended into the ravine.

The path cost speed but concealed me beneath thick branches. I moved silently through mud and shallow water, then climbed the northern wall using roots and narrow ledges.

The white boundary stones appeared between the trees.

Less than half a mile.

Victory surged through me.

Faolan felt it.

His bond flared directly behind me.

I ran.

He burst from the ravine in dark gray fur, close enough that his breath touched my tail. I swerved around the first marker stone and drove my shoulder into his chest when he tried to pass.

Faolan rolled, recovered, and came at me again.

I struck his front legs from beneath him and leaped toward the border.

Asterion blocked the path.

His silver wolf stood between two white stones, motionless as winter.

I stopped ten paces away.

Faolan rose behind me.

They had surrounded me.

Moonfire swept across my body as I shifted. Black fur vanished beneath traveling clothes woven to survive the transformation. I drew my dagger.

Both wolves changed.

Faolan circled my left side, his amber eyes bright with the chase. "You're surrounded."

"You haven't caught me yet."

"Then, what do you suggest?"

I turned the dagger in my hand. "Come closer."

Asterion approached from the right, cold blue eyes fixed upon mine. "As you command, princess."

I attacked first.

My dagger cut toward Asterion's ribs. He turned, letting the blade slice his coat instead of flesh. I used the opening to drive my heel into Faolan's knee.

He stumbled.

I struck his mouth with my elbow and spun toward the boundary.

Asterion caught my wrist.

I twisted free, slammed my palm into his throat, and swept his legs from beneath him. He hit the ground hard enough to lose his breath.

Faolan seized my coat from behind.

I let the fabric tear, slipped out of his grip, and buried my shoulder in his chest. We crashed into a tree. His head struck the trunk.

"Still entertained?" I asked.

Blood appeared at the corner of his grin. "Immensely."

I shifted before either could grab me again. My wolf launched toward the boundary.

They followed.

Asterion caught my right side. I turned and sank my teeth into his shoulder, controlling the pressure so I tore fur rather than muscle. He released me.

Faolan attacked from the left.

I knocked him down and pinned his throat beneath one paw.

For one moment, I had him. Then, Asterion ran toward the border and left the path beside him open.

An obvious mistake.

A tempting one.

The nearest marker stood only twenty strides away. I abandoned Faolan and took the opening.

Exactly as they knew I would.

Faolan struck from behind before I reached the stone. His body drove me sideways instead of down, turning my momentum toward Asterion.

Asterion caught me. He locked his jaws over the loose fur at my shoulder while Faolan blocked my hind legs. Neither bite broke skin, but together they destroyed every direction of escape.

I fought until all three of us crashed to the ground.

My power flashed.

We shifted.

Asterion pinned one wrist above my head. Faolan secured the other while their combined weight prevented me from reaching the dagger at my thigh.

The boundary stone waited several paces away.

Faolan lowered his face toward mine. "Caught."

I bared my teeth. "I hate both of you."

Asterion's mouth hovered near my ear. "You can hate us on the journey home."

I stopped struggling. "Release me."

Faolan's grip tightened. "So you can run again?"

"I gave you my word."

Asterion studied my face, then released my wrist and rose. "Let her stand."

Faolan obeyed. Neither attempted to hold me when I climbed to my feet. Their trust in my promise soothed some of the injury to my pride.

They had won fairly.

Not because the poison had weakened me. Not because either man had become stronger than the Goddess of War. I had thrown both of them down and reached within sight of freedom.

They won because Asterion knew which opening I would recognize, and Faolan knew pride would compel me to take it. Individually, I could defeat them.

Together, they had become the one opponent I could not predict quickly enough.

That deserved recognition.

I approached Faolan first. "A victory deserves a reward."

His amber eyes narrowed. "What kind of reward?"

I caught his torn shirt and pulled his mouth to mine. Surprise held him still before his hand settled carefully at my waist. I kissed him once—fierce, brief, and sufficient—then pushed him away.

For the first time since he began hunting me, Faolan appeared speechless. I turned toward Asterion. Cold control had already returned to his face, but anticipation burned through the bond. "Do not look so pleased with yourself."

"I haven't said anything."

"Your bond has."

I gripped his collar and kissed him.

Asterion did not pull me closer or attempt to prolong the reward. His hands remained at his sides while his mouth answered mine with careful restraint.

That restraint made it harder to step away.

I did so anyway.

"Do not misunderstand," I warned. "I kissed you because you won."

Faolan recovered enough to smile. "Of course, little tyrant."

"Not because I wanted either of you."

"Naturally," Asterion said.

Their disbelief poured through both bonds.

"Do not ruin your reward."

"We wouldn't dare," Faolan replied.

I had kissed them because victory deserved to be honored. Not because they were my mates or because I had missed the taste of them.

Only because they had won.

But neither of them believed me.