Chapter Three

Daron’s POV

“My Lord, earlier in the cell I overheard you call that Red Moon pack young master ‘woman.’ Is she a girl?”

Tan, my head warrior and closest friend, stood in my war tent with his arms crossed. I was sitting on a low stool, fiddling with a small dagger in my hand, turning it over and over.

The tent smelled like leather and smoke. Outside I could hear my warriors packing up the camp.

“Yes,” I replied, not looking up.

“What?” he said, shocked. “The Red Moon pack now allows women to lead a caravan?”

“How am I supposed to know about that, Tan?” I said, finally looking at him. “Just tell me what you found out.”

He cleared his throat. “We found traces of the Silver Moon pack near the border. Fresh horse tracks, broken branches. I think they were laying in ambush for the Red Moon pack, not knowing we were also coming.”

I stopped turning the dagger. “Hmmn. It’s time to deal with them when I get back to the Moonlit pack,” I said. “Also, we need to get the name of the person who designs all the Red Moon pack weapons.”

Tan frowned. “Do you think she will talk?”

“She will,” I said coldly. “When we get back to the pack, I will personally interrogate her myself in the Tiger dungeon. She’s the only one who can reveal the identity of the weapon maker.”

I gripped the dagger tighter. “Once I get that information and find out who made the sword that killed my parents, both her and the entire Red Moon pack will die by my sword.”

My wolf growled low in my chest at the memory. I could still smell my mother’s blood from that night Ten years ago.

Tan nodded. “I am sure she can’t even withstand your torture for a whole day before she begins to spill.”

Just then the tent flap burst open. The wolf doctor ran in, panting, his medical bag bouncing against his leg.

“My Lord. My Lord,” he gasped.

“What is it?” Tan asked, stepping forward.

“The Red Moon young master has escaped,” he said, catching his breath.

I stood up so fast my stool fell over. “What? How?”

“She requested water when I finished treating her injury,” he said, scratching his head nervously. “When I came back with the cup, she was gone.”

Rage surged through me. I pushed past him out of the tent. “Tan, follow me with some guards,” I shouted, swinging onto my black warhorse. I kicked its sides and raced toward the edge of camp, following her scent.

I knew she couldn’t have escaped far. The only path away from the camp led straight to the fast river bordering the Death Desert, and beyond that, nothing survives. My wolf could smell her blood in the wind, faint but fresh.

We got to the bank of the river in minutes. And just like I predicted, she was standing there at the water’s edge, barefoot, breathing hard, looking helplessly at the wide current.

I didn’t get down from my horse. I pulled out my thorn lash from my saddle and cracked it at her angrily. The whip struck her back. She hissed in pain but did not fall.

Tan jumped down and pointed his sword at her throat. “You should have just stayed patient till the end, but instead you decide to cause us stress. It’s better for you to die.”

Her eyes bulged, then she looked past Tan straight at me. “Daron, you can’t kill me.”

Tan’s head snapped toward me, surprised. “You know his identity?” he said. “You know way too much. I can’t keep you alive.” He raised his sword to kill her.

“Tan, stop!” I ordered. My voice came out as an alpha bark, and Tan froze instantly. “She will die by my hands very soon, just not now.”

I got down from my horse and walked to her. I grabbed her by the throat and squeezed, not enough to kill, just enough to control. She winced in pain and hit at my hand with her fists.

Trying to escape? Huh.

That’s when I saw it. A thin silver chain around her neck, half hidden by her torn tunic. A diamond pendant swung free. On it was a crest, a hammer over a crescent moon. The family totem of the Red Moon pack weapon house.

I ripped the chain from her neck, finally releasing my hand from her throat. She gasped for air.

I held the pendant up and read the totem, then faced her angrily. “You carry the name totem of the Red Moon pack weapon house. Who exactly are you?”

“I am just a maid and nothing else,” she shot back, her voice hoarse.

I smirked. “You expect me to believe that lie? A maid wearing the weapon house diamond pendant? Don’t say much. When you get to my pack I believe you will spill the truth willingly.”

I took her wrist and started dragging her back to my horse. She suddenly pulled back, holding her side where the bandage was. “Wait,” she said, still in pain. “I want to pee and clean my wound. The bandage loosened while I was running.”

I didn’t believe her, but I saw fresh blood staining her tunic. My wolf caught the sharp scent of it and growled annoyingly.

I allowed her to go, with me following three steps behind her toward some rocks by the river.

When we got away from my guards she turned back and glared at me. “Why are you shamelessly following me? Do you want to watch me pee?”

“One more word from you and I promise to drown you in this river,” I said.

She fucking rolled her eyes at me and started pulling at her tunic, like she was going to undress right there. This little wolf was doing it on purpose just to make me leave.

I turned my back and went behind a tree to give her some privacy, but I kept my ears sharp. My wolf was on edge, listening to every breath she took.

After a minute it was too quiet. I turned back to look. She wasn’t there.

I scanned the riverbank until I sighted her running toward the other side of the river, heading straight into the Death Dessert.

My guards were too far behind, and that stupid girl was running straight toward the Death Desert.

I cursed and ran after her, my boots sinking into soft sand as I crossed the river shallows. I caught up to her deep in the dunes where she finally stopped, breathing helplessly, hands on her knees.

She looked up at me, her face pale. “Daron, one more step into that sand in front of you and you sink and die.”

“Really?” I smirked, walking closer. My wolf was furious and also strangely amused by her defiance. “I will be so happy to die with you. But seems you are forgetting something. This desert is also my territory.”

I took another step toward her and her eyes went wide with surprise. I grabbed her by her tunic and pulled her close. “I gave you multiple chances but you keep seeking death. The biggest mistake you made is luring me into this desert.”

In that moment the wind started howling behind us. A low roar grew louder. The sand on the horizon lifted into a wall, swallowing everything in its path and was coming toward us fast with a gush of force. A sandstorm.

She looked at me with pure fear on her face as we both turned to run. The storm was too fast and strong and this little fool made me chase her deep into the desert. There was no way we could make it out before the storm overpowered us.

I made a choice. I grabbed her hand and pulled her into my chest, then threw us both to the ground, hugging her tight and using my body as a shield to cover us from the worst of the biting sand as the storm crashed over us.

In that moment, with her heart hammering against my chest and the storm roaring over us, the only thought that filled my head: I have to keep her alive long enough to get the information I need on who killed my parents before she died, because for some reason my wolf refused to let her go.