CHAPTER 4

I laid down on the ground until it stopped shaking.  

My mouth still tasted like blood. There was no longer any pain behind my eyes, but there was still a slow throb. This was the wolf inside me. She walked. Take your time. Not moving. Every time Kael Draven's voice came through the walls, she pushed on the lock again. It's not tough enough to break. At least she tried hard enough to let me know she was awake.  

I used the back of my hand to wipe my mouth and listened.  

It was still dark in the storage room, but the outside noise had changed. There was already the first greeting. One voice was going toward the main hall, another toward the kitchens, and a third toward the garden. Two sets of feet walked past the door. They both kept going at the same speed.  

I waited until it looked like the path was clear. Then I got up. My legs were shaking. When I put my ear back to the wood and heard nothing, I slipped out.  

The hall smelt like damp cloaks and wood smoke. I kept my head down and went to the kitchen wing up the back stairs. I wasn't seen if I was useful. That rule kept me alive for years.  

I was almost there when two kitchen maids rounded the corner carrying full bread baskets. They didn't get to see me.  

"You aren't supposed to be in the halls," said the taller of the two. Ronan wants everyone who works for him to be in the kitchen or garden. "No one is free to walk around."  

"I was putting things away," I said.  

She looked at my face with her eyes. "Why, you look very pale." "Are you feeling bad?"  

"No."  

The little girl leaned in close. Her voice didn't sound like she was scared of Ronan. "Heard that?" It's really him. Kael Draven. He's in the main hall. ""He brought twenty warriors, but it still looks like he doesn't need them," some say.  

I kept up a poker face. "I heard horns."  

"That's not the only thing." She turned around and looked at herself. They say he's not just here to form an alliance. My cousin was almost at the gate. A man from Blackridge was talking, he heard. They said Alpha Draven asked about the old Voss stock before he even got on the horse. In particular.”  

The wolf in me calmed down.  

I worked hard to keep my voice even. "It doesn't mean anything."  

The bigger girl said, "It means everything." People said he and Ronan looked like men who had taken in a lot of stone. He has already sent three people to tell you. "Something's not right."  

They were on me in an instant, before I could answer. Their words stayed in the air like smoke after they were gone.  

Voss's old blood.  

My family tree.  

I turned my back on the kitchen, but my feet took me toward the main hall instead. When I told myself that, I put clean tablecloths down. That was a good reason. A good reason. The wolf didn't care about why. She did nothing but listen and lean forward.  

The main hall doors were only half open. The warm light spilt into the hall. I leaned against a tall column and looked through the crack.  

Ronan stood next to the big table and smiled way too big. Both of his shoulders were stiff. Even our toughest warriors failed to look calm around him. There was a man I had never seen in the middle of all that.  

High. Black hair that is wide and short. He didn't have a fancy cape; his clothes were just dark and looked like they were worn in battle. He wasn't happy. His weight didn't change. He did nothing and let the room swirl around him. It was like nothing could bother him.  

Kael Draven.  

From where the door was, I could feel his weight. The wolf inside me braced itself against its cage even more. There was a low rumble in my mind. This time there was no growl. A bell-like sound.  

I held on to the column until my fingers hurt.  

Ronan had a word. "just a trade route deal, nothing else." Our packs don't fight. "I'm positive we can agree before it gets dark."  

I heard the same cold calmness in Kael's voice as I did through the storage door. "Let's talk about terms when I'm ready." I want to see how you run this place first.  

Ronan's smile broke for a split second. Of course. "Whatever you need—  

"I'd like to walk around the whole grounds." How to train in certain areas. The posts at the border.And the places where the servants lived.  

Two of our warriors looked at each other.  

Ronan laughed, but it was too loud. "Quarters for servants?"Alpha, nothing to waste your time on.  

"I'll pick what to do with my time."  

The wolf charged. Behind my eyes, the pain came back. I stopped moving and bit the inside of my cheek.  

He was talking to one of Kael's men, but I couldn't hear what they said. Kael listened and then gave a quick nod. The way he looked down the hall made it look like he was counting heads. As soon as the door opened, it went over it. Along the Pillar on me.  

For a moment, I stopped breathing.  

His eyes were the colour of silver. Not a soft grey like mine. Silver that is bright and sharp, like a blade in the moonlight. They kept going after me. They went on. But the wolf inside me slammed against the lock so hard that I couldn't make a sound.  

Ronan kept talking and offered food, drink, and a place to rest. Kael's answers were short and didn't say anything new. It looked like everyone in the hall was holding their breath.  

I told myself to take a step back. (I couldn't use the clean-cloth excuse if someone saw me staring.) I quickly turned around and walked to the laundry rooms.  

On the way, Mira came out of a side passage and grabbed my arm. Her hands were as cold as ice.She said in a whisper, "You have to hear this." "Now."  

She led me to a side room that was empty and shut the door. She had big, open eyes.  

Some say Kael Draven wasn't after the trade routes. Someone from his army was drinking near the kitchens. He told our cook that Blackridge had been watching this pack for months. "Something about a wolf in a lock and a bloodline that's gone."  

It hurt my stomach.  

The voice of Mira went down. "I know Ronan." That's why he looked sick when the name was first called. For weeks, he's been setting letters on fire in his room. "I saw the ashes."  

I looked at her. "Why do you tell me?"  

He also said that Alpha Draven had asked if the younger Voss sister was still alive. She took a hard piece of food in. "Your name is Elara." Not the maid. Name  

There looked like a tilt in the floor under my feet.  

Outside of the small room, someone told the servants to queue up in the garden. Ronan gave the orders. He wanted to show that he was in charge of everything that lived on his land. The same here.  

She gave me one hard squeeze on the arm. Things began. It began whatever is going on. "Be careful."  

She ran away.  

I tried to calm my breathing while I was by myself in the small room. The wolf was no longer walking back and forth. She was on her knees. Leave. The man with the silver eyes who had called my name had her full attention.  

Someone else's feet stopped outside the door for a moment. Heavy. Checked. Ronan's not it.  

I did not move at all.  

Along with the footsteps, I heard a low, cold voice that was close enough to touch my skin.  

Kael Draven told them to "find the girl." I need to see her.