NOLA“However damning your statement was Nola of the wolf Village, I do not think you would have had it in you to kill the Lycan King.” The orange-haired coyote harrumphed, the muscle ticking under her eye vanishing as she stood over me.”I do not believe you have enough brain cells for that Nola, and I said so myself too at the hearing, but Merida wouldn't hear the end of it! Convinced herself it's you the one,” Edna needled, appearing lost in thought for a moment as she scratched at the ruddy square of her jaw, before her pebble-like, settled on me again.“Ugh!” I groaned, pressing my hand to my chest, feeling the thump of my heart heat up the spaces between my ribs as stars broke in my vision again, before the maid servant’s sneering face came into view.Think Farthing child think!The council was quick to respond when Kalden and I made it through the gates, if I didn't know better I'd have thought they were waiting for us! So why didn't they send search teams out to get the King?

HECTOR BAYES“What is it, that I could help you with? Good Sir?” The blue-turbaned trader whispered throatily, the watery film of his eyes fastened on the sapphire studded rings on my fingers that had the defined glitter to them that the dozen on his clawed stubs couldn't quite manage.The trader in the mountain mid-City did not have that many teeth in his head, and I hesitated a moment, before placing my hand gingerly on one of the many heaps of colorfully quilted veils, watching the sparse line of his eyebrows tighten when he realized I was going for the dark-colored silk that had been hidden behind the pile.“T-that’s not for sale y-your highness.” The trader coughed on instinct before his eyes widened with realization and he dropped a hasty bow, the bony shafts of his hand knocking and creaking awkwardly as he hastily slid out the fabric to hand over to me.“Happy we could come to an understanding Monsieur,” I whispered airily, my cheeks lifting with a polite smile as I watched hi

NOLAThe pounding of knuckles on the door to my chamber where I'd been locked in with the Lycan’s best friend sounded almost as though it were coming from inside my head as I locked eyes with the accident man.“Should we answer it?” I croaked quietly, watching the staccato wave of shadows from the stone hearth of the fore place play across his gaunt face before he shook his head slowly.We waited what felt like minutes, but was probably all but five seconds and the knocking had not reminisced, even seeming to me, to increase the longer the knocker stood out there.Had Kalden locked the door behind him when he’d come in? My heart beat wildly in my chest when I realized I couldn't remember, the noises overwhelming me so that I shot my hands to my temples dramatically, before Kalden’s gravelly baritone broke through the beatdown.“Who’s there?” The blonde-haired man rasped, and I noticed that the roots of his hair had grown out. The golden, sunburnt mane was now interloped with black.Th

HECTOR BAYES”What is this that you have done Kalden?” I whispered hoarsely, watching as the man’s jaw ticked and the line of his lips scrunched up as though he was holding himself back from speaking.My best friend was nursing a soul tie with my mate! The notion was impossible, I could scarcely believe what the village man had said, were it not for the way the imp was clinging to him, as though I were the problem.Like she was scared of ME!I swallowed strenuously, biting down on the bile that rose in my throat as the rage spurning inside me threatened to escape.‘Stay calm Hector, not like this.’ I pleaded inwardly before the maiden spoke up again and I looked down to see that she had snatched up the trench coat, and was now wearing it.“Please Hec-I- I mean, your highness, He didn't know okay? Kalden was damn near passed away beside me!” Nola begged, tilting her head to meet the hard squint of my eyes briefly before she snapped her gaze away, the reddish tint still visible on her c

Chapter 90Hector BayesSix words, it was all I needed to hear, all it had taken for the mountain city people to shudder a deep exhale and for the knots in my shoulders to fizzle out.The clatter of the sword that had been in my hand hitting the floor hadn’t registered in my head until after the metallic clang resounded in the space.I cupped the woman’s cheeks gently in my hands, the breath of her promise hanging between us, stretching and growing until it was almost solid. Like a leash around her neck and waist that bound her to me.“I accept your pledge, Nola of the mountain city,” I whispered, watching the way her eyes grew large and darted vulnerably around mine as I leaned in, before catching her lips in mine.The crowd of werewolves gasped around us when I felt her rise on her tiptoes to push her small tongue into mine and I moaned warily, feeling my wolf slam into the cages I'd erected inside me as the heat of her body pressed flush into mine sent a sharp hardening to my shaf