Candace‘He’s in,’ Kieran says through the mind-link. ‘Everyone convene in the main dining room in fifteen minutes.’I look up at Ingrid, painting on the other side of her sitting room. She grins at me. I don’t know what comes next from here, and I doubt she does either, but we won’t be trapped in K
The doors swing open. We leap to our feet at varying speeds, like Soren could’ve gotten this deep into the castle without us hearing a peep.Kash strides in, an easy grin on his face. “Sorry I’m late.”“I do not believe you were invited,” King Andri says coldly.So his change of heart has its limits
HollisI stand with my squad at one of the side doors, waiting for the final signal from Father. Pinning Soren’s forces in, making it so their numbers are useless because they can’t get enough of them out to change anything, is the highest priority, so everyone is attacking from different angles. Ca
If I don’t admit I love her, maybe the Goddess won’t think to take her from me like She’s taken damn near everyone else.All together like that, it sounds fucking stupid. Like a kid trying to keep the monsters under the bed from becoming real by saying they’re not there. Like screaming into the wind
CandaceA wolf dives at me out of the screaming, clashing mayhem, its maw drenched in blood. One half of my brain orders a paw to swing. The other shouts, RUN! I manage a hopping scramble that seems more likely to get me killed than anything else.And one of the men Hollis picked to stay at my side
‘Ah,’ she says like she’s finally cracked one of the secrets of the universe. ‘It wasn’t Blanca, was it?’‘Help!’ I yell to Kieran, Taner, and Finn. The rest of our reinforcements aren’t here yet, so they’re my only hopes.‘It was you.’A finger of wind lashes out and flogs my back, like I remember
HollisAll I have to do is behave like I wouldn’t have before I heard about the prophecy. Before that night under the oak tree with Candace, before I knew her shy smile, before all the ups and downs of these weeks.A deep, bassy howl splits the air. Wolves around me twist toward it. Footfalls echo o
A dull brown wolf—a rogue—clobbers one of Soren’s to the ground and uses his paws like fists until the other wolf lies still beneath him.Not even rogues. The animal chaos of unshifting wolves, fighting only for themselves and their pack. I’m not going to be one of them, and I’ll drag all of Snowcre
She groans. “I really think that might count as two parties.”With a laugh, I let them lead me out of my new bedroom in my new home and down to the temple to start the rest of my life. Ingrid, Estrella, and Raven leave to join the crowd, but Eva stays with me. According to Snowcrest tradition, she w
CandaceI drag a comb through my thin hair and stare at myself in the mirror on my vanity. More accurately, the new mirror on my new vanity. Hollis and I had to exchange one more goodbye because I had to return to Dun’s Crossing long enough to pack up my life. Some things weren’t worth the trouble o
I press my mouth to hers, mapping the curve of her smile with my tongue. She laughs up into me, breathless with relief. I trace the fullness of her cheek, the slope of her neck. She nips my lower lip. I climb into the bed with her, careful of her many injuries. Someday, we’ll talk about her mother,
Hollis‘Got some more over here,’ Zain calls through the mind-link.I drag the heavy cart across the red-mottled snow toward my Beta. My muscles burn with exertion, but I’m not stopping until this whole battlefield is clear. I won’t let a wolf suffer longer than they have to.Zain nudges ice off a h
“No!” Nessa shrieks. “I warned you about this, about her. She’s twisting your mind.”Eva laughs in her face. “She’s twisting things?”Nessa darts to Soren’s side and grabs his arm. “We can’t stop. Rowena said there would be hell to pay if—”Hollis gestures sharply with the arm I’m not holding onto.
CandaceMy heart hammers in my throat. Our weapons shine dully in the snow, Hollis’s sword dwarfing my dagger. Eva drags her gaze from them up to our clasped hands. My other arm throbs, a reminder that I don’t think I could fight her off if I wanted to.She adjusts her grasp on her knife to a stabbi
Eva scoffs and smashes the hilt of her knife into my fingers around her arm. “When have we ever had trouble talking to each other?”“Exactly.” My fingers throb as I wrap them around my sword. “That’s why it was so hard.”“Bullshit!” Her voice cracks. “Just tell me. Four little words. I found my mate
HollisAt the same moment as I reach the wide ring of defenders and ranged fighters encircling the heart of the battle, Candace limps to a stop at my side. Blood stains her gray coat in a dozen places, and my heart leaps into my throat. I meet her huge, dark eyes. She melts into a human before me. H
There. The break I need. ‘Gavin wouldn’t let you lead, would he?’The shield flickers for a moment, and I crash through it. Sweet air courses into my lungs. I can’t waste the moment, so I charge at her blindly.‘I kept him as my figurehead,’ she howls. ‘I did not need his permission to act. I needed