Spencer's POVNow that we know how we want to move forward, things are quick to fall into place. The centurion who gave us the tip has fallen out of sight completely–I’m assuming that by now he’s getting the medical treatment he needs. I’ve mind linked all the surviving centurions to bring their search parties back to the barracks, too, and now I’m just watching the last remaining warriors trickle back into our camp. The plan is simple. We aim to strike first, and to strike with such overwhelming brute force that no matter his schemes, Elder Jet will be left completely and utterly unable to recover. “If we move through the woods along here, I think we can follow the natural curve of the river without detection,” Gamma Everly says slowly. She traces her fingers along the map and shows me her outlined path. “There’s enough space for all of us to move around the region relatively freely, but the topography will make it harder to corner us. We could use their camp location to our advan
Spencer's POVAs I lead my warriors boldly into the night, I feel more determined than I’ve ever felt before. I'm well accustomed to hatred. To loathing. To the sort of burning fury that aches like hot coals in the pit of my stomach, a relentless pain that consumes my every waking thought. Such anger is not unfamiliar to me. But the sheer volume of it I’m experiencing now, knowing that Elder Jet is out there somewhere holding Ivy hostage and hoping to topple the entire Lycian Kingdom in one fell swoop…A quick death would be too kind a fate for Elder Jet. I want to pick him apart slowly and excruciatingly. I want to feel his blood between my fingers and to hear every scream of agony. I want to invent new depths of suffering just for him. “Be ready, soldiers!” I say, keeping my voice hushed as I look back at my army. Gamma Everly and I are leading the troops onward. We move silently and swiftly, scanning the trees for any signs of threat. The trees are tall, branches stretching upw
Spencer's POV“Don’t trust him!”The words burst out of Alpha Leo’s mouth in a jumbled rush as he comes to a stop in front of Gamma Everly and I. He doubles over in exhaustion, hands resting on his knees. His breath comes in ragged, wheezing gasps, clearly plagued by trauma to his lungs. I can still see him suffering from the remnants of his injuries from earlier today—no doubt they’ve slowed him down considerably. I raise an eyebrow, studying Alpha Leo intently. “Don’t trust who?” I ask. “The—the centurion!” He gasps out. There’s a faint wheeze tugging at the edge of Alpha Leo’s breath. He stands up slowly, spine popping. “The man who… who told you to come here—he’s not who he said he is.”I breathe out a slow sigh. As much as I’d hoped Alpha Leo would have more positive news to bring, Alpha Leo’s words are only confirming what I’ve previously assumed, much to my disappointment. “How do you know this?” I ask. “I saw him emerge from the edge of the woods while I was at the watchto
Spencer's POV“We need to return to the palace!” My thunderous command tears through the ranks of soldiers, and in mere instants, the entire army has begun marching all the way back in the direction of the palace. Gamma Everly and Alpha Leo bring up the head, but I linger near the back, frantically getting in touch with Wilson. ‘Are you at the palace?’ I ask him. His response is quick. ‘Sylvia and I are stationed at the front doors, Your Highness. We’ve also got all the guards ready to defend the palace as soon as it’s necessary.’‘Well done, Wilson,’ I say. ‘I’ve got another task at hand for you, though. The rogue werewolves have just attempted to lead the entire Lycan Army out into the middle of the woods–likely to leave the barracks, and thus an entrance to the palace, undefended. Fortunately we’ve still got reserve soldiers stationed there. I need you to head to the barracks, investigate the scene, and mobilize the reserve soldiers as needed. Can you do that?’ ‘Of course, Prin
Spencer's POV“Keep this to yourselves.” The words spring from my mouth like a gunshot as I look between all the warriors who’d followed me into this small segment of the woods. I fix each of them with a harsh, steely glare, sharp as a knife, until they all nod once. At this point, I have no idea who I can trust. It seems as though virtually everyone I’ve encountered by now has let me down. But the trembling of the three warriors is enough for me to believe that they won’t be able to do anything too bad for the time being. Before any of the warriors can question my order or ask any questions, I quickly turn on my heal and make my way out of the clearing without sparing the bodies so much as a second glance. This area isn’t important–I can tell by the blood tracks on the ground that the bodies were dragged here. This wasn’t where the warriors were slaughtered. I’m a bit worried by how easily they seem to have been slaughtered–the depths of their wounds points to quick, brutal kills
Spencer's POVJust as Gamma Everly are about to return to the troops to lead them onward, Wilson’s voice crackles through my mind. I freeze in place as his words echo through my head, an almost imperceptible tinge of panic to them. ‘Prince Spencer, Elder Jet’s forces are heading towards the barracks,’ Wilson warns. ‘They’re advancing rapidly. We’ve got the reserve forces stationed here, but he…’ For the first time in my life, I can hear a tremor in Wilson’s voice. ‘He’s bringing his entire army, and it’s massive.’ ‘We’ll be back soon, Wilson,’ I assure him quickly. ‘How far away is Elder Jet and the rest of them?’ ‘They’re still only visible from the watchtower, but I think they’ll be in our line of sight soon,’ Wilson replies. ‘We’re willing to do whatever it takes to defend the palace, but what if…’ ‘What if it’s not enough?’ ‘Exactly,’ Wilson says softly. I grab Gamma Everly’s arm. “We need to go back to the barracks now,” I hiss at her quietly. “Get everyone moving, but don’
Spencer's POVAs the entire Lycan Army begins to tiptoe through the forest, I’m convinced that almost every warrior among us is a spy. It’s not a rational series of fears, I know. But after everything that’s happened, it’s hard to abandon them. Every misstep a soldier makes, every stepped-upon branch or heavy-footed tread on dead leaves, every clank of armour upon armour–with every sound, I’m certain beyond logic that it’s just another attempt to clue our enemies into our location. ‘We’re almost back at the barracks,’ Gamma Everly tells me over the mind link, giving me a furtive glance. I raise an eyebrow and examine our surroundings. True to her word, she’s done an excellent job of taking us around the woods in a way that we normally wouldn’t go, so that any of the traitors in our midst wouldn’t be able to determine our final location. As I look over the treeline, however, I begin to recognize familiar dips and ridges, and a faint flickering torchlight just beyond our view. There
Spencer's POV“Attack from behind!” My command ripples sharply through my troops. Before Elder jet’s forces even get the chance to pull away from the reserve forces and focus their attention where it’s really needed, The rest of the world slips away as I launch myself into the mass of rebel werewolves. My claws slash wildly, finding purchase in every direction. The thick smell of blood is quick to overtake the air as the battle begins in full force. Of course, as I push through the battlefield, I’m trying to take out as many of the rogue werewolves as possible. But beneath it all, there’s a single goal raging in my heart like a wildfire. I have to find Ivy. I don’t know what the odds are that Elder Jet or anyone else would have brought her here. But for all my trying, I can’t sense her. I can’t mind link her. Our mate bond, which was only ever strengthened by the Blood Oath Ceremony, has been guiding me on like a lighthouse ever since I met Ivy. To have it dimmed so suddenly has
Spencer’s POVAs my claws tear through the ice-cold flesh of the witch’s body, a bloodcurdling scream suddenly pierces the air. With a fierce cry, the witch tries to wrench herself from my grasp, but she only succeeds in dragging her body along my claws, worsening her own injuries. Blood splatters on the ground and onto my paws. It doesn’t feel like blood normally does, though–it’s cold like freshwater and feels oddly slick, almost oily. I pull my lips back over my teeth and growl viciously, searching for the witch’s neck in this darkness. “You beast!” The witch wails like a banshee. I can see her eyes glinting reflectively like a cat’s in the darkness. As we hit the ground, one of her antlers breaks and falls off. “Do you have any idea how powerful I am? You don’t have the faintest whisper of a chance against me, you brute–” I curl my claws inward, deepening the wounds further, and the witch lets out another ragged scream. Suddenly, the darkness in the room all seems to slither t
Spencer’s POV“Run!” My warning to Alpha Fierro echoes through the darkened office seemingly unheard. As the shadows continue to creep around my field of vision, obscuring everything from view, my heart thuds in my chest. Never before had I been scared of an enemy until encountering the witch. I shift fluidly into my wolf form, powerful arms and legs rippling with muscles, fangs and teeth sharp as daggers. My growl is a low, warning rumble in the base of my throat. Despite my heightened sentences as I continue to peer ahead, ears trained to detect the slightest sense of movement, I still have no idea where the witch is. “Reveal yourself, coward!” I shout, my voice echoing through the room. “You betray your honour by slinking around in the shadows.” The witch’s laugh, low and melodious, fills the air. There’s a haunting coldness to it. “Honour is a werewolf construct,” she says. “And it’s so unlike a proud, foolish warrior to consider it a cowardly action to win a battle with intel
Ivy’s POVThe longer I stay in the hospital bed, the more I can feel myself beginning to crumble. The pain is ceaseless in its intensity, great waves of agony that crash over me without letting up for even a second. I can’t scream, can’t cry, can’t move. I’ve given up on trying to call in any of the nurses when the flareups get too bad–all they’ll do is look at me sadly, scared of doing anything to make me worse, scared of simply standing by and watching the queen die. There’s an IV flowing an endless stream of pain medication into my veins, which is helping somewhat, but it’s not enough. All I can do is feel this. Until it kills me, I suppose. I have no idea where Spencer is–after he rushed out of my room unexpectedly like that, he never came back. I’ve heard some whispers floating around the hospital about a great escapade, about the looming creep of a plague sweeping through the kingdom. If it really is a plague, I hope more than anything that Tala didn’t catch it from me. If
Spencer’s POV“Alpha Fierro, I need you to focus up.” The words are harsh as they leave my mouth, but I’m not trying to be malicious, although it’s true that things desperately need to get moving. The longer I spend in the Sunclash pack, the more on edge I feel. Every wall in sight feels like it’s closing in on me, and I can feel the sickness permeating the air. There’s a heaviness to this place now, an endless sense of dread. I have a feeling that this ground will carry the weight of all its deaths for a long, long time. “Scour the office for anything that seems out of place,” I say. “If your Beta was in charge of the pack in your absence, it’s likely that he was the one putting any preventative measures into place. He may have tried to find a cure–hopefully there are signs somewhere around here.” I look down at the man’s corpse, the papers clutched in his fist and the expression of profound horror on his face. “I read his reports. He seems to have been a confident, driven man. I’
Spencer’s POV‘I think a considerable number of people managed to leave, contaminated or not.’ The longer Beta Wilson’s words echo through my mind, the more I begin to realize the scale of the potential disaster we might have on our hands. Where would any contaminated werewolves go? To the surrounding packs, most likely, and from there, the plague could spread from pack to pack to pack endlessly, ultimately becoming a worldwide pandemic…I whirl around to look at Alpha Fierro. “What was your relationship with other packs like?” I ask him urgently. “If any of your pack members were to turn up there looking for help, would they receive it?” “Probably, yeah,” Alpha Fierro says. “We tended to keep things as peaceful as possible. Unless there was very clearly something wrong going on, no one would have any reason to turn any of our members away.” I curse silently under my breath. “Keep heading towards the pack house,” I tell Alpha Fierro, already starting to walk away from him and back
Spencer’s POVMost of my skin has already been covered by my day clothes, but in the few places I’m not, I can feel the hazmat suit’s crinkly plastic resting against me uncomfortably. I shudder as the plastic continues to shift. It clings uncomfortably to my skin and is far from stealthy, causing a loud rumpling sound to ring out with every step. I’d hoped that we could carry out this surveillance with at least the slightest bit of stealth and decorum, but as the entire haphazard team of us begins to make our way into the Sunclash pack, it becomes more and more evident that that’s just not going to happen. Through the suit’s bulbous plastic dome, I make eye contact with Doctor Danbury, clearly far from amused. She purses her lips, and I can see my own frustration mirrored on her face as we continue to lug equipment around. “I know,” she says, coming up to walk beside me. “Believe me, I hate the suits too. Easily one of my least favourite parts of this job. But whatever wiped this p
Spencer’s POVAs we all sit in the back of a sleek, high-speed limo, I can’t help but feel thick tendrils of dread curling throughout my stomach. Every second I spend away from Ivy feels like I could be missing her final moments, and the fear over what could happen to her is making me sick. “The hazmat suits will be uncomfortable,” Doctor Danbury warns, holding up a hideous yellow baggy bodysuit. The plastic crinkles under her touch. “And the tanks on the back are going to poke weirdly. It’s no fun to wear, I know. But we still don’t quite know the extent of the toxicity of the environment we’re about to enter, so right now, safety is of the utmost importance. It’s possible that we’ll be able to take the suits off once I’ve run a couple tests and deemed the area safe, but I have no idea yet.” “Whatever it is, it seems to be highly contagious,” Alpha Fierro says somberly. Doctor Danbury nods. “The last thing we want to do is bring an uncontained plague back to the Lycan Kingdom, so
Spencer’s POVJust as Beta Wilson and Alpha Fierro make their way out of my office, I see Alpha Leo slip through the doorway. He looks much better than he did the last time I saw him–there are still the occasional cuts and bruises marring his skin, a couple ridged scars in the process of forming, but Alpha Leo seems to be walking without much pain. His posture is straight and his gaze is keen. He looks at me tentatively as he approaches my desk, and I can tell he’s just the slightest bit on edge. “Your Highness,” he says uncertainly. “Alpha Leo,” I reply. “Um, what can I do for you?” Alpha Leo asks nervously. I shuffle a stack of papers on the desk together. “As I’m sure you know, we’ve suffered considerable gaps in our staff,” I begin. “Specifically in our military and guard positions. One of the most notable absences is Captain McAndrews, as I’m sure you remember quite well.” Alpha Leo blanches. “Right,” he mutters. “The work you did during Elder Jet’s invasion was exceptiona
Spencer’s POV“The Lycan Kingdom will come to your aid at once.” Clearly, the ease with which I offer my support comes as something of a shock to Alpha Fierro. His eyes widen, and his face breaks into an expression of gratitude. His posture already seems straighter, like a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders. “Really?” Alpha Fierro breathes out. “Thank you, Your Majesty. Truly, I’d nearly given up hope on receiving any sort of aid at all–I’d almost started believing the rumours…” My eyes narrow. “The rumours?” I repeat coldly.” Alpha Fierro blanches. “Well, I–of course, I never really believed them. But I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your vast reach of influence that some werewolves have been saying things about the Lycan Royal Family that have been rather… out of line. Ever since Elder Jet and his rebellion, things have been different. But I–that’s not important! What I’m trying to say to you right now is thank you, Your Majesty. From the bottom of my heart.” I remain si