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 we enter what will hopefully be the final stretches of combat, my search for Ivy only becomes more desperate. There are only so many places to look–all the buildings in the barracks have been thoroughly sealed off, and I trust Wilson to have inspected each and every one of them carefully. If Ivy was stashed away in any of them, Wilson would have found her by now. The watchtower, as far as I know, is still under our influence. All that’s left now is the training area, the wide grassy sprawl with bleachers all around the perimeter. It’s a flat, open expanse, and by now I think I’ve searched the whole thing over at least three times. Still, I continue to walk around restlessly, I’m scanning eagerly for Ivy with every step. Now that the stress of the battle has simmered to a background concern, she’s consumed me once again. I need her. Like oxygen, like food, like water.She’s a fundamental and visceral need. But as I’m once again looking over the grassy expanse, the
Spencer's POV“Elder Jet!”My roar cuts across the battlefield like a hurricane. I don’t even realize that I’m doing it, but my Lycan Aura rolls off of me in droves, sending every single werewolf except for Elder Jet to their knees. I narrow my eyes at him. Elder Jet remains standing, smiling smugly. A ripple of unease shoots through me. He should be on his knees by now, unable to resist the power of my Lycan Aura, but it doesn’t seem to be working on him. I set my jaw and march towards him. There’s iron in my posture and ice in my veins. I don’t care what sort of blasphemous witch’s magic Elder Jet is using to fortify him—the rest of his forces are now out of commission, and in a fight between him and I, I’d be the obvious winner. “Where’s Ivy?” I snarl at Elder Jet. Elder Jet lets out a wicked chuckle. “Oh, she’s not far,” he replies. “But if you want to see her alive ever again, you’ll kindly refrain from killing me.”The anger washes over me in a sudden, white-hot burst. It ta
Spencer's POV“You’re the traitor, Elder Jet.” Alpha Leo is staring Elder Jet down with a vicious, furious glare. There’s betrayal in his eyes, too, and I realize just how painful this must be for him. I remember what I know about him. That his father died when he was quite young. That Elder Jet took him in, stepped up. Elder Jet became his father, in a sense. Alpha Leo has quite possibly been more poisoned than anyone else. And he was able to break out of it. It must feel like the world is crashing down around him. I can’t sympathize, but it’s always good to pay attention to the emotional state of those closest to me. To cue into their patterns and behaviours. To be able to tell if they’re going to snap. Alpha Leo curls his hands into tight fists as his gaze remains locked on Elder Jet like a fuse. His mouth opens and closes several times, and just as I’m about to step in and pull him away from Elder Jet myself, he finally begins to speak. “I recognize quite a lot of you,” Al
Spencer's POV“You don’t have any ground to stand on, Your Highness.”Elder Jet spits out the words Your Highness, sneering as they pass his lips. He looks around at his forces, the assembled rebel werewolves, and seems proud of the group he’s created. I look around at them, too. What I see makes my heart sink. None of the rebels look particularly convinced by anything Alpha Leo is saying. In fact, as his words wash over him, their expressions contort and twist into anger. I can see it on their faces—they no longer think he’s one of them. They’ve seen him switch sides, and rather than follow in his footsteps, they're prepared to resent him for it. ‘Stand down,’ I tell Alpha Leo. ‘I’ll handle it from here.’‘They’ll be killed!’ Alpha Leo protests. He doesn’t look at me, but I can see the pain in his eyes. I feel for him. They’re his people, and he’s the one who sent them into Elder Jet’s arms. Alpha Leo let them get led astray, and now they’ll have to pay for it with their lives. I
Ivy's POVWhen I see Elder Jet rise up behind Spencer, claws poised for a deadly attack, it feels as though the entire world freezes. My breaths, already crackling and ragged and drenched with blood in my failing lungs, seem to stop. I’m aware of my heartbeat as a dull pulsing in my eardrums, but it suddenly slows, a distant ringing in the back of my mind. The pain wracking my body for all of its fiery hot intensity seems to shrink itself down into a tiny parcel. All at once, Spencer is the singular focus of my world. I can feel the panic surging through me. What do I do? What can I do? I can’t say anything—if I opened my mouth, blood would pour out in thick rivulets, and I feel like I’ve swallowed a great many shards of broken glass. My vocal chords are damn near torn. I know I’d just rasp, a gasping sound that would only intensify the weight of Spencer’s focus on me, and Elder Jet’s attack would land true. ‘Think,’ Venetia says softly in my mind, a gentle urge. ‘This is it, Ivy.
Ivy's POVI think I can feel my last breaths rattling in my chest. I don’t know how much longer I have left at all. I thought I’d be long gone by this point, if we’re being really honest. I feel like I’m mostly gone—my vision has gone completely, since I no longer have the energy to keep my eyes open, and I can barely breathe at all. My heartbeat feels like it could stop any moment. I’m aware of the pain wracking my body, that red-hot agony tearing me apart. It sizzles and simmers on my skin. It feels like it’s tearing me apart. But at the same time, I can’t feel anything at all. I know there are things I should be feeling. Grass beneath my body, maybe. The blood that’s seeped into the soil. The grime and metal residue on my skin from having been locked in that cage. I can picture all of these things, in a vague, spun-out way. I can remember what they'd be like. I can simulate the feeling. It’s not the same as actually experiencing it, though. ‘Please, Ivy, try to hold on,’ Venet
Spencer's POVI can feel Elder Jet watching me as the life slowly ebbs from my body, and I want to tear his eyes out. He’s smirking down at me, lips curled into a sickening grin. I grit my teeth as I look up at him. I think I could stand up if I wanted to, maybe land a couple weak blows, maybe draw a bit of blood, but what’s the point? I’d rather save my energy for when I know I’d at least have a fighting chance at getting something done. “Your army is failing,” Elder Jet says to me, crouching down by my side. “Or rather—you failed them, didn’t you? Because you weren’t strong enough, weren’t smart enough, weren’t able to do what needed to be done. I suppose losing Ivy rattled you even more than I would have anticipated, hm?” He chuckles, a bitter, rasping sound. “You can’t even begin to imagine how glorious it feels to get everything you ever wanted so perfectly laid out for you.”I’m still trying to reach out to my centurions, hoping to rally them and their troops to battle. But ag
Spencer's POVElder Jet’s cold laugh chills me to the bone. “My, my, Prince Spencer,” he says smugly. I can see him towering over me, can feel the droplets of my own blood pooling into the ground below me as the silver mist works its way into my skin. “I thought you’d at least be able to put up a better fight than that!” “A prince’s pride is often his own undoing,” comes the witch’s voice, prompting another wave of revulsion to come over me. “So I can’t say I’m particularly surprised.” I let out a ragged cough, droplets of blood splattering out this time. That can’t be good. My chest burns as small drops of silver continue to worm through my skin, and the sizzle of my flesh on fire combined with the iron tang in the back of my throat makes me want to puke. I want to speak, want to form words, but it feels like my vocal chords have been severed and drenched in lighter fluid. Reinforcements. We need reinforcements. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Gamma Everly, Alpha Leo, and
Spencer's POV“I really did try to warn you.” The witch’s words are nonchalant, spoken with a sigh as she tucks the silver spray back into one of the pockets of her dress. She watches Gamma Everly, Alpha Leo, and Wilson carefully as the silver spray begins to take effect. A shiver of revulsion runs through me as I realize what’s happening. Their pained, piercing screams fill the air as they all swat at their skin frantically, as though they’re being stung by a swarm of bees. Those little droplets of silver mist, innocuous and beautiful as they seem, appear to be burrowing into everyone’s skin. I can see little pinpricks of blood running down every inch of exposed flesh–even Gamma Everly, who’s encased almost head to toe in her heavy red armour, has blood on her face as she tries desperately to rub the spray off her face. The smell of overcooked meat fills the air, and my stomach turns. Small wisps of smoke are rising up from the site of everyone’s exposure. Gamma Everly, Alpha Leo,
Spencer's POV“Step away from them!” Gamma Everly’s voice is strong as she levels her sword at the witch’s chest. Even in the pale moonlight, her red armour seems to glow, almost illuminating her in a crimson halo. The blade’s edge is wicked sharp, and even just looking at it makes my skin feel a twinge of sympathetic pain. Her eyes are cruel and hard as diamonds as they bore right through the witch’s skull. But the witch only lets out a calm, melodic laugh as she trails her fingers along the sides of the small silver bottle she’s just procured. Alpha Leo and Wilson exchange concerned looks as they stand behind Gamma Everly, prepared to back her up the moment she needs it. “Gamma Everly, please don’t be so foolish,” the witch says with a sneer. “And tell those men to stand down, too. Ivy and Spencer are dying. There’s nothing you can do to save them. I can take you down in an instant if I want to, but I figure I should do you the courtesy of sparing you that pain now.” “Not a chan
“I love you.”Ivy’s final words to me ring in my ears like gunshots. I hold her close, I kiss her forehead softly, I do everything I can think to do because I can feel her slipping away. Her body is so small in my arms, so frail, and I can tell I’m losing her, and then–Ivy’s strange, dreamed-up world flickers in and out of view, alternating between the woods and the battlefield outside of the barracks. All at once, she’s not in my arms. I don’t know where she is, but I’m lying on bloodstained grass and I can hear the fighting all around me and my throat feels like it’s on fire. I’m awake now. This isn’t a dream. It hits me all at once, the crushing weight of realization–if we’re not inside Ivy’s mind anymore, if we’re not intertwined in that beautiful place where we could avoid the rest of the world, that must mean Ivy wasn’t able to sustain the connection for any longer than she did. And considering the poison she’d swallowed, considering the undeniable consequence of that…She’s
Ivy's POVIt takes me a good couple of moments to realize I’m not dead. Death, I’d always imagined, would be cold. Distant. Disconnected–and that’s only if I’m aware of anything at all. But as my eyes slowly open and I continue to hear the overwhelming cacophony of war all around me, it slowly dawns on me that I’m not, in fact, dead. The pain hits me a couple moments later. In my mind, it had been a nagging sort of reminder. But all at once, my throat is burning like it’s been doused with acid once more, and blood keeps dribbling down my lips. The overpowering iron taste is enough to make me want to throw up, but I do my best to hold it back. The feeling of bile against my already-shredded throat would no doubt push my already-excruciating agony to new, unimaginable heights. I’m trembling from head to toe. My entire body feels weak and limb, barely within my control. It’s hard to feel much of anything beyond the pain, really. How am I alive? I should be dead. ‘Hang in there, Ivy
Ivy's POV“Loving you is the best thing I ever did.” Spencer’s hands in mine are soft and warm and reassuring. He feels like coming home. Like relaxing. Like finally letting myself feel peace. I look at him, and my heart flutters. He’s going to be the last thing I ever see, and I couldn’t have chosen a better view. “Thank you for telling me,” I say to Spencer. It feels as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but for so long, I’ve been clinging to the notion that Spencer left me because he wanted to. Because he could. “I wanted to tell you sooner,” Spencer admits. “There were so many times… but then there would be people around, or Delilah would interrupt me, or–did you know she told me she’d explain the whole situation to you herself, so no one would be suspicious and think the engagement was false? That was her entire reason for me to keep it a secret! All so the rest of the world would believe that Delilah was my mate, not you.” I