Ivy's POV“No!” I scream, rushing towards the fight, but it’s already too late. Princess Sylvia is splayed out helplessly on the ground, looking at the attacking werewolves fearfully as they circle around her fallen body. They lean in and bite at her, then pull away, clearly mocking the princess’s wounded state. Blood continues to pool from the wound on her leg in thick rivulets, and I can see that they’ve managed to bite through her muscle all the way to her bone. The look of pain on Princess Sylvia’s face is excruciating as her leg twitches weakly. I don’t think she’ll be able to stand again. The werewolves who’ve consumed the potions are extraordinarily strong, and Princess Sylvia is already covered in wounds and overexerted from all our running before. I can see the exhaustion etched onto her face. The cards are stacked against her. Like this, she’s no match for them. But even still, she does her best to fight back. “You cowards!” Princess Sylvia snarls, looking between the
Spencer's POVI’m planning my first attack when the surge of anxiety hits me. I let out an involuntary gasp, suddenly grasped by inexplicable panic. My eyes open wide, and I press a hand to my chest, not sure what to do with myself as the flash of worry slowly ebbs away. My heart, which had started racing out of the blue, slowly returns to its usual rhythm. I breathe out a slow sigh as I feel my nerves start to return to their usual steady state. I look around my tent cautiously for any sign of what could have triggered it, but I’m alone here, and if there was an attack outside one of my warriors would have mind-linked me. There’s nothing going on for me to be exceptionally worried about right now. And even if there were, as the powerful Lycan Prince, anxiety isn’t something I typically feel–certainly not in rough sudden flashes like that. Is it related to Ivy somehow? Ever since we performed the Blood Oath Ceremony together, I’ve been able to sense the changes in her mood more a
Spencer's POVAlthough I want to cut my enemy down the moment I see him, I trust Gamma Everly to handle the situation. Or, at least, I trust her enough to hold back for now. I crouch down in my spot in the bushes, completely hidden from view. Despite the distance and the sound of the river burbling, I can still hear the entire conversation thanks to my keen hearing. “–Please, Everly,” I can hear Alpha Jameson saying through the trees. His voice is gentle, pleading, but I don’t believe him for a second. “Ever since I first saw you in those woods, I’ve been utterly captivated by you. You’re my mate, even if you’re the Lycan Royal Family’s Gamma. I know you refused me the first time I asked, but you’re here now, just like I asked you to be, which means you’ve reconsidered. You’re fighting on the losing side of this battle. Join me, and let me make you my Luna.” “You make it sound awfully romantic,” Gamma Everly says flatly, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. “‘Ever since you first saw m
Spencer's POVThe werewolves circle Gamma Everly, ready to pounce on her all at once, but I’m not the slightest bit worried about her getting hurt. Still, I can’t help but frown as the werewolves set up their attack. While I’m not worried about Gamma Everly, the despicable nature of Alpha Jameson has me more disturbed than I’d like to admit. I believe that the mate-bond between Gamma Everly and Alpha Jameson is real–so for him to use it against her like that, in such a wicked way…It hints at his deeply twisted nature. Still, a dozen or so werewolf warriors are no match for Gamma Everly. “I wish I was surprised, Jameson,” Gamma Everly says with a sigh. “But if you think this is all it takes to defeat me, I guess you never really knew me at all.”I watch from the bushes as the warriors charge at Gamma Everly from all directions. Gamma Everly leaps into the air with an uncanny grace, a brilliant streak of cardinal red lighting up the sky as she flips in midair and twists around to es
Spencer's POVNow that they’ve consumed the red potions, Alpha Jameson’s warriors are even stronger than they were before. They all shift simultaneously, and I’m caught off guard by how large their shifted forms are–almost approaching the massive size of Lycans. They charge at Gamma Everly at once, barrelling towards her in an unrelenting mass of fur and claws and slavering fangs. Gamma Everly raises her fists in anticipation of the oncoming attack, but doesn’t shift. Still watching through the bushes, I smirk. Refusing to fight another werewolf in their wolf form is one of the greatest insults to a werewolf’s combat ability, and Alpha Jameson deserves to be thoroughly humiliated before we tear him to pieces. Gamma Everly moves in a blasting red streak, kicking and punching and weaving between the mass of wolf bodies charging towards her, but they’re even tougher opponents now than they were before. Under the relentless onslaught, Gamma Everly seems to waver ever so slightly. Whil
Spencer's POVWith Alpha Jameson gone, it doesn’t take much time to kill the few living werewolves that remain. I wash the blood off my hands in the riverbank, then head down the path Alpha Jameson used to flee. Ahead of me, I can see that Gamma Everly has caught up with him a ways down the riverbank. She moves swiftly down the edge of the water, heels kicking up flurries of dirt as she travels. I don’t know how she’s going to handle her mate-bond with Alpha Jameson, but I trust that she won’t betray the Lycan Royal Family. He offered her everything, and she turned it down. If she wanted to betray us, she would have. I know where her loyalties lie. Alpha Jameson is still running, but Gamma Everly runs up behind him and tackles him around the waist. In an instant, she has him completely pinned, pushing his face down into the dirt. She punches him in the face, and I can hear a rough cracking sound as blood starts to pour freely from his obviously-broken nose. “How could you do this
Ivy's POVThe werewolf attackers don’t seem to be able to move. I pause for a moment, watching them uncertainly, but it seems they heeded my command–when I said stop, they stopped. It’s as if they had no chance but to obey. Why? The question flashed through my mind briefly, but there was no time to ponder it.I walk towards them cautiously, picking past their claws and bloody muzzles as I approach Princess Sylvia–who’s losing blood at a frightening rate. She looks up at me through dazed, glassy eyes as I grab her around the waist and pull her into a bridal-style carry. The werewolves still aren’t moving. The princess’s clothes are sticky and wet with blood, a sensation that makes my skin crawl. Still, I hold onto her as tightly as I can, running quickly into the depths of the forest and. The night feels heavy and ominous as I sprint. The sound of rushing wind and my own desperate breathing fills my ears. I can almost hear my own heartbeat, that dull pulsing and thudding ringing
Ivy's POVSomehow, despite being possibly mortally wounded and bleeding out in the middle of nowhere, Princess Sylvia is able to bring everything back to her relationship issues. I can’t help but roll my eyes at her, grateful that the darkness will prevent her from seeing it clearly. In her words, I feel as though the rude spoiled princess from the palace has returned–the one who had me sent to the Werewolf Council and tried to torture me over a round of etiquette lessons. I don’t actually feel all that frustrated or afraid, though. It’s sort of relieving to catch a glimpse of the Sylvia I’m used to. If she has the energy and the capacity to be feisty, maybe the situation isn’t quite as bad as I thought. Maybe she’s actually got a chance of making it out of here alive“Beta Wilson does care about you,” I reassure Princess Sylvia gently, finding her shoulder through the darkness and squeezing it reassuringly. I think back to the conversation Wilson and I had in the garden. “Even if