Scar froze. There stood the only one wolf she knew who would lead goblins. His golden fur rippled as the powerful muscles beneath worked to carry him closer to Scar. He stared at her with piercing blue eyes, emotionless glaciers that made her shiver inside and out. And in that moment, Scar knew who this man was. Those eyes had haunted her dreams since the first time she'd seen him. Stanley. His wolf body rippled and shifted, the pale blond fur of his pelt falling back into his skin. Moments later, once his bones were finished snapping into place, Stanley stood tall and regal above Scar, those cold, hard eyes of his staring down at her from an impossible height. "You thought you could run from me, did you?" he said, his voice flat. "You're a fool who knows nothing about goblin magic. Running was always going to be futile, and it always will be. You want to know why?" He crouched, his long, claw-like fingernails digging under her furry chin to tilt her head to look up at him.
The metronome ticked back and forth, a consistent rhythm to attempt to bring some order to the disarray in Stanley's head. He sat on the mat of soft woven fabric on the floor in the middle of the largest tree in the goblin compound, which had been reserved for the king's purposes. Now his. Stanley tried not to think of his father when he was in the royal chambers, and what his father must have done to his mother within its confines. Sometimes his thoughts managed to drift off to more pleasant ideas, but today was not one of those days, for he foresaw himself doing much the same to Scar in that bed as Damon's father had done to his mother. He had brought Scar to the goblin tree fortress, and had staved off disaster for the time being, but she was not a willing bride. She was not a gift from the wolves to the goblins, an offering of peace. Her hesitation and fear had turned her into a prisoner, and Stanley had no one to blame but himself. Scar would never give herself to him willin
She pressed on. "So what's it going to be for me? Are you going to alter my memories to make me believe I want to be here with you? Turn me into a willing slave? And altering my powers without my permission " The other goblins had urged him to consider that idea; then, at least, there would be no threat of her rebelling against him or coordinating with the wolves to eradicate the goblins. Magic would make her loyalty undying, and the goblins would have to accept her, sooner or later. But Stanley did not want a slave, and he knew that should Scar interact with him in such a state, they would know that something was off with her. In the long run, forcing her to do anything wouldn't help him. "I'm not going to do anything to you. We will marry, and our kinds will be united, and that is all. Should you come around to me at some point, that would be to both of our benefit ... but I expect nothing of you." The tension in Scar's rolled-up shoulders relaxed somewhat, as did her death g
With her head held high, Scar allowed the goblins to lead her out of the room, down the wooden steps that wrapped around the trees, and down to the forest floor. Early morning light filtered through the thick branches overhead, dappling the ground with patches of hazy light. If it wasn't for what was about to happen to her, Scar might find the forest at dawn beautiful. The goblins ushered her past the tall trees, along a worn path, and deeper into the forest. She could hear the murmurs of many voices up ahead, but she couldn't see them. However, when the trees parted, Stanley was the first thing she saw. He waited for her by a tree at the edge of what looked like a clearing up ahead.He was resplendent in his clothing, a handsome prince dressed in a tailored suit with a white shirt and black tie. A gold chain hung around his neck, disappearing into the collar of his shirt. His dark blond hair was slicked back, and his blue eyes were cold and bright as he watched her approach, undressi
Damon arrived in the old mining tunnel just before midnight, alone, and with no weapons. Unlike the goblins, however, he didn't need any. As a wolf shifter, his body was a weapon, and he had every intention of using it to rip Stanley to shreds for doing this to Scar and for tormenting them both. He walked toward the compound with his head held high. There were three goblins on the roof with crossbows aimed at him—goblins didn't use guns below ground because they were more dangerous in the tunnels—and four more on the ground that stood alert when they noticed him. There were likely more that Damon couldn't see, too. Goblins on their own weren't much of a threat to a wolf shifter. But half a dozen or more, all equipped with deadly weapons? That halved Damon's chances of making it out of there alive. And having to rescue Scar at the same time? He gave them maybe a twenty-five percent chance. He swallowed hard when the goblins approached to check him for weapons. They patted him do
Scar's heart welled in her throat as she considered the decision that Stanley had placed before them. She knew how much the goblin kingdom meant to Damon , and what would happen to his people, and the wolves he was trying to protect, if he gave in to Stanley' demands. And staring out at Damon , who stood stoic on the other side of the excavated pit, regardless of the injury she'd sustained just a day ago, she understood that her life was of no consequence when weighed against his dream. She sank against the cool metal of the large excavator, her body shaking from the cold and from her fear. It didn't matter that she'd realized that she was in love with Damon . It didn't matter that they were mates. She wanted to believe that he could love her, if they'd been given a chance at a life together. A chance to uncover what it meant to truly belong to each other. What mattered was, right now, that nothing was more important to Damon than ensuring that his kingdom didn't fall to Stanley.
Scar was more than a little relieved that she didn't have to tell Damon what she needed aloud. He already seemed to know, and she got the sense that he had learned so from her mind. The beast was practically on her back, whimpering with submission and desire even as Damon converged on her and took her into his arms. Scar could only imagine how ridiculous it would have been if she were a fragile, delicate human who had been tied up and held captive for over a week, but she wasn't human and from the moment she felt Damon's palms cup her face, she felt energy surging back into her limbs. Though her hands and feet still ached from being tied up so long, she was finally able to stand on shaking legs with her palms pressed against Damon's chest for support. She could feel the torn shreds of his t-shirt, but beneath them his wounds were almost entirely healed and she could feel the strength pulsing throughout his entire body. Soon it would pass from him to her. Yet she could feel h
If being a prince was tiring and burdensome, then being king of all the goblins and wolves was exhausting and impossible. Though the goblin rebellion had been quelled for now, there was a lot of work ahead of him to repair the damage that Stanley had done in his many years of sowing doubt against Damon. Still, it was a challenge that Damon took up gladly, for the sake of his people, and for peace. Two weeks had passed since Stanley' death, and working together to hunt him down and his remaining rebels had strengthened the relationship between the wolf shifters of some Lauchair's and the goblins for the first time in decades. Their alliance had proved fruitful so far, and Damon intended to go above and beyond to show his gratitude for the wolves who'd risked themselves to protect his reign. He let Snarl take over as the goblin head and made plans to subdue Shadow and the rest of the adamant Lauchair. It seemed that, for the first time ever, his mother's dream of peace was within rea