Page 27 of The Forbidden Wolf King
Did his eyes look wet?
“Are you crying?” I teased him. Something was in the air. All these men crying over me.
“No!” he snapped, wiping at his eyes and then punching my shoulder hard for good measure.
I grinned. “I had help. Eliza kept me safe. We have an alliance.”
His face fell. “That will only work until the final round and then, if she’s still alive, you’re going to have to kill her.”
My body physically clenched at the thought. “Cyrus, she’s pack. I claimed her.”
His fists clenched. “I know. I canfeelher,” he argued. “We all can.” He gestured to my packmates who were stepping out of the tent and yawning with sleep.
They nodded.
Of course they could, she was family now. Mud Flat pack.
I shrugged. “I owe her my life. She stood over me and protected me when I was unconscious as Ivanna came for me with a sharp rock.”
Cyrus looked disappointed. “Zara, two people can’t win this.”
“I know that!” I snapped. I didn’t want to talk about this, I didn’t want to think about killing my new friend and packmate. I couldn’t hear this anymore. “Let’s just focus on taking out Ivanna. That bitch has it in for me and I want her gone.”
Cyrus nodded and then I told him I was going to get some fresh air and food. The piece of flatbread I’d had last night wasn’t cutting it.
I knew that Eliza wouldn’t sleep outside in tents so I walked to the castle and when the guard at the front saw me, he bowed deeply.
“Zara Swiftwater. It’s an honor,” he said.
I froze. He knew my name? “Uh thanks.”
He seemed to read my shocked expression. “Eliza is Death Mountain pack. You didn’t have to bring her home on your shoulders like that. You have all of our respect.”
I smiled. “Yes, I did. She saved my life. Speaking of which, do you know which room is hers?”
He gestured down a long hallway. “Make a left and then it’s the last one on the right.”
I entered the stone castle and walked down the lengthy corridor, making a left at the fork until I came to the last door. Reaching out, I rapped my knuckles on the door he’d spoken of. I sensed her. She was inside full of nervous energy. The door opened and then she stood before me with a bandaged ribcage and wearing a cropped top. There were black circles under her eyes and she smelled of raw meat but she was alive. We both took one look at each other and then rushed into the other’s arms. I held her gently, knowing she was still injured, and she did the same.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “You saved my life.”
I pulled back from her. “You saved mine first. Ivanna would have bashed my head open with that rock.”
She smiled, waving me into the room.
I stepped inside, taking in the luxurious digs. “Wait, why did I say no to this in order to sleep in a tent?” I asked.
She laughed. “I have no idea.”
It wasn’t a room, it was a house! Or as big as one anyway. There was a large great room with a small kitchen and what looked like two bedrooms. The floors were a rich brown-stained wood and the walls were painted a light yellow.
My joke had lightened the mood but I could tell by the look on her face, she was about to say something that would bring me back down.
“You’ll make an amazing queen,” she told me and I froze.
“Stop it,” I said.
She shook her head. “Zara, how do you think this ends? I just heard the next round is paired fighting. You and me against Ivanna and Charlize. The winning team then fights each other.”
