Page 11 of Full Moon
"No, not directly. I knew your father. He was going to call the whole thing off—wanted his true mate, not some arranged marriage." Diaval smiles as the memory resurfaces. "A dragon has to be present for royal matches." His eyes lift to my other mates before returning to me.
"Your mother was crying on a balcony, not wanting to go through with the match. She was ready to throw herself over the railing, to plummet to her death on the rocks far below." He lowers his gaze. "The castle overlooked a cliff with a swift river at the bottom." His eyes go distant, as if reliving the memory.
"The wind shifted, and your father caught your mother's scent. His wolf knew its mate was there. He shoved past everyone just as your mother sat on the rail, preparing to jump." My heart stutters in my chest. Mom almost killed herself to avoid the arranged marriage.
"Your father called out to her, and she stopped. When she looked back, she knew who and what he was to her." A radiant smile crosses Diaval's lips. "The rest is history. They were married and mated, and I left. My job was done. I had two other kingdoms to visit after." He tilts his head, watching me almost cautiously. It's a lot to digest.
I take several minutes to think about everything. My eyes scan the ruins that peek out from under the vines and fallen trees covered in moss. Shadows play tricks with the light, casting eerie shapes that resemble ghosts of the past. Its former glory is now just a whisper among the crumbling stones.
Shaking out my fur, I stand and start walking. The air is thick with the scent of decay and earth. I'm not hurrying now, taking in every detail. The remnants of ancient walls and broken statues emerge like phantoms from the undergrowth, telling silent tales of a time long gone.
Suddenly, my paw hits something sharp. Pain shoots through me, and I jerk back, peering down at the ground. In the dirt and tangled roots, a fragment of bone catches the light. I nuzzle it, my heart pounding as I realize what I'm looking at. The lower jaw of another wolf. The teeth, still sharp and menacing, are a stark contrast to the fragile, weathered bone.
Leaping back, I lower my head and sniff. The scent of age and death mingles with the damp earth. Memories and emotions flood me—sorrow and anger. I imagine the life this wolf once led, the battles fought, the stories that died with it. The weight of the area's history presses down on me. A reminder of the fragility of our existence. This is all that was left of the kingdom that once existed here.
My paws gain purchase over the rocky terrain as I climb toward the pull. The scent on the wind changes—it smells like a snowstorm is on the horizon. Puffing up my fur, I turn my nose to the wind.
"I smell it too. We're getting closer," Torben says, resting a hand on my shoulder.
"What do you smell?" Easton asks, moving alongside us.
"Snow. We smell the snow on the horizon. It's either a storm coming or the snow off of the mountains. I don't know which." Torben scratches the fur at my neck, sensing my unease.
The cold air bites my nose, each gust carrying a promise of winter's harshness. I can feel the tension in my muscles—the primal instinct to seek shelter warring with the determination to press on. Torben's touch is grounding, his fingers digging gently into my fur. The landscape stretches out before us, rugged and unforgiving. Sharp rocks jut out from the ground, slick with a thin layer of moisture. I take a deep breath, the cool air filling my lungs, sharpening my senses.
"We need to be prepared for anything," Torben says. "The weather can change quickly up here." I nod, understanding the gravity of his words. The pull in my chest is strong, an insistent tug that drives me forward despite the looming threat of the storm.
We press on, each step bringing us closer to whatever awaits on the horizon. Glancing at the sky, the sun is slowly setting. My first order of business is to find a safe place to sleep for tonight. With as difficult as the ascent up the mountain is, I know very few predators will hunt here. The ones that will won't be easy to defeat. But we've come too far to turn back now.
The pull is stronger than ever. Home is close.
I can feel it in my bones.
