Page 77 of Wolf’s Fated Bride

Maren strides toward him, but Sven points the rifle at her.

I hurry to Ash’s side and sniff around him. The putrid stench of silver and alchemy reeks from the place of injection. The bullet-style syringe deposited the downer inside his body. I don’t know what kind of weapon this is, but I can smell the silver and the alchemy.

I swiftly shift into my human form and yank the syringe out, then do the same for my brother.

Ash’s obsidian fur masks his wounds, but Sören’s ivory coat doesn’t. He’s soaked in blood, both Ash’s and his own.

“Maren, we’ll need a healer,” I say once my sister shifts into a human.

“I’ll get Lindsey.” On the way out, Maren pauses by Sven. “You didn’t have to put them down like dogs.”

“Yes, I did. They were a threat.”

“Was I a threat? Because you pointed your rifle at me too.”

“You were a wolf.”

Maren lifts her chin. “I have always been a wolf.”

Sven grabs her elbow. “Please understand. They were a threat,” he repeats.

“To whom?” Maren spits out and jerks her arm away.

“All of us.”

“Sören fought for our honor. Ash defended what he considers his. You’re the threat, Sven Olsen, and I never want to see your face again.”

And just like that, Maren fell out of love.

Chapter 32

Runa

The aftermath is worrisome.

Outside the cave baths, the Stormcrest guards who had followed Sören attacked the Fireborn werewolves guarding their tower. The brawl would’ve turned into a battle had my father not arrived to break them up.

The surge of water from the storm means we can’t leave the Fireborn tower. The bridge is drawn, and there’s no way to return to the castle. Not from the outside, anyway.

The tower groans as rain surges against the stone walls. We stay with Lindsey while she tends to Sören, who lies on the ground near the baths. We moved him onto a stretcher, but he remained near the water. Being near his element helps him heal.

Since the Stormcrest healer prioritizes our pack, she fusses over Sören. Ash’s pack mates carried him out on a stretcher. Heartbroken, Maren sits alone in the alcove, smoking yowana leaves. They numb the pain of body and heart. She probably snatched a pipe from Lindsey’s bag.

My dad hovers over my brother, worried sick about him.

“The multiple breaks can heal on their own, and I’ve tucked in his intestines and stopped the bleeding,” Lindsey says. “But the silver and the alchemy drug that Sven injected him with impair our natural healing.” Lindsey covers Sören with a thermal blanket.

The silver tone of my brother’s skin makes him appear dead already. I’m terrified the hole in his belly will reopen, and he’ll bleed to death.

“We can’t move him. I’ll camp here with him overnight,” she says. “Can we set up a safe perimeter?”

“I’ll send guards,” my dad says. He turns to me. “What the hell happened in there?”

“Sören attacked Ash,” I say, because my dad has to understand that Sören started the fight.

“But why?”

Now would be a very bad time to tell my dad that the treaty never stood a chance because Maren fell in love with Sven, who then disappointed her. Now they’re broken up, and we have no idea what Sven will do, but we can only hope he’s the self-preserving type of man instead of a self-sacrificing one.