Page 58 of The Red Moon

“Easier said than done,” I scoff. “If it means anything, I didn’t know Nik when you two were supposed to …”

She laughs while forking the biggest piece of meat and bringing it to her mouth. “You wouldn’t be alive if you did. I’m not proud of how I reacted to his refusal, and what that meant for my birthright.” Jade grins but she can’t hide the embarrassment in her stunning features.

I pick at my own plate. “Birthright? Aren’t you next in line? For your pack?”

It’s not a snarl or chuckle that escapes Jade now, but somewhere in between. “You’ve seen the portraits of our past alphas by now. Tell me. Did you notice any similarities?”

I did. I noticed it our first night here. From one alpha to the next, there was something glaringly obvious in how the role to lead the pack was passed down. “Forgive me. I figured with everyone calling you the heiress, it meant⁠—”

“Everyone but my father.” Jade drops her fork and it clatters on the porcelain plate, silencing me. She might be able to read my heartbeat effortlessly, but for the first time since meeting her, I am able to sense an irregular rhythm taking hold in her chest. She draws a breath and rights herself, letting the erratic thumps dampen. “I was not raised to lead this pack. But to serve its alpha. I knew Nikolai Vostik didn’t want to be the alpha of his own pack, much less mine. At least with him, I’d be free to take on that role without intrusion. To carry on my family’s legacy in spite of how I was born.”

I stare down at my plate, poking at the largest carrot chunk. She wasn’t the only one to make assumptions. From the second I came here, I thought I was dealing with someone jealous of what Nik and I have. Some petty vendetta, when in reality, she didn’t want Nik at all. She needed someone that wouldn’t interfere. All Jade wanted was to walk in her father’s footsteps despite this rite of passage being reserved for another man’s portrait to be tacked to the walls.

“So, we both had choices made for us,” I say, peering at her adjust uncomfortably in her seat.

In that moment, Jade’s green eyes find mine, not with malice, not the hatred I’ve grown accustomed to, but understanding. We eat, trading the occasional glances and comments between forkfuls. An heiress to a pack she will never command and a newly turned wolf figuring how to survive in a world she was never meant to be a part of. The steady growl I’ve felt since Viktor bit me isn’t there, not tonight. No, for once, I am as close to myself as I’ve ever been. I only pray the blood moon doesn’t strip away what’s left and make me something I don’t even recognize.

THIRTY-SIX

NIK

“You have terrible timing, you know?” I say, leaning against the closest workbench.

Alexey glances up from his project, the goggles secured to his face giving his eyes a magnified appearance. There’s what I can only assume to be gunpowder and silver fragments glittering his cheeks. This part of the castle is tucked away near the back for good reason. The second I was away from the pack commons, the cramp twisting my stomach was too strong to ignore. Now that I’m at the center of Clément’s silver storage, it takes all of my strength to keep upright.

“Forgive my interruption, wolf prince,” he says sarcastically. “Should I request an audience next time?”

I scoff and toss the closest rag within reach at him. “Clean yourself up. You’re hard to look at.”

Despite his best efforts, Alexey misses the rag and knocks over a collection of silver-tipped arrows to clatter on the floor. He lifts the goggles to his crown, retrieves the cloth, and wipes his face, somehow missing the bigger chunks of metal bits. “Now you sound like my ex-wife, only prettier.”

Shaking my head, I grab a knife by the handle and feel an immediate singe as my skin kisses silver. It’s not unbearable, but any wolf would have a difficult time digging this out of their chest if thrown hard enough. “Is everything on schedule?”

“Da. I should have them ready by the morning.” Alexey lifts up a handcrafted silver breastplate. It’s difficult to stare at directly, even in the low lights of the room. “I took the liberty of adding straps that will adjust for size during transformation.”

“Good. Clément will be pleased his pack will have added protection for the fight.” I stab the knife into the table letting it rest hilt up.

“And you’re sure you don’t want one?”

I will kill this soldier myself if you put me in a glorified harness, my wolf growls, his voice low and menacing. “Yes, I’m sure. I can’t have anything break my focus.”

“And what about your princess?” he asks, trailing off. “Being her first shift and all.”

I asked myself the same question when Alexey told me his idea to outfit the entire Duval pack in silver. Sure, it could make the difference between my father’s mutts attacking her head-on or tucking tail to run in the other direction. But at what cost? Her first transformation will be painful. And doing it while wearing silver? Unbelievably excruciating. There’s another thing I have to take into account as well. The lasting effect. How the exposure could push her wolf away, limiting Natalia’s ability to control this curse when she is truly ready. Something even the strongest wolves in this castle seem to struggle with after decades of shifting under their belts. No one here, not even the pups, are close to turning at will. And according to the new voice in my head, it’s because of the poison they seem to dose themselves with daily.

“No,” I say and shake my head. “I need to let Natalia run with her wolf, not away from it.”

“More silver for me and big man.” Alexey shrugs, slaps a black tactical vest on the forge, and begins adding the thick metal plates inside. “Do you think this is enough to scare off the Duval wolves from gnawing on us instead of your father’s pack?”

I walk over to his table and lift the finished chest piece, fighting how my stomach plummets the second I touch it. “If they can wear these during a full moon, they’d have no trouble eating you around that vest.”

Alexey’s face loses a shade and his jaw ticks. “Wonderful. So what are me and the big man going to do to not get attacked from both sides?”

When I set the armor down, cool air washes over my blistering fingertips and relief sets in. “I have an idea. It should keep us from fighting each other, even during the blood moon.”

He pins me with a puzzled glare. “And why are you talking like this is a bad thing?”

“You probably aren’t going to like it.”