Chapter 13
ADRIEN
Adrien had been twenty when he entered the Hunt, and he had hoped he’d never have to see the Wilds again.
Hoped he’d never have to face another bak.
But here he was. Standing before the Gate welded with archaic patterns and protections, meant to be the last barrier between the wolves and the horrors beyond.
But he didn’t care anymore. Raana was on the other side of the Wall, and he needed to find her now.
“Your Highness, I apologize. I don’t understand.”
Adrien gritted his teeth, feeling his wolf rise to the surface as he glanced at one of the three Callisto guards at this post. “Open the Gate and let us through.”
At the demand, the small sliver of shadow, easily missed, where it circled his wrist beneath the sleeve of his shirt, seemed to pulse.
He wasn’t sure why or how it had become attached to him, but it had guided him here, to where Raana had gone.
It still baffled him how she’d managed to slip away at all.
She’d been in his arms when they’d fallen asleep.
But the shadows, all that was unknown about Raana and her origins, seemed to hold answers.
So, if somehow that was how she’d gotten here undetected, his biggest question was why?
If it was about escape, he could think of no worse place to run to.
The guard’s eyes shifted from Adrien to his fellow squad mates to the two Imperial Guard members at Adrien’s back.
Sandrine and Dante had caught him just as he was leaving the Pack Hall and had refused to leave him on his own in another territory.
He’d needed to put on quite a show to lie about where he was heading, about why Raana wasn’t with him until he fully understood where the shadow was guiding him.
And then he’d needed to conjure a new, grander tale as to why he needed to go behind the Wall immediately.
He didn’t want to drag them in there, but they refused to leave his side.
When the guard hesitated far too long, Adrien added, “It’s my father’s order.” Not that Adrien’s word should’ve held any less weight here, given the Imperial Alpha’s absence. And he let that fact linger in his voice, let it shine in the fire of his wolf’s eyes. What he was, what he represented.
The guard stiffened, bowed, and then fell back.
As he gathered at the Gate’s heavy lock with the two others, Adrien braced himself.
The keen and scrape of the metal was like a shot in his mind, bringing back the memories of trying to wrench it open to save two hunters, Kai at his side, when the exit would not budge.
So much had happened that night. Why had that happened?
Adrien stripped off his clothes, Sandrine and Dante following suit, before the three of them shifted. Adrien’s paws had barely hit the ground before he snarled and began running, kicking up dirt and grass in his wake.
The Gate screeched and slammed behind them.
He wasn’t sure what hit him first—the sights, smells, or heaviness of the earth and air, weighed down by the darkest of magic. It was incredible how vividly he remembered walking through here the first time. Maybe because he’d done so many times over in the nightmares that followed.
After a good distance from the Gate, Adrien slowed at a clearing, his heart hammering as he attempted to catch a scent, but the desolate land’s pungent odor assaulted his senses.
“This place is horrible,” Sandrine observed, mind-to-mind as wolves, the only time they could ever do so as they weren’t fated mates.
She came to stand at his side, her wolf’s eyes that off-white iridescence, her lumerosi snaking over her legs and back pulsing the same hue.
Judging by the fact that Dante hadn’t even flinched, the statement had only been projected to him.
“Why are we here? What are we looking for?”
Adrien turned his head, scouring in another direction. He wasn’t sure where that small sliver of shadow had gone. Perhaps it feared his wolf—or feared this place.
“Anything that will help us figure out why the runes are failing.”
Lie. Lie, lie.
Sandrine seemed to detect it. “Why would we need to come in here for that?” Adrien could hear a tremor in her voice, which he entirely understood.
It had surprised him that she came in here at all.
She’d never shown any interest in the Hunt or being a warrior like her cousin, which meant all of this was a matter of loyalty to protect him and his family.
“Imperial Heir!”
Dante’s shout came from behind them, and Adrien whipped around, lowered on his haunches, prepared to fight the monsters of his people’s greatest nightmares.
But it hadn’t been quite the monster he expected.
His wolf nearly let out a whine in relief—relief that was short-lived. It morphed into rage and fear. Raana panted against a tree, using the bark for support as she clutched her side. Blood covered her entire body, her body that was…
Goddess above.
Adrien took in her arched ears, her skin. Though it was the same light brown shade, it now possessed a glow. But then there were her hands, true iridescence at her fingers that bled into an ebony that crawled up her arms.
Adrien sprinted towards her, ignoring the astonishment of Dante and Sandrine behind him, standing incredulous and afraid.
Raana collapsed as he reached her, and he dipped his head so she could wrap her arm around his neck.
As wolves, they were much larger than their human forms, and she seemed impossibly small like this.
She gripped his fur to keep herself upright, and for a moment, she buried her face into him, trembling violently.
Though it went against his better judgment, Adrien shifted back.
As he fell to his knees, he caught her in his arms and held her tight.
His entire body went cold, and he could feel her being thrumming with pure power, unfamiliar and vast. It was as if he were clutching a fallen star, and he never wanted to let her go.
Tears pooled in the crook of his neck where she lay her head and sobbed. Amidst her chilled skin, he became aware of the warm, dried blood on her shirt—his shirt—the iron scent cutting through the sulfuric smell of the Wilds.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked, his voice shaking slightly. As he brushed the back of her hair, he accidentally bumped into the arch of her ear. She winced, the spot sensitive.
Raana only breathed, “You need to leave.”
Adrien straightened, then leaned back to look at her face—her eyes slightly different, and bloodshot, crimson smeared over her cheeks.
He gritted his teeth. “What the hell happened to you?” He’d kill whoever touched her.
Whatever touched her. He moved back further, observing the brutal wound across her stomach.
His fury worsened. If the cut had been any deeper, her insides would’ve spilled onto the mud. “We need to get you back.”
“No.” She placed a hand on his chest, and Adrien flinched at the shock of power. “Please. You need to go and leave me here.”
Adrien’s eyes went wide. “Are you fucking crazy?”
Raana reached up to his face. “Do you trust me?” There was an urgency in her voice.
A growl sounded behind him, and Adrien spun to find both Sandrine and Dante crouched in position, eyeing Raana with predatory intent.
Adrien’s wolf rose to the surface, violent and fast. “Fall back.”
Though he hesitated, Dante obeyed, but Sandrine didn’t move.
“Fall. Back,” Adrien repeated.
Sandrine still refused, but her eyes had fallen behind him. They went wide, and then she barked, the sound ringing through the woods. The roar that echoed it from only a few feet away rocked Adrien to his foundations.
He’d never forget the piercing red of a bak’s eyes, especially emerging from the dark, tangled thickets of trees. The beast gradually revealed its monstrous body, long, heavy limbs dragging over the forest floor.
Adrien didn’t think; he didn’t even feel. He pushed Raana behind him and shifted.
Years of training slammed into him all at once. What he’d learned, and all he’d taught others.
But even with that deeply ingrained knowledge as he lunged for the bak’s lower half, knocking it off balance, and clamped his jaws around its thick neck… he couldn’t help but feel it was too easy.
Like the beast had wanted him to kill it, let him.
A sacrifice.
A distraction.
Adrien spat at the acrid taste of the bak’s blood and looked up to find them surrounded. Several more crept through the trees, like a small army.
What the fuck?
So, their behavior during the Hunt hadn’t been a one-off. They truly did work together as a pack now.
Adrien counted seven of them. Two wolves—he and Dante—had competed in the Hunt, but Sandrine had not, and Raana was—
Adrien glanced behind him, where she was finding her feet. He took one step back to allow her to use him while he calculated his options. Split up, spread them out, and pray there weren’t more. Stick together, end up in a mess of claws, teeth, and limbs, end up cornered…
“I’m sorry.” Adrien felt the pull as Raana’s small voice came from his side, and he turned just as she wrapped her arms around him.
Then darkness swept up over them both, taking away his sight, sending him underwater, sending him through space.
Adrien crashed through the world.
He let out a groan as his body, feeling like it had been tugged and twisted in so many wrong ways, crashed down onto the earth.
He’d fallen onto his back, fallen out of his shift with Raana’s body splayed beside his, one arm still draped over him.
The sunlight of late morning was near-blinding, and it took a moment to adjust to inhaling clear air.
Raana coughed violently, blood spraying from her mouth.
Adrien shot up, wrapping his arms around her and letting her lean against him.
Jaw slack, he took in the world around them.
They were no longer behind the Wall; they were in front of it, and the Gate was nowhere to be seen.
He stared at the stone, wide-eyed, realizing what had just happened.
Realizing Sandrine and Dante had been abandoned to face an army of bak.
“What did you do?” Adrien asked desperately.
Raana took slow, deep breaths. “I needed to get you out.”
“But we left them in there,” Adrien gritted, still disbelieving. Those were his people. His guard. He’d abandoned them. They were going to fucking die, and he’d brought them in there.
Silver lined Raana’s eyes as she became pale. “She said I could only save you. And I couldn’t—I couldn’t—”
“She? Who’s she?”
Raana fought to her knees and leveled his stare. “I’m sorry,” she repeated and then lightly grabbed his face. “Even,” she struggled for a breath, and then she leaned forward, brushing her mouth against his. “Even with a wall between us.”
She leaned back, tears cutting through the dirt and blood on her cheeks.
Adrien barely had time to process before darkness swirled, and Raana vanished.