Chapter 40
Valarie
I woke up before the dawn and ran. Faster and harder than I’d ever run at home, even in unfamiliar territory. I ran north, toward the Autumn Pack, although it would take me almost a full day to get there if I actually wanted to.
The sun was just coming over the treetops when I reached the edge of a field.
I stared at the golden light spilling through the branches and out onto the dry, knee-high grass.
As much as I wanted to run home—to my parents, to Jason—I couldn’t.
I had to see this madness that Morgan had come up with through to the end.
In the short time I’d been with the Blue Pack and the rest of the rebels, totaling almost forty people in all, I’d been absorbing everything I could. All of their plans.
I knew what they wanted and how they planned on achieving it. And today was the day we’d travel a few hours to the palace, where they’d be busy preparing for the ceremony tomorrow.
I took two slow steps back into the trees and then turned, sprinting back toward the run-down house where everyone would be waking now and getting ready to leave.
Morgan was heading it all from the short dirt driveway. Her head turned toward me as I emerged from the woods and I tried to look innocent, as if I’d just been warming up for the day.
I wore fitted, tight pants and a sleeveless shirt, anticipating a hike that would get me sweating.
We’d go through the forest, far from where the triathlon event had taken place, and into the city.
Apparently, Morgan had spent a good portion of her stay figuring out back entrances to anywhere in the city or palace itself.
She knew exactly how to get a large group in without much notice.
But we’d be split up, and that was happening now.
I saw Caiden and Wren watching me, shifting on their feet.
I already knew they were the ones I’d be running with today along with six others.
The rest of the group were split into four different factions, all aware of where we’d be meeting up to ambush the palace.
“You’re ready?” Morgan asked as she joined me in walking toward her pack mates. I realized then that she’d be coming with us. My skin tingled with anticipation. I’d have to be careful with her so close. It would be almost impossible to sneak off and warn someone.
I nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
We stood waiting for the others to lace up boots or jam weapons into thigh and arm holsters.
“You’re doing the right thing,” the Blue Pack princess assured me.
I looked away, not wanting her to see how much I didn’t believe that.
“Let’s go!” Morgan called, turning gracefully, and starting for the trees. Having barely caught my breath, I turned to catch up, ignoring Wren and Caiden’s pounding footsteps just behind me.
This was the beginning.
In just under two hours, we were outside the city.
Cars were trundling in on the main roads and a few side roads, looking for a way to get in quickly; visitors from other territories here to see the ceremony.
The streets were alive even at an early hour with excited chatter. The shops and many homes were beautifully decorated with flowers or signs that read, ‘Welcome Sophia!’
We slipped past a few guards, and that’s when I realized Morgan must have paid them off to look the other way. We were a decent sized group that wouldn’t otherwise go unnoticed.
The others had been sent off to different city entrances and would be approaching the palace their own way.
For our part, we were following a path parallel to the one I’d taken on my own adventures into the city from the palace.
I could see the canal gleaming in the morning light and knew we were somewhere near the fabric store.
But now wasn’t the time to linger and gaze at my surroundings.
I kept my eyes on Morgan’s back as she moved quickly through the small couples and groups.
It didn’t take long for us to reach the outskirts of the palace. We were somewhere back near the stables, not too far off from the kitchens.
I could smell bread baking and knew Ana would have been up for hours now. If only I could slip away for a moment, duck behind an outbuilding and make it to the kitchen doors—
My chin was tilted up and I was oblivious of the suspicious looks the Blue Pack members were giving me. They glanced at one another and then to Morgan, waiting for word of what to do.
She looked back at me once, said, “Do it,” and then leapt over a short stone wall, half-bent so that none of the guards would be able to see her.
Before I could move, my arms were twisted and pinned behind my back.
Caiden stood before me, a grin on his pinched little face.
“You didn’t really think we’d trust you, did you?” he asked sarcastically.
I jerked my head to see Wren behind me. It was her hands tightening on my wrists and twisting the skin until it burned. I grit my teeth and tried not to show how painful it was, watching Morgan move quickly toward the palace with the rest of our group.
“What are you doing?” I panted, struggling a bit. “Let me go—I want to be there when she takes him out.”
Caiden rolled his eyes. “You’re not fooling anyone, darling. We’ve all seen how loyal the King’s whores are. Did you really think you were any better than them?”
I glared at him, trying to jerk free again before quieting.
There was no point in trying to fool them any longer. Even if I was somewhat telling the truth, Morgan didn’t trust me enough to watch my ex-lover die without doing anything about it.
From the direction of the kitchens came a loud, metallic crash.
My head whipped around, hair coming loose from the ponytail I’d thrown it into and wafting around my face.
Wren wrapped a chunk around her finger and tugged.
With a hiss, I let her pull my head back so I couldn’t see the palace anymore, except for the very top of the walls.
So, this is the beginning, I thought to myself, trying to unclench my jaw.
***
Gabriel
The lilac trees in the garden rustled and shifted with the movement of a few dozen servants. They were out there putting the finishing touches on the area around the oak where I was supposed to marry Sophia tomorrow.
I squinted, and then glanced behind me, to the formal clothing hanging from my armoire. Charles had dropped it off and left without a word. I couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or proud of me.
The tinkling sound of laughter drew my gaze again as two young women wound down the garden path, carrying baskets full of cloth. The sound didn’t do much to stir me. Instead, it felt as though the despondency was sinking even further in.
A loud scuffle out in the hallway made me turn and stare as the door to my bedroom burst open.
A young man named Stephen stumbled in, his right pant leg torn, mouth and eyes wide.
“My King—” he began, voice pitched in panic.
But before he could say anything else, he gasped, grimaced, and fell forward. The hilt of a hunting knife was sticking out just under his left shoulder blade.
Before I could react, two more people were in the room, each of them dressed in dark clothing, their faces covered by some kind of cloth mask over their noses and mouths. Their eyes were narrowed as they met mine.
I lunged to the left, toward my bedroom, hoping I could beat them to it. I heard them both thud against the thick door as I skidded on the rug just inside.
“What the hell,” I muttered, palms pressed against the door even though it was locked.
I glanced up, at the two skylights above my bed, and then out through the windows that looked out on the garden. The two young women were still there, a little further along the path, but now they stood frozen. I could hear someone yelling to them. And then they dropped the baskets and ran.
The two people on the other side of the door were talking hurriedly. I looked around quickly for a weapon—anything to defend myself. This door was thick, but it was also intricately carved, which meant it was weak in some areas. If they found the right spot, they would be inside in an instant.
“Gabriel?!” a female voice boomed.
I froze. Did I know the voice? I couldn’t place it, not exactly, although there was some familiarity to it.
“Is our Alpha hiding?” the voice taunted, sounding closer now. Two low responses tipped me off immediately that whoever had arrived was a leader. There was submission from the lackeys who had burst into my room and—hopefully—only wounded Stephen.
“Who are you?” I shouted back, eyes landing on the shadow box that held my late father’s carving tools. In it was also a hammer. An old thing, the handle wooden and worn smooth with age, areas along the head rusting.
With only a moment’s hesitation, I removed the cover of the box and lifted the hammer out, hefting it. I could almost feel the imprint of his palm on the handle. It made me feel a little safer and tamped down the rising panic.
Why was no one coming?
“I want you to know that we sent a small pack after your mother. They probably have her by now. I hear she was quite formidable when she was our age, but she’s a bit old now, isn’t she?”
There. I knew it.
The ‘our age’ comment had given it away, pointed me in the right direction, as well as the mention of my mother. Because she was the one who had warned me about the Blue Pack.
“Morgan?”
There was a beat of silence, and then laughter. I could see shadows shifting under the door and heard the sound of them pressing against it to find a weak point. It wouldn’t take very long.
“You should rethink what you’re doing,” I called out, backing up a bit as I heard the wood creak. There were excited murmurs on the other side.
“I have nothing to think about,” the Blue Pack princess spat out. “Even if I backed off now, Gabriel, this is too far along. I’d never be forgiven. So, I’ll just have to take my chances and take my place as the rightful Alpha. Since you’ve been letting your pack down.”
Guilt shot through me at her words.
I told myself quickly that it wasn’t true; the Kingdom had been thriving before and during my reign. Could I have done better? Done more? Yes. But that was why I’d had such a long conversation with my mother the day before. It was time for things to change.
With a loud crack, the door split a few inches in from the edge, and then all it took was a kick from one of the pack on the other side. Immediately, Morgan charged through, her eyes wide and hungry, hands already outstretched in claws.
I felt her nails tear at my face and shouted, jerking away. The cuts stung.
She caught my arm as I swung the hammer and twisted quickly. Clenching my teeth at the sharp pain, I dropped the hammer and followed the direction that she was bending me, dropping low to spin her over my back.
She landed on her feet, crouched down and looked up at me, teeth bared.
I could hear the sound of other people arriving. They were fighting in the living area, knocking things over. I heard Charles call out for me, but I couldn’t respond because Morgan lurched forward just then, hooking an arm under my knee and jerking me forward onto my ass.
But it was the perfect position. Splayed out, I could reach the discarded hammer, and tightened my hand around it without looking. Morgan was too preoccupied with climbing on top of me to notice.
She wrapped her hands around my neck and squeezed hard. Her nails bit into my skin and I realized as I tried to suck in a breath that if I didn’t do something soon, she’d have me.
It took only a moment to swing the hammer around and catch her on the side of the head. She only realized it was coming at the last moment, eyes wide, and her growl was cut short with a yelp of pain as she dropped to the side.
I rolled quickly on top of her and put all my weight on her chest, thighs on her arms. I felt her elbows crack beneath me and knew they’d be sprained, at the very least.
She was howling now as others came into the room. I looked up, still panicked, thinking it might be her pack.
But it was Charles and two huntresses from the Kingdom.
The women were on Morgan immediately and they weren’t gentle with her. She cussed, whimpered, and yelped repeatedly as they wrestled her to her feet and out into the hallway.
I dropped back onto the ground, breathing heavy. My pulse was throbbing, and I could already tell there would be bruises tomorrow where she’d tried to choke the life out of me.
Charles crouched low to examine me.
“Are you alright?” he asked, and I nodded gingerly.
“Mother—”
“She’s fine. That’s how we ended up here. They underestimated her.”
Charles met my eyes quickly and grinned. I laughed hoarsely. I’d never sparred with my mother and hadn’t seen her practice in years, but there was a reason she was the Alpha queen.
“Everyone else? Stephen?”
The dark gaze Charles gave me told me all I needed to know. Behind him, in the living area, I could see Stephen’s outstretched arm was completely still.
“They took the lives of three others before we realized what was happening. Your mother’s two guards, and one of the maids in the kitchen.”
I looked up, worried, but Charles cut me off before I could ask who it was.
“Gabriel. I need you thinking clearly. Listen to me. We found Valarie with them. With the rebels.”