Chapter 36
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.”