20. Ash
Ash
Blade and I ate lunch alone. Not that I minded, but I’m skeptical of the Stormcrest wolves’ absence, seeing as how I’m out here ready to leave after lunch.
The window of opportunity to escape the storm is closing.
While the winds are brutal right now, this is nothing compared to the actual storm about to hit late this afternoon, before nightfall.
I haven’t seen a single Stormcrest royal family member since the fallout we had this morning. I assume the parents are plotting my demise, Soren just wants me out of his hair, Maren is doing whatever she does in the nest, and Runa is avoiding me.
Come to think of it, Runa is often upset with me.
I guess I’m not a particularly warm and agreeable fella, but when it comes to the Stormcrest lot, I have the right to be pissed at all of them.
Even though I never wanted Maren, she broke our arrangement, and if I hadn’t handled her affair and put a lid on the drama before they outed themselves, it would look like she cheated on me.
For which wolves would expect retaliation.
Her actions should have consequences, and in the packs, perception is important. I like to control that part of the social dynamic, and handling the lovers, allowing them to move into my territory, means I remain in control of the situation.
Here, my hands are tied. The Stormcrest Alpha could sentence his daughter to death, and I’d have very little say in it.
The Regulator would most definitely die.
When it comes to an alliance between the Stormcrest pack and the humans, their romance would shake it or break it, which you’d think would work in my favor.
If I hadn’t met Runa, that would be my play.
But my priorities have shifted. I’m interested in Runa, and being merciful toward her sister will score me points.
Besides, Maren doesn’t deserve death. Neither does her man, my Regulator, who is now indebted to me.
I’ve made it so that his interests are aligned with keeping me alive and well.
If I’m dead, he loses both my protection and his wolf girlfriend.
Sven rubs his gloved hands together to warm up as he walks toward my sled.
I’ve been out here in forty below zero weather for at least half an hour waiting for Maren and Runa so we can leave on time.
They’re late, but fashionably so, as females often are.
My mother and sister never arrived anywhere on time, and my father would never get upset over it.
He waited for them.
“The right girl is always worth waiting for,” he’d tell me.
Some days, I wish he were here. Humans portray me as twisted and sick, a product of parents who should’ve killed me once the fire element jumped from my father to me.
And they did try, but that was after my sister’s death, when we lost ourselves in grief.
They tried to save the world while I wanted it all to burn.
Eventually, my parents sided with the humans.
They protected my sister’s rapists. Murderers.
I asked for their names. I begged for their names.
But after much debate, the Council decided against handing the men over to me, because I vowed to kill them.
I flooded the Council chambers with fire. My parents burned with them.
I miss my family. But I’ve never regretted standing up for the females of my pack.
We have twice as many omegas as the Skyrenders, and nearly three times more than the Stormcrest pack.
Stray or lone omegas on the run who are looking for a place to call home come to my pack. They know they’ll be protected.
Unlike the Stormcrest pack, which won’t have any omegas left if they continue their alliance with the humans.
They think the humans will spare them once they figure out the secret to our rapid healing and good health, but the humans won’t spare a single one of us.
They think we’re second-class citizens, a class below their domesticated dogs.
My sister isn’t the only one they’ve hurt. We’re physically stronger than they are, and their weakness induces fear. We also live longer, something their elites crave. They perform werewolf plasma injections, werewolf blood transfusions, and I’ve even heard rumors of werewolf organ transplants.
The humans offered me a treaty before I could investigate those rumors.
“Hey,” Sven greets me, lips blue from the cold even though he’s wearing more fur than a bear. “Holy fuck, it’s cold.”
Poor guy. “Yeah,” I say, agreeably for a change. I can’t tell him my fire burns in my veins so this weather is only a mild annoyance, while he’s over there looking like his nose might fall off.
“What’s new?” I ask, eyes on the castle exit, which remains shut.
I check my watch. The Stormcrest Alpha better have rescinded that nesting order he gave Maren.
If he didn’t, it means he’s decided to go against me, which is unwise.
Maren now falls under my authority, and I told him to lift his order.
“I just got out of the meeting with the Council.”
I groan. “What did they want?”
“The Peacebroker escalated the purge incident all the way to the First Alchemist. They’re aware it’s a female wolf who entered the fire and survived. They seem…alarmed.”
“What makes you think that?”
“The escalation. The urgency. I’ve never heard of the First Alchemist being involved with anything, but once they contacted him, he asked for the wolf’s name.”
“Did you tell them who it was?”
Sven shakes his head. “I told them it was a female wolf and gave them the description of her in wolf. They want me to round up all the female wolves and draw blood for studies.”
“That’s fine in this territory, but the Council can’t touch omegas in my territory. We make it there, we’re all safe and sound. Let’s get there as fast as we can, shall we?”
The wind whips against the sled, and it slides to the side. The dogs bark, growing restless. They sense the incoming storm and want to drop us off and hunker down in the safety of their cots.
“The Peacebroker mentioned my son.”
Uh-oh. “In what context?”
“He reminded me that I have a son. As if I needed a reminder.”
“I would consider that a threat.”
Sven looks away. “What should I do?”
“The Council is curious about how the little wolf survived elemental fire, but that won’t last. Tell them you’re running tests.”
Sven nods and turns toward the door. “We should probably check to see what’s taking Maren so long.”
“Her father ordered her to nest, and I have a feeling she did and isn’t coming.”
Sven looks like someone showed him a flying pig. “What do we do now?”
“Now we pivot. You have access to the royal residence in the castle, whereas I’ve never been there. Pretend you’re delivering a message from me. Relax.” I clap him on the shoulder. “Omegas don’t bite. And even if she does bite you, it’s a good thing. Wear it like a mark. You’ll do fine.”
“I can’t be caught in her nest. Her father will have us killed. Have you lost your mind?”
I chuckle. “You’re the one who flirted with an omega princess. Now that you’ve fucked around, you have to find out if you can survive. I’ll try to protect you, but there’s no guarantee, since this isn’t my territory.”
“Damn it. I should’ve just taken Maren before you came around.”
“You mean kidnapped her?”
“She’d have gone willingly.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I had nowhere to take her where we’d be safe.”
“Now you do. But first, you have to claim your omega while she’s in heat. How else will she give you pups?”
“Pups?” he shrieks.
I laugh.
He’s not amused.
I bend over, laughing.
“Haha,” he says drily. “Make fun of the human.”
“You’re a good sport, Sven.”
He stares into the distance. “Thank you for being kind to me and Maren.”
“I’ve my reasons. It’s not all out of the goodness of my heart.”
“I have reasons too. And I have to tell you that I have a feeling you’re in trouble.”
“I always am.”
“The Council gave me orders.” Sven doesn’t meet my eyes. “I shouldn’t be telling you this.”
“But you will because if you prove loyal to me, you will live. If you’re one of mine, I’ll protect you.”
“Before you arrived, they ordered the Stormcrest Alpha to keep you in the Stormcrest pack for as long as possible. They really want this treaty.”
“Or they want me out of my territory, among the enemies, vulnerable inside a nest with an omega I have to take care of.”
“They want it now more than ever. It must have something to do with what they saw during the purge.”
If I’m away from Stormcrest, they’re free to roam and examine everything and everyone, including Runa.
But she doesn’t know anything. It’s not like a person would deliberately walk into an inferno.
The Council will find nothing, but that won’t deter them.
They’ll investigate the possibility of fire resistance like they investigate longevity.
They’ll think Runa is the key to immunity from my fire.
If they can do what she does, they’ll have unlocked immunity over an element they can’t control.
Make no mistake, humans want control of all four elements.
Earth is theirs. They’ve allied with water. If they figure out how to protect themselves from fire, they’ve removed the threat. Only Blade will be left.
“On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you think they want me to stay?”
“Eleven. They’re sending military units with Wardens.”
Wardens are military personnel trained in werewolf capture. “That is an escalation.”
“Military units always are. Whatever happened during the purge is serious, Ash.”
“Or they’re overreacting, and there’s a perfectly natural explanation they can find somewhere in the books they stole from us.”
“There isn’t. I read the books.”
“There were thousands of them.”
“Respectfully, I read them all.”
Blade joins us and hops in place to stay warm. “We’re all set. Where’s Maren?”
I clap my friend on the shoulder. “Not coming.”
“Shit. How come?” Blade asks.
I give him a moment to think.
“No, no. Don’t tell me we’re staying,” he whines. “My buttocks are frozen.”
“Here’s the plan, Sven. The humans have no clue you’re on our side now, which makes you a traitor. You must take care of yourself and never end up away from my pack again. I’ll protect you. If you snitch for me, I’ll protect you. But you have to tell me everything.”
“You didn’t protect Peter,” Sven says.
“Peter trusted you.”
I know that Sven killed Peter to take his place so he could travel with Maren to join my pack. He’s a fool in love, but a fool on my side of the fence, because that’s the only way their relationship can survive.
Sven swallows. “How long have you known?”
“I found out this morning after Peter’s autopsy.”
“Autopsy? Peter was cremated,” Sven says.
“Was he, though?” Blade asks, humor lacing his tone. “We wrapped a log in cloth and burned it.”
“I sent him for an autopsy,” I say.
“I didn’t know werewolves did autopsies,” Sven says.
“We don’t. It was done within the city walls.”
I let the implication that I have spies within the human cities sit with him.
Sven’s teeth chatter. I think he might actually freeze to death out here. I should send him inside.
I unhook the sled from the dogs. “We’ll ride out the storm.”