Page 113 of Renegade Kings

There was no choice but to make sacrifices here. We just had to hope we’d be able to live with ourselves afterwards.

My wolf shook his head, and I watched as blood splashed across the ground in front of us. It wasn’t ours, but it still bothered me all the same.

Darting forward, we had the next fighter already in our sight. The temptation to reach for the magic I had inside was strong, but I held off for now. We may need it soon, but until Alyssa had done what she needed to do, I wouldn’t risk her by weakening myself.

The soldier spun, sensing the incoming attack, and his eyes widened in shock as my wolf leapt. His throat was wide open, and it was the last mistake he’d make. I couldn’t risk giving him a chance to reach for his magic.

But then the look of terror in his eyes had doubt creeping into my mind and instead of trying to lift his sword, he cried out in a wordless scream.

My wolf hit him hard in the chest, my doubt holding him back from tearing into his throat as we forced him to the ground. He was just about to push forward to make the kill anyway when the soldier covered his face with his hands, the sound of weeping reaching our ears.

“Please don’t kill me. Please. I don’t want to die,” he muttered over and over again.

I saw the man on the ground beneath us with fresh eyes and realised he wasn’t a man at all. This was just a kid.

My wolf backed off. Moving to the side and sitting down as he waited for the kid to get himself under control.

It didn’t take long, because when he realised he wasn’t being torn apart, he peered at me from between his hands.

“Why aren’t you killing me?”

My wolf rolled his eyes and looked at Arik’s fighters that were desperately trying to hold their own against our forces around us.

They were all kids. They barely had the sense to reach for their magic, let alone use their weapons.

Some of them were barely big enough to lift the swords they were holding, and I realised our fighters were surging through without really seeing who it was they were fighting.

These kids were going to die, and when the dust settled, not a single one of our fighters would be able to live with themselves knowing they’d done it.

Without having a chance to doubt myself, my wolf relinquished control to me and I shifted back into my—unfortunately—naked human form. Standing tall, I quickly drew on my magic whilst muttering a prayer to Nymeria that I wasn’t about to make a mistake that would cost my mate her life.

Drawing on the moisture in the mud, I sent out a wave of cold, freezing the surface and every person touching it in place.

There were shouts of anger and panic and when our fighters realised it was me that had done it, more than one look of confusion.

I helped the kid back to his feet, taking the sword from his hand as I did. Clasping his shoulder, I spoke to the rest of them. “I don’t think you want to be here. I know you didn’t come here willingly. It might seem like it right now, but we’re here to help you. If you stay here, all that’s going to happen is that you’ll die in the mud. And for what? For who? No one who deserves your allegiance, let alone your life. Leave now, while you have the chance. Find cover and hide. We will help you. When this is over, we will do whatever we can to get you back home to your families.”

There was more than one sniffle that came from the wide-eyed kids as they stared up at me in suspicion. The kid standing next to me made a move to step away, seemingly happy to trust what I was saying, but a shout from one of the others had him stumbling to a stop in doubt.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying. But I can’t spend precious minutes here trying to convince you. This is your only chance and I’m begging you to take it. Choose life. Hide. Please.”

“It’s a test,” one of the kids shouted, looking around at the others with desperation in his eyes. “Don’t listen to him.”

“It’s not a test! Look around you. People are dying. You don’t have to be one of them.”

I was quickly realising that I might not win this argument, and I had no idea what I’d do if these kids picked up their swords again. I didn’t want to have to put them down for good, and I could see on the faces of those around me that they didn’t want to be either.

“This is the winter training camp. It wouldn’t be the first lesson we’ve learned in blood,” the kid beside me whispered, and I heard the utter defeat in his voice.

I didn’t know what to do. How was I supposed to persuade them to trust us in such a short space of time? These kids had been traumatised. They’d seen things no child should ever have to.

It was then that I realised I couldn’t force them to trust us. There was nothing I could say that would change their mind. But I could show them.

It took some concentration, but slowly I let myself sink into the magic, and one by one, I freed the children from the icy hold I had over them. Leaving every single one of our fighters frozen in place.

I couldn’t bear to look them in the face to see when they realised what I’d done. These kids could easily turn on them and cut them down while they couldn’t move or defend themselves in any real way. But I really hoped they’d see what I was trying to show them first.

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