Page 170 of The Wolf King

“No.” He jerks me closer.

He looks over his shoulder.

“Prepare yourselves, lads,” he shouts—and silence falls among the Wolves behind us.

Even I still.

“For centuries, they’ve stolen our lands,” growls James. “They’ve slaughtered our brothers. They’ve taken our women. How many of us have lost someone to that Borderlands cunt, Sebastian? He is in our grasp tonight. His woman is in my grasp tonight.”

Some of the Wolves jeer and my muscles stiffen.

“And tonight, we take what is ours by right. Brothers, look up at the sky. Look at how the Moon shines for us. Look at howGhealachlights our way and bestows her favor. It is a sign the Borderlands will fall. It is a sign the humans will bleed, and the Kingdom of Wolves will be triumphant. So join me, brothers. Tonight, we take back what is ours! Tonight, we ride to war!” A grin spreads across his face. “Let’s go kill some Southerners, shall we?”

Cheers resound through the night, sending chills down my spine.

James jerks the reins of the horse.

Then we’re riding through the darkness, the thunder of hooves filling the air.

***

Do not struggle. Gain his trust. Propose your plan.

I repeat the words like a mantra as I grip onto the saddle so tightly my knuckles turn white.

The moon shines bright. It bathes the landscape in a ghostly glow as it blurs past us—lighting up peaks and lochs and wild swaying grass. The streams that flow down the mountains look like molten silver. They remind me of chains and shackles.

I saw this landscape as freedom once. Now it taunts me with what could have been.

I’m running out of time.

“I can help you,” I say.

“Quiet.” His voice is harsh.

His arm is tight around my waist. His hold is not gentle and protective like Callum’s. It is hard and unrelenting. It is the hold of a jailer. A monster. A king.

“I know what you want, and I am offering—”

“I offered you the world, and you threw it in my face. There’ll be no more discussion on the matter.”

“Are you truly so stubborn?”

“Are you?” he bites back.

The hint of frustration in his tone gives me hope. There must be something behind his hard demeanor.

“I know your enemy better than you do,” I implore. “Will you truly not listen to what I have to say? By sunrise, there will not be another chance.”

He doesn’t ask me to voice my offer, but he doesn’t shut me up, either.

“No one needs to die,” I say.

“Sebastian needs to die.”

“I have no love for Sebastian. I did not want to marry him. I left the Borderlands with Callum to escape him. And I like him even less now I know what he did to your mother.”

A growl builds low in his chest.

---