Page 181 of The Wolf King

Everything is blurry. There’s something soft beneath me. I scrunch my fingers and feel wet grass.

Callum’s face comes into focus.

His eyes are panicked and covered in a watery film. His dirty-blond hair is tangled, and there is blood on his neck and chest.

He’s leaning over me, and his hand is pressed into my side.

“Oh, Goddess.” His voice breaks. “I’m so sorry, Aurora. I’m so sorry. I never should have left you.”

“You’re here.” My words are weak and they’re carried away on the breeze.

“I’m here.” A tear rolls down his face. I want to reach for him, to brush it away, but he is too far away. My body is too heavy. He touches my cheek. “I’m here.”

I smile.

He makes a sound in his throat, a sob. “You’re going to be okay.”

And I know then that he thinks I’m going to die.

There’s something important I want to tell him, but my brain is fuzzy. I cannot find the words.

My eyelids flicker. The world dulls.

“Stay with me, Princess. You have to fight this. Please—”

Callum stiffens and looks over his shoulder. A second later, someone crashes to their knees beside him.

“Move aside.” A sharp male voice cuts through the darkness.

Callum keeps his hand on the bite, but shifts slightly. He takes one of my hands, and his fingers curl tightly around mine as if he can stop me from falling away.

“Can you save her?” Callum’s voice is small. Afraid.

Even though I’m so far away right now, I know that his voice should not sound that way. He is strong and certain—a warrior. He does not fear anything.

“I don’t know.” Blake’s face swims into focus.

He is a monstrous vision. His neck and chest are crimson with blood, and there’s mud caked in his hair. His expression is serious, and that, too, seems wrong.

Where is the mockery? Where is the smirk on his lips?

I close my eyes.

He taps my cheek. “Look at me.”

My eyelids are seared shut. I do not want to look at him, anyway.

“I should have known you were too weak,” says Blake. “Or perhaps it is not weakness, perhaps you are simply too ashamed to face me. Do you remember when you slapped me, little rabbit? Back in my chambers? I was on my knees before you. Do you know what I think? I think you were angry with me because you were imagining riding my face. And you liked it.”

My eyes flicker open. Shock and irritation ripple through me.

“What the fuck—” snarls Callum.

“Quiet,” snaps Blake. “Do you remember when I betrayed you, little rabbit? Had you strung up in the dungeons?”

Callum’s growl vibrates through me, but I keep my eyes fixed on Blake’s. The stars shimmer in and out of focus above him.

“I used you to get what I wanted. I made you a pawn in my games. I took you away from Callum, and had him locked up, too. I enjoyed seeing you like that, you know? Bound and chained. Defenseless.Helpless.I could have done all manner of things to you. All manner of perverse things. Would you have liked that, Aurora?”

---