Page 83 of The Wolf King

I run in the other direction, past the castle and toward the thousands of evergreen trees whispering to me.

Hide. Hide. Hide.

The wind blows my hair from my face.

The air shifts as I enter the forest. It gets damper and darker. The smell of bark and heather floods my senses. Pine needles and twigs crunch beneath my boots.

A crash resounds behind me as the wolf—asBlake—leaps into one of the trees, using it to propel him into my path.

I change course, weaving through the tall trunks, barely feeling the branches that scratch my face.

And I’m aware he is herding me again. He keeps jumping in front of me, teeth gnashing, as he dismembers trees and scatters the undergrowth. I keep having to change course, desperate to escape his fierce jaws.

He knows this forest. He knows something I do not.

I find out what it is when I burst into a clearing.

A fast-moving river cuts the path ahead, crashing against the rocks and weaving to the right. I veer left but there is a thicket of thorns so thick there is no way through.

“No!”

A low, threatening sound fills the clearing.

I turn.

Neon amber eyes flash in the gloom between the trees.

The wolf stalks forward.

“Blake...” I say, breathless, edging back even as the river crashes behind me. “You don’t want to do this.”

I do not want to beg.

I do not want to die.

“Blake. Please.”

He pauses, tilting his head to the side.

“You know... who I am.” I gulp down the thick air. “This... is a mistake.”

His eyes glint. Intelligence radiates from him, even in his wolf form.

I don’t know if he understands me. I don’t know if I could persuade him even if he did.

“What about the Heart of the Moon?” I try to reason with him. “If you kill me, you won’t get it.”

He looks up at the sky between the branches and howls. It is long and mournful, and it raises the hairs on the back of my neck.

“If you hurt me, Callum will kill you.”

The way his mouth moves... it almost looks like he is grinning. Dread fills me. Perhaps provoking Callum is the whole point.

He snarls, and the noise is primal. There is no way to reason with him.

I veer to the side, but it is too late.

He crashes into my chest, and my back hits the undergrowth. The air is knocked from my lungs.

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