Page 68 of The Wolf

He folds his arms on his chest. “Get where?”

I try to pass him by but it’s useless. “Ugh! Move, you goddamn brick!” I bark, rage bubbling to the surface. “You’re wasting my time!”

“Where?”

I feel tears streaming down my cheeks as I begin to ramble in desperation, “Outside the Veil! He’s close but got attacked. He’s wounded and needs my help. I have to go!”

“I can’t let you,” he responds, his gravelly voice calm yet firm. His glowing violet eyes seem to pierce through me, unyielding.

“I’m not asking you—It’s an order.” I look right into his eyes and say with my whole chest, “Get the fuck out of my way. Now!”

His expression shifts slightly at my outburst, his browbone creasing as if debating something internally before his posture straightens. “Let me go with you,” he says at last.

I blink, caught off guard. “Okay, then let’s go! He said to the South.”

The gargoyle’s wings twitch, but he doesn’t move. “I can’t just leave. I’m tied to the castle,” he reveals, his voice heavier now. “You must unbind me first.”

“What?” I hiss, frustration flaring. “How? I’m not a witch—I don’t have any powers!”

“You’re the queen of the castle,” he responds, his tone steadier now, as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Release me.”

I stare at him, my mind spinning. Queen of the castle. Right. Iamthe Queen, and apparently, that comes with responsibilities I still barely understand. My fists clench at my sides as my gaze locks with his.

“Fine,” I mumble, the urgency to reach Alex overwhelming any doubts. “I release you.” The words feel strange on my tongue, foreign, as if I’m speaking an unknown language. But the moment they leave my lips, I feel a shift in the air around us—like a string snapping, releasing its tension.

The gargoyle’s glowing eyes narrow slightly, his lips curling into something that might be gratitude—or relief. Without another word, he steps forward and wraps me in his strong arms.

“Hold on tight,” he murmurs, lifting me as if I weigh nothing, his deep voice rumbling against me.

I barely have time to gasp before we’re moving, the ground vanishing beneath us as his powerful wings beat the air. The world becomes a blur of motion, the cold wind biting at my face.

We ascend rapidly, the shimmering dome above us glowing faintly. It ripples like liquid light as we pass through it, and for amoment, the air hums with a strange energy that makes my skin tingle.

We’re outside the Veil now, soaring above an endless expanse of pine forest. The Northern Lights dance behind us, their green and purple hues painting the darkening evening sky.

The gargoyle’s grip tightens as we dive lower, skimming the snow-covered treetops. He doesn’t say anything. Which is pretty normal, yet somehow, his quietness seems stranger now. But I’m too focused on the sight ahead—the dark expanse of the woods, the unknown stretching before us.

Somewhere close, Alex is waiting for me. Hurt. Vulnerable. And I’ll do whatever it takes to get to him.

The gargoyle lowers me to the ground with shocking care, but by the way he avoids my eyes, I already know what’s coming next. His wings unfurl as he straightens, the power radiating off him making the cool air feel charged.

“Wait,” I croak, reaching for him, but he doesn’t look back.

Without a word, he leaps into the sky, the rhythmic sound of his wings beating against the night drowning out my protest.

“Ugh, damn you, you fucking asshole!” I shout, my voice raw and trembling. My cry is swallowed by the dense trees, and the forest falls silent once more, leaving me alone in that darkness with the suffocating weight of betrayal.

I stagger to my feet, wiping my cold hands on my clothes. The snow is sticking to the ground, and I’m not properly dressed for the weather, wearing a pair of jeans with a thin pullover. But I don’t really care much about anything.

Alex’s voice echoes faintly in my mind like a thread I can’t quite grasp. Following it, I stumble through the forest blindly, the branches clawing at my skin as if the very woods are conspiring to hold me back. But his voice grows stronger as I push forward, a beacon in the darkness.

My breath comes in ragged gasps by the time I emerge into a clearing. Relief surges through me for a fleeting moment—until I realize he’s not there.

Instead, a figure stands at the center of the clearing, bathed in moonlight. My heart skips. A person, but not Alex. A woman.

She looks awfully familiar. She’s quite tall and skinny with legs for days, the blond bombshell hair frames her face.

Then it clicks. Dean’s military girlfriend, also known as:BarbieturnsG. I. Jane.

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