Page 9 of Blood of the Fallen
Yes, there’s more, but it isn’t the right time to tell you, Maki had said when I asked him why they seemed bent on making me compete to become triad alpha.
“It’s my fault,” I blurted out, guilt getting the best of me. “They wouldn’t have been here if—”
Chieftess Yura lifted a hand to silence me. “In a pack, everyone does what they must to protect each member. The same way you did when you saved little Nirliq from that man. The way she did when she raised the alarm.”
Tears wavered in my eyes. I had made Nirliq promise not to tell anyone that Val had abducted me. In turn, I had also promised Val to go without resistance if he let the girl go. He had agreed in what I suspected would be the last merciful act of his existence. Something had broken inside of him. I’d seen it when I begged him for a swift death. He had wanted me to suffer. The Val I grew up with had never been cruel, so I had no other option but to believe the gentle side of his soul was now dead.
“But the triad,” I argued. “They’re everything, and I’m… nothing.”
The Chieftess shook her head. “Every member of the pack is equally important, Sheela. You would understand that if you hadn’t been raised by the selfish Lux Academy. But you will learn just as I did. In any case,” she rose to her feet, stretching to her full height and speaking the next words with ominous intent, “there are major forces at work here.”
Walking away, she issued orders to the wolves that had come with her. Quickly, they shifted and immediately set to doing what she’d instructed.
Warily, I turned to Ila. “What does she mean by major forces?”
She lowered her head and stared at the ground, refusing to say anything.
I turned to Bethel next, my questioning expression demanding an answer.
The witch shook her head. “It’s not for me to say.”
Anger fizzed in my chest. They had no right to keep secrets that involved me. I needed to know what—
Novuk stirred and shifted back to his wolf shape. His paws moved as if he were running in some dream. Abruptly, he lifted his head, blue eyes desperately roving around. He quickly took in Maki and Kall’s immobile shapes. Not without effort, he pushed up, sat on all fours, and scooted in Kall’s direction. Whimpering, he pressed his muzzle to the back of Kall’s head. Kall released a trembling breath, shuddering with something like relief.
Novuk was the biggest of the three, the strongest, and I imagined that was the reason he’d awakened first.
“That’s a good sign, isn’t it?” I asked no one in particular.
Ila nodded and gently stroked Maki’s blond hair, tenderness and concern warring for first place in her expression. Suddenly, Kall and Maki also shifted as if being in their wolf forms was what they preferred, even in their unconscious state.
A few moments later, the other pack members who had come with Chieftess Yura approached us, dragging makeshift stretchers behind them. They had used large sticks and their jackets to improvise them. They had a big one for Novuk, but he refused it with a shake of his head and laboriously climbed to his paws, determined to walk.
“Stubborn,” the Chieftess huffed as she helped lift Maki onto a second stretcher. He whined deep in his throat as they settled him down.
“If you don’t feel strong enough to walk, there’s an extra stretcher,” the Chieftess said to me.
I shrugged, uncertain. I was strong enough—Bethel’s magic and honeycomb had restored my health and energy and more—but I didn’t want to leave Kall’s side. Something ached inside of me at the thought of it.
The Chieftess seemed to understand and said, “This one is big enough for the both of you.”
She and the others lifted Kall onto the stretcher meant for Novuk. Once he was settled in, I was able to sit next to him, aligning my legs around his spine. His tail tickled my bare feet. Gently, I buried my hand into the thick fur of his neck.
“You’ll be all right,” I whispered as two male pack members grabbed the stretcher from each end and raised it from the ground.
Feeling self-conscious, I glanced at the male bringing up the rear. He was bare-chested, having given up his jacket to build the stretcher. I expected to see animosity in his expression, but as our eyes met, he only seemed a little confused as if he wasn’t sure what to think of me or the situation. Only days ago, the entire pack seemed to hate me, but after I fought Magistrate Magnus, their opinion of me had started to change. I returned my attention to Kall, letting my hand travel from his neck to the top of his head.
“You’ll be all right,” I repeated, wanting only to convince myself.
Sheela,a deep voice spoke inside my mind, startling me.
Kall?
The response wasn’t a word, but the sensation that rushed through me felt like ayesall the same. ItwasKall. He was speaking inside my mind.
I’m here,I spoke into the tenuous connection I felt between us. I waited for an answer, but none came.
Kall?
