Page 57 of Chasing Tail
Chapter 30
I’d never met a wolf before, and I got the feeling they weren’t treating Taron and me the same as they treated the Sins because they understood why we were here. Maybe we were all a little too trusting or just desperate to murder the king, but we heard them out with little suspicion. Unfortunately, we didn’t have as much time to go into the rather long-winded version we all got, so the wolves really didn’t trust three men who showed up out of nowhere to murder the monarchy, even if they knew the truth now and their pup was currently kidnapped.
The wolves all shifted and joined us as we raced through the forest. More creatures joined us. Callum pointed out bears and panthers as they joined us. Honestly, they were scarier than the horse was, but I understood they weren’t monsters, and the horses ended up not being so bad.
When we got back to the city, people were already out of their beds because we were making noises that could be heard from far away. They noticed the princes on horseback with a whole army of shifters behind them. Most of the people were screaming to find out what was going on. In certain parts of the village, people just joined us without asking.
It was beautiful and so different from where I came from. Mermaid villages and kingdoms were kept far apart for a reason. You didn’t visit without an invitation, or you were an ambassador, and even the ambassadors were only supposed to visit on certain days.
If this many creatures from one sea village swam by another village, no one would join them. No one would even ask why they were in their territory and if they needed help like people were doing here. They would see it as an act of war, and they would attack. If my village were to ask for help or even spread the word of the massacre, it would have to be done on the approved days, or people would die.
This was very different, but I liked it. The wolves here seemed territorial, but not like us. They stopped to listen, even if they didn’t know what many of us were. It was pretty effective because I think everyone who came out of their house joined us. Some were angry about the pup, but I could hear people muttering about friends and family that had been arrested.
The princes didn’t have time for grand speeches, but they managed to get enough out that people were being framed. That was enough for them to join us. It was wholly strange to me that people didn’t need the full story to turn on their leader here, but his entire reign was built on lies and violence. Maybe it just needed a little nudge to topple.
Taron and I went along with this because all the land dwellers told us it was the only way the princes and many innocent people wouldn’t die, but I was starting to doubt that.
Some people were marching with weapons I recognized. Some of them had grabbed things I was sure weren’t meant for fighting but were sharp and could do damage. People had lit sticks with fire, and they were angry. This had every opportunity to go bad. Everyone was angry, and they wanted someone to pay for it. I’m sure everyone could agree it needed to be the king and queen, but if they got whipped up enough, I had a feeling it would include anyone who got in their way.
As we got closer to the palace, there were fewer houses and businesses for us to disturb. Callum finally addressed me instead of his people.
“I’m sorry, Kishi. Now that the wolves are involved, you can’t be there when he dies. Taron can’t either. Wolves have their own justice system, and it’s too dangerous for you to be in the forest when it’s going down.”
“Taron and I might be okay with that if we know what they are going to do to him.”
“You’ll like it. They will strip him of everything but his underclothes. The wolves will give him a ten-minute head start into the forest for fairness, and then they will all hunt him for sport. Wolves have several ways of tracking prey. They can smell it, even if they are attempting to hide. He’ll have his magic to defend himself, and he’ll probably think it’s enough to beat an entire pack of pissed off wolves right up until they catch him and rip his throat out with their teeth.”
“I didn’t know Taron could just bring his shark teeth back. It was very sexy. I wouldn’t mind holding him down while Taron bit him, and Taron would love it, but I understand we are outvoted.”
Callum chuckled and squeezed my waist.
“Taron’s teeth were terrifying when he whipped them out. You have a strange idea of what you find sexy.”
“I think it’s sexy that you’re doing all this to stop him and save that wolf pup, even if I suspect this crowd is angry enough to eat all of us.”
Callum leaned forward and bit my ear. I broke into goosebumps. Callum was much less forward than Beck, and I liked that about him. But, I also really liked this side of him too.
“We’re going to spoil you when this is over, little mermaid. If you think Beck’s place is nice, you’ve never seen my home.”
“Just the secret passages and a glance at your father’s room. It’s very purple.”
“Purple is associated with royalty. He’s very superstitious for a druid. It’s just a color, but he thinks people will respect him more if he covers every inch of the palace with it and wears it. Frankly, we’re all tired of looking at it, and when I’m king, I’m going to take it all down. There are countless artisans in the kingdom he won’t hire because they aren’t druids. So after I cleanse the palace of their negative energies and do a banishing spell, I’m going to commission them to redo the entire palace.”
“We still have to pull this off, and that mob is pretty angry. How do you plan on controlling them?”
“I’m next in line for the throne, Kishi. Mob control is part of the job training. We’re here. If you think Taron’s scary teeth are sexy, wait until you see me in action.”
We were now in front of the palace, and guards were spilling out to meet us. They hadn’t attacked, so that was a good sign. Everyone started getting off their horses. I needed help, and so did Taron. It went a lot more smoothly with me than it did with Taron. Taron nearly knocked Beck over and made the horse mad.
This was it. They woefully outnumbered now us, and I knew if Callum said the wrong thing, they were going to turn on us. Especially, the Sins, Taron, and I because we weren’t like them.
They’d gotten me this far. I proudly stood by Callum’s side as he faced his people. I had faith he’d find the right thing to say.
