Page 73 of So I Fell for Bigfoot

He bowed his head. “I do, and I’ve been instructed to treat you as the enemy.”

“By who?”

“The king.”

“Tell my brother I’m here and I want to see him.”

The wolf scoffed. “I don’t take orders from you.”

Then I’d find him myself. I motioned for our crew to follow me, but the wolf lunged toward me before I could get past him. I put my hand on his snout, pushing him away. Hannah screamed as the beast closed those jaws on my hand.

The wolf was rusty; his bearings were off, even though he hung on while I shook him. Once I was able to get his body off the ground, I flung him against the rocks, rendering him unconscious or possibly worse. We didn’t have time to check.

“Are you okay?” Hannah stared at my hand. “Everyone’s shifting, except for Bibi, but you took care of him before they finished.”

“It was quite an impressive move, if I do say so myself,” Bibi said. “I can be of more service to you in my fabulous form, but I’m ready to go wolf if the situation calls for it.”

“I trust your intuition.” But did I trust my own?

I charged forward, bracing myself for what I might see next.

Around the bend, there was a small valley. I remembered it like it was ancient times, because even though the landscape had completely changed, it was full of familiar animals. Wolves, lions, stallions. A bear or two. No dragons yet, but I didn’t doubt that I would see one.

How many humans had they captured to pull this off?

Some of them were cooking over a fire. There was a group working on building shelters. Others looked like they were training. Working with weapons that had been quickly fashioned out of wood and stone. Confusion electrified the air. They were working quickly toward a goal they didn’t understand.

They stopped when they saw me. Like that other wolf, they knew damn well who I was. And like that other wolf, their eyes were off, too. They were all dull. Like not every part of them was alive.

“Your majesty. We’re so glad to see you,” a wolf greeted me.

I’d never held a royal title. I’d simply been my brother’s second in command, and Leif didn’t want anyone to have the sense of inflated importance a title could provide. I didn’t remember this wolf by name. I probably should have.

“I’m Lars. Not Leif.” It would be easy for him to confuse me with my brother, as we’d hardly spent any time in our human forms.

“We know. That’s why we’re glad to see you.” One of the lions came forward. “You were always the logical one. The fair one. We’re glad to see that he brought you back, too. Didn’t think he would. It’s a surprise you’re human. You’re certainly faring better than—”

“He might not know.” A wolf glared at him. The wolves and lions had always had a rivalry, even though neither of them had any advantage under my brother’s rule.

“Know what?” I asked.

“Her Majesty, she’s doing poorly, I’m afraid.” The wolf glanced over his shoulder, where a crowd had gathered around something, someone...only a hint of brown fur was visible.

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach.

“She’s not taking well to the elixir—”

I didn’t stick around to hear the rest. I already knew this was my absolute worst nightmare. I pushed through the crowd to find Tanyth lying on bed of rock, her eyes heavy-lidded. I was thankful I couldn’t see if she had those strange, undead eyes too, because I knew she did, and I couldn’t bear to see her like that.

She was still beautiful, no matter how poor her health was. Her fur was patchy and dull, and the bare patches in her coat showed where her skin clung to her emaciated frame.

I cared for her as much as the day I met her—and the first time I said goodbye to her. She could no longer be my mate. Not like this. But she needed me to protect her. To treat her with the respect and grace that my brother had so callously disregarded.

“Lars.” The amount of effort it must have taken her to say that one word. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back.

“My love, it’s so good to see you.” I put both my hands around her much bigger one. “We’re going to fix this.”

And as soon as I said it, I swore to myself I would kill whoever was responsible for bringing her back.

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