Page 66 of Wolf Trial

Her voice was bitter, hurt. “Are you a spy? All this time, were you planning to kill us?” Her lip curled. “Would you have handed us over to the wolves, ensuring our deaths even if Beaufort hadn’t begun murdering slayers?”

I shook my head, a raw pain in my throat, but I couldn’t speak. No, I cried out in my mind. I don’t want to be a wolf. Rev and her bully friends killed me, and this was the only way to save me.

Lainsz shifted me aside, leaving a smear of wet blood on my fur, and inserted himself between Rogue and I.

Don’t, I said urgently, trying to push him back.

She’s a killer, he snapped.

So am I. I’m willing to bet you are too.

All the times Lainsz had bared his teeth at me before had been a warning, not a serious threat. It hit me now, as they peeled back and he growled from the bottom of his throat. The sound was thick with so much hatred and rage that I cowered. My belly hit the ground before I could process the intention to drop, my chest ripped apart by a different sort of pain.

A shape blurred closer, and if I’d been able to cry in wolf form, I would have. Elix lifted her pad and jabbed her finger at it, forcing Lainsz to read what it said. Leave my friend alone, you wolf bastard.

My friend. She still considered me her friend, even like this? Even when the academy was dedicated to killing wolves like me?

She flipped the page, a message for me already written beneath. We’ll figure it out.

Four simple words, but a gift and a kindness like none I’d received before. I managed to nod, but my attention was stolen by Rogue as she freed a dagger from her side and pointed it at Lainsz. And me. She was pointing a dagger at me.

Great, now was not an ideal time for my rejection sensitive dysphoria to make an appearance. In my defence, having a knife pointed at you was a pretty clear signal of rejection.

Bitterness bubbled up like an infection, and this time I didn’t stop Lainsz when he prowled closer, mostly because I could sense his movements were a warning and not a true attempt to hurt her.

Rogue backed up a step, her hurt glare moving between me and Lainsz. We were all focused on each other, Elix watching the tense showdown.

Beaufort came out of nowhere.

Stupid. So fucking stupid to take my eyes off of the killer. Only Paige had marked his movement, but her yelled warning came too late.

The silver flash of a knife shone at Rogue’s pale throat. She froze, but I burst into motion, a growl of rage and seething hatred erupting. A perfect match of Lainsz’s growl at me only moments ago. He truly did hate me. To sound like this… he detested me as I did Beaufort.

“Stay right there,” Beaufort warned, and I dug my claws into the ground, halting my motion. He hadn’t slit her throat, just pressed the blade to Rogue’s skin. A warning. A threat.

Rogue had gone deadly still, not even breathing as Beaufort pressed that blade into her throat. And yet she still flicked a glance at Elix and Paige as they drew nearer, her gaze going from them to her sister, bound and silent on the ground. A clear command to get her out of here.

When Elix met my eyes, I dipped my head in a nod. Even if this condemned me to a life in the forest with the wolves until I found a vent and an amulet—even if I could never go back to academy now my real species was exposed, and my hope of returning to Earth with enough money to live comfortably, or live full stop, had died—I wanted them out of danger. I would defend Rogue, who’d helped and healed me. I would take the brunt of Beaufort’s attention so Elix and Paige, who’d accepted me and offered friendship when I was at my lowest, could get to safety. I owed them that, at least.

I didn’t dare look at them, but I saw them from the corner of my eyes. It took both of them to pick up Serendipity, bound and stiff, and carry her into the trees. Whether they would find their way back to the academy, I didn’t know, but at least they were out of sight, out of reach of Beaufort and his monstrous grandmother.

Unlike Lainsz, who was bleeding more profusely with every minute. He must’ve felt the direction of my thoughts, or maybe he could sense my worry, because he snapped, I’m fine. Stop fucking worrying about me. I don’t need it.

But I couldn’t stop worrying. This new body, this new soul was hardwired to worry about him. Despite all my reservations about being a wolf and being their mate, this part was undeniable. The sight of blood streaking his pale fur made me want to burn this entire forest down and rake through the ashes until I found the hag, and then cut her into so many pieces, scattered throughout the forest, that no one could never put her back together.

Lainsz blinked, the only sign of his shock. And I wondered if he could hear my thoughts after all.

Help her, I pleaded, in case he was listening. Please.

I’m not helping a slayer, he snapped, proving he did have a direct line into my thoughts.

You helped me, I pointed out, padding closer to Beaufort and Rogue, my claws cutting lines into the dirt.

That was against my will, Lainsz replied, but when I drove myself at Beaufort’s right, Lainsz was there against his left, and we hit him at the same time.

I sank my teeth into the professor’s leg, gnashing down to bone, payment for his grandmother cutting into Lainsz’s neck. I’d never been this furious before, never felt so out of control, but instead of resisting it, I let my soul revel in the violence of tearing into his skin.

I should’ve realised being so close to him was dangerous. Should’ve realised he’d let me get close. I didn’t feel the drops of blood splatter the back of my head, but I smelled it in the air.