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“You must see what this looks like, Grae,” said another. I recognized him as the same guard who’d joined Grae in the training rings. “You running off with her, making a bid for Olmdere?”
“What?” I breathed.
“We’re going to rescue a member of our pack, Aiden,” Grae snarled at his once friend. “One you’ve all conveniently forgotten.”
“And after Maez is freed you’ll have a throne there waiting for you, hmm?” Hemming asked. “You planning to usurp your father and take Olmdere for yourself?”
“Grae isn’t taking anything. Olmdere belongs to the Gold Wolves,” I cut in, sidestepping Grae and baring my teeth.
“Then where is its king to claim it?” Aiden snickered.
“It doesn’t need a king,” I growled, surprising myself with my own words. Even spending a few days outside of pack life, that much was clear. And once my mind began to pick apart one rule, it began to question them all.
“You’ve spent too much time around the humans.” Hemming laughed, the group chuckling as if I had told a witty joke. “It belongs to the Silver Wolves now, girl.”
“You’ve spent too much time around idiots.” I took a step forward, and Grae grabbed my elbow. “And I am not a girl.”
“Come home, Grae,” Hemming said, ignoring my insult and using Grae’s name instead of his title to appeal to his good sense.“The King understands. He promises to be lenient with you and your mate.”
I took in a quavering breath, considering those words. More lenient than what? What would he do to us when he wasn’t being lenient?
Grae’s fists clenched. “Some arrows can never go back in the quiver, Hemming.”
I froze.Quiver.
His storming eyes glanced to mine and I knew then that he had remembered the code word I’d told him back in Allesdale. I’d meant it as a joke... but now... now, I knew we were about to run.
Twenty-Four
The door to the far temple creaked open, drawing the attention of the Wolves, and I bolted. Grae raced fast on my heels. I skidded sideways on a patch of ice, and Grae’s hand found my side, righting me as we darted down an alleyway.
“Grae, please!” Aiden shouted, his voice far too close. “You’ll only make this worse for yourself.”
His voice faded away as he cursed something and fell back. I prayed their fancy soldiers’ boots would slip on the ice and force them to scramble after us.
The alleyway was crammed with crates and buckets of suspicious-looking substances too frozen to smell. Grae tipped a barrel over and brown slush poured out behind us, turning the already slippery pathway lethal. The closest Wolf, Hemming, went down hard, landing in the frozen refuse. My lip curled in delight, but I didn’t stop, not for a second.
Cold air burned my throat, grating down into my straining lungs. I neared the end of the alley, unsure in which direction to turn. I forced my legs faster as I glanced over my shoulder to find three Wolves still behind Grae. The rest had leapt over the frozen slush with ease, using their leader as a stepping stone.
Three? I thought there had been...
I collided with the fourth Wolf, yelping as my feet slipped on the ice.
Aiden.
He grabbed my forearms so hard I knew they’d leave a mark. He leered at me with a crooked grin, once courtly and charming, now nothing but feral. Clearly, he thought I was some damsel immobilized simply by his holding me. Which meant he’d seen me in the training rings in Highwick yet hadn’t taken heed.
What a fool.
I kneed him hard between the legs, and he barked out a cry of pain. Before he could double over, the Wolf’s face whipped to the side at the sound of a loud, meaty thud.
“Don’t. Touch. Her.” Grae’s voice was pure thunder and menace.
I scrambled away from the Wolf’s grip as Grae yanked him back by the hair. “Leave him, Grae. Let’s go!”
Grae’s storming eyes pierced into Aiden’s—a look of rage and betrayal. “Were you the one who told them to look here?”
His words dripped with venom, but Aiden didn’t flinch, only smiled.
