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“Things?” Malou cocked her head. “Besides you lot being Wolves, you mean?”
We all froze at the casualness of her tone.
“Mal,” Ora chastised, giving Malou a stern look.
My eyebrows shot up as I looked between Malou, Mina, and Ora. “Youknew?”
“Of course we knew.” Mina snorted.“We know Wolves when we see them.”
My mouth opened and closed as I blinked at them.
Ora gave me a grin and shrugged. “We suspected when we first met you and, of course, your bruises disappearing after you snuck off that day. That was clearly Wolf magic.” They glanced at Grae. “Also, Grae, or Graham, as you introduced yourself and just as quickly forgot.” They rolled their eyes as if we had allinstantly forgotten the name. “Someone with a similar name and an eerie likeness to the Damrienn prince?”
“We’re not dumb,” Malou said, concluding the thought for Ora. She unfolded a piece of paper from her pocket and laid it on the table. “We found this tacked up outside the stables today, confirming our suspicions.”
I stared at Grae’s likeness on the yellowing paper and up to the words:WANTED. Graemon Claudius. Traitor to the crown of Damrienn.
“You saw this and you let us stay?” I asked quizzically.
“How many times must we tell you? People find Galen den’ Mora for all sorts of reasons. In truth, it has a knack for finding those in need,” Ora said. “I suspected you needed a safe place and so we provided it.”
I let out a chortle of disbelief. It was an unfathomable kindness for humans to knowingly harbor Wolves.
“The Silver Wolves have Sadie and Navin,” Hector said, cutting to the point. He shifted his weight back and forth, clearly eager to get moving.
“Aren’t they your pack?” Malou asked.
“Not since we disobeyed King Nero and followed Grae, no.” Hector snarled, a full Wolf snarl, and Mina gasped. “Look, we can explain later, but I’m sure they’re still in town looking for the rest of us. You need to hide and we need to get to them before they try to get answers out of Sadie.”
“Gods,” Malou cursed, touching her fingers to her forehead in prayer. “We’ll come with you.”
“No.” I held up my hand. “It’s too dangerous.”
“We want to help,” Ora insisted. “Let us.”
“Navin and Sadie are our friends, too,”Mina signed.
“We might not be good with weapons, but we can create a distraction,” Malou said with a wink. “Never trust a fiddle player around a pack of matches.”
Grae and Hector looked at me, waiting for me to make the final decision.
“Okay, fine.” I relented. “You can create a diversion. But if a Wolf is anywhere near, you run, got it?”
“Yes,” Malou said, leaping up and snatching her cloak off the back hook.
I looked at Ora as the others readied. They were the one I felt the most guilty for misleading. I hated to admit how close I’d become to Ora. They revealed a world to me I didn’t know existed. They opened up parts of my soul, too, and their disappointment would’ve shattered me. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Ora took a step toward me and placed a hand on my arm, the gentleness making me want to crumble. “Wolf or no, Calla, you’re a good person,” they said. “I’m glad you see that humans can be good people, too.”
“Talk later,” Hector snapped, breaking our shared moment.
For all his bickering with Sadie, it was clear how much he cared for her, how panicked he was that she could be hurt. He looked ready to fight a whole pack by himself to protect her, and I realized my own feelings weren’t too far off that. We plunged back into the rainstorm, planning as we ran. What a strange group we were—humans and Wolves, running into danger together, to save our friends.
And yet maybe it wasn’t so strange—or, at least, shouldn’t be. If I got my throne, I’d make sure this was the way of Olmdere, at least.
Fur or skin, it didn’t matter. When someone we loved was in danger, we fought back.
Thirty-Three
