•Slave•

I heard the lock click. The door opened. My heart tripped, who would step inside?

A few seconds later, he did. It was Rhydian.

“You’re back. Where have you been?” I tried to sound casual, to find the edges of what had happened.

“Out,” he said, flat, not meeting my eyes.

His presence had a colder edge than I remembered, he held himself distant, as if avoiding me on purpose.

“What did the King say about me? Am I going to die?” The question tore out of me.

It had been gnawing at me all night.

He stopped what he was doing and looked at me. Annoyance flickered across his face.

“Are you always this talkative?” he asked, and I felt it like an insult, not because it was, but because it came from him.

“I need to know. You can’t keep me here like a prisoner and pretend everything is fine. Tell me what’s happening.” My voice rose, I saw a flash of amusement cross him for a moment.

“Seven days,” he said after a beat, the words blunt.

“The King gave seven days before they send you to the gallows.”

My mouth went dry. My heart hammered in my chest.

“But that won’t happen,” he said, opening a closet to gather what he needed.

“Why? What are you going to do?”

“Stay in here. They’ll bring you breakfast soon.” He moved like a man ready to leave.

“I asked a question, and I demand an answer,” I said, feeling a stubbornness I barely recognized.

His pause was abrupt.

“I… I’m figuring something out,” he admitted, and his whole body stuttered, like something inside him had shifted.

He left without another word. The door clicked shut, that dreadful sound that pulled me back to my prison.

Figure something out? I told myself. He has a plan to save me.

If I was the curse, why does he guard me like salvation? The thought struck me, then I pushed it away. He must have motives, ulterior reasons for keeping me alive. He could not simply be kind.

•Cursed•

I walked through the halls and I couldn't stop thinking about how I felt when Ayla challenged me, l have never felt that way about anyone.

It was just something I could't place a finger on, something I couldn't describe.

"Who is she?" i muttered under my breath, and lost deep in thought that I didn't notice Kael sneek up on me.

“Why risk the King’s wrath?” he asked, blunt, and not softening the words.

“I do not care for the King,” I said.

“He is a boy drunk on title.”

“And that boy has the council and elders backing his decree to kill the woman you are protecting,” Kael said and something in his voice snapped something inside me.

“She is my mate,” I said, hearing the anger in my own voice. “She is mine. I will not let Theron waste her as he did the others.”

I do not flare easily but with Ayla, every feeling is magnified.

I am sharper, more protective, and ready to tear down the rules I once swore to keep.

“Why?” Kael asked, softer now. Not only anger but curiosity edged with concern.

“She is different,” I answered.

“I can feel it. I suspect she is not human. If I protect her, I risk everything besides, my life is already spent on the blade.”

We climbed to the watchtower overviewing the land of Lycanthra that lay below, with thick forests like veins.

Kael fell a step behind me, calculating his next words and line of questions.

“And the King?” he asked as we reached the top.

“He has the court. He has the mouths of the elders. But he lacks backbone.” I tasted the contempt in my own voice.

“Let him dare me.”

Kael smirked the way he always did, half-approval and half-worry. He had never been one to step away from a thing he believed in, that is why he had stayed close to me through the curse, even when I nearly killed him.

Something moved in the trees and it caught my eye, I caught it in the scent riding the wind.

“Something is wrong,” I said.

Kael peered into the woods. “What is it?”

“Rogues,” I said. My wolf tightened in my chest.

They smelled panic, and even opportunity. Word had spread that the King was weak.

The Alphas who wanted land smelled blood in the water, they had come for the crown and for the pawn that would bring a ruler to his knees.

“They must think the kingdom is distracted,” Kael said. He began ringing the bell, sharp and loud, to wake the posts.

“Stay here,” I said.

“Watch. I’ll warn the King.”

“What of the front line?” Kael asked with deep worry in his eyes, he feared I would leave the soldiers without a command.

“Trust me,” I said, then I ran, pouring speed into my movements.

When I reached the throne room, Theron was pale with fury at the sight of me, fear masked as fury.

“Rhydian, what is this?” he demanded.

“Rogues are in the woods,” I said.

“They mean to strike. Find somewhere safe. And if you use this to move against Ayla, you will answer to me.” I did not pause to let him process everything at once.

Theron barked an order immediately.

“Stand guard, let no one through.” He tried to sound in control, but his voice trembled.

“Good,” I said, leaving him with his posture, the front line bled and the rogues were more numerous than expected, they moved faster than training would explain.

I reached the field and the soldiers were faltering already and I suspected that they had an ally inside the palace, in the courts too because the attack came too fast.

Seeing that our soldiers were already loosing, I bolted towards them, reaching the crowd, I threw my body into the air and changed into my wold upon descent, the pertect entrance.

"Let's dance" I thought to myself, let them feel how the hunted burns.

They died in my wake. Too many. But then a scream, sharp and high ripped through me,

It was nowhere and everywhere, a jagged sound that burned past the roar of war.

“Rhydian!! Save me!!”

I felt it in my bones and before I could process it, I was running towards it.

•Slave•

“Ding—dong. Ding—dong.”

The bells rang through the night and from the sound, I could tell it came from the watchtower.

I moved to the window and peered out, soldiers were running to their posts, while the civilians hurried into the palace walls.

“What’s happening?” I whispered to myself.

From Rhydian’s chambers, most of the palace grounds were visible, especially the main gates. It made sense, as the King’s blade, he needed to see who entered or left every hour of the day.

I was still watching when I saw her.

A woman in a black cloak stood among the chaos, her face hidden, until she tilted her head up and smiled, directly at me.