Chapter 49 Leaps and Bounds

Chapter 49 Leaps and Bounds
Fiona

His eyes flash. His jaw clenches, the muscles ticking, and he can’t meet my gaze. He suddenly looked so much younger, unsure, caught off guard. I’d almost say cute. His mouth opens, closes again.

“I—” He swallows the rest with an uncomfortable look on his face. He is fumbling. I should enjoy it, but I don’t have the time right now. “This isn’t—”

“Stop.” I don’t let him gather himself. I step into the heat of his body, lifting my chin so he can’t avoid looking at me. “None of that matters right now. Not your pride, not mine, or us. None of that matters. You’ve packed this fortress with wolves and kings and men who would gladly gut you in your own hall. You think you can posture your way out of that? You can’t.”

His nostrils flare. His hand twitches like he means to grab me, to hold me still, but he doesn’t. He just stares, every line of his body rigid, as though if he moves even an inch, he’ll do something he might regret. 

“I’m telling you, Varek,” I press, softer now, but fierce. “Lucian is going to make a move tonight. All we can do now is figure out how to survive it. We can figure the rest out later.”

His expression wavers. The iron certainty slips. His wolf is restless. His scent is sharp with unease. He’s listening, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

Then a piercing, panicked shriek cuts through the muffled noise of the hall behind us. Varek’s head whips toward the door. His eyes burn, and his wolf lunges to the surface with a snarl. Without a word, he dashes off, breaking into a run.

The shriek multiplies. The closer we get, the thicker the scent of blood and smoke becomes. The corridor vibrates with the clash of steel on steel, the guttural snarls of wolves shifting mid-strike, and the agonized cries of warriors falling.

The first thing I see is a trail of bodies. Caldaran guards with their throats ripped out, eyes wide in death. There are more shouts of panic and urgency down the hall, and I only catch a few words.

"…gates! … locked! … alarm!"

Varek curses and starts bellowing orders toward the main hall. “Ronan, secure the main hall—keep the visitors contained! Anyone who’s not with us doesn’t leave that room alive!”

“Yes, Alpha!” Ronan calls back from within the hall.

Windows shatter above us. Shards of glass rain down as black shapes pour in, wolves with eyes glinting with malice and bloodlust. They land hard, snarling and outnumbering us and the few guards left in the hall. Varek is already shifting; the sound of his bones cracking and fur exploding across his skin echoes like breaking branches. He launches himself forward in a blur of fangs and claws.

I don’t think. I can’t. My fingers close around the hilt of a sword still slick with blood, pried from the limp hand of a fallen Caldaran soldier, and I follow him.

Together, we carve a path through the wolves. His size, his ferocity, is like a moving wall. I dart at the edges, cutting into whatever slips through. My arms burn, my chest heaves, but the thrill of it keeps me going. The bit of training I managed while trapped in the tower has kept my skills sharp enough.

We cut through the group in the corridor just as the main hall doors slam open and a group of bodies come hurtling out. Dante's hulking form is accompanied by another, smaller, younger wolf. They tear through the wolves who have come. Dante moves with brutal precision, shifting seamlessly between his human and wolf form as suits him. The younger man is less precise, but it's clear he's had training. I catch his scent as a gust of air blows my way. He's the young alpha I introduced to Elara.

“We need the gates open and the bell sounded!” I shout, parrying a wolf’s lunge and driving the sword through its ribs. “Varek!”

Varek's massive head snaps toward me, ripping a wolf apart and spraying blood across the hall. Then, he jerks his head toward the side passage that leads past another entrance into the hall. I look back at where Dante and the young alpha are still ripping through the oncoming assailants and follow. As we pass, I glance through the carved archway into the dining hall. A pair of guards limp toward the door, carrying a table to block it, but what I see makes my blood run cold.

Liora, Cara, and Elara are huddled together near the dais, faces pale, dresses torn from scrambling. My father and Cara's husband are both gone.

“Where are they?” I ask. "Father? Your husband?"

Cara’s face glistens with sweat, but she lifts her chin despite the sheen of pain across her features. “They left. Just before the wolves poured in.”

I'd deal with our father later. Cara lets out a gasp and clutches her stomach. A splash of water hits the floor. My eyes go wide.

“No—” Liora’s hands tremble as she reaches for her sister. “Not now—” Panic roughens her voice. “We need the healer!”

Elara steps forward, her own panic masked under something steely. Her soft voice is firm as she presses her hands to Cara’s shoulders.

“She’ll be fine. I can do this. I'm trained for it. I’ll need hot water, clean cloth, herbs—anything you can find.”

Varek turns back, looking between the corridor and the door that hasn't been blocked yet. I turn and nudge him.

"Elara's a gifted healer’s apprentice. She can handle this. We need that gate open.”

Still, he hesitates. Liora guides her sister to follow Elara's orders. Cara's eyes, wide with fear, flicker over to Varek. Varek looks like he wants to stay. I can practically feel his desire to go to her, anger and resentment or not, they are still family.

Then, Cara tears her gaze away.

"Go," she says, her voice tight. I lock eyes with Elara. She nods once, steady.

"Don't… Don't die," Elara said. I smile, saluting her as the guards come over with the table.

We stay until the guards have barricaded the door. Then, I take off toward the main stairwell, sword still slick in my grip, but before I make it two strides, Varek’s growl cuts me off. He darts in front of me to block my path. I can't help but think about the moment we met from the way he towers over me. He kneels and jerks his head.

Get on.

I blink, heat prickling my face despite the frigid air.

He wanted me to ride him? That was… way too intimate. I'm not injured. I stepped back.

"I don't think—"

He growled like an order. I grimace. The roar of another battle starting deeper in the castle shakes the air, and I grit my teeth and clamber onto his massive wolf form, trying not to think much more about it. My fingers dig into the thick black fur at his shoulders, and I marvel at how soft it is.

He takes off down the hallway towards the sounds of battle. I brace for it, but he turns off, barreling towards a pair of balcony doors. They fly open ahead of us like there were servants on the other side to pull them open. Was there magic in Caldara's castle? The frigid air cuts like daggers across my face and into my chest as I breathe it in. He leaps, and my stomach plummets with us as we fall.

I hold back a scream, gripping him tighter. The moon has hidden behind the clouds again. Even with enhanced vision, I can't see much of anything but the light coming from the windows of the castle. We land on a lower balcony. The jostle knocks some wind out of me, but we're airborne a second later. The power of his muscles flexing and tensing beneath me makes my stomach swoop, and I really hope he's not paying attention close enough to notice the way my body is reacting even now.

What is it about this man that makes it impossible not to let my mind go there when we're this close?

He bounds down balcony after balcony. I look back to where the last balcony had been and marvel at the distance. He is strong and huge, yes, but the ease of his movements speaks to a level of power and control that I had never imagined possible in an alpha. More than that, the castle seems to be built for this. The balconies seem to be spaced just for this purpose. 

Had learning to do this been part of his training when he was younger? It had to have been grueling. I clench my jaw and push away my sympathies as we land on the parapets. He takes off towards the main gate, giving out a howl. It reverberates through my chest. In the distance, there's an answering howl and the sound of battle from the city below. The bulk of the forces might be outside the castle walls, but there were still some Caldaran soldiers fighting inside. I slide off his back, the cold stone biting at my bare feet. I hadn't even noticed losing my shoes. 

Varek shifts, bones cracking, fur folding back into skin. In seconds, he’s standing beside me, naked but for the blood streaking his chest and arms, steam and fury rising from him in the winter air. 

“Lucian.”