Chapter 19 19
Elias's POV
I saw Narnia being led into the woods, where wolves might kill her, and every hair on my skin howled for me to chase after them.
My muscles tightened, coiled to pounce. I felt her anxiety washing over me in waves via the mate bond. Her determination. Her fear. Her overwhelming desire to confront her past and get answers.
But she had asked me to wait. She had asked for three days.
My rational mind got it. She had to do this for herself, had to face down the pack that left her here. But all my wolf knew was our mate was going to walk into danger without us and that wasn’t happening.
I had spent hours pacing the ravine and still couldn’t find rest. That line stretched thin between us — thinner and thinner, though it never snapped. I could still feel her. Could sense her emotional state.
She was afraid but resolute. Angry but hopeful. And underneath all that, a well of strength I had never realized was there.
I camped under the overhang where we had both sat. But rest was impossible. My wolf was stir crazy, pacing inside my head, insisting we mark our mate-protect what's ours.
I had given my word to wait three days. But suppose three days was too long?
I would know, through the bond, if she was in imminent peril. Agent of Possible Destruction, and then I would come for her, promise or no.
The first day crawled by. I lay down and tried to go to sleep, but I couldn’t. I hunted but had no appetite. I tried to turn back into my human form and I was stuck as a dog again.
I was starting to have doubts about my choice by the following morning. The bond had gone muted, like she wasn’t even trying to let herself feel anything anymore.
I began walking back and forth again when I heard steps from the south.
I whirled, teeth bared. But the person who stepped out wasn't a Guild hunter, or even pack wolf.
It was Nyrand.
The young priest looked terrible. His robes were bloody and torn. His face was bruised, one eye nearly swollen shut. He walked with a heavy limp, his hands bound crudely in bandages.
But he was alive.
Relief flooded through me. I was afraid everyone at the sanctuary had died in the explosion.
"Elias," Nyrand said hoarsely. He faltered, and stumbled and fell against a rock. "Thank the moon I found you."
I moved closer. I could never have wished to speak, to ask what had happened.
"I barely escaped," he said. “The Archon’s men appeared at dawn. Brother Malarik kept them at bay until I was able to escape a second passage. While I ran, I heard the explosion.”
Grief stabbed through me. Malarik’s act of sacrifice, his bravery, his serene acceptance of death.
“They're targeting anyone involved with you," Nyrand went on. “The Guild has decreed that you both are an abomination. A price is being paid for you.”
I growled low. The Guild would never stop.
Nyrand looked around. "Where is Narnia?"
I wasn’t able to reply with words, so I prompted images down our line. wolves pack taking Narnia. Her decision to come back to Alpha Corvin. My promise to wait.
Nyrand's face went pale. "You let her go back there? Alone? Elias, you do not understand. Alpha Corvin wants her dead."
The words hit like a blow. Using our connect, I asked for details.
"I discovered the records in the Guild archives before I took flight," Nyrand spoke with urgency. “Narnia, I‘ve known you were a Moonlight Guardian from the beginning Alpha Cornin was like. For 20 years, he has been her victim because of his fear of her power.”
I edged closer, intent nowhere else.
"Corvin is weak," Nyrand continued. "He rules through intimidation. But should the pack learn his niece bore Guardian blood, it would strip away his authority. She would overshadow him completely."
My mind raced. Corvin's treatment of Narnia. His refusal to rescue her. It was measured removal of a threat.
"And that's not all," Nyrand added, his expression dark. "Corvin was the one who told the Guild where to track down Selene, 20 years ago."
Shock crashed through me. Corvin was his brother's mate's faithless sworn man?
"Romulus found out what Corvin had done," Nyrand said. “He tried to kill his brother for justice. For vengeance. But Corvin had killed him and spread lies. They told everything to Narnia about her father were wrong.”
Rage flooded through me. For all her life, Narnia had been taught to believe that her father was a traitor when he was a hero.
“If Narnia is judged before the pack, she will be put to death,” Nyrand noted. "The evidence has been fabricated. The verdict already decided."
I didn’t wait for him to finish his thought, taking off in a run north towards where I could feel Narnia on the other end of our bond.
I’d lost two days while she strolled straight into a death trap.
"Elias, wait!" Nyrand yelled, hobbling after me on his hurt leg. "There is something else. The Guild does not merely pursue you. They are preparing for war."
I stopped and looked back.
“The Archon has all his forces,” Nyrand panted. “They’re invading the land of Regal Moon Pack. They plan to eradicate the wolves — totally. The assault began this morning."
My blood ran cold. “The Guild and the pack, both looking do Narnia harm, at the same time.”
“We need to get to her,” I subvocalized through ours.
He nodded. "I am with you."
We sprinted to the pack lands together. The forest rushed by in a streak of motion. I was pushing myself harder than I ever had, finding depths of strength that I didn’t know were inside me.
Our mate bond strengthened as we made progress. Narnia I could sense much better. She was frightened, but she understood the need to hide it. She was angry, feeling betrayed. She was in pain.
And beneath all this, I could feel her love for me.
We were still miles off when the scent struck us. Smoke. Thick and acrid. Burning wood and flesh.
Up ahead through the trees, I saw orange light. Fire spreading through the forest.
Screams echoed. Human shouts. Wolf howls of pain. The clash of metal. Battle sounds.
Nyrand clung to my shoulder, his face ashen. "That is the Guild. They are making their final assault. And Narnia is marooned in the middle.”
I did not wait. I just… ran, faster than I ever had, my wolf self swallowing the ground with frantic speed.
The war was on before I got to the edge of pack lands. Through the forest, Guild soldiers spread out, silver weapons glinting. The wolves struggled savagely, but were driven back.
Bodies littered the ground. The carnage was horrific.
And yet, amid the horror, lay Narnia.
I stretched for her through the bond. I am coming. Hold on. I am coming.
She answered weakly, but distinctly. Elias. The Guild. They are killing everyone. I do not know what to do.
Stay alive, I sent back. Whatever it takes, stay alive. I am almost there.
I passed through Guild soldiers who stood in my way. I showed no mercy. Those were the people who told me lie, they make a weapon of me, and send me into slaughter innocents.
Wolves in a pack saw me, and they scattered. Some tried to attack. I slipped away from them when I was able; I disabled them where escape proved impossible. They were no longer my enemies.
The Guild was my enemy. Hell, I’d rip them apart to get to my mate.
But I was not alone.
There were more wolves behind me in the forest. Dozens of them, from herds I had supposedly defeated. But they were not destroyed. They were here. Fighting alongside me.
It hadn’t been a lonely trip. I had collected them as I journeyed, setting free prisoners that were mine that they might have the option. Come with me against the Guild or run.
The wolves had decided to trail them. Not Elias the Hunter King. He was Elias the Wolf at last, and truth had come for him.
We hit the fight as a wave of silver.
There she was; through the smoke and flames; I finally saw her. The clearing Narnia sat in was ringed with combat. Even through the chaos, her white hair was apparent.
I screamed and rushed toward her.
I made my way to her, and stood in the path between her and oncoming soldiers. I felt through the bond her relief, her happiness, her love.
“You came,” she said, her voice breaking.
Always, I sent back. I will always come for you.
Together, we faced the chaos. And we would survive or die together.