Chapter 96 The Girl Without a Wolf
Kira’s POV
I stared at the phone like it had personally betrayed me. Adrian’s voice…warm, eager, that stupid golden-retriever energy…still echoed in my head.
“Wherever you go, that’s where I’ll be.”
The line went dead as soon as he was done talking. He’d hung up on me.
I’d been mid-outburst, ready to unleash a full tirade… “You’re not coming! This is my trip, my friend’s funeral, my one chance to breathe without your overbearing ass hovering!” and he’d already ended the call. I’d been yelling at nothing.
My face burned. “Are you kidding me?!” I screamed into the silent phone anyway, voice cracking. “You don’t get to just drop that and hang up, you controlling psycho!”
Victoria jumped, eyes wide like she’d witnessed a murder.
“What?” I said to her sharply.
“Nothing, your highness. Just that…you’ve really changed,” she replied cautiously.
I shoved the phone into my pocket, chest heaving. “Whatever. Lead the way out. Let’s go.”
She nodded fast, grabbing the suitcase handle. I caught one last look at myself in the full-length mirror by the door. Hair pulled into a high ponytail…sleek, practical, no nonsense. Outfit on point… cashmere joggers hugging just right, silk shirt soft against my skin, camel coat draped over my arm like armor. I looked… put-together. Like someone who had a plan.
But to be honest, I really don’t. What will I do when I get to my funeral? Do I confront them? Do I just watch and then leave quietly once my old body has been laid to rest?
I clutched the phone tighter in my fist and tried to focus on coming up with a plan.
We left the room, Victoria wheeling the suitcase behind me. The palace halls felt colder than usual as we descended the grand staircase…marble steps echoing under my sneakers, chandeliers glittering like they were mocking me.
Halfway down, a maid came rushing up, cheeks pink from running, holding out a fancy insulated lunch bag. “Princess! His Majesty ordered the kitchens to prepare this for your trip. He said to make sure you eat something light but nourishing.”
I stopped dead, staring at the bag like it was radioactive. Of course he did. I hissed under my breath, “He’s trying way too much. It’s becoming embarrassing.”
Victoria took it without a word, adding it to the pile she was already juggling…my suitcase in one hand, her own overnight bag slung over her shoulder, now the lunch bag in the other. She didn’t complain, just balanced it all like a pro.
We kept moving. At the bottom of the stairs, she suddenly stopped, head tilting back to glance up toward the way we’d left.
I paused. “Why’d you stop?”
She sniffed the air again, nose wrinkling. “It’s that scent again. Murky… like wet dirt mixed with something rotting. Like a corpse left out too long. You can’t… perceive it?”
She caught herself mid-sentence, eyes widening. “I mean…you won’t. Obviously. You don’t have a wolf, so of course you can’t smell things like that. I’m sorry, your highness.”
I cut her off quickly, voice sharp. “Of course I don’t. And I’m still looking for mine. Isn’t that why you sent me to the Dark Zone a few days ago? To find my wolf?”
Her face flushed with embarrassment as we started walking again, out toward the front doors.
Victoria muttered, “I didn’t actually expect you to go, though. Who treks out into the wilderness looking for their wolf? You find them inside you. You tap in, call them forward. I had no idea that you didn’t know that.”
I stopped so abruptly she almost crashed into my back. I whipped around, anger flaring hot.
“What did you just say?”
She blinked, confused. “Wait…are you serious, Princess? Your wolf isn’t some lost puppy hiding in the woods. She’s inside you. Always has been. You just… reach for her. Call her name and she answers. It’s that simple really.”
I let out a laugh that was half-hysterical, half-maniacal. “So my wolf’s just chilling inside me right now? And I’ve been checking under beds and hiking through monster-infested forests like an idiot?”
Victoria’s mouth actually fell open. “I… didn’t realize you were literally searching outside. I thought you knew and just wanted to play games.”
Shame clawed its way up my throat and I actually winced. God. I must’ve looked spectacularly stupid…the kind of stupid people remember and replay later for laughs.
But honestly? I refuse to take full responsibility. I’m brand-new to this whole Teen Wolf nightmare. No handbook. No warning. Just me, standing there like a confused extra who wandered onto the wrong set and forgot their lines.
I crossed my arms. “Has Abby…have I…always been like this? No wolf showing up from birth?”
She gave me a weird look. “You should know better than me. You’re Abby, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, well, humor me. What could the reason even be?”
Victoria shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “No idea. But from what I’ve heard, you haven’t transformed since you turned sixteen. So, it’s either your wolf’s been silenced…chained or bound by some kind of magic. Or you’re just a really late bloomer.”
I turned that over in my head as we stepped outside into the crisp, snowy air. Silenced? Bound? Late bloomer? Which one could it be? The questions piled up like snowdrifts.
“How do you suggest I fix it?” I asked, trying to sound casual.
“Seek out a healer. Or a witch. Or you try summoning her yourself…meditation, blood rituals, whatever works. Or…” She hesitated. “The king could use his royal command voice. Since you’re his mate, it might force her out. But there’s a side effect if he does that.”
My brain exploded with questions. Witches? Royal command voice? Blood rituals? Side effects? What kind? But before I could drill her further, we reached the front of the palace.
A sleek black Rolls-Royce Phantom waited in the drive, gleaming under the winter sun like it cost more than most people’s houses. Tinted windows, custom plates, the works. Pure money on wheels.
A guard in crisp uniform opened the back door with a bow. “Princess. His Majesty is already waiting at the private helipad.”
I slid into the buttery leather seat, sinking into luxury I didn’t want right now. Victoria loaded the trunk…suitcase, bags, lunch…then hopped into the front passenger seat.
I had wanted her to sit next to me, so I could ask her more questions.
The car pulled away smoothly, tires crunching over packed snow. I stared out the window at the palace grounds…endless white fields, frost-covered trees, distant mountains sharp against the sky. It was beautiful in a cold, unforgiving way.
Let this be the last time I see it, I thought fiercely. But then Liana’s face flashed in my mind, the ritual, the return trip. I’d promised her I’d come back.
Damn it. This would have been a farewell drive across the palace grounds.
The drive was short. Too short. We pulled up to the private helipad…a cleared concrete pad ringed by security. The helicopter waited, blades already spinning, the roar deafening even inside the car.
Wind whipped snow into little tornadoes.
Adrian stood there in a long black coat, hair tousled by the downdraft, looking annoyingly perfect in a way that had me swallowing to steady myself.
The driver opened my door and the second I stepped out, the rotor wash hit me like a wall…cold, fierce, nearly knocking me off balance.
Adrian’s hand shot out instantly and I grabbed it without thinking, fingers lacing through his as he steadied me.
And just like that…every storm in my head went quiet.
Warmth exploded through me, spreading from his palm like sunlight after weeks of night. My pulse slowed as the chaos inside me stilled. I hated it.
Hated how my body betrayed me, leaning into that touch like it was oxygen.
I yanked my brain back into gear. Ignore it. Trick yourself. It’s nothing. He’s just a wall. A stupidly gorgeous wall.