The woods were quiet. Fat, downy flakes drifted down from the gray sky, falling on my cheek. But I couldn’t move anymore. Nothing but stillness and silence. No one called my name. No sounds of boots in the snow or wings in the air behind me. Just the barely-there whisper of snow falling to the forest floor.
Sleep began to take me once more. But this time, I wondered if it might be death instead that was freezing my limbs and hazing my mind. For some reason, I wasn’t afraid at all.
As I blinked slowly, staring into the dark, a chilling, deep growl vibrated in the air. Two silvery eyes appeared, shining from the abyss, watching me. I smiled, for all I could think was that the eyes of death were quite beautiful.
Chapter 2
REDVYR
Where did that bloody wolf get off to?
He often took to the woods when we came out here on our own, but he always returned when the meat was on the spit. The boar I’d killed a few days ago was all but gone, the last of the loin sizzling over the fire now.
“If you want any dinner, Wolf, you’d best get your ass home,” I grumbled toward the crackling fire.
Not that this was home. We were leagues east of Vanglosa. My own tradition of leaving the clan for a solo hunt before we moved to our winter camp had always given me some inner peace, time to be on my own without the daily trials of the clan. Time to reflect on the clan’s needs and how I could best serve them.
This short respite alone each year always grounded me in my duties and my role as lord of Vanglosa. But it also gave me time to reflect on the past. That was the hard part, but something I needed to do. I couldn’t ever forget where I’d come from, orwhoI’d come from.
Usually, this retreat gave me a sense of serenity that I craved. For some reason, this hunt hadn’t. If anything, I felt restless, an itch under my skin. But I had no idea why. I flicked my tail in frustration, an unknowing I didn’t like. Perhaps that was why Wolf had run off, sensing my restlessness and needing to be away from me. I didn’t blame him.
Slicing a chunk of the pork from the spit over the fire, I chewed the juicy meat, beginning to grow slightly concerned that Wolf wasn’t back yet. He’d been gone much longer than usual, and I had been sure he wouldn’t stray from his dinner for too long.
There was another emotion I hadn’t experienced before this year which seemed to weigh on me more than ever. Loneliness. And yet, I still wasn’t yearning to return to my clan, to my people, to my warriors and friends. Perhaps it was for the best that I did. Sometimes the deep woods weren’t good for the mind.
The rhythmic lope of Wolf’s tracks in the snow drew my attention away from the fire and toward the shadows beyond. My beast fae senses allowed me to see well into the gloom, his ebony figure, darker than the shadows, trotting closer. But he had some sort of red cloak draped over his back.
Tossing the meat aside, I stood and rounded the fire, hands on hips. “What in all the devils are you wearing, Wolf?” I called to my approaching hound.
He loped closer, the firelight giving me a better look at whatever the hell he was carrying. I suddenly realized it wasn’t a cloak, but a female. Once he’d entered the circle of light, the giant hound casting a wide shadow on the forest floor, he knelt and shimmied until the female rolled onto her back, her berry-red hair spilling around her head.
Wolf then sat on his haunches, wagging his tail, tongue lolling out of his open mouth happily. Like he’d brought me some sort of prize. For a moment, all I could do was stare downat the light fae female. I’d never seen that color of hair on any creature before. Of course, I stayed away from the light fae as much as I could. But no wood fae ever looked like that.
Her skin was nearly as pale as the snow beneath her. Her hand twitched, which dragged my attention to the webbing between her fingers.
“Fucking hells, Wolf. You’ve dragged a skald fae into our camp. Where the hell did you go?”
He whined and nuzzled her head. She made no movement at all though I could hear her pulse beating in her veins, her heartbeat sluggish but there.
“Well, what am I supposed to do with her?” I snapped at him. “She’s a damn light fae.” I pointed to the woods. “Go take her back to wherever you found her.”
Wolf barked in that disobedient way of his and remained firmly by her side. As a Meer-wolf, he was a great mountain of a beast, standing as tall as a Pellasian stallion.Whenhe was standing. Right now, he remained where he was, tail wagging, looming next to the small female at his side like her personal guard.
“Damned dog,” I muttered, finally squatting down over her to get a better look.
Her slow heartrate wasn’t a good sign.
“I’m not a fucking healer either, you bloody beast. What do you expect me to do?”
Her skin wasn’t simply as pale as snow, but it appeared just as soft. I’d probably gouge her with a claw trying to help her and then she’d bleed to death, and it would be my fault. Then her people from Morodon nearby would blame me and attack my clan.
I growled. Wolf growled back.
“Shut up. I’m thinking.”
Wolf then huffed and crouched down over her, biting her sleeve between his teeth and trying to drag her toward our tent.
“For fuck’s sake, stop it.” I stood and waved him off. “You’ll tear her sleeve.” Bending next to her, I scooped my arms beneath her legs and neck. “You didn’t pick a smart one, I can tell you that. Some stupid fae girl wandering the woods without a cloak.”
