I don’t need to be told twice.
I step out of the woods, unbridled rage roiling through me. Before anyone can blink, my blade is at the soldier’s throat, mirroring his threat against Saela.
“Bad choice, boys,” I growl out, tasting the promise of bloodshed in the air. My broad body dwarfs the weak man in front of me. “She might be inclined to show you mercy as your queen. ButI’mno royal.”
Some idiot has the balls to ask, “Oh yeah, who are you, then?”
Locking eyes with Meryn, my insides ignite. “I’m the creature from your nightmares they wield like a weapon. Your lives mean nothing to me.”
I slice the man’s throat open in one smooth motion. Blood erupts, pouring over the back of Saela’s head and her hair.
She shrieks and runs to Meryn, stumbling.
Meryn’s arms are around her instantly, and she throws up a defensive shield around them both using Phylax magic. I nod to Noemi across the clearing. She races forward, stepping in front of Meryn and Saela and encasing them inside a second defensive shield.
At least when Saela’s around, Meryn will accept proper protection.
Fur streaks between the trees as the direwolves arrive in a storm of teeth and claws.
Anassa tosses a soldier into the air, and he lands atop another with a scream. She bounds over to stand by Saela and Meryn, protecting them alongside Noemi. Venna and Skaia emerge from the trees with frightening speed.
Even though the soldiers outnumber us, they’re suddenly looking alotless confident.
They finally fucking realize they should not have threatened a queen.
The wolves leap into action. The screaming starts and doesn’t stop.
I throw up a hand as three soldiers try to charge me and release an impelling blast without restraint. The power comes stronger and more easily than ever, as it has ever since Meryn reclaimed her crown.
There’s an audible snap as the brutal force of my power cracks their ribs, throwing them backward.
Several more soldiers encircle me, though they all look hesitant to be the first to engage. Drawing my twin blades from my back, I come at two of them at once, slicing their throats with a single slash.
The men behind me try to run, but Cratos catches one in his mouth, chomping down. The other he pins beneath a massive paw, extending his claws into the man’s chest as he shrieks.
I move in to swiftly silence him with my blade.
Noemi stays close to Meryn, maintaining her shield while keeping soldiers at bay with her sword. Ephyse provides another layer of defense. He tears a leg off one of the soldiers with a vicious wrench of his jaw.
Whirling around, I look for any soldiers we may have missed. Their numbers are dwindling fast.
While Skaia leaps around, snapping up prey, Venna’s been slipping through the shadows, picking off fighters before they know what’s hit them. Now, she darts in again, dispatching a soldier who tries to flee with an efficient knife to the gut.
Anassa circles around Saela and Meryn, snapping at anyone who gets too close.
It’s a relief to be unleashed, after weeks—months, really—of being on passably good behavior.
This is me at my best. At my worst.
Myself.
Blood arcs across my face in a dark splatter as I spin to gut another attacker.
Meryn pulses a warning toward me, but I’ve already sensed the next one on my left. I slot my blade into place between the man’s chest and his chin.
For the briefest of moments, my eyes find Meryn’s, even as two more come for me. I need toseethat she’s right where I want her to be.
Safe. Behind me. Protected.
