“You are? I’d love to meet her,” I told him as movement picked up behind us and everyone started to disperse. I’d always felt a brotherly vibe from Arrow. Was he hot? Yes. But he was sweet and helpful and … totally in the friendzone.
“Tomorrow morning, at first light,” he told me, and then Astra was back, tugging my hand.
“Alpha, come. I’ve been working on your guest home for weeks. Come and see.” She pulled me away and Sage and I followed her.
Weeks?
I shared a look with Sage.
“I knew you would come.” Astra grinned, as she pulled me into the dark trees past where the floodlights had brightened the meadow, and we were plunged into darkness again, only the moon to light our path. There was a flagstone walkway covered in moss, and suddenly my eyes adjusted, noticing the appearance of hundreds of people to the left and right of the path. Some were climbing down from the trees where they had perched, others just stood, arms crossed, talking in hushed tones and watching me closely.
Every three feet was a little solar garden light that lit our path—and also the faces of some seriously pissed-off women.
“Taking our men off to war already,Alpha?” one snapped as I passed by.
I ignored her and yanked on Sage’s arm when she opened her mouth to retort. It wasn’t the time. I needed to go into a dark room and tell Sawyer what was going on and then cry myself to sleep. My wolf leapt into my chest then, and I nodded for Astra to lead the way. I was ready to see where Run had grown up, the land I was supposed to heal and the place in which I was going to lead these people should I be found worthy.
* * *
The path ledfor a good twenty minutes before the dim lights of a bustling village shone in the distance. Sage and I shared a look.
Whoa.
I didn’t know why I expected grass huts and torches. The wall encompassing the Paladin land was made of a deep red brick and stood strong over seven feet tall. Two ornately decorated wrought iron gates stood open, with two soft lights on top of the pillars that held each gate. Again, each light had a tiny solar panel at the top, like the ones you would get for your garden at Home Depot. It wasn’t a strong light, just enough to illuminate the buildings’ shapes and walkways, but I was impressed. Astra skipped along the path to the gates and nodded at the two guards that stood there.
“Told you she’d come!” Astra told them.
Their eyes ran over Sage and I both. “These two city wolves have your permission to be here, Priestess?” one of them asked with a sneer. His pec twitched and Sage and I shared a look.
Man, these guys were ripped. They must work out all day long and eat zero carbs, because there wasn’t an ounce of fat on them.
Astra rolled her eyes. “It’s ouralpha! She came!”
My heart broke at her words and I could see Sage’s eyes getting misty. The way she spoke about me, her tone, it was full of reverence and excitement andabsolutetrust.
The guards stepped aside, glaring at me with suspicion.
Priestess. That word again. I’d had no idea when we’d met Astra in the cages of the dark fey realm that we’d met the priestess of the Paladin people. Everyone seemed to defer to her, even over Rab. Which was surprising since she was so young and meek.
The second we were in the gates, Astra turned right, heading down a small lane, and we passed house after house, all relatively the same size and the same deep red brick with a thick brown muddy concrete between the lines. The bricks looked hand packed, not machine made, as each one wasn’t exactly perfect, but the masonry was beautiful. The homes stood sturdily with hand-blown glass windows and clay shingle roofs. I felt like I was in Europe or something. This quaint village had such exquisite artistry work that if it were photographed it would earn the appreciation of many people in the human world. Each home had little flower boxes outside what I assumed was the kitchen window. They hung full of herbs I recognized: rosemary, chives, cilantro.
Although I was enchanted with this village, with each step I was dreading having to tell Sawyer what I’d just done, so I stalled by asking Astra about the buildings.
“Did you guys build these? Or…” I let my question linger.
Astra nodded. “We make everything here. Bricks, cement, glass, iron work. Our loom broke, which is why we needed the blankets,” she explained.
I bobbed my head as I took in everything around me. It was … clean, rustic, beautiful. Natural ground cover dotted the side of the walking path with rich ferns and tall grasses, and each home was landscaped lightly with whatever trees and plants were there when they moved in. It looked like they hadn’t moved a single blade of grass or fern, and built their homes into the landscape. But as I looked closer in the moonlight, I noticed some of the leaves looked burnt, curled in with a black fuzz encasing them.
I stopped, leaning forward to inspect it.
“Plant death. Started when Red Moon died. The alpha’s power bleeds from the land and this will cover the crops until we have nothing left. Our people will sicken next.” Astra’s voice came from behind me and my heart squeezed.
Plant death.
After Red died.
This was … my fault. For weeks I’d been in Wolf City just gallivanting around in my Range Rover with my giant engagement ring and they were…
