Page 42 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

I bit my cheek, pushed my rage back down. We both knew he could help me. Ale swilled out of his bottle as he used it to point at the mole. The wolf lifted his amber eyes to meet mine.

‘He eats anything fresher,’ I said. ‘I appear to get the dregs.’

‘Know the feeling.’ Hawk sat up, narrowed his gaze at the mole. ‘Just see if you can… make it walk.’

‘It’s got three legs.’

He barked out a harsh laugh. ‘Shouldn’t stop it. Give it a try. Really try.’

Really try? Perhaps I would just try once more, and hope the putrid creature launched an attack on him. I swallowed down the chasm within my chest. The one filled with regret for the loss of Glesni. Matthias hadn’t lied when he’d said she was the best mentor on all Eusis. Tears, hot with despair, pinched the back of my eyes. All this power writhing in my veins and I didn’t have a single hope of being a Deviant half as impressive as Glesni. I cracked open one eye, groaning as Hawk, stick in hand, prodded the mole.

Tutting, I grabbed it from him and threw it away. ‘You’ll make it angry,’ I warned.

‘Angry? It was happy digging holes in heaven and then you come along and bring it back. Of course it’s angry.’

Closing my eyes, I dug within till the increasingly familiar violet ribbon threaded upwards. It was eager, ever eager to be released. I hesitated, my skin prickling as I checked it remained intact. My arms relaxed as the threads heeded my commands. They spread out, hesitating at the mole, almost insulted with the offering. For a moment, I heard them calling their silver opponents before I shoved them back. Violet crept forward, recoiled before realising there was no alternative, then shot within the tiny creature. It twitched. Empty sockets opened, and I hissed as its pain echoed through my chest. Its front leg spasmed, unwilling to allow my mind fully in as I had with Glesni on the beach. Something about overtaking a decomposing mole’s mind and accepting it into my own lacked any appeal. It wanted to scream, but without any lower jaw, no sound escaped. There was nothing left of the creature it had been. It was as pointless as trying to control a diafol.

I sucked the violet ribbons back. They protested, slamming into my chest as the mole collapsed once more. Hawk chuckled and I glanced over, a wide smile on his face. Gods awful man. I cursed, rubbing my chest.

I grabbed the stick he’d thrown and started digging into the ground.

‘What are you doing now?’

I paused, peering through the strands of my escaped hair before scoring into the damp earth once more.

‘What does it look like?’

He took another swig. ‘Looks like you’re digging yourself a little hole to hide in.’

‘I’m burying the mole.’ Damn man laughed so hard he spat his blessed drink out. I sat back on my haunches, brushed the dirt from my dark leggings. ‘You have an issue with that?’

By Vyrus’s flames, I was about to bury him in a minute.

‘I have no issue with how you spend your evening, sweetheart, but he does.’ He swung his bottle into the gloom, and I peered in the direction he’d indicated.

‘Who?’ My gut twisted. I hated being at a disadvantage.

‘That wolf of yours,’ he said as I used the stick to tip the long-dead mole into the shallow hole.

I snorted. ‘He’s probably gone to get himself another meal.’

‘Nope,’ Hawk said, standing.

I patted the damp earth over the mole and hoped it finally had some peace.

‘He’s pissed. He gave you that as a gift and you just buried it.’

‘I think I know my wolf better than you,’ I said.

I stared into the gloom, brows furrowed. The wolf’s tail had been lowered, head down. My stomach twisted. How the hell did this man understand Pablo better than me?

Hawk lay back down, his notebook in one hand. I could barely see him in this light. Pablo would be back soon enough. I’d make it up to him. Somehow.

I crouched down. Pablo had never taken to a stranger as he had this man. What if he had yet another gift? I shook my head. It was impossible. Glesni had been blessed with three gifts, but if he had another one? ‘You communicate with animals, then?’ I asked, ignoring his exasperated huff. ‘That’s your gift?’

He groaned. ‘Right now, I’m regretting my ability to talk to humans.’ He made a great show of turning over, and with his back to me, his book slipped to the ground. ‘I’ve told you, sweetheart. I’m not an Anomaly. The only gift I possess would be of no interest to a happily married woman.’ He chuckled, muttering something under his breath.

‘A Deviant then?’