Текст книги "The wolf king"

Автор книги: Lauren Palphreyman

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Chapter Eight

“Do you know the story of the Elderwolf?” the alpha asks.

Away from the camp, the night is black as pitch. I can barely see, but I can hear the wind stirring the water of the loch we ride beside, and smell the rain-drenched evergreen trees and the masculine scent of the man behind me.

“The first wolf?” I say. “Yes. Everyone knows about that.”

He lets the silence extend, waiting for me to fill it.

“He conspired with the Moon and betrayed the Sun and the first men,” I say. “He was cursed to roam the earth on four legs, and live in a manner as beastly as his actions were.”

The word “beastly” slips out. It is the word the High Priest always uses when he tells this story. With the alpha as my only audience, alone together in an unfamiliar kingdom, I wonder if I should have been more careful with my word choice.

“Aye. I suppose you would tell it that way in the Southlands.” He merely sounds pensive. “It’s true, we were cursed. But that’s not quite the way the story goes.”

He shifts behind me on the horse, and his thigh brushes against mine. I sit straighter.

Even if I bring valuable information to my father when I am free, he will disown me if he ever finds out I’m sitting with a wolf’s arm resting on my lap.

The alpha gently nudges me back again.

“The Elderwolf lived here long before the first men arrived,” he says, “when all kinds of ancient dangerous creatures roamed the earth. The Moon—or Ghealach as we call her—would watch him as he endured. Impressed by his strength and his will to survive, she fell in love with him. Now, some say the Moon herself was a wolf, while others say the Wolves were merely her favored ones, but whichever is true, she would send her creatures to protect him.”

The alpha’s voice is low and soothing, and I find some of the stiffness in my limbs softening as the darkness wraps around us.

“He began to leave her gifts and offerings, to thank her. And so began a secret courtship that lasted many years. They fell deeply, and irrevocably, in love.”

No one has told me a story since my mother passed, and I relax against his chest.

“When the first men invaded the Northlands, the Elderwolf was gravely injured. The Moon left her post in the sky to come to him—though it was forbidden. She shared her wild and dangerous power with him, and he was able to transform—to heal, and to seek vengeance on those who had tried to kill him.” I hear the smile in his voice. “It was a blessing.”

“A blessing? You said you were cursed.”

“Aye, we were. But the ability to transform into a wolf was not the curse.”

“So what was the curse?”

It is fascinating to hear this story from the alpha’s perspective. In the south, our religious texts tell us the power to shift was the punishment for the Elderwolf’s betrayal and the story ends there.

In the north, it seems, there is a whole other chapter.

“The Elderwolf embraced his new power,” he continues. “You see, it felt as if the wolf was part of him all along. And perhaps it was. Perhaps that was why he and the Moon were drawn to one another in the first place. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. Because the Sun is a jealous and vengeful goddess.”

I flinch. If I am honest with myself, I have had blasphemous thoughts about the Goddess of the Southlands. Usually while being made to repent for my sins by the High Priest.

But to voice those thoughts aloud. . .

“When the Sun found out, she set out to punish them both. The Moon was banished. She was given to the God of Night to be locked within his prison in the sky. And the Elderwolf? Well, the wolf inside him was caged—only ever able to break free of his chains when the Moon was the closest and her power could reach him.”

“On the night of a full moon.” The wind rustling through the trees almost swallows my words.

“Aye.”

My eyebrows knit as I piece together what he’s telling me, and why he’s telling me.

“You’re saying the Elderwolf was once able to change whenever he wanted,” I say. “That the curse wasn’t that he had to transform into a wolf, but that the power was taken away from him.”

“Aye.” The alpha’s voice comes out low and dark. “But the Sun had underestimated the power of the Moon’s love. So distraught to have been parted from him, to see him suffer from her prison in the sky, she ripped out her own heart. She cast it down to the earth so he could keep it, and he could always be close to her power.”

I frown. “And he found it?”

“He did. It landed in the center of Glen Ghealach, high up in the Northlands, and created the valley itself. And when he found it, he kept it close. Until one day, the Sun led the first men to him. Though he fought bravely, though he protected the heart that had been entrusted to him, there were too many of them. He was slaughtered, and the Moon’s heart was stolen.”

“You think it’s real?”

“Aye, we do. Of course, the story is steeped in myth—but there is evidence throughout history of a relic that has passed between hands. A type of rock, we think.” He swallows. “And there is evidence it holds the power for us to shift whenever we choose, to be free.”

His longing for freedom stirs something inside me as I finally understand.

“You think Sebastian has it. That’s why you planned the siege at his castle. That’s why you took me. That’s what you want to trade me for.”

“Aye,” he says, his voice dark as shadow and laced with intent. “We’re searching for the Cridhe na Ghealach—the Heart of the Moon. Because with it, we’ll have the power to shift when we want. With it, we’ll have the power to win this war.”

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Chapter Nine

We’ll have the power to win this war.

We ride onward.

The night is quiet except for the sound of the horse’s hooves and the whisper of the wind in the trees. It emphasizes how alone we are out here. How alone I am—with a man who is plotting against my father.

His chest rises and falls steadily against my back.

“What makes you so sure Sebastian has what you’re looking for?” I ask.

I sense him deciding whether or not to answer. “I have my sources.”

“You have spies in Sebastian’s castle, you mean.” I recall his certainty that he was going to escape when I tended to Ryan’s wounds. “They let you out of the kennels, I presume?”

“Aye. And they confirm what . . . what someone from the Lowfell Clan has been telling us.” His tone darkens and I get the impression that whoever this someone is, the alpha doesn’t care too much for them.

“But you didn’t find it.”

“It wasn’t where we thought it would be.”

I think of the carnage we left behind at Sebastian’s castle; the dead guards in the entrance hall, the flames in the courtyard, the shouting and the cries of death. “Your siege was pointless, then.”

His arm tightens around my waist. “I wouldn’t say that.”

My heart thuds faster as I realize I may be out of my depth.

I have no doubt Sebastian will wage war to get me back. I am his property, and I have been stolen from him. He will not let that go unanswered. But he does not care whether I live or die. Not really.

And the alpha is naïve if he thinks Sebastian will trade this powerful relic for me.

I am worth nothing.

I wonder what will happen to me when the Wolves finally figure that out.

***

We stop in a clearing by the bank of the loch, and the alpha dismounts.

It’s so dark all I can make out is his shadowy form. The air is thick with the scent of pine and grass, and water moves and ripples somewhere behind him.

“We’re resting here until morning. Come,” he says.

I fold my arms. “You do realize both Sebastian and my father will send their armies north to find me? They’ll ride day and night to capture my kidnapper. It won’t end well for you if they do.”

It won’t end well for me, either.

“People really don’t talk to me that way.”

“Yes, you said.”

“They call this place Glen Marb—the Valley of Death,” says the alpha. “It was a battleground, centuries go. They say the souls of the Wolves who died here haunt the valley, seeking vengeance. If you listen carefully, you can hear them howling.”

My insides tighten when I hear hollow wails in the distance. I snap my head toward him, alarmed.

He grins. “Just the wind. A silly superstition, but Sebastian believes it. He won’t send his men here. We’re safe until morning. Come.”

This time, when he puts his hands around my waist and lowers me to the ground, I don’t fight him.

I am a princess, and he stole me from my bed and brought me here. He should be serving me. That’s what I tell myself, anyway. I am fed up of feeling weak.

If we were in the palace, and I was dressed up in one of my favorite dresses at one of the balls, things would be quite different, I’m sure.

I wince when my feet touch the sodden earth. The alpha’s big hands tighten around my hips, the heat seeping through my nightdress. My cheeks flush. Men are not supposed to stand this close to me. Especially big alpha warrior men who are plotting against my father.

“Ghealach,” he curses under his breath. “Your feet.”

Above, the clouds shift, illuminating the valley and the moonlit loch. My gaze is fixed on the alpha. He’s looking at my bare feet and a flicker of something. . . shame, perhaps. . . crosses his face.

“You’re hurt.” He swallows, shaking his head. “Forgive me, Princess. I forget sometimes, how fragile humans are.”

“Fragile?” I slap his wrists and he finally releases me. “We may not all be big oafs like you, but that doesn’t make us fragile.”

One of my soles hurts from running barefoot out of the Borderlands castle. I must have cut it on a stone or twig when we escaped. I want to take a look, but not with the alpha looming over me.

“Let me see.” He steps forward.

“I’ll be fine, it’s just a cut.”

His nostrils flare. “You’re not fine. I can smell blood.”

“Firstly, that’s horrifying,” I tell him, folding my arms. “And secondly, if it bothers you so much, then next time you come crashing into a lady’s bedchambers, let her get dressed before you kidnap her.”

His face falls. “Aye. I should’ve done that. I’m sorry. . . I truly am.” The sight of a big bloodthirsty warrior sheepishly apologizing causes a strange feeling of power to surge through me. Until he steps forward. “Now, if you’ll just let me take a look—”

“No.”

“Let me see!”

“If you come any closer, I will. . . I will take my leave of you!”

He stills and I think I’ve won, but the corner of his lip twitches. Slowly, he raises his hands.

“Okay.” His tone is placating, at odds with his large physique. “Okay. At least sit down. I’ll water the horse, light us a fire. Okay?”

He leads the horse down to the loch.

I shiver, and pull my furs closer. It is never this cold in the King’s City.

There’s a copse of fir trees nearby, so while he’s fussing with the horse, I select some dry twigs and branches, and a flint rock. By the time he returns with a flask, I’m sitting and warming my hands by a small fire. The crackle of flames adds to the sound of the wind and the water.

He looks at me curiously.

“I didn’t think you’d know how to do that,” he says.

I tuck my knees beneath my chin, basking in the heat that washes over my face. “Do you know a lot about princesses, wolf?”

“It seems not.” He sits down beside me, and nods at the flames. “Did your father teach you?”

He sounds skeptical, and he’s right to be. The only thing my father taught me was how to act like a lady so that he could parade me around in front of suitors.

“My mother.” I chew my bottom lip. I’m unused to people asking me questions about myself, and it feels strange. “She was from the Snowlands, originally.”

“Ah, well, I hear it’s pretty cold over there.”

“Yes.” I pull the cloak closer around me. “The clue is in the name.”

The alpha laughs, a soft, surprised sound. “Aye. That it is.” He hands me his flask. “If you won’t let me tend to it, at least clean your cut. I don’t want to have to take you to the healer when we get to the castle.”

I pick up on the darkness in his tone. “You don’t like healers?” I wash the blood off my sole. There’s barely a scratch there and I’ve always healed quickly. It should be fine in a couple of days.

“This particular healer is an obnoxious prick who I’d rather we avoid.”

The shadows curl around us, and my breath mists in front of my face. I nod at his pack. “Shouldn’t you be putting up the tent?”

“The tent?”

“I thought we were staying until morning. Where am I going to sleep?”

A slow smile spreads across his face. “You can check for a four-poster bed in there if you like, Princess. But I’m pretty sure I forgot to pack it.”

“You want me to sleep on the floor?”

“Aye.”

“Where are you going to sleep?”

His eyebrows dip in confusion, before he nods at the ground.

“You’re going to lie down beside me as if you were. . . as if you were my husband?”

“Well. . . not exactly like that, no.” There’s a wicked glint in his eye and I flush. “Now, behave yourself and lie down. You’ll catch your death of cold if I move away.” He lies on his back, clasping his hands behind his head. “I know, it’s scandalous. I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.”

When he winks, I huff and lie on my side, turning away from him.

The grass is surprisingly soft. I’m not sure if it’s because the mountains block the wind, or if it’s the alpha’s strange body heat—but some of the stiffness in my body eases.

“What is your name?” I ask, suddenly.

“Callum.” His voice is soft, and lilts slightly, as though he’s surprised I asked.

“Callum?”

“Aye.” He sounds amused. “Is there something wrong with my name?”

“No. . . I. . .” I glance at him over my shoulder. I take in his hard jaw covered in stubble, his wild hair, and his large biceps, bulging against his sleeves. “I expected you to have a more. . . brutish name. The name Callum makes me think of a mischievous young boy.”

He chuckles. “Believe it or not, I was a mischievous wee lad once.” His eyes glint playfully in the firelight and I can almost imagine it.

It warms something inside me, and I look away before he catches me smiling.

“It’s nice to meet you, Callum. I’m—”

“Your name is Rory,” he says, and I bristle. Nobody calls me that, and it’s far too familiar for a wolf who has stolen me from my bed.

“I’m Princess Aurora.”

He merely chuckles.

Before long, all I can hear is the crackle of the fire and Callum’s breathing.

I don’t know how I’m going to sleep under these conditions.

I’ve been taken by the Wolves. Tomorrow, I’ll be presented to the mysterious Wolf King. And right now, I’m lying beside a man who is not my husband.

I gasp as the realization of where I should be right now crashes over me.

Callum stiffens. “Princess?”

I roll onto my back. “I was supposed to marry Sebastian tonight. I should. . . I should be his wife right now.”

Callum turns his head to the side. “Aye.”

A warmth builds inside me. I don’t hide the slow smile that spreads across my face as I turn my gaze to the infinite sky.

I feel Callum’s eyes on me for a moment longer, before he too looks toward the stars.

“I told you he wouldn’t touch you,” he says.

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Chapter Ten

I’m warm. Hot, even.

My eyelids are heavy and when I open them, pink sunlight floods my vision.

Strange dreams of large Wolves and moonlit woods ebb away, leaving me confused. I’m not in my bed. Grass tickles my cheek, and the air is crisp. My nightdress is damp with dew, and a chorus of birds and wind and rippling water resounds around me.

There’s another sound, too; low, steady breathing.

Something heavy presses down on my waist.

My eyes widen as it all comes back to me.

The alpha, the siege, and being taken from my homeland.

What’s more, Callum has me tucked against his chest. He must have pulled me to him while he slept. I must have let him. Goddess!

I try to shuffle away, but a soft snarl vibrates in his throat. My pulse quickens as I push at his heavy forearm. This time, his growl is low and dangerous. His fingers are splayed across my torso, holding me to him.

My breath hitches.

I have never been this close to a man before.

I glance over my shoulder. Despite his threatening sounds, his eyes are closed and his face is soft with sleep.

I slap his arm. “Get off me, you big oaf! Get off!”

He groans, then rolls onto his back.

“Good morning to you, too, Princess.” His voice is rough as he opens his eyes.

My cheeks are flaming, but he doesn’t seem embarrassed. I wonder if he’s used to waking up beside women he has just met. He’s handsome, I suppose, in a bloodthirsty warrior kind of way.

I sit up, pulling my fur cloak closer to me to shield me from the cold.

I focus on the mountains that surround us instead of the crease on the side of Callum’s face where the grass has left a mark, or the soft smile playing on his lips.

As well as illuminating the rugged scenery, the dawn exposes me.

Usually, in the morning, I would bathe, and my hair would be brushed and styled on top of my head. I’d be presented with pretty dresses, and ladies-in-waiting would fuss over me—cinching in my waist, and concealing my flaws.

I would sit in front of the mirror for hours, sometimes, tinting my lips and hiding the shadows beneath my eyes. I was supposed to be perfect before anyone saw me.

Away from all that oppressive finery, I feel naked.

My mouth tastes bad, and my eyelids are puffy, and my muscles ache. I know my skin will be unnaturally pale.

Callum is watching me.

Does he have no manners at all? Does he not know how rude it is to stare at a woman when she has just woken up?

My throat tightens. I need to get away from him.

I scramble to my feet, and wince as I march away from our little camp.

“Going somewhere, Princess?”

For all he knows, I could be running away. If he knew I could ride, perhaps he wouldn’t sound so amused.

“I’m going to wash.” I clamber down the rocks to the loch. “You Wolves may be content to fester in your own filth, but I am not.”

I tiptoe to the water’s edge.

The loch stretches on for miles in either direction, the rippling surface reflecting the mountains and the pink sky above. Just ahead is a small island, covered with evergreen trees. Shallow waves lap the smooth stones by my filthy feet.

The morning air fills my lungs, and, as I exhale, the anxiety leaves my body.

I’m out of my depth, and I just woke up beside an alpha in the Northlands.

But I have never seen such a beautiful landscape. It’s so wild, and peaceful, and free.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Princess,” says Callum. “The water’s pretty—”

I shriek as I step into the shallow water. The icy temperature jolts through my body and I shudder.

“Cold,” finishes Callum.

He’s rolled onto his stomach to watch me. There’s a wide grin on his face.

“I’d rather be. . . a little cold. . .” I begin, trying to hide the violent chatter of my teeth, “than caked in dirt. . . although you clearly don’t feel. . . the same.”

“I don’t feel the cold, remember, Princess? Isn’t that why you were snuggling up to me all night?”

“I was not!”

“You know, I could get completely naked right now and jump into the loch and the temperature would have no effect on me whatsoever,” he continues, as though I haven’t spoken. “In fact, you’re right. I am caked in dirt. I think that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

“Don’t you dare!” I demand as he gets up and tugs his filthy shirt out of his kilt.

“My dirtiness is clearly offending you, Princess.”

“The only thing that is offending me, Callum, is your complete lack of decorum.” Something unreadable passes over his eyes, though he continues to smirk. “Now, why don’t you make yourself useful and sort us some breakfast?”

He laughs at that—loudly and unabashedly. “Very well, Your Highness. Don’t take too long. The water’s cold and it’ll be noon before we arrive at the castle. That’s a long time to be shivering. Although, I’ll happily warm you up again after.”

His teasing tone provokes something that sounds almost like a growl from me. It seems to delight Callum.

“Go away,” I say.

“If you’re not out in five minutes, I’ll be coming in after you.”

Despite how much he is antagonizing me, I find the corner of my lip twitching once he has disappeared.

He is clearly in good spirits this morning, and for some reason, that fills me with warmth.

Until I realize why he is so happy.

By noon, he’ll have done his job and delivered me to the castle, and I’ll be at the mercy of the Wolf King.

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