Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Cursed Dogs And A Bastard Child
I stood up slowly, Lila sleeping in the basket beside the map. My hand went to the faint scar on my chest. The bond roared in my head, three wolves rising close to the surface at once.
Darius’s voice was flat. "Then we meet him on the ridge before he reaches the walls."
Kane’s knife was already out. "We end this before the moon rises full."
Rylan picked up his axe. "And if the curse hits us while we’re out there? What do we do then?"
I looked at each of them, then at my daughter sleeping peacefully in the basket. The rage in my chest was cold now, clear.
"Then we fight it together. Like we always have. And we don’t give up until we conquer it."
Outside the window the moon was already climbing, fat and red on the horizon. One day left.
One day until the full moon.
One day until my father came for my child.
And I was done waiting for him to make the first move.
I reached for my cloak and strapped on the blade Kane had given me months ago. The steel felt right in my hand.
"Let’s go remind him who the hell we are now."
The brothers fell in beside me without a word. The bond burned between us, fierce and unbreakable.
The wind howled again as we stepped into the bailey.
This time, the wolves that answered were ours.
* * * * * * * * * *
The pack filled the open space, torches throwing long shadows across the mud and half-melted snow. Twenty of our best waited in formation, mounted and armed, their breath clouding in the cold air. They watched me walk out with Lila strapped tight to my chest in the sling, her small body warm against me. She was wide awake, tiny fist curled in my tunic, but she made no sound. Like she knew this was not the time for crying.
Darius swung up onto his black gelding first, then reached down to lift me up in front of him. His arm locked around my waist, steady and possessive. Kane mounted on my right, knife already in his hand. Rylan took the left, axe resting across his saddle, his grin sharp in the torchlight. The rest of the team fell in behind us without a word.
The beta who had taken over after the traitor’s execution stepped forward. "The walls are yours while we’re gone. Hold them."
The beta nodded once. His eyes flicked to Lila, then back to me. "We’ll hold them, my queen."
We rode out through the gates before the sun cleared the eastern ridge. The snow was thin enough now that the horses’ hooves rang on exposed rock. The bond between the four of us thrummed like a live wire. I could feel the curse pressing against it, the wolves pacing closer to the surface with every mile. Darius’s arm around me was tighter than usual. Kane’s storm-gray eyes kept scanning the tree line. Rylan rode a little ahead, but he kept glancing back at Lila like he expected the world to try to take her.
We pushed hard, changing horses at the halfway point where we had cached fresh mounts two days earlier. The sun climbed and then started its slow slide west. By late afternoon the ridge came into view, a long black spine cutting across the horizon. Smoke rose from the other side. My father’s camp.
Darius reined in at the tree line. "We go on foot from here. Small teams. We hit the command tent first. No heroics. We kill him and end this before the moon rises full."
I slid down from the saddle and adjusted the sling. Lila was still quiet, her dark eyes watching everything. I kissed the top of her head. "You stay with me," I whispered. "No matter what."
Kane handed me a short blade. "You stay in the middle. If it goes bad, you ride back with her. That’s not a request."
I took the blade and strapped it to my thigh. "I’m not riding back. Not this time."
We moved through the trees like shadows. The bond fed me their tension, their focus, their fear for me and the baby. My latent alpha blood surged hot under my skin, pushing back against the nausea that still hit me some mornings and against the faint scar on my chest that had started to itch again as the moon climbed.
The camp came into view through the last line of trees. Tents clustered around a central fire, wolves moving between them. My father’s banner flew at the center, limp in the still air. He was there. I could feel it.
Darius gave the signal. We broke cover.
The fight started fast and ugly.
Arrows flew from our side first. Two of my father’s men dropped before they even knew we were there. Then the camp erupted. Wolves shifted mid-stride, snarling, silver-tipped blades flashing in the dying light. I stayed in the middle like I promised, blade in my hand, Lila pressed tight to my chest. The sling kept her secure, but every jolt sent my heart into my throat.
A Shadowpine wolf broke through the line and came straight at me. I met him with the blade Kane had given me, driving it up under his ribs the way I had practiced in the yard. Hot blood sprayed across my arm. He dropped twitching. The bond roared with pride from all three brothers at once.
Darius tore through the front line in wolf form, black fur streaked with red. Kane moved silent between the tents, knife flashing. Rylan laughed as he swung his axe, splitting helms and shields.
We reached the command tent.
My father stepped out before we could cut the flaps, two betas flanking him. His eyes found me immediately. He looked older than I remembered, but the arrogance was still there, carved deep into his face.
"Elena," he called, voice carrying over the clash of steel. "Still alive. Still hiding behind cursed dogs and a bastard child. Hand her over and I’ll let your kings live. Refuse and I burn Frostfang with every pup inside it. The witch already promised me the favor."
The bond exploded in my head. Darius growled low. Kane’s knife was out. Rylan’s claws punched through his fingertips.
I stepped forward before any of them could move. Lila stirred in the sling but didn’t cry. I kept my voice steady.
"You threw me away once. You don’t get to bargain for what’s mine now."
I lunged. The blade caught him across the forearm. He staggered, blood welling dark. His betas lunged. The brothers tore into them.
My father looked at me, eyes wide with something I had never seen before. Real fear.
We didn’t kill him. Not yet. Rylan pinned him to the ground with the flat of his axe while Kane bound his wrists. Darius stood over us, chest heaving, fur still rippling under his skin as the curse pushed harder with the moon rising.
The camp was ours. Bodies littered the snow. The surviving wolves fled into the trees. We took my father alive and rode back hard, the moon climbing higher behind us.
By the time we reached Frostfang the pack was waiting on the walls. They cheered when they saw us, louder than they had in months. I rode between the brothers with Lila still strapped to my chest, blood on my hands and on my cloak, but my head was high.
Inside the chambers the door shut heavy. I handed Lila to Darius and let the brothers clean me up. The bond hummed fierce and warm while they touched me — gentle on the new cuts, rough where I needed it. Darius’s palm stayed low on my belly out of habit, even though Lila was already here.
But as the fire burned low, another sound drifted up from the southern ridges.
Horns again. Closer. Angrier.
My father’s remaining forces were regrouping.
And the full moon was only one night away.
I looked at the three of them, then at Lila sleeping peacefully in the cradle. The scar on my chest itched again, the bond straining as the curse tested us harder than it had since the birth.
"We have one night," I said quietly. "One night before the moon rises full and the curse pushes like it did before. We use it."
Darius met my eyes. "Then we make it count."
Kane’s hand found mine. Rylan’s grin was back, but it carried an edge.
The wind howled outside the window.
This time, the wolves that answered were ours.
But the moon was rising.
And my father was still breathing.
* * * * * *
The full moon crested the ridge like a fresh wound, red light flooding the bailey and turning the snow the color of old blood. The moment it did, the bond in my chest twisted hard.
Darius’s claws punched through the tips of his fingers where his hand rested on the table, then retracted with a wet click as he forced them back.
Kane’s breathing turned shallow and fast, his scarred knuckles gripping hard around the hilt of his knife.
Rylan gripped the back of a chair so hard the wood creaked, his amber eyes glowing gold before he blinked it away.
