The Red Wolf (The Wolf Fey #2) (15 page)

M
y next few nights in the palace were far pleasanter than those that had passed. I was escorted to a beautiful, lusciously decorated bedroom with a soft, feather-filled bed covered with silk, jade-colored blankets. The air smelled like perfume; I could even see the soft light of sunset streaming in through the high, though barred, windows. I was uneasy. Did taking this room mean lying to Breena? No, I resolved – no matter what happened, I would tell Breena the truth about Delano's character. But right now, as I saw the soft mattress before me, took in the sight of the heaping fruit plate by my bed, I was too tired to resist. The moment the guards left, bolting the door behind me, I threw myself onto the bed, devouring whole fairyfruits in a single bite. How good it felt to be clean again – to feel water on my skin and fruit juice on my tongue! To feel pillows against my aching, misaligned back!

I ran my fingers through my hair, finding not the sticky tangle of blood and fur that had lived there for days, but rather my customary brown locks. It was like being born again – born to a life of human dignity I had all but forgotten. Despite my resentment of him, I found myself – to my shock – feeling profound, gratitude towards Delano. How kind he was, to give me this room! How generous!

Oh no you don't, I stopped myself. This was exactly what Delano was trying to do. Having treated me so cruelly for so many months, Delano knew that shocking my system with kind treatment would be almost enough to sway me in his favor. The newness of things I had once taken for granted – a warm bed, good food, a clean scalp – would make me weak. I had learned to bear my agonies – but how could I bring myself to go back to them, now that he had shown me this sliver of light and hope? I shuddered.

What if Delano came to me this very moment, and told me that if I did not swear to tell Breena that he had been consistently kind and good (or worse, if he asked me to tell him about the Wolfstone), he would consign me back to the dungeon immediately? Would I have the strength to laugh in his face as I had done so many months ago at our first dinner together? My legs were shaking with exhaustion, with relief; the food made my belly warm. I willed myself to have that strength – if it came to that. But I didn't know if I'd be able to be that strong.

Even for Breena. My heart ached as I thought of her. How I longed to have her alongside me in this large, soft bed – to hold her in my arms again. But just as deep down I knew that whatever I told her about Delano, she would never bring herself to love him, so too did I know she would never bring herself to love me. I had seen her connection with Kian – a connection she had even been willing to sacrifice me to preserve. I had seen the way they looked at each other. I had seen the telepathy that linked them...

No – no- no! I shouted inwardly. No, what Wolf would slink away so easily with his tail between his legs just because his woman looked with wide, unblinking eyes at another man's gaze? No – I would fight for her. Rear up on my hind legs, puff out my chest, roar out a howl, do whatever it was that an alpha wolf did to get his woman.

And fighting for her meant, perhaps, giving up all this – the second Delano demanded I make a choice to be loyal to him or to refuse, I would have to say goodbye to the only semblance of comfort I had seen in weeks.

And of course I'd never know when Delano would decide to call me to account for this new kindness. Clever Delano, I scowled. This psychological torture was almost as bad as the physical one.

I thought once more of my dreams of Connell as I got up to wash my face in the marble washbasin. He had been a strong Wolf, a brave Wolf, a Wolf who had made the ultimate sacrifice for his fairy land. He had given up not only his immortality, but also his place in society, for the Wolves that he created were no longer considered true citizens of Feyland. Over the years, his sacrifice was forgotten as new rulers with agendas of their own came to power and ruled the many lands of Feyland. The legend of The Red Wolf and Midnight Knight became fables, no longer relevant to a new generation of fey.

My fever-dreams had shaken me to the core. I had always known myself a Wolf, always felt a connection with my lupine self, but my visions had made that connection all the more powerful. Now, more than ever, I felt the calling to do proud my grandfather's spirit, to return the Wolf to his rightful place alongside the Fey: equal partners in Feyland.

With Breena as the Summer Princess, a fey who knew no politics or hate, I saw hope for the Wolves. Perhaps Delano saw hope for Pixies through her, too.

How tragic it was, I thought, that the unity engendered by the Midnight Knight and the Red Wolf had not lasted. That within a few generations, Feyland had become so divided, so torn apart by strife? I thought of Delano – so cruel, yet in so much pain. Would men like him exist if we had all managed to carry the mantle of the Midnight Knight and Red Wolf the way they had wanted?

But they had gone, of course – they had followed Queen Panthea into the night, never to be seen again. Until Feyland needed them. Well, I thought bitterly, Feyland sure needed them now.

I washed the last traces of dirt from my face.

I heard footsteps behind me.

“What are you...?” I whirled around, fully expecting to see a guard, surprised that I had not heard the unbolting of the door.

But instead what I saw filled me with unmitigated shock.

Standing before me was the Red Wolf, Connell.

Epilogue

M
y mouth dropped open. I took a step back, my hands instinctively flying to a sword I no longer wore.

“Do not be afraid, son,” said the Red Wolf, his voice low and strong and comforting. “After all that we have shared in our dreams, do you really think I mean you ill?” He smiled softly. “I came to you in your dreams, allowed you access into my life, into my mind. Do you know why I did that, Prince Logan?”

I shook my head mutely.

“I knew the day would come when I would come to you. When you needed me most – my strength. My power. Today is that day. But first I wanted you to get used to the idea of me, to teach you all the truths that Feyland has since obscured about the history of our race, our magic. After me and my sacrifice, Wolves were no longer truly welcome in Feyland. They had to seek a home elsewhere, settling Beyond the Crystal River. Intermarrying with humans. Losing their magic, generations after generations, just as they had lost – with me – their immortality and silver blood. Now Wolves of today cannot do what I did. They cannot fly; they have no wings. They cannot communicate telepathically, as my clan could. They cannot use the magic of Feyland as their Fey brothers do. And many are ashamed of this. They think of themselves as the Fey think of them: as second-class citizens in Feyland as well as in the land Beyond the Crystal River, truly welcome nowhere. But I wanted you to know the real history of our race, Wolf Prince. I want you to be proud of the origins of the Wolf Fey. I was the first Wolf King. Before I vanished, called by Queen Panthea, I knew another of my race – a woman called Luna who fought at my side. The night before our final battle with the Dark Hordes, as we both feared for our lives, we at last consummated a lingering love we had not dared speak of before. When I left with Panthea, I did not know then that Luna carried within her our child. A child that, many thousands of years later, continued his bloodline in the form of your grandfather, the old Wolf King. And now in you.”

I still said nothing, shock rising up in me.

“You will be Wolf King one day,” said Connell. “Your father is a good man – but he is mired in the affairs of the mortal world. He has no wish to return to Feyland. But you, Logan, my heir: Feyland is in your blood. The calling is yours. This is what your grandfather always knew. This is why he always believed in you. To do the right thing. Oh Logan, my son – you have suffered so much and still not broken. Not many Wolves or Fey could have undergone the tortures you have undergone. But you survived them all with such great strength, dignity, and courage. You have the heart of a champion, Logan. All these days of darkness and despair have proven you to be the strongest of the Wolves. You will work with the Fey to unite Feyland once more. Your passion for this is so great that you would risk everything for it. And that is what Feyland needs. A passion for that unity.”

Or a passion for that woman,
I thought to myself. For I knew, at the base and genesis of everything, was my love for Breena. I would do anything for her, including fighting to the death to unite Feyland for her.

“Your grandfather made you promise that you would restore the magic of the Wolf Fey to Feyland,” said Connell. “I know that you will achieve that promise.”

Grandfather had made me promise to marry a Fey girl. A promise that, while Breena was human, haunted me. But as I recalled that oath, I started to wonder...

Could it be that Breena was my destiny after all?

At last I gained control over my tongue. I took a step towards Connell. He looked so vivid, so real – so unlike a ghost.

“But why are you here?” I asked.

“To pass a gift onto you,” said Connell. “Feyland will be challenged in the future, Wolf Prince. Its darkest days are yet to come. You and all your kind will be called to fight. You must have faith. Have hope. Give these gifts of faith and hope to those who follow you and those who love you. Panthea's gift has kept me living for centuries – centuries I have spent, like Panthea, asleep, waiting to dream of the one who would need my gift next. But now I have found you. I am tired. I am ready to join Luna and my son and all those whose lives have gone on without me in the afterlife. My watch over the Wolf Fey and its Kings has come to an end. This is yours now, Champion. Keep it safe. Keep it well.” Connell handed to me a small, red stone. Scarlet and dark. Beating like a heart in his hand.

The Wolfstone.

It began to glow in my hand; I could feel its magic coursing through me. I looked up at Connell. Without the stone, he was beginning to age rapidly – centuries of wrinkles creasing his face in seconds.

He bowed deeply to me from the waist.

“You are the new Red Wolf,” whispered Connell. “Use it well, my son.”

And with that he collapsed. I made a motion to catch him but it was too late. He had vanished into dust.

Leaving me alone in the room.

Alone with the Wolfstone.

But I heard an echo – the echo of the Red Wolf, a voice coming from the stone.

The Immortality of the Wolves belongs to you now, Logan. Carry forth our legacy. Restore our kind.

You are the Red Wolf now.

The Frost Series

Bitter Frost (Frost #1)

All her life, Breena had always dreamed about fairies as though she lived among them...beautiful fairies living among mortals and living in Feyland. In her dreams, he was always there the breathtakingly handsome but dangerous Winter Prince, Kian, who is her intended. When Breena turns sixteen, she begins seeing fairies and other creatures mortals don't see. Her best friend Logan suddenly acts very protective. Then she sees Kian, who seems intent on finding her and carrying her off to Feyland. That's fine and all, but for the fact that humans rarely survive a trip to Feyland, a kiss from a fairy generally means death to the human unless that human has fairy blood in them or is very strong, and although Kian seemed to be her intended, he seems to hate her and wants her dead.

Forever Frost (Frost #2)

Breena's entry into Feyland is marred by danger and beauty. A prisoner in her own palace, she longs to see and touch her forbidden prince Kian. Yet her heart is also still with her friend Logan. The discovery of a long-lost figure in Breena's life propels Breena into the heart of fey politics. In a stunning turn of events, Breena suddenly finds herself faced with the most heartbreaking decision in her entire life.

Silver Frost (Frost #3)

Enter the world of Feyland, where beautiful strong fairies have been at war for years. Breena, the beautiful half fairy, half human princess from Oregon, has ascended to her rightful place in Feyland, as Queen of the Summer Kingdom. Being Queen isn't at all what she expected. Now the weight of Feyland falls heavily on her shoulders. The landscape of Feyland is scattered with the silver blood of fairies, turning the once whitish blue frost of the Winter Kingdom to silver frost, and danger lurks everywhere including within her own court. Secretly in love with her intended Winter Prince Kian, now Breena is faced with the realization of war, and the possibility of Kian as her greatest enemy. To help her navigate through the politics within her court and Feyland, help comes in the form of an old friend. Before she knows it, Breena's heart is torn between two loves, just as torn as Feyland. The fate of Feyland depends on her choices, can she make the right ones even if it means turning away from her love forever?

Frost Kisses (Frost #4)

Midnight Frost (Frost #5)

Available Now

Excerpt from

PULSE

Book 1

kailin gow

prologue

S
he ran like an animal. Her clothes were wet, sopping, clinging to her thighs and to her chest, hollow and transparent around the curve of her shoulders. Her hair shook out droplets of rain; her cheeks were flushed and she was breathless. He could see her heartbeat throbbing at the side of her throat, see it in the rhythmic panting, hear it from across the street, pounding in his ears, intermingled with the thunder bolting from the sky. He could feel it – it felt like an earthquake to him, shaking his ribs, his shoulders, his legs. It had been so long since he had seen a heartbeat like hers – since he had felt a heartbeat at all.