Page 41 of The Forbidden Wolf King
Dorian sensed it then, something restless in my soul. He set me down, frowning, and met my gaze.
“All well, little wolf?”
I swallowed hard, glancing around at my packmates nervously.
“Let’s give them some space,” Amara said and the pack cleared the firepit area, clapping me on the back as they passed.
When it was just Cyrus and Dorian, I looked my alpha in the eyes and held his stare.
“You heard I brought one of the girls into Mud Flat pack to survive?” I asked him.
He nodded. “I felt it. Still do.” He tapped his chest.
I figured. “Axil tried to break the bond this morning and take her back. He couldn’t. It’s too strong.”
My brother let a curse word fly and rubbed the back of his neck in anxiety but Dorian just nodded. “I see.”
Did he? Did he know what I was about to do?
He opened his mouth to speak when I heard my name called and turned. One of the elder wolven advisors was standing behind me with two guards.
It was time and Dorian would find out my plan soon enough. Best not to worry him.
I turned back around and pulled the big alpha in for a hug. “You’re a good man, Dorian, and you were agreatalpha,” I whispered into his ear as his arms tightened around me.
When I pulled back, he looked surprised at my words, his eyebrows knotted in the center of his forehead in confusion.
I walked over to my coach, my big brother, and pulled him in for a hug next. “Don’t let Oslo see. Keep him in the tent,” I told him and he nodded against my shoulder. Cyrus was clueless to my plan as well but he knew I was protective over my little brother and probably just thought I didn’t want him to see me get injured or kill Eliza.
After turning from my pack, I followed the guards to the fighting ring. I had barely slept, I hadn’t eaten and nausea rolled through my stomach as the crowd chanted my name. I looked up to see Axil sitting on his throne: today he wore the sharp-bladed crown of the king wolven. His brother Ansel stood beside him, glaring at me with his wife Jade at his side.
This would please his brother, to see that we would not end up together. His little brother and king would not marry Mud Flat trash after all.
I turned my attention to the center of the dirt circle to see Eliza, standing tall and beaming at me.
“No rules for this fight! Anything goes!” the elder advisor shouted behind me.
I walked right up to Eliza and placed my hands on her shoulders. “Be good to him,” I told her and she frowned in confusion at my words.
The bell rang and I spun, giving Eliza my back.
I tipped my chin high and raised my voice for all to hear. “I have no doubt I am the strongest wolf in this ring. But Eliza Green is my packmate! We forged a bond so strong even the king himself could not tear it away.”
There were shocked gasps from the onlookers and even howls as people stepped closer to me, knowing what I was about to do.
“And even though I’ve loved that man since I was fifteen,” I pointed to Axil, “I cannot hurt my pack sister.” Eliza crashed into me, wrapping her arms around me from behind, sobbing.
“No,” she said but I ignored her.
“I, Zara Swiftwater of Mud Flat pack, for—”
“I step down as king!” Axil cried out, cutting off my words and my entire body went limp. I could barely hold myself up as shock ripped through me. The crowd shared my sentiment as they wavered on their feet, gasping, booing and screaming.
Dorian was so bowled over by the king’s comment that he spun his attention away from me and we both faced Axil.
“The law states that the Queen Trial must end if a king ever steps down from duty and hands his crown over,” Axil said and then walked down from the throne and strode over to his brother and his brother’s wife. Ansel was as still as a snake before it was about to strike. Axil faced him and took in a deep breath. “I’ll give you back the title of Alpha King if you let Zara and I run away together. You will never see me again,” he told him.
I knew then that he’d planned this all along, that if it looked like I might lose he’d always been ready to do this. His voice didn’t shake, he was so calm, like he’d planned it for months.
