Page 16 of The Forbidden Wolf King
We all looked at each other in confusion.
“You will be searched,” he added and that got us moving.
I reached down into my boot and pulled out my small knife. Ivanna did the same and some of the others too.
Eliza took a fancy jeweled hair clip from her blonde tresses and held it up. “Will I get it back?” she asked and I rolled my eyes.
This girl was begging to die.
“Of course,” he said as she dropped it warily in the bag. He cinched it shut and then tossed it onto the ground in the corner of the tent. “For the next trial you will be blindfolded and dropped off at an unknown location.”
A few gasps caused him to nod. “You must make your way back here to basecamp, living off the land to keep you alive. A queen of the wolven needs to be able to live off the land.”
My attention immediately went to Eliza and I watched as the blood drained from her face and she swayed a little on her feet. This wasn’t a normal Queen Trials challenge. At least not in any of the ones I’d heard about.
This was it. This was how she died. Wet, cold, and with no food in her belly as a giant cougarin split open her gut while she slept. I sighed when she looked at me in terror.
Don’t make friends.
My brother’s words bounced around my skull and I tore my attention away from her.
Two wolven guards entered the tent then and patted us down for hidden luxuries that might make our wilderness survival any easier. They took my leather strap belt which only caused me to roll my eyes. I could go into the challenge naked and still fare better than Eliza and most of the others.
Ivanna was from Crestline pack and I knew she would have knowledge of how to survive the elements. Olesa too. I’d met her yesterday and come to find out she was from Upper Rim pack. It was better weather than Crestline, but they weren’t as modernized as the other packs.
Everyone else was screwed. The other nine girls were from cities or villages that were extremely spoiled, with market stalls to buy their food from. I could guarantee none of them had so much as picked a piece of fruit from a tree their entire life. Or skinned a bearin.
When we were completely stripped of anything of use, we were called out of the tent. The crowd cheered wildly at the sight of us and we made our way to a set of three wolf sleds. My gaze flicked around the crowd until they landed on my brother.
Find water first,he hand signed.
I nodded.
Make alliances. Assassinations possible, he added and my stomach dropped.
Of course. Ivanna could cut my throat in my sleep and say I died of a bearin attack.
I nodded again to indicate I understood him.
Relief spread through my chest as I realized I would be able to help Eliza without feeling like I was betraying my brother’s command not to make friends. I snaked my arm out and grasped her hand, pulling her next to me.
She looked terrified and when I drew her to me, she peered at me expectantly.
I hung back with her a few paces as all the others walked ahead of us and I was sure the roaring crowd was too loud for anyone to hear.
“Do you want to have an alliance? I can help you survive the elements if you take watch while I sleep. We can rest in shifts,” I said quickly.
Relief washed over her face and she squeezed my hand. “Yes. I didn’t want to die on my birthday.”
I stilled. “Today is your birthday?”
She nodded shyly.
A sickly feeling washed over me then. She shouldn’t be here. Why was she even put forward for this fight? She was too sweet. Dominant yes, but too loving and innocent and all the crap you needed tonotbe in order to survive these trials.
“Well, this is the shittiest birthday party I’ve ever been to,” I commented and she barked out in laughter, which made her look like a young teenage girl.
“Thanks. I needed that.”
