Page 47 of Wolf’s Fated Bride

I shouldn’t have been reading that in my teens, but once I did, I told Maren about it, and she snuck out to read it too. Our mother found her out, and I’ve never seen Mother more scared. She made us swear we would never speak of what we read in those pages.

Maren grabs her bear and hugs it. “What was it that Bjorn used to say?”

I roll my shoulders and clear my throat, preparing my best alpha male voice: “Surrender the moon to that which owns it.”

“And Freya would say, the moon surrenders.”

The moon surrenders. I sigh wistfully.

“Did you notice how Ash seemed relieved when he saw me with Sven?” Her eyes remain blue, whereas my eyes are itchy and probably hazel.

I sneeze.

“Uh-oh,” Maren says. “Someone’s going into heat.”

I blow my nose into a tissue. “Maybe. Do you think it’s because Ash has someone back home, and he signed the treaty out of obligation to his people?”

“Possibly. He’s handsome enough to have a harem, to be sure.”

A pang of jealousy strikes my chest, but then I remember this is my sister, who would die for her human and not for a wolf.

“He’d look better in a beard,” Maren adds. “I think he might be growing one.”

I don’t like this conversation, so I tune her out. I pack my nesting bag with spare underwear and warm pajamas. I really hope there’s enough wood to last me for the next two to three days. I think I left some wood the last time I was in my secret place, but I can’t be sure since I haven’t gone back to restock in a while. I should have two days’ worth, which will be enough. I hope.

I head for the door.

“Runa?” my sister calls out.

Maren blocks it. “Who are you nesting for?”

“Can’t tell you.”

Her face drops. “Since when can you not tell me?”

I can’t tell her I’m hiding somewhere people won’t be able to find me, because that’s dangerous during the storm. But I’m desperate, and my secret place is safe. I need nesting supplies to stay warm and comfortable where I’m going. “Blade propositioned me.”

Maren jumps up and down. “Nice choice.” She opens the door and ushers me outside. “Get that piece of ass, sister.”

I give her a thumbs-up. “On my way!”

Chapter 19

Runa

An hour is plenty of time to put together a basket from the kitchen and slip in and out of our already confusing castle unnoticed. I might be a terrible tracker, but I’m great at covering my tracks. One has to be when sneaking out at night against one’s parents’ wishes. I’ve had plenty of practice sneaking past the guards.

The daylight makes moving in stealth more difficult, so I don a guard uniform complete with warm mittens and a fur coat, along with a fur hat, and walk calmly toward the abandoned watchtower high above the ridgeline.

In the thick of the wars, and before the volcanic eruption that changed the landscape of the south side of the castle, humans used our watchtower to launch attacks on enemy territory. The watchtower also served as the first line of defense against anyone trying to scale the now-dead volcano.

I remember when it erupted, and we evacuated to human territory until the lava flow ceased. That was the only time I was ever inside their city walls. They live so differently from us. Electronics. Cars. So much noise that it makes me wonder how they haven’t gone crazy from being constantly bombarded by it.

Besides the watchtower being abandoned, another great thing about it is that it’s built to withstand all natural disasters, elemental or otherwise. During storms, the guards draw up the bridge connecting the watchtower to the castle, so I’ll be left alone. When the storm hits, the water will wash off the tracks. There’s no way anyone will find me out here. It’s perfect.

I stick an old key the size of my forearm into the lock and twist it with both hands to unlock the tower’s massive door. The iron-reinforced monstrosity barely moves as I push with all my might just so I can squeeze past it. I close and lock the door, not worried about the scent the coat left on it when I squeezed through. It’s not mine. It belongs to a male guard, and his scent remains.

I pull off my winter hat and look up. Spiderwebs adorn the staircase that leads sixty-four floors up into the clouds. A gate on every eighth floor is marked by one of the eight phases of the moon.