Page 80 of Wolf’s Fated Bride

“No.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I want to see him.”

“No way.”

“Please, Blade. I just want to see if he’s been poisoned.”

“He has.”

“I can help,” I whisper. “I can sneak in meds for him, but I can’t do anything if you don’t let me see him.”

“You Stomcrests have done enough. I won’t let you give him anything.”

I stomp my foot. “But he’ll die if we do nothing!”

Blade narrows his eyes. “He better not, because I’ll suffocate the lot of you if he does.”

“Then you should grant me my last wish and let me see him.”

A male, who I believe is Ash’s cousin, calls Blade over. They whisper, and at first, Blade puts his hands on his hips and shakes his head. The cousin says something that makes Blade’s eyes widen and shift toward me. With a nod, he returns. “You can see him.”

When the guards move aside, the two who are wolves growl in a way that spikes my heart rate. They could tear me to pieces at any time.

Ash lies on the rug beside the fireplace. His fur is matted with blood, and chunks of flesh are missing from his foreleg, exposing bone. Metallic green drool spills from his open mouth, a combination of silver and alchemy. His tongue hangs slack between his jaws, and with his eyes closed, he appears dead.

I crouch beside him and cry while I pet him. His coarse, thick fur feels dull and lifeless. “I’m sorry, Ash. I’m so sorry.”

“I assume the healer isn’t coming,” Blade says behind me.

I turn toward him as I stand and wipe my cheeks. “She’s not. Why don’t you have one with you?”

“Our healers are omega wolves. Ash wouldn’t risk them by bringing them into unsafe territories.”

After hearing about Ash’s sister, I can’t argue with his reasoning. “Do you have a plan?” I ask him. “Besides the one where you suffocate us all?” Can he do that selectively without hurting his best friend and Ash’s pack mates? I doubt it, but I have no way of knowing for sure.

“I’m working on one.”

“I have an idea if you want to hear me out.”

Ash whines.

I gently run my hand over his flank. My fingers come away bloody. “It’s my fault you’re like this. I’ll help you. I’m very sorry about what happened.”

He tries to lift his head, but his eyes roll back, and he slumps into unconsciousness again. Probably a concussion. If I could get my hands on Sven right now, it wouldn’t end well for that man. To think the Peacebroker is arriving with a whole regiment that carries those rifles Sven used, or worse, more lethal ones. It makes me even more determined to pitch my plan to Blade.

“In the kitchen,” I tell Blade, and he follows me there. At the sink, I wash Ash’s blood from my hands while Blade sits across from me at the bar in the same spot Ash sat and ate breakfast the other day. I don’t think I’ll be able to see anything in this tower the same way after the Fireborns are gone.

“I want to start by saying that my brother was wrong for attacking Ash.” I dry my hands and sit beside Blade.

“Why did he attack him?”

“Because Sören smelled me on Ash’s face during breakfast.”

Blade blinks, leans back, mouth slightly agape. “That was yours?”

Heat crawls up my cheeks. “Yeah.”