Chapter 116

Elroy POV

I’ll guard the door, Olivia told me through our mindlink even as she transformed into her beautiful silver fur, and I felt another rush of power as I put on my own fur and turned into Denis’s attack.

Snarling, he went right for my neck, but I ducked down, surprising him, and managed to hook my claws into his underbelly. He snapped back around as though the blood matting his fur were nothing and came at me again. I swiped him across his nose, though he turned his to avoid the worst of it.

I knew I had to maintain dominance in the fight and kept at it with quick bites and whistling claws, not giving Denis enough time to recover. He stepped back, but I instantly followed. But then Denis twisted around and managed to get my right front paw in his mouth. He whipped me back and swung me to the center of the tent, but I countered by rolling on my back and raking him with my rear legs.

Denis was tiring, I saw, too high on adrenaline to feel the effect of the fight myself, even though the floor of the tent was slippery with both our blood. I saw him gather himself for a final engagement with a roaring growl, but again I anticipated him and darted in with a quickness those who fought me had learned to fear.

With my jaw clamping down on his shoulder, I raked my hind claws down his underbelly once again, this time splitting the skin in half. I felt him freeze in place as we both knew it was a killing wound.

I dropped his dying body to the ground and backed off. A dying wolf can still inflict a lot of damage, and I was starting to feel my injuries.

To my surprise, he changed into his skin, lying there in a mix of his blood and viscera. He moved his left hand, looked to Olivia, and whispered through lips bubbling deep red, “Please. Please come to me.”

Olivia put on her skin and went to his side and, somewhat to my dismay, readily took his hand.

“I’m so sorry I cannot make you my queen,” he said next. “I wanted to offer you the world.”

She smiled at him sadly. “I know. In your own way, I know you meant well.”

I was about to object rather strongly, hardly noticing I had donned my skin to speak, when Olivia’s eyes met mine.

I’m comforting a dying wolf, she told me. Nothing more.

Somewhat mollified, I stood there as Denis’s eyes began to fade.

“I have loved you all my life,” he said next, his voice barely audible. “I knew the Goddess wanted us together, but it didn’t—I didn’t.” He drifted off, then came back. “You’re supposed to be mine. Elroy isn’t supposed to win you. I don’t understand.”

“I saved your life,” Olivia said next, shocking me. She had done what?

“But that didn’t make us fated for each other,” she continued.

“It did, though,” he breathed, and I knew he was seconds from death. Then he was pulling a small pouch from his belt that he pressed into Olivia’s hand. “Tell Elroy I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, my love.”

Together, we watched Denis embrace the Goddess. Briefly, I felt sorrow, but only briefly. His ill-advised ambition had killed so many.

Olivia leaned back and away from Denis’s cooling corpse and looked at the pouch in her hand.

“What is it?” I asked, hesitant to act on my desire to sweep her up in my arms.

She shrugged at me, and I saw her eyes were slightly wet. She opened the pouch and found a small glass vial full of a clear liquid.

“I don’t know,” she said, “but I can feel its power.” She put the vial back in the pouch and put it all in her pocket before rising to her feet. She looked at me with a smile.

“Are you going to sweep me up in your arms?”

In two steps I was at her side, where I did indeed wrap her in an embrace so desperate I worried about crushing her.

She laughed and held me back almost as tightly. In a moment, we were kissing, and I felt against her lips the anxiety and care of the last hours,

I said I knew you would come, but it’s still wonderful to see you.

I laughed into the kiss and felt pure elation. It’s wonderful to see you too.

I felt my knees hit the ground before I realized my legs had buckled. Olivia’s arms helped soften the impact, and soon she was easing me to the ground and shouting for a medic.

A young—why were they always so young?—medic ran in then and rushed to me after the briefest glance at Denis’s body.

As he knelt beside me, Olivia moved closer to my head and took my hand, much as she had done with Denis, except that I could feel the sincerity of her care.

“How goes the fighting?” I asked the young wolf.

“We’ve almost routed them completely, Alpha,” he said while moving my clothing aside to examine my wounds. “Several have run off, and there is debate about whether to pursue them”

I looked to Olivia. “Bring a commander here.”

She dropped a kiss on my hand, nodded, and left the tent.

The medic put a wet cloth on the wound on my side, and I hissed at the sting.

“Sorry, Alpha.”

“Ignore me,” I muttered. A wave of exhaustion was threatening to drown me. I concentrated on the pain to stay awake.

Olivia came back in with Commander Elliot, an excellent choice. I motioned for him to kneel beside me.

“Allow them to flee or surrender,” I told him. “Try not to kill any more of them than we have to.”

“Of course, Alpha,” he said.

“Spread the word that Denis is dead. Tell them I won’t be displaying his body or putting his fur on a rail.”

He nodded.

“And make sure our medics tend to their wounded.”

To my surprise, he smiled wryly. “I get the idea, Alpha.”

I laughed then winced when the laugh hurt. “I trust you to see to it all, Elliot.” I waved vaguely.

Well, it was actually a weak wave, but “vague” sounded better to me.

“Thank you, Alpha,” he said before rising and leaving the tent.

Olivia took my hand again. I smiled up into her eyes.

“You look so tired, my dear.”

She sighed with a wry smile of her own. “You’re not looking full of pep yourself.” Her gaze slid over to Denis’s body, which one of my aides had covered with a field blanket. She shook her head in sorrow. “Such a waste,” she murmured.

“What did you mean about saving his life?” I asked, fighting back a little groan when the medic washed the wound on my leg.

“When I was a child, I was taken,” Olivia said. “During my captivity, I found two boys around my age. They were dying. I used the Goddess to heal them, and we escaped.”

She winced. “Well, they escaped. I had to make my own way out of there a few days later.” She looked down at me. “One of the boys was Denis.”

I absorbed that information as best I could. “Who was the other boy?”

She frowned. “I don’t know. His face is hard to remember. But I remember I had to save them both.”

I couldn’t help shaking my head. “You’re leaving out a lot of details, my dear.”

She chuckled weakly and waved at the tent with her free hand. “I promise to tell you everything later.”