Chapter 46

The next morning, blessedly, Elva woke up feeling infinitely better. She bounced around the room without a care in the world.

When I told her about her prospective wolf ride, she buzzed with excitement. She wiggled her arms back and forth and jumped up and down on her feet.

She pouted when I made her sit down.

“You had a serious fever only twenty-four hours ago,” I said.

“That’s a hundred years ago,” she countered. She kicked her legs under the chair. “I want to ride a wolf.”

“You will. But we have to wait until you are well.” I wasn’t going to take any chances this time, not after what happened. She had gotten sick because of my carelessness. Never again.

“But, Mommy…”

“Elva. The wolf will still be there tomorrow.”

“What if it isn’t?”

“It will be.”

Keeping Elva safe from sickness was only half of my worry. Since Lena’s threat the night before, I didn’t dare bring her into any location where she would be at risk.

Today was the day of the hunt. Our prey was a wild boar. They were dangerous when cornered, with their sharp tusks and instinct to charge. Whatever Lena had planned for me undoubtedly would make that risk even worse.

I didn’t want Elva anywhere around this event.

Leaving her in the care of the nanny, under the protection of Mark, I set out to face my fate.

Out in the courtyard, each of the girls were given a weapon of their choice, then sent with their wolves out into the forest hunting grounds.

The princes would also participate, though would spread their attention among all the girls, and not necessarily focus entirely on the hunt itself.

After greeting my wolf companion Silver, I chose a bow as my weapon.

The princes were already swarmed with the other girls, so I didn’t have any opportunity to say hello. That was fine with me, honestly. I didn’t need the flash that came with that.

The hunt was the event, so the hunt was what I would focus on.

“This might work for us,” I said to Silver.

She tilted her head, one ear flopping. For a full-sized wolf, she was very adorable.

“If the rest of them are distracted, this gives us advantage of finding the boar first.”

Silver chuffed, then turned toward the forest. I quickly followed her lead. As a wolf, she could more easily lead the charge. With her heightened sense of smell, she likely already knew the general location of the boar, if not its exact spot.

Occasionally Silver would stop to sniff at the ground, pressing her nose into the underbrush. Then she would grumble and continue forward.

Eventually, however, after sniffing the ground, she lowered herself a bit, tensing up. I quickly did too, crouching low with my bow at the ready, arrow notched.

We were close.

I leaned against the side of a tree and peered around it. A massive boar was in a clearing just beyond, digging into the dirt.

It was huge and meaty, with large curling tusks. This wasn’t just a dangerous encounter, it was deadly.

How would one of the more inexperienced girls have dealt with such a monster? Perhaps the organizers never considered a girl would find it on her own, without the help of the princes.

Silver looked at me. She was letting me take the first shot.

Because we had the drop on the boar, we held the advantage, both in terms of attack and protection. I could wound the animal before it ever noticed me, if I couldn’t simply finish it off in one shot.

It had been a long time since I’d done this, but, as proven at the archery training those weeks before, some skills never fully left me, even if they grew a bit rusty.

Lifting my bow, I lined up my shot. I steadied my breathing to keep my aim true. I drew back the arrow, pulling tight at the bowstring.

Crack.

The bottom of the bow snapped from the pressure. What kind of weakly made –?

The boar jerked its head toward me, alerted now of my presence.

I was behind the tree but Silver was mostly exposed.

The boar kicked out the ground. It was going to charge!

“Silver, run!” I rushed from my cover to push the wolf into action. I wouldn’t see her get hurt, not if there was something I could do about it.

The boar rushed forward, tusks first. With a horrible squealing noise, it tore through the underbrush, twigs and leaves snapping underfoot.

Silver darted to the side, but I was too slow. The boar was coming right for me.

The boar was fast, but Silver was faster. She lunged at the boar, colliding with its side. It veered off course, missing me by a few mere inches as I rolled out of the way.

Silver rushed back to me. She nosed at my side and helped me up onto my feet. As I put weight on my ankle, I winced. I must have twisted it. I wouldn’t be able to run like this.

“You have to go, Silver. I’ll climb a tree or something. I’ll be okay.”

The stubborn wolf absolutely refused to move from my side. Instead, it leaned its head back and howled.

Calling for help? I wasn’t sure.

The boar faced us again. It huffed and dug both feet into the dirt. It was going to charge again.

With her howling done, Silver lowered her ears. A growl erupted from her throat.

The boar, monstrous and angry, didn’t seem to care.

It shot forward like a bat out of hell.

I tried to move, but my ankle shot blinding hot pain through my leg. I stumbled. The boar redirected its course, continuing right for me.

Silver darted forward.

Suddenly, an arrow flew through the tree line and plunged into the side of the boar. It staggered.

A second arrow immediately followed the first. Aim true, it felled the creature. The boar collapsed, dead.

Silver stopped. Her head turned toward the way the arrows had come from. I followed her gaze, but I didn’t see anything yet. I heard them though, two figures rushing through the foliage.

“Piper,” Nicholas said when he breeched the tree line. Julian was close behind him. Their wolf companions bounded forward, stopping to meet Silver. They pressed their muzzles together.

I was so relieved, to see all of them and know I was safe, that I collapsed down into the dirt.

“Piper!” Nicholas said again, alarmed. He pushed toward me even faster than before. He dropped to his knees beside me. Holding his hands over me but never quite touching, he seemed to be searching me for damage.

“I’m okay,” I said, grimacing. “It’s just my ankle.”

We both looked down. It had already begun to swell, pressing out against my leather boot.

“Piper, you alive?” Julian asked from behind us. He’d walked to where I’d dropped my bow.

“I’m alive,” I said.

“Twisted ankle.” Nicholas frowned at it like it had done him personal harm.

“Glad you aren’t dead,” Julian said as he picked up my bow.

“Me, too,” I agreed. “You both have excellent timing. Another minute, Silver and I would be in much worse shape.”

“What happened?” Nicholas shouldered off his backpack and began searching through it. He pulled out an elastic bandage.

“Silver and I had the element of surprise. I had a clear shot. But then my bow…”

At that same moment, Julian brought the bow closer to us. The wood had split clean through along the bottom.

It was far too clean of a break to have been natural.

Nicholas stilled. Fury burned in his eyes.

Julian spoke with his usual lighthearted tone of voice, yet his tight grip on the broken bow revealed his own anger.

“Seems like someone wants you dead, Piper.”