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I pushed s and fastened her closer aroundI would never let that happen

Sweet Victoria She didn’t knothese last few days

After she had freed h the portal, I’d never felt ed to cliister it as a victory A crippling despair had clawed atme The very basis of my existence was my family, and in my entire life, I had never been alone They weretogether since I’d been a cub We’d hunted, eaten, fought, defended, laughed, cried, rejoiced as one Being the youngest of seven siblings, I’d never knoorld without the them stripped froed open Most of what had happened next was a blur I’d just been aware of the pain, inside, not outside, even as they er had arrived outside liain, that fleeting connection with another feeling, living being Fragile huly fulfilled a need so deep within me, so primal, that it breathed soul into h the portal, escaped the coh the woods outside, I hadn’t been sure what I should do or where I should go The world had seemed vacant and I’d wondered why I was even still in it Nothingseemed fair

Then I had heard Victoria’s cry for help, and it had been a call straight to th Suddenly, purpose returned to me There was sooodwill toward me needed it back in return As I had raced back to the cohts frorief My only focus had beco, dark night, as I raced her away to safety

I was not sure what I would have done without her I didn’t knoould’ve coped returning to my lair only to find out that my uncle and cousin had been the betrayers… or whether I would have had the fortitude now to face as up ahead of us It would kill ht be my relatives by blood, but they were not by soul I felt closer to Victoria than I did to them, and I barely even knew her

"Do you kno ainst irl She had done soof late, and there would be much more to do yet Still, I would look after her I would make sure that she was as comfortable as possible She need not fear while I was around

"We can lower to the ground to check now," I said, realizing that hers was a good question "I think we’re nearing our destination The Bonereavers do not live so far from the Northstones"

As loath as I was to leave this wondrous world of open sky and treetops, I descended with Victoria to the ground

As I gazed around, it appeared that we had traveled quite far ahead of the rest of the wolves They were nowhere in sight yet I sined the look on Brucella’s face as I had lifted Victoria up into the trees and out of sight She fully believed that I would still hter And she would continue to harass e I did not love Rona the way I guessed a lover should I did not know exactly how one ought to feel--for I had never been in love--but from the bond I’d witnessed between er, so more powerful, than what I felt for my cousin If le" all my life, as Victoria had put it, then so be it I refused to let Brucella put chains on ht, I pointed out to Victoria the large gaping hole in the ground--the entrance to the Bonereavers’ abode

"At least there are no hunters around," Victoria said, her eyes darting across the enclosure

I looked around again The Northstones still had not caught up with us

A snapping of twigs drew ing froriht Crude people who talked too er than the h not by nay hair and a beard that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a week He was shorter than h, I had my parents’ fine bloodlines to thank for the fact that I was taller and larger than

He raised a spear he’d been clutching in one hand and poised it in front of hiainst the bushes and stood firmly in front of her, even as I swept out my bow and an arrow fro into a wolf to scare him off, but I did not want to rip my clothes just now I only had a limited number of sets in my satchel, and I certainly did not want to waste one on a Bonereaver

"What are you doing here?" the man snarled His eyes flickered from Victoria--mostly hidden behind me--to me