Chapter 0044
Violet
The rogue wolves snarled, their fangs bared as they barreled towards us.
“Brace yourself!” Theodore yelled. I dug my heels in to the bench and grabbed something. The wolves slammed against the sides of the carriage, I could hear the guards crying out and the sound of the steam engine creaking and sputtering as we toppled over. The wolves howled and circled the carriage. I felt it hit the ground and sidd as if we were on the edge of a cliff.
Were we?
“Out of the carriage!” I yelled, feeling it teeter. Theodor kicked the back window out and we scrambled through it and into the frey. Adrenaline coursed through me, the instinct to fight rising even as my heart raced. The scent of blood and grime filled the air. Theodore pulled out a dagger from his belt as the guards fought their way toward us. We were backed up against a steep incline. The carriage was partially wedged between two trees and stuck. One of the guards was injured, lying on the ground but seemingly still breathing.
“Do you have a plan?” I asked.
“Just stay close to me and trust me.”
So not a plan. Great. I went to the injured guard to check him out. I ripped his shirt to make a make shift bandage around his leg. Then, I crawled back into the carriage for my carry–on bag, pulling my own daggers out.
“Luna,” the guard choked. “You-”
“Don’t move, you’ll make your injuries worse.”
I leaped into the fight, aiming my daggers hard and fast at the first rogue I could reach. There were so many of them, but they were mostly disorganized. The rogue wolves snarled at us, still in their wolf forms. It was telling that they hadn’t shifted to face us on two legs. Theodore stood his ground with his guards.
Jaws snapped. Wolves howled. The scent of blood grew thicker and thicker.
“Luna, this way!”
I glanced over at them, watching them trying to create a path for me to escape.
“I’m not running!” I yelled, kicking a rogue away from me. “What do you even take me for?”
Theodore glanced at me, surprise etched on his face.
“What the ”
I lunged forward, blocking the large jaws of one of them and driving my dagger into the side of its neck with a snarl. It howled. Blood gushed warm and thick over my hand. My heart
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pounded in my ears as I charged forward, losing myself in the familar rhythm of battle.
It was like being back on the border of Darkanoon before I’d met Lucas, before my father had fallen ill, when I had been desperate to prove myself.
“You need to going,” Theodore snarled. “This isn’t your
“I was in that carriage, too,” I hissed. “And they don’t look like they planned on sparing anyone.”
Which meant it could be any number of people. It could have been Lucas. It could have been Owen. We’d have to figure that out once we made it out of this alive.
One of the guards fell, and a rogue wolf broke through their defense. I snarled, turning on the spot and throwing one of my daggers. It slid home straight between the rogue’s eyes. The rogue dropped dead and the guard’s jaw dropped open.
“Holy shit,” Theodore said, seeming impressed.
I called the dagger back to my hand and his eyes widened. His jaw dropped in shock.
“Stay focused!” I yelled, turning to the remaining guards. “There’s more coming at least a dozen more, maybe more.”
“How can you know that?” Theodore asked, coming up behind me.
“Because they fight like border rogues do.”
Theodore
There was no way she could get any sexier.
“You fought border rogues?”
“I’m my father’s daughter.” She panted. “They’ll try to outflank us before the reinforcements arrive. They’ve got us backed up to a hill, but there’s no telling where they might come from. Keep your eyes open.”
A guard joined us, panting and looking out at the rogues still prowling closer.
“Are there no fucking end to them? This isn’t usual.”
“These rogues aren’t like Ben and the others…. You’ve got the experience, Violet. What’s your plan?”
“Looking for the leader,” she said.
“They’re too disorganized for a leader.”
She scoffed. “They’re too disorganized to be sane, but even rogues have a hierarchy.”
“A rogue alpha? Are you serious?” One of the warriors asked. “What are we looking for? Big?” “No,” Violet said. “The alpha’s calling the shots. He’ll show up last. He’s probably lying in
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Cables be
wait, trying to figure out who the biggest threat is.” She wiped her face. “Kill him, and the others will scatter..”
