A fabled wall, marking the territory of the werewolves and adorned with the severed skull of a once great alpha, stands between Natalya and her prey.
When she finds the body of Anesa, her beloved mentor, she is determined to hunt down the vampire r...
¡Ay! Esta imagen no sigue nuestras pautas de contenido. Para continuar la publicación, intente quitarla o subir otra.
A hand closed over Natalya's mouth, and she awakened, struggling to breathe. Her fingers instinctively closed over the stake that lay against her ribs, and she raised it defensively, ready to strike against her attacker.
"It's me!" she heard a familiar voice whisper fiercely in the darkness, and her eyes flew open, though her fist remained closed over her weapon.
"Voren!" she gasped, lowering her weapon slightly, though she kept it poised to defend herself if needed. "What are you doing here?"
"I've come to see you," he answered, withdrawing his hand. "The others can't know; that's why I've come now." She clutched her chest, waiting for her heartbeats to slow. She stumbled out of the teepee and looked up to see the impassive sky, but without the moons light she could not know what time it was. She guessed that she only slept about three, maybe four hours.
"Anraq still doesn't know whether or not to trust your word," Voren explained. "It's odd that you've made it so far, they usually kill humans on sight for trespassing. Tensions have been growing between your people and mine. He is preparing to send scouts to the Valwood border to verify your claim. When they return everything will be decided."
"What if he doesn't believe me?" Natalya asked, feeling the now familiar pangs of fear flicker within her chest.
"I do not know," Voren answered, not quite hiding his own concern. He too glanced at the empty sky, and quickly changed the subject.
"Come with me," he whispered and his voice held an unexplained urgency.
"Voren, it's the middle of the night. Besides, what if we are caught?"
"We won't be. The others will not be out tonight," he said knowingly, and for some reason his words sent a cold chill down Natalya's spine. Still, she found herself rousing to follow him. Briskly he led the way, his hand clamped tight around hers, first along a path and then veering off of it to go deeper into the forest.
"Where are you taking me?" Natalya asked, but he merely shook his head. Breathlessly, she matched his pace, though her instincts to flee rose within her once more. She shook them off, reminding herself that he had had ample opportunities to destroy her before now and had not. She knew within that she still trusted him.
They reached a clearing that was dimly illuminated by starlight and it was here that Voren finally released his grip onto hers and stood in its center.
Natalya stared at him, transfixed, unable to figure out why he had brought them here. Almost in slow motion, he raised his hands to the sky, his arms stretched out above him as if he were trying to grab all the stars to bring them to earth. At first he stood stock still until he began to change. This was nothing like the graceful transformation she had observed earlier. Now his body mutated grotesquely and painfully it seemed, for he cried out in a torn howl that was carried away in the wind. His bones shifted and broke within his body with loud cracks as his skin rippled and sprouted fur along its length. His mouth elongated into a snout as fangs replaced his human teeth and his eyes clouded over into a blank gaze that shifted onto her. Natalya was rooted to her spot in fear, unable to even reach for her stake as she stared at the fully realized werewolf before her.
