The Wolf Queen (The Queen's Slave, Book 2)

Twenty: Rot

"A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap were outlined in flickering flame. Never in the delirious dream of a disordered brain could anything more savage, more appalling, more hellish be conceived than that dark form and savage face which broke upon us out of the wall of fog."

-The Hound of the Baskervilles

Scars By: Lukas Graham

"Elizabeth you can't be serious." Elijah growled as he paced back and forth, running his hands through his thick hair. "You have to go back. Otherwise, you risk death to all of us. Our mother may be able to accept that I am not worth coming after, but not you. You are the next heir and the strongest of us. If you will not go and claim the throne, then Ezekiel will be the one to sit on it. Is that what you want? After everything he's done to you, you would be willing to just back away and leave the kingdom to destruction?" His voice swelled in anger as stopped, releasing a low sigh and rubbing at the dark circles under his eyes.

I felt the slightest twinge of pity for him because I couldn't imagine how stressful it was being that pretty along with constantly telling everyone what they should do with their lives. I could feel Elizabeth's amusement towards my thoughts as it pooled into my mind, surrounding me in warmth. I winked at her from where I stood next to Camille, my back against the wall.

"Get a room." The redhead muttered under her breath. I shot her a look and her lips curled up, amusement dancing in her eyes. The atmosphere turned rather chilly as Elizabeth's expression soured into seriousness.

"Do not assume me ignorant of what our brother has done. He is a monster. He has tortured innocent people, vampires, since he was barely ten years old. You stand there spouting off ideas and ordering me around and yet I don't see you doing any of the fighting. You have no say here, Elijah. I am not the Wolf King. You are not my right hand man. I do not think your outburst deserves an answer but I will give you one nonetheless. Yes, I would leave the queendom behind in a second if it meant that I could spend the rest of my life with my mate. If it meant I could give her the future she deserves. The future that we stole from her. But the farther this journey takes us, the faster I have had to realize that my mother and Ezekiel will have to be removed from power. I am not ignorant to what is happening in the world around us." Her voice was sharp and biting as she spoke, cutting off the rest of her sentence. Yet towards the end she had softened, her golden gaze meeting mine.

"I have been given a second chance at life, brother. I am not ignorant of our world, but I have to admit, it's not my world anymore. She is." Elijah's mouth opened to protest but Elizabeth held up her hand, barring him from speaking. "Enough. We will know more when Azalea meets with her father. Until then I will return to Ezekiel. Any ideas on what I should tell him?" The stress weighed heavily on her shoulders as she looked at me, a dark cloud passing through her eyes. I knew it killed her to leave me, just as it killed me to let her go.

Camille jabbed me in the side, looking at me with a look that said,"Well? You're the next wolf queen. Say something!" I glowered at her as I turned my attention to the room, a reluctant reply on the tip of my tongue. It was risky and I knew my father would murder me for it, but it just might work. I paced back and forth, my wet hair soaking through the tunic Camille had found for me. My teeth bit into my bottom lip as I tried to work up the courage to say what I was thinking. I could feel Elizabeth's presence swell in anger as she plucked the thoughts from my mind.