45

B E A U

✿

The war briefing of all the soldiers gathered around the big table in the King's conference room faded into the background as I heard her voice in my head. I felt it inside me, in my whole body.

Beau.

Then a light kiss on my lips. A kiss that felt so much like Georgie I could almost taste her on my mouth. I got warm and my wolf snarled for his mate.

To hell with this meeting. I had already said everything anyway. A quick glance at Xenos was enough to let him know what I was up to.

He nodded at me and there was a small grin in his eyes. "Come on, go."

Xenos was clear that one should not behave a dominant wolf from his mate. And damn it, I wasn't going to spend my last four weeks away from Georgie. Without offering any further explanation, I left the room and bolted down the stairs, snarling at any fucking guard who tried to get in my way.

Suddenly Arrow appeared in front of me. I didn't need to ask to understand what was going on, because his gray eyes spoke volumes.

I growled. "Where? Where the hell is she?'

Rowtag, who had run across the lobby and now stopped in front of me, said out of breath, 'She must be somewhere in town. We've lost sight of her."

My wolf roared, threw himself against the chains. 'Damn blockheads both of them! If something happens to her, I'll rip out your fucking guts."

Rowtag paled and jumped to the side as I stormed off.

How could I have ever thought that she was good? Georgie might look like a fucking angel, but my girl still drove me insane with her stubbornness.

G E O R G I E

✿

Alarm bells rang in my head as I jumped off the stool and rushed towards the curtain. I had already grabbed him when she yanked my shoulder back. The purple velvets ripped from the poles and fell to the floor with a loud crash. Then her teeth were on my neck as she leaned over me from behind.

Quick and hard, my elbow shot into her stomach. I spun around, smashing a fist into her jaw at the same time. She stumbled back and bumped into the table.

Then I ran. I hadn't been so stupid as to wander around Minkaujin without a weapon. I had left the bow in the palace, but all I needed was to get to the knife in my boot.

I ducked under the Persian rugs, parrying the wall of shelves, but Malvera recovered quickly, and with a speed that only senior werewolves possessed, she grabbed my neck and slammed me against the wall of shelves. One of their mason jars shattered against my back and I felt the worms' wet, slippery skin as my back crushed them. I choked.

"Don't even think about the fact that you're faster than me," she spat at me as her claws dug into my throat.

"I won't open the gate," I gasped, hiding the knife behind my back.

"Maybe not and maybe yes."

The worm slime that dripped down made the grip on the dagger slippery. "I thought you could see into the future."

"There are several versions of the future, there isn't just one." She squeezed harder and I struggled to breathe. "You'd better thank me for keeping you out of harm's way."

Her fingers dug deeper into my skin and blood ran down my collarbone as I launched my attack. Malvera didn't see the knife coming, which I quickly whipped out and pulled across her arm while slapping the worm guts in her face with my other hand.

With an angry yelp she released me and I ducked under her arms and sprinted away.

Damn, what a labyrinth! I looked for my way through the hanging carpets to the outside, but the candles had gone out and despite my night vision I couldn't orient myself by them.

'I'll find you, child. Don't run away.” Malvera whispered and I felt as if I could already feel her breath on the back of my neck.

At the back I looked for a way out and almost despaired when suddenly I no longer wandered around through the carpets, but turned into a room that seemed to consist of rows of shelves.

"Where are you, my child?"

I rushed down the aisles, trying not to focus on what the glass bottles contained. The floating eyes in one of the mason jars gave me enough to guess. I turned right, another time left, then I saw a back door.

“BOOO!”

I cried out in shock when she suddenly stood in the aisle. Her frizzy red hair stood up in a mess. "You must be trapped now."

Feverishly I searched for a way out. What were their weaknesses? Certainly not speed, and neither is strength.

I got into a fighting stance. Tried to snap out my own fangs and extend my claws like so many times before. Come on damn it! If I could feel my wolf, I would transform and bite her throat.

She slowly walked toward me, clawed hands. 'It will be quick, child. Just a single cut through your throat.”

She was crazy. Totally insane. I improved my grip on the dagger. "You won't get me that easily."

she giggled. "We'll see." Then she charged. Lightning fast, with hard, solid punches. I dodged her, ducking under her kicks but was too slow to dodge her claws and she sliced through my pink blouse, catching my arm. She was too fast.

'Don't you think you'll get in more trouble if you kill me than if I live? After all, I'm a guest of the king.' I tried to distract. I dodged her fangs, faked a left attack like Beau had taught me, then dug my knife into her right hand.

She grunted and yanked the dagger from her stomach. "If he knew what you are, he'd want you dead too." Malvera then threw the knife down the aisle and it skidded across the floor. She smiled evilly at me. "So now we'll see how you do without your gun."

My chest heaved violently with my rapid breathing. Think Georgie, think! "My pack will hunt you down, disembowel you, and gut you alive if you dare harm me."

"I'll take that risk." With that, she threw herself on me and we smashed against the shelf with such force that it tipped over and one shelf after the other broke like dominoes in the room.

Pain coursed through my back and my ribs broke with a loud crack. I gasped, trying to breathe through the thick haze of agony as I lay on the broken shelf and stared up at Malvera, whose teeth were gaping.

I pushed her away in a panic, preventing her from biting my throat, as a booming rumble made everything around me tremble.

With a jerk, Malvera was torn from me.

"You dare touch her?" Beau yelled, and I heard someone hit the floor.

I struggled to my feet with a groan, just in time to see Malvera pull something out of her layers of skirt and hurl it onto the wooden floor in front of Beau's feet.

Beau was already preparing for a killing blow when green smoke exploded, obscuring our view.

My blood froze to ice when I could no longer see him. The vivid memory of his death still lingered within me, so present as if I had actually lost him for a few minutes. "Beau!" I yelled, not for fear of Malvera hurting me, but that I might lose him again. I found my feet, stretched out my hand. "Beau, where are you?!"

A hand closed around mine and pulled me to a hard chest. The mate ribbon flared.

Beau.