No!
Axil lunged forward and finished the wolf, ripping his throat out in one clean bite but my heart leapt into my own throat when he looked back at me with one closed eye.
He’d lost his sight in one eye.
No.
No.
No.
It was a death sentence. Especially going up against Brutus next. I looked over at Ivanna’s old alpha and he was grinning ear to ear.
“Alright, final fight of the day. Let’s do this.” Brutus stepped into the ring and I did as well, a growl rising in my throat. He was completely ignoring the fact that a dragon had just landed on the lawn and that Axil had an injured eye. It was a weak move, one I needed to protect my man from.
“The king needs water and to hold council with his training coaches,” I called out, stalling for time.
Training coaches? Technically he didn’t even have one. But Dorian and Cyrus could pretend to give him tactical advice so that we could check his eye and give him a chance to catch his breath. If we stalled long enough, maybe his eye could naturally heal. Maybe it wasn’t that bad. Maybe—
“What’s going on here?” a commanding voice boomed from behind me. I’d forgotten about the dragon king. He’d come at the wrong time if he wanted us to roll out the pleasantries.
Dorian and Cyrus moved into the center of the fighting ring to check on Axil while I turned to face Arwen’s husband.
He was a mountain of a man, built much more like us wolven than the skinny fae and elvin. He was staring wide-eyed at Axil’s bleeding wolf in the center of the fighting ring, clearly shocked to see his old friend, the king, in such a state.
One of the red-robed advisors stepped closer to the dragon king and extended his hand. “King Drae Valdren? You’ve come at an inopportune time—”
“What is going on here?” the dragon king commanded again, holding the stare of the wolven advisor like an alpha would. I liked that he was creating a scene, because it was buying time for Cyrus and Dorian to tend to Axil so I said nothing.
The advisor cleared his throat. “There must be two heirs of royal blood or the king has to enter into a challenge fight with whomever challenges him,” he said. “Last night, Ansel Moon was killed and, therefore, King Axil must fight to keep his place as our leader.”
Drae looked upset at that news that his old friend was having to fight to keep his birthright and I instantly felt guilty for putting him in that position by killing Ansel. Maybe we should have just locked him up …
A tall and slender blond male elf stepped up beside the dragon king and rubbed his chin, staring at me. He was the man who’d been riding on the dragon king’s back. Kailani wandered over to him and kissed his cheek.
Ahh, the elvin king.
“There are two heirs,” the elf king stated.
The advisor rolled his eyes. “What do you know, elf? You just got here. Like I said, master Ansel was killed last night, therefore only one wolven carries the Moon bloodline—”
The elf king stepped closer to the advisor and tipped his head up high and his power charged the air, caressing my skin like a tangible thing. “There are two if you include the one growing in her belly.” He pointed to me and the breath was stolen from my lungs.
“Impossible!” the advisor commanded. “It is forbidden for the king to have any relationship with a candidate in the Queen Trials.”
Oops. I was going to have to let that truth come out.
Was this a ruse? He couldn’t possibly know I was pregnant this early. Was I pregnant? My monthly bleeding wasn’t due for over a week and we’d only bedded twice. My heart hammered in my chest like a terrified elkin but hope also grew inside of me. Even if this were a lie, it was a good one. Axil’s friend was cunning and this could keep him from having to fight.
“We have bedded since I arrived here last week,” I blurted out to the shocked gasps around me. Not exactly queenly behavior but I didn’t care – whatever kept this ruse going.
Whatever saved Axil from having to fight Brutus with one eye.
“Lies!” someone from Crestline pack called out. “He’s trying to get out of fighting Brutus.”
The elf king looked at the man who’d yelled. “I am Raife Lightstone, king of the elves and the greatest healer to ever be known. I can detect life in a woman’s belly before even she knows.” His voice was strong but held a threat to it.
Chills ran the length of my entire body then. Was he telling the truth? Could I really be with child? Tears filled my eyes because I wanted it to be true so badly.
The surrounding wolves gasped and some clapped excitedly. Axil was beloved among his people and I knew they wanted him to carry on his reign if possible.
“Prove you are the elf king! We’ve never seen you. Otherwise this could be a trick!” someone yelled.
Just when I wondered how in the Maker’s name he would do that, Raife nodded, walking over to Axil’s wolf.
Axil was lying in a pool of blood with Cyrus and Dorian hovering over him trying to inspect him. There were wounds all over my beloved and it was clear to see his eyeball and lid had been punctured and torn right through.
The elf king kneeled before Axil, and Cyrus and Dorian left to give them space.
Raife looked down at Axil with a grin. “Hello, old friend.”
The elf king placed his palm over Axil’s eye and a purple light emanated from his hand, causing the entire crowd, myself included, to gasp. King Raife scrunched up his face, squinting his own eye and I wondered if this process somehow hurt him.
We watched in wonder as a moment or two later, the elf king removed his hand and Axil’s eye was healed. He blinked up at Raife with a wolfish grin on his face. Raife then left the fighting ring and came to stand by his wife as Dorian whistled to get the crowd’s attention.
“We have our proof. There are two heirs! That means Axil is still rightful king!” Dorian shouted.
“No!” Brutus bellowed and lunged for Axil’s wolf, shifting in midair. It was the fastest shift I’d ever seen.
I looked at the Royal Guard, who stood at the sides of the ring and were closest to Axil. “Protect your king!” I screamed, running for my mate but I was too far away to stop it.
My heart was in my throat, as Axil bared his teeth, taking the hit of Brutus’ wolf head-on. They crashed together snarling and then the Royal Guard pounced. You hadn’t seen fighting until you’d seen the ruthless Royal Guard wolves of Death Mountain. They shared one mind as they advanced on Brutus in pack formation. Dirt kicked up, obscuring my vision and the sound of tearing flesh could be heard. Strips of fur and meat were thrown out of the swarming fight and I couldn’t take it anymore. I moved to rush deeper into the cloud of dirt when someone grabbed me from behind.
“I got this.” Madelynn’s voice reached my ear and then a great wind rushed past, pushing the dirt cloud out of the way.
I sighed in relief when I saw that Axil had not moved from where he’d been standing a moment ago. The Royal Guard had torn Brutus to pieces in front of him.
It was over and relief ran through me at the fact that Axil had kept his life and his title as king wolven.
Axil started to shift then, into his human form. Cyrus stepped forward and handed him some trousers and then Axil walked towards me. When our eyes met, my heart exploded because Axil looked at my belly and grinned.