"Take me instead."
Three words. The fastest decision Guinevere had ever made in her life. No regrets.
Heads turned.
"I am Guinevere Lunaris. King Lunaris's favorite daughter and crown princess. My value is higher."
A ripple moved through the 300 chained and kneeling around her.
Alpha Stonehowl's eyes snapped to her, and he let go of Maria's neck. She fell to the floor coughing.
"You would die. For everyone here?"
"Yes."
He stared at her in disbelief. Guinevere didn't flinch or look away.
"That takes some balls. I'll give you that," he said after a moment. "Let us see how brave he taught you to be when I open you on his floor."
Her stomach turned over once and stayed turned. But she held his gaze.
Warriors grabbed her arms, and shoved her forward to her knees in front of their Alpha.
The Alpha grabbed her chin, tilting it up. Then he went very still.
"You are the one Renwick keeps tucked away. The one no envoy ever gets to see at his table."
"You." He shot to the nearest chained woman. "Is she still untouched?"
The woman's voice was thin enough to snap. "Yes, Alpha Stonehowl."
"Has she had her first heat?"
"No, Alpha."
"Has she shifted?"
There was a pause, because the woman knew what this might mean.
"No. She is a runt."
Guinevere kept her face very still. Her wolf stayed small and silent at the back of her ribs. A secret no one in the room knew.
Stonehowl let go of her chin, and circled her once. "Change of plans. My son needs a wife. A Lunaris virgin princess will do." He tipped his chin to his men. "Chain her. We are done here."
A warrior took each arm. Her wrists were already cuffed behind her back. They escorted her out of the throne room with the kind of grip that said try it.
Degrading. Humiliating. She kept her chin lifted, and didn't flinch. No one was in the streets. But she knew at least 200 were there, all hidden.
A little wolf pup poked his head out from a barrel. She was careful not to turn her head, but her eyes met his. One look and he understood. He lowered himself back down.
They marched her past the courtyard to the south gate. Impaled on silver spears along the wall were the heads of the old guards.
Her stomach lurched. Old Bren, who had let her win at dice. Calder, who had taught her how to fight with a blade.
On the wall above, letters dripped in fresh blood:
LUNARIS FALLS TONIGHT
Stonehowl looked back at her and smiled.
Her eyes burned and overflowed before she could stop them, two hot lines down a face she was trying to keep blank. She did not raise her bound hands to wipe them.
"Remove the silver," he ordered once they were out of the city gates. "No scars."
A guard removed the cuffs, replacing them with an iron chain instead. He tied cloth around her mouth tightly, without a word.
Unnecessary. But okay. She wasn't planning on making conversation with any of them.
The same guard who had just gagged her, picked her up and mounted on his horse with her in one motion like she weighed nothing. Her ankles and hands were bound, so she was side-saddle. Lovely.
Side-saddle. Like a regency painting titled 'Girl Being Trafficked.'
They rode without further words. It'd be a full two days journey to the Stonehowl pack house. She ran the calculations in her head.
Lunaris's army would be back tonight. Whether her father would actually send for her was a different story.
Her eyes closed at one point from exhaustion and the inability for her mind to reconcile the situation.
They opened again when she felt the gallops stop underneath her. The guard picked her up, then dropped her onto the frozen ground. He chained her to a tree far enough away that heat from the fire wouldn't reach her. But still close enough that if she tried anything, they'd hear.
It was below freezing and snowing. Her body shook, shivers mixed with hot tears. She closed her eyes, refusing to let any of them see.
What woke her the second time was the hissing of the iron binding her. She stared down at it, having never seen anything like it. The metal was melting like warm wax and she wondered if she was dreaming.
The fire was low and moon high. Tents were pitched. Soldiers slept. Three stood guard, none looking at her. They thought her a wolfless runt that posed zero threat. Good.
The dried leaves would make it impossible to run without waking wolf ears. When she got up, she would need to commit.
Shift. Run. Don't die. A simple three-point plan.
Her wolf bristled in her chest, and for the first time in her life, she did not push it back down.
Mother, I am about to break my promise to you. I'm sorry.
It was the last thing her mother ever asked. But this was her chance, and she wasn't going to waste it.
She pushed herself to her boots and didn't wait, shifting mid-step. White light exploded outward. A small detail that made staying hidden in the middle of the night really difficult. But she was faster as a wolf, and light or not, they'd hear her either way.
"Lying bitch. GET UP!"
"After her!"
"She's lying about her wolf!"
"I can SEE THAT!"
Shifts happened behind her. Paws hit the earth. Not only had she lied about being a runt, she was also attempting an escape. Two crimes against Stonehowl in under five minutes. Personal best.
There was no question her throat would be ripped if they caught her. She ran as fast as she could, a blur of white.
The paws thudding behind her drew closer. This was her third shift ever. And her wolf was not in the same shape as these other wolves.
She scanned looking for a hiding spot. The trees grew denser to her left, and she needed cover. The second she turned towards it a roar came from above. Followed by a column of fire right where she was heading.
Screams rang out.
She skidded to a halt, then changed directions.
Another roar followed, with more fire behind her.
A glance up confirmed what she already figured. The silhouette of a dragon in the moon. Odd that it was on this side of the world.
The dragon roared again. Fire tore through the air in front of her now. More screams and howls sounded behind her.
Her paws hit the flame and she braced for agony. None came. It should have killed her. But, to her utter bewilderment, it felt warm in a way that made her feel good.
She didn't question it, letting the fire roll over her fur as she ran. Eventually, the howls behind her grew distant. The roars stopped, and the flame faded.
She didn't stop through the entire night, very much aware she was a beacon of light that would attract attention if seen.
It hadn't fully registered that she was back in Lunaris territory until she felt the stares. Wolves in the distance were tracking her. At least twenty. All familiar.
She kicked herself internally at her own stupidity. Then pivoted, sprinting in the opposite direction.
A forest green wolf chased after her. Her half brother, Cassian. Because of course it would be him. He ran at Alpha speed, a blur and began closing the distance rapidly.
If he got close enough, she was done. There was a chance he'd already picked up her scent as it was.
In a game-time decision, she leapt into the half-frozen river, shifting to human form. It was about as cold as expected. Every nerve in her body fired at once and then stopped firing, and her lungs locked. The cold went so deep so fast that she could not feel her own hands closing around the rocks beneath her.
But this would cover her scent which was the number one issue. She forced her head under the water, holding it as long as she could.
Cassian's paws passed. More followed.
When she came up, they were gone. She climbed out of the river, soaked and shivering.
Her options were "glow in the dark" or "die of hypothermia." She was going to need a moment to weigh these.
Hypothermia won. She took one step, then realized, her dress was entirely too heavy to run with, not to mention already freezing into ice.
She untied it quickly, and threw it in the river behind her. Underneath was a long-sleeved, see-through slip and her white lace undergarments. Excellent.
Paws thrummed in the near distance, and pure undiluted panic tore through her. Her legs moved on their own, boots hitting earth at a speed she didn't know she had. She tried to keep her breathing steady, but her lungs kept tightening the closer the paws got.
She was so focused on not dying that she managed to run face-first into an unmovable chest that came out of nowhere. The first warm thing she had touched in twelve hours.
An arm went around her and a hand covered her mouth before she could scream. Which, she would have, because it definitely scared the living daylights out of her.
She looked up, trembling. Tall. Broad. Warm. And currently the only thing in this forest not actively trying to murder her.