Chapter 108 - They’re our enemy

HADRIAN

“Your Highness?” The words crawl over my skin like they never have done before. They don’t belong here.

My mind is quick to assess the situation before me. The two soldiers are young. They both have a silver crescent moon insignia on their shoulders. *Cadets.*

They both have the emblem of the First Division embroidered on their chest. The gold tread shimmers in the light. *General Zeno.*

That last realization makes my blood run cold. If two cadets from Zeno’s troops are here then there are more. General Zeno has no business being in this area.

Unless my father sent him to search for me and Emma.

If Zeno finds us, his troops will definitely capture us. There is no way I could fight them all off, especially without Nero.

One of the soldiers takes a step closer. “Prince—“

An arrow flies through the air before he can finish his sentence. It lodges itself squarely in the chest of the soldier. He looks down at the arrow for a moment and raises his hand to pull it out.

I pull Emma behind me in a reflex and look around to find where the arrow is coming from, but I only see the trees of the dense forest.

Blood gushes out and coats the hand and uniform of the soldier. The silver shines through the blood. The soldier sinks to his knees with a scream when the wound doesn’t heal.

The other soldier realizes what’s happening and his eyes turn black before transforming into his wolf. His uniform rips into shreds and pieces of fabric fly through the air. In his place appears a mid-size light brown wolf.

He growls and bares his teeth as he charges towards us. I draw the silver dagger from my waistband. Never in my life, I thought I would get into this situation.

The betrayal is clear in the brown eyes of the wolf and hardens with the quest for blood.

Dex drops from the trees and lands on the back of the wolf. He sinks a silver dagger into his shoulder before the wolf throws him off. Dex rolls over the grass and lands on his hunches.

The wolf whines at the burn slicing through his shoulder. It crawls back and fear is evident. Dex rises and in smooth controlled moves reaches for his bow and pulls a single silver arrow from his back.

“Stop,” Emma shouts from behind me.

I catch her wrist when she walks past me. “Emma.” I try to warn her with the slight pressure on her wrist. She cannot blow our cover now.

Emma tears her hand away with a force that I didn’t expect. “He’ll die.”

“That’s the point,” Dex says with a coldness that chills everything around him. There is a single-minded focus and a darkness in his eyes. He lifts the arrow to the squirming wolf.

“Don’t do this.” Emma begs and the hurt breaks her voice.

There is no moment of hesitation as the arrow flies the short distance and hits the wolf right in the heart. The shot is precise and life dies quickly from its eyes as its body goes limp.

Emma runs to the wolf as if it isn’t three times her size. Dex stops her and there is no hint of easy charm now. “They’re our enemy.” There is only hatred and murderous intent. “If we don’t kill them, they will kill us.”

I walk to the other soldier lying by the riverbank. The arrow hasn’t pierced his heart, but blood oozes from ragged burning flesh. He won’t survive this. I lean down and the silver dagger feels heavy in my hand.

Fear is clouded in his eyes as life slips away from him. He knows it too. “G-general Zeno is on a quest to find y-you and your mate.” His words are barely a whisper and I’m sure nobody can hear the low mumble. “W-we had the order to deliver you to A-alpha King M-magnus, dead or alive…”

“May the Moon Goddess watch over you,” I whisper before his heart stops beating and his soul is returned to the moon.

“Kill him,” Dex says as he places his bow back over his shoulder.

I stand up and hide the dagger. I turn to Dex and match his scowl. “He’s already dead.”

The pain of grief flows through me and tightens my chest. I know that the feeling isn’t completely mine. Emma is shaking and I move to go to her.

“I got her,” Lucas whispers and I lock my muscles. Lucas takes Emma away from the bloody scene. The need to hold her feels impossible to ignore, but I know it will raise questions.

Dex tears the silver dagger and arrow from the lifeless wolf and picks up the other arrow from the grass. “They’re getting closer.”

I watch how he washes away the blood in the river until the silver is spotless. “Troops are moving down the river thirty miles from here.”

Dex has dirt stains on his clothes, his hair is disheveled and he has blue marks under his eyes. The exhaustion is clear, but the focus in his eyes is sharp. “It must be that wretched prince.” His face sours more and I would laugh if the situation wasn't this grim.

“Might be,” I say instead. It serves me better if everyone thinks that they think that I would hunt her down with a whole battalion. Even if the idea alone makes me sick.

“I swear when I get my sights on him…” Dex stores the arrows in the case behind his back. He rises from the ground and tabs the flat side of his silver blade one inch below my solar plexus. “I’m going to shoot an arrow right here.”

The singe of the silver burns through the fabric and stings my skin. I’ve been scarred too many times to flinch at the pain.

There grows a sinister smile on his face before pulling away the dagger. “Make it extra slow and painful.”

“What do you suggest we do, Dex?” Kelsey asks as she hovers over the wolf's corpse.

I watch how the wind blows through its fur. Many emotions clash in my body. There is grief for the loss of a citizen of my kingdom. There is pain at the death I just witnessed. There is relief that Emma is safe for now and there is fear for how long that might last.

“We have to get to them before they can get to Emma,” Dex says as he moves to join her. “We have to move up the timeline.” The concern is evident in him too and it equally fuels my anger as relief.

They are hesitant and keep a six-foot distance. Even though the wolf is only mid-size and early twenties. He’s probably not been a soldier for the First Division very long. I can imagine the pride in his family for joining the First Division, only for him to join a meaningless war.

“What about Emma?” Kelsey asks and I can hear the genuine concern in her voice.

“We have no choice.”

Emma doesn’t reach their level. She has been training for months. She has made progress and is still progressing. The need to help her get stronger and tap into the supernatural in her blood becomes even more urgent now.

I cross my arms and turn to Dex. “How are you going to get to the Alpha King?”

The plan was to wait for the Blood Moon in a few months. My father always makes an appearance at the festival. A gesture to the citizens of Sanguinem. The plan was solid as long as they didn’t plan to fight a werewolf on that day. It wouldn’t be as easy now.

“I have some ideas,” Dex says, he doesn’t elaborate further. There is something unpredictable about Dex, something radical.

Dex taps a foot against the lifeless wolf, then turns to us. “Get rid of the bodies, burn them.”