Why Isn't He Turning?
*Hezzlie*
I watch Rowan run off with his men, wishing the circumstances were different, and we weren’t being drawn into this battle to begin with. I remember the peaceful world I used to live in, where my biggest decision was what pair of jeans to wear to school. Sure, life was tough in other ways back then–like my mom struggling to earn enough money to pay the rent–but at least no one was trying to kill us.
As I look out across the battlefield, I see waves of King Solomon’s wolves coming at us, accompanied by King Hudson’s. I’m sure Hudson’s will turn and join us as soon as he’s given the signal to do so, but the others? Well, they won’t go down without being injured or killed.
And that’s my father over there–whether I like it or not. I can try to pretend that King Solomon is just some baddy who showed up out of nowhere to ruin the day, but he’s here partially because of me. Because Aiden and I ran away. If we had stayed, maybe we could’ve prevented this from happening, at least so soon.
“I know what you’re thinking,” my mother says beside me. She squeezes my hand. She’s hardly let go of it since we left the castle. “This isn’t your fault, Hezzlie.”
I turn and look at her, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. What if something happens to her? “It’s not not my fault,” I argue.
She chuckles and shakes her head. “Baby, it’s just as much my fault as it is yours.”
I raise an eyebrow. “How do you figure?”
“Because… I’m the one who chose to sleep with such a horrible man,” she replies.
Immediately, I shake my head. “No, he tricked you. He took advantage of you. He used you and dumped you like the bastard he is. This isn’t your fault, Mama.”
“And it’s not your fault either,” she tells me, reaching up to stroke my cheek. “Let’s do what we can to help and pray that King Hudson follows through.”
I nod and take a deep breath. Rowan told me not to use my powers until I have to–until the enemy soldiers start to invade our territory. Right now, it’s our wolves that are pouring into King Solomon’s land more quickly than he knows how to combat. He seems surprised that we knew they were coming because his warriors stop in their tracks. Some of them even retreat slightly.
But then, he must give them some sort of command through the mind-link because most of them stop retreating and start moving forward again. At first, their momentum is slow, but as Rowan and his commanders hurl into them, they react, and the fight is on.
I can see Rowan from here. He is at the front of the pack, leading the way. I watch as he begins to tear through the lesser warriors. He picks them up and rips them apart with his teeth and claws, sprinkling them onto the battlefield like they’re confetti. Part of me is in awe at how powerful he is, but the other part is scared shitless that something is going to happen to him.
I scan the battlefield looking for other wolves I can recognize, but even though we’re on a rise, I can’t see everyone. I can’t see Aiden or Dean at the moment. I can’t see Brody or any of the other commanders I’ve met. I can see my father back closer to the castle if I really squint. He’s so far away, he’s just a speck, but he’s wearing the kingdom’s colors. Knowing him, he’s probably got a fucking crown on his wolf head. God, I hate him so much.
King Hudson’s troops continue to come forward, like they are going to attack our forces on the left side of our line. I’m waiting for them to turn. So far, there isn’t any true fighting going on there, but with the left coming around King Hudson’s flank and turning inward, if Hudson doesn’t change his line of attack soon, there will be some sort of collision between our forces and his. And I’m ot sure what that will look like. I just hope that the king holds true to his word and doesn’t attack us. Afterall, why would he bother to give us the intel that King Solomon was readying for battle if he had no intention of fighting on our side?
“Can you hear anything through the mind trick?” Mama asks me. “What’s going on?”
Under normal circumstances, I might’ve giggled at her calling the mind-link the mind trick, but not today. “I haven’t been paying attention to all the back and forth,” I admit. When I tune into it, I can hear dozens of voices calling out to one another. Most of it is the commanders telling their men where to fall into line. Some of it is Rowan calling to the wolves around them to let them know an enemy wolf is right behind them or to their side. Sometimes, it’s a wolf being attacked, crying out for help from anyone nearby.
Those are the ones I don’t want to hear. I can’t do anything to help them right now.
Then… I realize something I hadn’t quite thought about before. I hear someone say, ‘Don’t let them past our gates!’ and realize, I can also hear… the enemy.
“Holy shit,” I murmur.
“What is it?” Mom squeezes my hand again.
“I can hear them, too,” I tell her. I turn to look in her direction. “I can hear King Solomon and his commanders. I guess Aiden can, too. But then… he’d be able to hear anything Aiden says.” I haven’t heard my brother at all through the mind-link, and that’s probably why.
“Well, that could be helpful,” Mom surmises. “But… it looks like our forces are getting close to King Hudson on the left. Why are they still charging forward?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “It doesn’t make sense.”
A few seconds later, I hear Rowan saying, ‘What’s going on with Hudson?’ and I imagine he's talking to the informant we have from their pack. ‘Why isn’t he turning?’
Before an answer can be given, I see something else–someone else–a lot of someone elses–stepping out of the trees along the perimeter of the battlefield. Our forces have burst through on the left, flanking Hudson, but behind them, there’s a line of new people–in human form. My mouth drops open. “Is this a… trap?”
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