The King’s Tainted Mate
Chapter 81

With everything that had been going on, my birthday had completely slipped my mind. Not that I had a reason to look forward to it as everything that excited many she-wolves about their eighteenth moon birthday, I had already experienced. And even as Zillah wished me a happy one, I had merely stared at her, waiting for the other shoe to drop. She had called it the right moment and somehow, with her very surprising presence, the history I was now aware we shared, what she'd uttered about my uncle and my tattoo summoning her, I had known that fate was at it again. And there was no way in hell I could have been prepared by what my eighteenth moon had brought with it.

That shoe had dropped with a loud thud that I was sure had echoed all the way to the ends of the realm. Sarabeth had given reasons of why I had been summoned to the council chambers, but with the appearance of Zillah those reasons had turned out for lack of a better term 'false'.

It was not because I was the king's future queen or the mother to Xatis' heir that made my presence of utmost importance in the council. And those were definitely not the things that placed me in a position to hold his place until my mate returned as claimed by Liira. No. It was something else entirely. Something that apparently had come to fruition now that my eighteenth moon birthday had finally come to pass. At least that is what I had gathered from all the strange words spoken by the very ancient wolf that had been summoned by Liira. Cerus, she called him.

And the more he spoke, the more I felt as though the entire realm was weighing heavily on me. The more I wished to slip out of the council chambers and away from the excitement that graced every other face except mine as the old wolf kept speaking. I wished to get away from the discoveries I was making of my own existence with each word that proceeded out of Cerus' mouth.

"So I was right to think she had traces of being an alpha?" Liira's excitement, the expectation I knew the rest of the council shared, only served to burden me even more.

"Not exactly." Zillah, whose gaze I had avoided for the most part answered. "Referring to her as an alpha is belittling the gift bestowed on her.

She called it the gift of the twin wolves. What I had known to be nothing but ancient lore about twin wolves who had been charged with being protectors and balance keepers of the realms, was apparently true. From the woman I had called mother once, had come the narration of the tale, told while we all sat around the hearth back in the forgotten village. A tale of twin wolves, born of an ordinary she-wolf and yet bestowed with the power to watch over the magical creatures. Both the powerful and not so powerful. Those above the surface, the deep and below the surface.

The men had walked the realms as ordinary creatures doing that which the gods had charged them with. Until power went to ther heads and they desired to be as gods among among those they meant to serve. Reigning with an iron fist as they sought to subjugate all the creatures they were meant to watch over.

For that, the gods stripped them of that power and would later split it among all the magical creatures. With each species having a chosen among them to carry that power. One deserving in a particular generation and bloodline of the gods' choosing. For the creatures of the moon, the lot had apparently fallen on me.

Something Zillah claimed she'd known I would possess when the tattoo had appeared on my arm all those years ago, making me the chosen wolf. I called it a curse, however, and the root of all my misfortune.

It was as she claimed what my uncle had always been after. The reason I had been snatched from my mother barely hours after my birth. The reason my mate was now in the clutches of my perverse uncle and the reason Xatis and the entire realm faced an evil that threatened their very existence. And it had been what Zillah had been protecting more than anything...more than me. I was simply the vessel that carried it. Fate's pawn. That had left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"It is more than being able to bark orders at other wolves and having them fall at your feet or do your every bidding. Definitely more than possessing brutal strength." At this, Zillah's gaze fell on me, the conviction therein stirring something within me. "It is about restoring and keeping balance. And I wouldn't think of it as traces either. It would only seem so because she has not yet come into the fullness of her gift."

Balance... I'd never hated a word before, but I did now. Keeping balance, watching over kingdoms, fighting evil, was what the gods did, not mere wolves. Not me. I only longed for the simple things in life. To smile with the rising of the sun each day. To be free to do that which I loved and more recently, to love... I only longed to be by his side. If I was willing to fight for anything, it was him, the child I carried and the bond that bound us. The one I was unwilling to let Myrna have or anyone else for that matter.

"And it is because of all that that makes you the perfect wolf to embody the power of the gods." As if she could gaze right into my soul and tell what I was thinking, Zillah gave me that reassuring smile that always showered me with the will to keep going, except this time I merely shook my head, unwilling to accept what she termed my destiny. Because despite everything, I realized that I had been the source of pain. Of mine and those close to me. This destiny bestowed on me had been the thing to set the wheels of fate turning and granting me a stake in everyone's pain that came with it.

I turned to my father. He wore the smile I'd come to love, but the worry lines were evident too and I couldn't fault him for that. Because we both knew that one way or the other, I would be taken from his side yet again. And whether I would be back there again depended on fighting my own flesh and blood in a war I had only discovered had been years in the making.

Evarius, as warm as he had seemed, had set his sights on acquiring the seat of power that would place him above every wolf, creature and kingdom in the realm. And for that he'd traded in his heart for the darkness. For sorcery. And for years he'd patiently waited for the one chosen by the gods to end his madness. But a fight was not what he prepared for while he waited. No. He'd waited for the chosen, because as it turned out, he'd discovered that to have success in his endeavours, whatever the gods had endowed the chosen with, was what he'd need.

"How did we not know this? We could have done a better job at protecting the poor girl and stopping Evarius." Frustration laced Derian's words. "My son would be here right now and we wouldn't be risking everything by agreeing to that lunatic's demands." "Every generation brings with it someone with an insatiable apetite for power." Zillah pointed out. "And to maintain balance, it is the gods' business to whom such secrets are entrusted to-"

"Except a mere throne is not what he desires, but the vastness of the realms. He longs to be a god and e*****e us all! Surely the gods would have made exceptions so that we were better prepared." Derian let out an exasperated sigh.

It should have spurred me into accepting who I was meant to be and relieve him of that burden, but watching the former king of Xatis grab at straws while searching for ways and means to avert what was coming only added to the burden brewing in my heart. I wanted no part of it. The whole ordeal could go horribly wrong and I could end up giving Evarius the very thing he sought and damn every soul while at it. The guilt of that would consume me whole. "I need a moment." I sprang up from my seat and flew across the room catching everyone off guard.

"Shyla! It's not safe- will someone stop her!" Derian's tone was full of panic, but I couldn't bring myself to stop.

"I just need a moment to breathe." I told myself as the heaviness of it all kept pressing. "My lady!"

"Dear child...you can't-"

Pleas to stop rang out in my ears, but I ignored every one of them as I scurried down the hallways seeking any door that would lead me into the open. And if I had doubted Zillah's or Cerus's words before, the strength with which my feet carried me cracked that unbelief. Together with the hasty way that the sea of guards parted to let me through as I drew near. It was as if an invisible force willed the men to stay out of my way and while I marvelled at the sight, I chose not to stop to comprehend it.

"Oh my lord, is this not inappropriate for a man of your standing?" A maiden's giggles drew my attention to a couple standing in the shadows. But it was not the indecent show they were putting on that made me turn in their direction. "Pardon me." I slipped past them and towards the open door, hoping the couple's smell of wine and scent of arousal would at the very least throw those intent on stopping me off my scent.

The sun was already setting and the air outside was fresh, but the grounds were littered with guests. Drunk guests. And when the first of them slurred a greeting, I shot for the woods, hoping to replace solitude there.

"Dear child, where in God's name do you think you are going?" My father, with Rakon by his side had been the first to emerge. Followed by Liira, Zillah and my personal guards. So much for hoping they'd been thrown off my scent. "There is nothing there except darkness." My father pointed out of the unfamiliar woods I was headed for. I should have stopped, but it only spurred me on, knowing that that was exactly what I longed for at the moment. Solitude. Even if it was to be had in darkness.

"My lady, please-" Rakon's tone held more panic than my father's, but not even that would stop me. And if I was not so intent on getting away, I could have sworn that another force had been behind my desire to escape.

"What in God's name is this?" Liira cursed from behind me. A lot further back than I had expected her to be and when I looked, I realized that she was not the only one. They'd all stopped for whatever reason. I thanked the gods for it and moved deeper into the woods without a moment's hesitation.

"Well, well, well. If it's not the king's little mate, all alone in the woods." My hairs stood on end as my eyes sharpened at the sound of a familiar voice. I'd heard it only once but it inspired the same fear I'd felt the first time I'd heard it. "Talk of the favour of the moon goddess. Presenting this old wolf with such a precious and delicious gift at this time of day." A tongue licked at the lips of the ghastly one eyed wolf that stood in my path. He had survived! Panic washed over me as I beheld the leader of the vicious outlaws I had fought before. When I'd encountered him on our way back from Dovah, he had been a whole man and intent on having me.

"Stay away from me." Hands resting on my belly protectively, I growed to which the wolf only chuckled.

"I wouldn't be that ungrateful to the moon goddess for this second chance, lass. You and that mate of yours caused me a great loss..." He pointed to his missing eye and his small band of wolves. "...why would I throw away such a golden opportunity to get some of that back?"

Growls filled the air as wolves fast approached and circled me without a moment's notice. They would not wait to attack, I realized. And even if I could howl for help, no one would get to me in time. Both hands dropped to my belly. Whether for protection or in apology to my child for my recent stubborness, I was not sure. What I was sure of was that I was all alone and being left with only one choice, I hoped, I prayed that this 'gift' had exceptions as I let my wolf have control.

It was an odd time to accept whatever I was and as I looked to the gods, I made promises I shouldn't have. If I and my child would get out of this alive, I would do whatever it was they required of me.

I shifted and a startling truth hit me almost instantly. My shifting was different. It wasn't as I had come to know it. There were no breaking of bones. At least not as I had experienced before. Only a warmth that engulfed me as I slipped from one form to the other. Something craddled my heavy belly as it suddenly felt weightless allowing me to land on all fours, growling and snarling at the enemy.

"It's not possible! What kind of sorcery is this?!" I could have asked the same thing, but I was was caught off guard when my mind link merged with the wolves surrounding me and I was thrust into their loud conversations that consisted of nothing but fear of the sight before them. I could have shut it off, but I fed off of it as I claimed my first victim, their warm blood sending my wolf howling in victory.

If the remaining wolves had been smart, the sound should have sent them running, but they foolishly came at me, teeth bared and intent on avenging their fallen brother. We were ready. How? I did not know, but my wolf answered to every growl, every snarl before breaking out in the dance of death. Bones cracked under the pressure of it's canines, flesh tore with ease as the blood of our enemies soaked up my wolf's fur. Yelps should have inspired my wolf to let go, but they only spurred it on as it saw, drew closer with insane speed and conquered.

Only when nothing but the silence of the woods remained did my wolf let go and I slipped from one form into another. The bitter cold greeted my naked self whose hand still craddled my belly and reminded me that nightfall was upon me. And as spectacular as my conquest had been, I was unwilling to face another. So I reached for my gown which I slipped on with a little difficulty.

"Help us!" I was about to turn away when pleas came from behind the bushes, tugging at my heart. I should have been on my way, but something wouldn't let me take a step towards the palace. "Please!"

My decision made for me, my eyes darted to the bodies that lay on the ground. Realizing none of those would ever see the light of day ever again, I headed in the direction of the voices as quickly as my feet could carry me.

The sight of a long line of shackled maidens brought my feet to a stop.

"My lady, please help us. Those men..." Fear, more than I had felt a moment ago was burried in the face of the one who addressed me and it made the words I uttered next worth it.

"You are free now. Those men..." I thought of the dismembered corpses that littered the ground. "They won't hurt you anymore." As I said those words, relief and gratitude graced the maiden's faces and nothing was more satisfying. "We will forever be in your debt." The maiden said as I moved to undo their binds, but I merely shook my head.

"You owe me nothing."

"Allow us to serve you then, my lady. In whatever way." She pleaded. "Besides, we have nowhere else to go. It has been years since we have seen our families." Because them having nowhere else to go sounded more acceptable than a bunch of maidens thinking they owed me their lives, I gave in and invited them along on my journey back to the palace.

"My lady, are you alright?!" Rakon stepped forward, tension evident in his whole frame and the hand that held his drawn sword.

"Dear child, what happened to you? Are you alright?" Liira rushed towards me, Zillah too, but they both stopped right next to Rakon. Right where they'd stopped when they'd chased after me earlier. Because I'd wished to be left alone then, I had thought nothing of their choice to stop persuing me, but now...

"I'm perfectly alright." Unbelief greeted me as eyes took in my bloody gown. "Not my blood. I ran into some uninvited guests." I hastily replied.

"Uninvited guests?" My father stepped closer, but he too stopped where the others had.

Knowing Rakon and Gol would understand, my answer was more for them. "The same men we had encountered on our way from Dova. At least one of them was. Their leader."

"And yet you are here? How did you-"

"Everyone is dead, my lord." Someone from behind me answered Gol, making themselves known.

"And how many is...everyone?" Zillah's lips split into a knowing grin while everyone else stared, eyes wide.

"It is really hard to say, my lady." The maiden replied and I wished she would hold her tongue, but she kept talking, her tone full of pride. "Their state could not really allow for one to count the corpses, but of those that had captured us, we knew they were not less than thirty men."

"Thirty men?!" Rakon's jaws dropped. "In your condition, and yet-oh, he'll definitely have my head when he returns."

"We saw nothing of the battle, but even with our ears, we knew it was nothing short of fierce. I assure you that my lady was definitely not the one in danger."

"That is quite enough." I chastized the maiden. "I wish to speak of none of it." I took a step forward, intent on not lingering on the bloody events of my recent past, but loud protests left me rooted on my spot. "You can't-"

"What?" I frowned at my father, but it was Liira who answered, letting me know that I couldn't step back into the palace grounds. The reason they'd all failed to step out.

"Your wretched uncle has put a spell on the palace, locking us in like cattle."