They hardly said a word on the hike back through the pass. The Wolf's voice just kind of… stuck to June, like a bad chill she couldn't shake. "You may be ready. Not now. Not enough." Yeah, thanks for that, very encouraging.
Soon as dusk started curling in, they found a spot thick with old pines: good cover, less wind. Kael did his usual thing, tying up the wolves, building a fire like he had all the time in the world.
"I'll check the perimeter," June said, mostly because she just needed to breathe without someone watching her.
Kael barely even looked up. Just gave her a nod.
Out in the trees, it was quiet. Not peaceful, exactly, more like everything was waiting for something to happen. Every now and then, a chunk of ice crashed down from above and made her jump. She kept walking till the fire was just a weak glow behind her. Dropping to her knees, she cleared off some snow and pressed her palm to the dirt. Old habit, courtesy of her dad: feel for tremors, check for trouble. Zilch.
She was about to head back when she caught voices on the wind.
Kael's, low and kinda rough. Tomas too, one of those Council types sent to keep an eye on them.
"She faced the Wolf?" Tomas sounded like he couldn't quite believe it.
"She stood before her," Kael said. "Not the same as passing."
"She's the King's blood though."
Kael snorted. "Blood doesn't mean jack. I've watched veterans lose it in the Wolf's shadow. She's not ready."
"You think she'll get there?"
Kael took a beat. "If she survives long enough. Right now? She's not leading anyone into the demon's den."
June just stood there, letting the cold do its worst. After their voices faded, she headed back, slow, acting like nothing was different.
Kael looked up when she came into the firelight. "All clear?"
"Clear," she said, sitting down across from him. The fire threw gold across his face, made him look softer than he actually was.
They ate without talking. Dried meat, bread hard enough to break a tooth. Kael started in about the route north, crossing the frozen river before it thawed, but June barely caught half of it.
That night, lying under the tangled branches, she stared up at the dark and made herself a promise: no fancy words, just hard edges:
She'd find the seven wolves.
She'd face the demon.
And someday, Kael would have to swallow every single word he'd said. Preferably with that silver tongue of his.
The wind switched up, outta nowhere.
Somewhere past the treeline, a wolf let out this weird bark, it wasn't that classic, spine-chill howl you hear in movies, more like a quick, harsh yelp that just cut off. Super abrupt.
Kael shot up before she even got halfway up herself, blades flashing in both hands. The big black direwolf bristled, growling so low you felt it in your ribcage.
She fumbled for her sword. "What's going on?"
Kael's eyes were darting all over the dark. "That wasn't a wolf."
Snap. Something heavy on a branch, just outside the circle of firelight. Then, through the fog and trees, two glowing gold eyes lit up, then, it blinked…
The pop of the fire was too loud.
Every gust of wind through the trees was sharp enough to cut.
June rose slowly, knife in hand, boots whispering in the snow. The gold eyes didn't jump. They hung in the mist like lanterns, steady, waiting.
Kael shifted a step to the side, knives ready, low. "Behind the fire," he whispered.
Her voice was nearly a whisper. "No chance."
The black direwolf's growl dropped, hackles raised. The albino wolf took one step forward, then halted, head tilted, ears tense as if listening to something June couldn't hear.
From out of the mist came a sound: low, almost human, a kind of rasping breath.
Then the eyes vanished.
June's pulse quickened. "Where-
Snow exploded to her right. A huge shape boiled through the trees, white fur streaked with scars, jaws agape. It was a wolf… but no wolf she had ever heard tell of. Taller than a man at the shoulder, with fangs that glimmered like ice in moonlight.
It slammed into the dark direwolf, and the two rolled in a tangle of fur and snow.
Kael plunged into the fight, but June saw something else in the fog, another set of eyes, smaller, red as new blood, and closing in quickly.