Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 17: Grace: Everything Goes South

"Answer!" The king’s roar shakes dust from the rafters.

Rafe’s face presses against the floor, his shoulders trembling. "High Alpha, I didn’t—she was never marked—"

"Silence!"

As if he hadn’t been demanding an answer a literal moment ago.

The temperature spikes. A faint glow emanates from the king’s skin, pulsing in time with his rage. The shadows of his tattoos seem to reach out, grasping at nothing.

My head spins. This is chaos. Insanity.

Alpha’s forehead touches the ground, well and properly cowed this time. "High Alpha, please. We didn’t know she bore your mark. How could we expect a human to bear the High Alpha’s claim?"

The pressure in the room doubles. Voices cry out as every shifter in the Blue Mountain Pack presses themselves flat against the floor. The king’s power fills every corner, every crevice, until the very air feels ready to ignite.

But still, it barely touches me. Like I’m wrapped in some invisible barrier that keeps the worst of it at bay. The king turns, and our eyes meet. Gray like storm clouds, just like that night in the forest. Just like the wolf that protected me.

Oh.

Oh, no.

It’s strange—impossible, really—but the pieces click together, and my stomach drops. The massive wolf with the ethereal blue glow and the Lycan King, with his own faint glow. They’re one and the same, aren’t they?

But wait—I’ve never heard of a wolf and their shifter body being separate.

Still, somehow I know I’m right. It rings true down to my soul.

"She was unmarked, High Alpha. I swear it," Rafe says, and Ellie’s hand is still holding onto his arm, trembling violently.

Everything feels distant, like I’m watching a play unfold. Or a TV show. The king’s power thrums through the room, but my mind fixates on the oddest details—the way dust motes dance in the air, how Beta’s left boot has a scuff mark, the way the Lycan King’s cologne-like smell wafts through the air, thicker than before. Maybe it’s from his alpha dominance.

It would make sense if I am. Shock is the body’s way of protecting itself from trauma, right? And God knows I’m in need of some protection here. More mental than anything at the moment, but who knows—things can change at any

smells like he should be an underwear model and looks like

was kidnapped, thrown to the ground, kind of choked... Okay, yeah, I have to be in shock. The list of things I’ve gone through is

forward. The sound of his boot against the marble floor echoes through the silent room. It’s a soft sound, a bare scuff, but that’s how dead the air is in this place. Even when he crouches he towers over Rafe, close enough now that his breath stirs his golden,

demon king subjugating

room is holding their breath, waiting to watch the end of this

closes, but no sound comes

head snaps up, his storm-gray eyes finding Alpha. "Was she truly unclaimed after the Mate

he swallows. "There was...

voice carries

man’s fury. "When we found her, she was alone and the strange

follows feels like glass about to shatter. I press my hands against my throat, remembering that night,

drips with lethal calm. "Was there a scent covering her that

beneath the weight of Lycan dominance. He’s nearly prostrated, as weak as the others, as if he’s not an alpha at all. "There

"And?"

words come out choked, as if each one causes him physical pain. Maybe

not a pleasant sound—my soul cringes

as if speaking to air and not living, breathing people. Every word he speaks is punctuated by a step toward Alpha. "The mighty Blue Mountain Pack. So incompetent they can’t

directly in front of the man I’d considered a father for six years. "Or did you simply

hitches. "High

"Silence."

snaps

lips. "What other basic skills have you neglected to master? The difference between up and down? Perhaps you

laughter ripples through the prostrated crowd, quickly stifled when the king’s gaze sweeps over them. Even when their heads aren’t raised, they must be able

beyond mere incompetence." His voice carries to every corner of the room. "This speaks to a

frozen, face pressed to the floor. Even from here, I can see him

through every body here. "Every. Last. One." The glow intensifies around him, a beautiful blue,

"Fenrisúlfr."

glowing wolf materializes beside the king, and my brain short-circuits. No. That’s impossible. Impossible. He was