Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“The vision isn’t a lie!” Frustration strangled my throat. “Luame told me exactly what happens to the world if Project Destiny isn’t stopped. It’ll be the end of everything as we know it. You will rule on a throne of corpses!”
“Nonsense,” he breezed, dismissing me as easily as a malignant narcissist could. “The Golden Age of Wolves is foretold, and that is no lie. Luame is tired of us wolves living in the shadows and feeding off the scraps of beings that are weaker and stupider than us. She desires our rule. She demands it!
“You may not have the stomach for what needs to be done, little girl, but we will not fail in our duty to restore the wolves to their rightful place.”
“Yes.”
“Absolutely.”
“Luame’s will be done.”
One after the other, the alpha council chimed in their agreement.
“Are you hearing yourself?” I rasped, completely dumbfounded. “You’re so stubbornly attached to your idea of what Luame wants, you’re ignoring the truth of the one who actually speaks for her.”
“No, girl.” Cygnus’s hard, seething gaze pinned me through—holding me down harder than useless chains ever could. “You stopped speaking for her the day you killed my son. She did not want that.”
“Of course she didn’t fucking want that,” I roared, dam breaking. “She didn’t want you to kill your son! To sanction his death and allow him to be poisoned like his life was yours to sacrifice!”
His grin wiped away, washed under a flood of shock. That stupid evil fucker didn’t know... that I knew.
“You want the truth?” I shrieked, head whipping back and forth among my audience.
“Stop it,” Cygnus hissed.
“Castor found out just what kind of a lowlife slug his piece-of-shit father was, and when he tried to stop him—”
“SHUT UP!”
“CYGNUS HAD HIM POISONED WITH WOLFSBANE! HE—”
“Lamond!”
“No!” Ash’s hand shot up to do what... we’d never know.
Cygnus jerked her to the side at the last second, knocking her off-balance and making her trip over her heels.
Melisent was screaming before the sword fell. That scream cut off with a wet, thudding sound so horrible, I pitched to the side, freeing my arm from one of the chains, and vomited.
“Not another word out of you, you filthy lying bitch.” Cygnus’s red, golden eyes bulged out of his head. “How dare you accuse me of harming my boy. How dare you spin fairy tales of poison when all of Wolf Nation watched you kill him!
“Do you see? Do you see, all?” he beseeched the cameras. “The girl’s mind has snapped. We cannot have the spiritual leadership of our nation directed by a madwoman. That is why we had no choice”—he gestured to Ash—“but to appoint High Priestess Ash. Under the guidance of the council, she will represent the true wishes of Lu—”
“No.”
Cygnus ground to a halt. A terrible expression warped his face as he slowly turned to Ash. “Excuse me?”
“No,” she repeated, high and clear. “I will do nothing under the guidance of the council, but I will do all in service of Luame.” Firm and unafraid, she pushed up off the floor. “Forgive me, Councilman, but I simply do not agree with you or your claim that High Priestess Volana is lying.
“Because she’s right. Charlatans have been punished for claiming power from her that she did not give. Every day wolves are punished for swearing in her name. High priestesses themselves have been severely punished for revealing what they’ve been told in confessions,” she said, brows arched. “But all of a sudden you would have us believe that Luame would allow her to go around claiming false visions without so much as giving her a slap on the wrist? I do not think so.”
Sense was finally being spoken within this nightmare. I should’ve been relieved. I should’ve been cheering Ash on, but all I could do was lie there and cry as they carried Melisent, my friend, away.
“I believe Luame sent her a vision of a better, safer, equal society for all wolves, and for your sakes,” Ash said, sweeping over the council. “You should too.
“But even if you don’t, I will do everything in my power to lead Wolf Nation into that future, because while I don’t believe High Priestess Volana deserves any of the power and authority she’s stolen, I do believe in the mark on her stomach. She is Luame’s chosen, and she will be afforded the respect that honor bears.
“And so, Councilman.” She stepped back, sweeping her hand over the hostages. “You will stop murdering your citizens like the madperson you claim she is. You will send them to a court of law to be tried for their crimes like the civilized society we are.” Her expression hardened in the blink of her glowing eyes. “And you will release the high priestess, because if you think for a single second that I will allow the child of Luame to be chained to a dirty floor and raped for all of Wolf Nation to see, you are sorely mistaken.”