Wrath of the Wolf Queen [HOTWP #2]

Chapter Twelve: NIKOLAI

I pace outside the gates of the palace, a thicket of trees the only thing blocking me from the guards' sight.

I've been coming here every day for two weeks, but I have not seen her. Not once. And it's driving me fucking insane.

I dig my fingers into a tree, fingernails chipping against the bark. This bond... this goddamned bond is making me irrational. I am a logical man. At least, I used to be, but this bond has turned me into a deranged mess. Every day I think about her, and every night a little more of my sanity teeters out of my existence because I do not know where she is, or if she's okay, or even if she's hurt. 

And I am so close – so fucking close – to tearing down those stone walls and finding her myself.

I take a ragged breath. It doesn't make sense. We are on opposite sides of a war here. We are enemies. I kidnapped her sister, and she intends to kill me for it. And yet... and yet...

With a growl, I whip my head around the tree and stare towards the front gardens, expecting to see nothing but rose bushes. Instead, there's the glow of pale skin, and my heart stammers. Naomi is standing right there. Right... there... after having been missing for weeks!

Several guards are stationed around her, all of them attentive and alert, but I don't care about being potentially seen as my eyes pour over her form. Though she stands tall, there's a certain sag to her shoulders that was never there before. And her eyes... that usual fire no longer burns in them. My gut twists with something awful.

I stumble out from my hiding spot without even meaning to. I don't know why I do it – past me would have never given myself away like this – but it's like my head and my heart are no longer cooperating. For some reason, I need her to see me, just as I need to see her.

Her magenta eyes snap to mine in an instant, and I find the breath ripped from my lungs. All I can do is stand there, gawking like an idiot, as she stares back, the dead look in her eyes thawing into a deadly rage. A rage directed at me.

My heart pounds with a wild excitement. Before I even know what I'm doing, my bones contort and silver fur replaces tanned skin. I'm on all fours in seconds, tail wagging as my shredded clothes fall from around me. Her eyes pierce mine.

"Come on, chase me," I shout down our Mindlink. It's weak due to the bond not yet being set in stone, but with her in such close proximity it works well enough. "Maybe you'll catch up."

I turn and sprint for the forest, her resounding growl following me down the Mindlink as I take off. I look over my shoulder in time to see her Shift into her own wolf, shredding what looks to be a very expensive-looking dress before sprinting after me. I see the guards stagger after her, yelling and pleading with her to stop, but she doesn't relent. She jumps the palace gate in a graceful arc, and I can't lie – it's impressive as fuck.