Chapter 2 - The Debt Collector Who Chose the Wrong DoorVincent Malone had spent twenty years making people afraid of him.
It became part of his posture.
The slow way he removed his gloves.
The deliberate silence before giving an order.
The way his men stood slightly behind him so frightened debtors understood violence was available but did not need to be mentioned.
Fear, Vincent believed, worked best when people imagined the details themselves.
That morning, however, Vincent entered Rowena Hartley’s room and discovered something deeply inconvenient.
The enormous stranger beside her was not afraid.
Vincent’s gaze moved over Nathaniel.
Bare feet.
Bandaged wrists.
No shirt.
No visible weapon.
Normally that should have made Vincent feel safer.
It did not.
“Who are you?” he repeated.
Nathaniel’s mouth curved faintly.
“Nobody.”
His voice contained a strange vibration.
Not loud.
But deep enough that Vincent’s younger guard shifted backward.
Vincent noticed.
His expression hardened.
“Then nobody should leave.”
He looked at Rowena.
“You still owe forty-nine thousand nine hundred sixty-three silver.”
Rowena swallowed.
“I know.”
“You were given four days.”
“It has been three.”
“I changed the schedule.”
“You can’t do that.”
Vincent smiled.
“I can do anything written into the agreement.”
“My father signed that.”
“He signed for you.”
Nathaniel’s jaw tightened.
Rowena felt it before she saw it.
Something in the room changed.
Pressure.
Heat.
The tiny flame beneath the cooking pan bent sideways.
Vincent looked at Nathaniel again.
“Wolf.”
Nathaniel said nothing.
Vincent’s confidence returned a fraction.
Wolves were dangerous.
But silver was more dangerous to wolves than steel was to men.
Vincent’s guards both carried silvered knives.
He knew it.
Nathaniel knew it.
Rowena definitely knew it.
Vincent gestured toward her.
“Move aside.”
Nathaniel did not.
“This does not concern you.”
Nathaniel’s eyes flashed.
“She concerns me.”
Rowena’s breath caught.
Vincent laughed.
“How touching.”
Nathaniel tilted his head.
“What happens if she cannot pay?”
“You already know.”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“I want to hear you say it.”
Vincent glanced at Rowena.
Then smiled.
“She works until the debt is repaid.”
“Doing what?”
“Whatever I require.”
Nathaniel took one step.
The guards immediately drew their silver blades.
Rowena grabbed Nathaniel’s arm.
His muscles were rigid beneath her hand.
“Don’t.”
The smell of silver hit him.
His body reacted before his mind.
Pain shot through his healing wrists.
His wolf recoiled.
Vincent noticed.
“There.”
He smiled.
“Not so frightening.”
Nathaniel looked at the knives.
Then Vincent.
“You think silver makes you powerful?”
“It makes you weak.”
“No.”
Nathaniel’s eyes glowed.
“It makes me patient.”
One guard swallowed.
Vincent’s smile faltered.
Nathaniel continued.
“Rowena has until the original deadline.”
Vincent laughed.
“You don’t negotiate my contracts.”
“I just did.”
“Or what?”
Nathaniel stepped toward the knife.
The guard’s hand shook.
The blade touched Nathaniel’s chest.
Smoke rose where silver contacted skin.
Rowena gasped.
Nathaniel did not move.
His gaze remained on Vincent.
“Or you discover how much pain a wolf can survive before he begins sharing it.”
Vincent stared.
The guard lowered the knife.
Nathaniel had won without touching anyone.
Vincent hated him immediately.
“Tomorrow,” he said.
Rowena’s head snapped up.
“You said four days.”
“You have until sunset tomorrow.”
Nathaniel growled.
Vincent pointed at him.
“And if your pet interferes, I add another ten thousand.”
Nathaniel’s wolf surged at the word pet.
Rowena squeezed his arm.
He looked down at her.
She shook her head.
Not now.
Vincent put his gloves back on.
“Enjoy your final day of freedom.”
He turned.
Before leaving, he looked at Nathaniel.
“If you’re still here tomorrow night, wolf, I’ll sell your hide before I sell the girl.”
The door closed.
Silence.
Nathaniel stared at it.
Then Rowena struck his arm.
He looked down.
“What?”
“Are you insane?”
“Probably.”
“You walked into silver.”
“It was a knife.”
“It was touching your heart.”
“I have survived worse.”
“That does not make it intelligent.”
Nathaniel looked at the red burn on his chest.
“It accomplished what I needed.”
“What?”
“Now Vincent believes I am injured enough to be manageable.”
“You are injured enough to be manageable.”
Nathaniel’s mouth shifted.
Rowena frowned.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Was that a smile?”
“No.”
“You smiled.”
“I did not.”
Rowena stared.
For one second they both forgot the debt.
Then she walked to the stove.
Smoke filled the room.
“My breakfast!”
Nathaniel looked toward the blackened meat.
“Your breakfast was dead before Vincent arrived.”
“Very funny.”
“I was not joking.”
“You are forbidden from cooking.”
“I am a king—”
He stopped.
Rowena turned slowly.
Nathaniel cursed himself.
“You’re what?”
“A…”
He searched for a word.
“A terrible cook.”
Rowena narrowed her eyes.
“That is not what you said.”
“It is what I meant.”
“You said king.”
“No.”
“Nathaniel.”
He looked away.
Rowena crossed her arms.
“You are an awful liar.”
“You bought me yesterday.”
“For one copper.”
“I remember.”
“And already I know when you’re lying.”
Nathaniel looked toward the window.
This was becoming dangerous.
Not Gabriel.
Not Vincent.
Her.
She saw too much.
Exactly as her grandmother had predicted.
Nathaniel turned.
“What do you know about your grandmother?”
Rowena frowned.
“That is an impressive subject change.”
“Answer.”
“She raised me until I was fifteen.”
“Name?”
“Agnes Hartley.”
Nathaniel’s blood chilled.
“Agnes?”
“Yes.”
“Did she have another name?”
Rowena stared.
“No.”
“Think.”
“I am thinking.”
Nathaniel stepped closer.
“Did anyone call her Aggie? Ana? Agnes Vale?”
Rowena’s face changed.
“Vale.”
Nathaniel went still.
“My father called her that once.”
“When?”
“I was little.”
“Exactly what did he say?”
Rowena thought.
“He was angry.”
Nathaniel’s pulse accelerated.
“He said, ‘You should have stayed dead, Agnes Vale.’”
Nathaniel stared at her.
Rowena looked uneasy.
“Why?”
He sat.
For the first time since escaping the auction, he looked genuinely shaken.
Rowena approached.
“Nathaniel?”
“Agnes Vale was not a story.”
“What?”
“She was a woman.”
“Obviously.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“She was the last Oracle of Silver Hollow.”
Rowena laughed nervously.
“That sounds imaginary.”
“It is not.”
“Oracles?”
“Yes.”
“Wolves?”
“Yes.”
“Hidden bloodlines?”
Nathaniel did not answer.
Rowena’s smile disappeared.
“My grandmother talked about all of that.”
Nathaniel’s wolf stirred.
Oracle blood.
Human mate.
Copper recognition.
Suddenly too many impossible things fit together.
“Show me the coin.”
“I spent it.”
“On me.”
“Yes.”
“Where did Garrett put it?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathaniel stood.
“We need it back.”
Rowena stared.
“We have a debt collector coming tomorrow to enslave me, and your priority is retrieving a copper coin?”
“That coin is not copper.”
“It looked copper.”
“It may be moon-forged bronze.”
“That sounds expensive.”
“It is older than your city.”
Rowena sat slowly.
“Why would my grandmother give me something like that?”
Nathaniel looked at her.
“Because she knew who you were.”
“Who am I?”
Nathaniel almost said mate.
He stopped.
“I don’t know yet.”
Rowena noticed the hesitation.
Again.
“What are you hiding?”
Too much.
“My past.”
“Dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“Will it reach me?”
Nathaniel thought of Gabriel.
“Yes.”
Rowena rubbed her face.
“Excellent.”
“We need to leave.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“Vincent will find me.”
“I mean the city.”
Her hands dropped.
“What?”
Nathaniel walked to the window.
Beyond the rain-streaked glass, smoke rose from Sector Four’s chimneys.
“You cannot pay fifty thousand silver by tomorrow.”
“Thank you for the optimism.”
“I can.”
Rowena laughed.
Nathaniel did not.
Her laughter died.
“You have fifty thousand silver?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I know where to get it.”
“From who?”
“My people.”
She stared.
“You have people?”
“Yes.”
“Why were you being auctioned for less than my rent?”
Nathaniel did not answer.
“Right.”
Rowena paced.
“You want me to leave everything.”
“You have one room.”
“My job.”
“Three jobs.”
“My father’s grave.”
“We return.”
“My life.”
Nathaniel’s gaze softened.
“Rowena.”
She stopped.
“You do not have a life here.”
The words hurt because they were true.
Nathaniel continued.
“You have survival.”
She looked away.
“That is not the same thing.”
Rowena swallowed.
“And where are we going?”
Nathaniel hesitated.
“North.”
“How far?”
“Three days.”
“To?”
“Blackridge.”
Her eyes widened.
Everyone knew Blackridge.
Gateway to the wolf territories.
Merchants went there.
Soldiers avoided it.
Humans whispered stories about wolves who could smell lies.
“No.”
“It is safer than here.”
“For you.”
“For both.”
“I’m human.”
“That will not matter if you are with me.”
Rowena laughed once.
“You are very confident for someone who almost died yesterday.”
Nathaniel looked at her.
“I am improving.”
As if proving him correct, his body suddenly locked.
A convulsion rolled through him.
Nathaniel caught the table.
Rowena rushed forward.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Nathaniel.”
His skin burned.
Wolfsbane.
Still inside him.
He dropped to one knee.
Rowena grabbed his shoulders.
“You need a healer.”
“No.”
“You need something.”
“Moonroot.”
“What?”
“Moonroot draws wolfsbane from blood.”
“Where do I get it?”
Nathaniel struggled to breathe.
“Apothecary.”
Rowena grabbed her coat.
He caught her wrist.
“No.”
“What now?”
“Wolf remedies are controlled.”
“So?”
“They will ask why.”
“I’ll lie.”
“They will know.”
Rowena looked at him.
“I thought you said this city would turn me into a victim.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You are not going into the Grey Market alone.”
“I did yesterday.”
“You bought a king—”
Again.
He stopped.
Rowena’s eyes widened.
This time there was no misunderstanding.
“You did say king.”
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
Rowena slowly sat opposite him.
“Who are you?”
Silence.
“Nathaniel.”
He looked at her.
She waited.
He realized the choice had been taken from him.
He could lie again.
Lose her trust.
Or tell enough truth to make her understand the danger.
“My name is Nathaniel Ashcroft.”
Rowena frowned.
The name meant nothing for three seconds.
Then recognition hit.
She had seen it on broadsheets.
THE ALPHA KING LOST IN NORTHERN REBELLION.
KING NATHANIEL PRESUMED DEAD.
GABRIEL THORN NAMED REGENT.
Rowena stood so quickly the chair fell.
“No.”
Nathaniel said nothing.
“No.”
“Rowena—”
“You are dead.”
“Apparently not.”
“You are the Alpha King.”
“Yes.”
“I bought the Alpha King for one copper coin.”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
Then laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because reality had become unusable.
“Oh, gods.”
“Rowena.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“You said just Nathaniel.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“Knowing.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does in my world.”
“Well, welcome to mine.”
She pointed toward the room.
“In my world, knowing the enormous dying stranger sleeping beside my bed is actually the missing king would have been useful.”
Nathaniel rose carefully.
“You would have treated me differently.”
“Yes!”
He looked almost hurt.
Rowena continued.
“I might have bowed.”
Nathaniel’s expression flattened.
She stared.
Then unexpectedly they both laughed.
The tension broke for half a second.
Then Nathaniel became serious.
“Gabriel Thorn betrayed me.”
Rowena knew that name too.
The regent currently controlling the northern kingdom.
“He drugged me at a summit.”
“Why?”
“He wanted the throne.”
“So everyone thinks you died.”
“Yes.”
“And if they learn you’re alive?”
“Civil war.”
Rowena sat again.
“This is worse than Vincent.”
“Yes.”
“Much worse.”
“Yes.”
She rubbed her forehead.
“And your people have fifty thousand silver.”
Nathaniel almost smiled.
“My horses are worth more.”
Rowena glared.
“That was an irritating sentence.”
“I understand.”
“So we get your money.”
“Eventually.”
“What does that mean?”
“My accounts are controlled by Gabriel.”
Rowena stared.
“You’re a king with no money.”
“Temporarily.”
“Wonderful.”
Another knock sounded downstairs.
Not their door.
A messenger shouted in the street.
“ROYAL BULLETIN!”
Rowena went to the window.
Men nailed notices to building walls.
Nathaniel stepped beside her.
Rowena read aloud.
“By decree of Regent Gabriel Thorn, information leading to the capture of the terrorist impersonating the late King Nathaniel Ashcroft will receive…”
She stopped.
Nathaniel’s jaw hardened.
“How much?”
Rowena whispered.
“One hundred thousand silver pieces.”
Twice her debt.
People gathered below.
Talking.
Laughing.
Speculating.
Rowena looked at Nathaniel.
“You’ve been alive for one day.”
“Gabriel knows.”
“How?”
Nathaniel thought of the howling mountains.
The mate bond.
His face tightened.
“There are things in wolf blood that cannot be hidden.”
Rowena swallowed.
“Can he find you?”
“Not exactly.”
“Exactly is important.”
Nathaniel looked at her.
“He may know I awakened a royal bond.”
“What does that mean?”
He said nothing.
Rowena narrowed her eyes.
“Nathaniel.”
A new voice echoed from the hallway.
“Rowena Hartley?”
Both froze.
A man outside continued.
“Royal inspection.”
Nathaniel inhaled.
Wolf.
Three of them.
Gabriel’s soldiers.
Already.
Rowena whispered, “What do we do?”
Nathaniel looked around the tiny room.
One door.
One window.
Three floors above the street.
Too weak to fight properly.
Too visible to run.
Then his gaze landed on Rowena.
“Do you trust me?”
“No.”
Despite everything, Nathaniel almost smiled.
“Good.”
“What?”
“People who trust too easily die.”
The knock became a fist against wood.
“OPEN BY ORDER OF REGENT THORN.”
Nathaniel moved toward Rowena.
“Stand behind me.”
“You can barely shift.”
“I don’t need to shift.”
“Against three wolves?”
Nathaniel looked toward the door.
His amber eyes turned gold.
“When they smell me…”
The frame shook under another blow.
“…they may remember who their king is.”
The lock shattered.
Three armored wolves entered.
The first raised a sword.
Then inhaled.
His face went white.
Nathaniel stepped forward.
Weak.
Barefoot.
Bandaged.
Yet suddenly every inch a king.
The wolf soldier dropped to one knee.
The other two stared.
Nathaniel’s voice rolled through the room.
“You were told I was dead.”
The second wolf began trembling.
Nathaniel’s eyes burned gold.
“You were lied to.”
One by one, the soldiers lowered their weapons.
Rowena stared.
The first soldier whispered the ancient words every northern wolf had once sworn beneath Nathaniel’s banner.
“My Alpha.”
Nathaniel looked at Rowena.
Then at the kneeling men.
“Get up.”
The soldiers obeyed.
“Tell nobody.”
One looked terrified.
“King Nathaniel, Regent Thorn will kill our families.”
Nathaniel’s face darkened.
“Then we remove him before he gets the chance.”
Rowena’s heart began pounding.
Nathaniel turned toward her.
“We leave tonight.”
She looked at the royal notice outside.
Then her father’s room.
Then the debt ledger on the table.
Finally Nathaniel.
“Where?”
May you like
His answer changed both of their lives.
“Home.”
Related Stories
