Chapter 3 - The Human Girl the Wolves Called ImpossibleThey left Sector Four before midnight.
Not through the city gates.
Gabriel’s royal soldiers controlled those.
Not through the river crossings.
Vincent Malone had men watching the docks.
Instead Nathaniel led Rowena beneath the city.
Old drainage tunnels ran below the eastern wall.
Most citizens thought they ended beneath the slaughterhouses.
Nathaniel knew better.
The tunnels had been built centuries earlier as emergency passages when human kings still feared wolf armies.
Rowena followed carrying one bag.
Two dresses.
Bread.
A knife.
Her father’s ledger.
Nothing else remained.
Nathaniel carried no luggage.
A king returning to his kingdom owned less than the waitress beside him.
Rowena found that strangely comforting.
The three royal soldiers who discovered Nathaniel had sworn secrecy and returned to their posts.
Nathaniel did not fully trust them.
But he had looked into their eyes and seen fear rather than betrayal.
Fear could be worked with.
Greed was harder.
Near sunrise they reached forest.
Rowena stopped.
She had never been beyond the city farms.
The northern woods looked endless.
Pines climbed toward gray mountains.
Mist moved between trunks.
No buildings.
No streets.
No lamps.
Only wilderness.
Nathaniel breathed.
For the first time since Rowena found him, his shoulders relaxed.
“You look different.”
He glanced at her.
“How?”
“Less like you’re waiting for someone to stab you.”
“They still might.”
“Comforting.”
Nathaniel moved toward the trees.
Rowena followed.
By noon she regretted every life choice she had ever made.
Nathaniel walked like mountains were flat.
Rowena did not.
“Slow down.”
He turned.
“We are already slow.”
“You are nearly seven feet tall.”
“Six feet seven.”
“That is still unreasonable.”
His mouth twitched.
“You’re smiling again.”
“No.”
“You do that often for a terrifying wolf king.”
“I was considered humorless before meeting you.”
“I believe that.”
They continued.
By afternoon Nathaniel’s strength began failing.
He hid it.
Poorly.
Rowena noticed his left hand shaking.
“Stop.”
“We cannot.”
“You need rest.”
“We need distance.”
“You’re going to collapse.”
“I will not.”
Ten minutes later he collapsed.
Rowena stood over him.
“I would like an apology.”
Nathaniel lay against a tree, breathing hard.
“You are enjoying this.”
“A little.”
The wolfsbane fever had returned.
Rowena touched his forehead.
Burning.
“We need moonroot.”
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
“There is a village two miles east.”
“Human?”
“Mixed.”
“Safe?”
“No.”
“Wonderful.”
He caught her wrist.
“Do not go alone.”
“You cannot walk.”
“I can.”
Nathaniel tried to stand.
Failed.
Rowena pushed him back.
“You’re a terrible king.”
His eyes opened.
“Excuse me?”
“You give impossible orders.”
“Rowena.”
“Stay.”
“Do not command me.”
She smiled.
“Now you understand how everyone feels around you.”
Nathaniel actually laughed.
It ended in a cough.
Rowena’s smile faded.
“I’ll return.”
He looked at her.
His wolf snarled internally.
Do not let mate leave.
Nathaniel ignored it.
He reached beneath his shirt and removed a black stone pendant.
The royal seal.
An obsidian wolf.
“Take this.”
Rowena stared.
“What does it do?”
“Show it to a healer.”
“They’ll know who you are.”
“Only older wolves recognize it.”
“What if they serve Gabriel?”
“Then run.”
She glared.
“Excellent plan.”
Nathaniel’s fingers closed around hers.
The contact hit both of them.
Warmth.
A pulse of power.
Rowena inhaled sharply.
“What was that?”
Nathaniel released her.
“Nothing.”
She stared.
“You keep saying nothing about things that definitely feel like something.”
He looked away.
Rowena’s suspicion deepened.
But she pocketed the pendant and left.
The village was called Briar Glen.
Twenty houses.
One tavern.
One apothecary.
Rowena entered.
An elderly woman stood behind the counter.
Human appearance.
Wolf scent, though Rowena only recognized it because Nathaniel smelled similar.
“Moonroot,” Rowena said.
The woman’s eyes sharpened.
“For?”
“A friend.”
“Wolf?”
“Yes.”
“Wolfsbane poisoning?”
Rowena hesitated.
The woman stared.
“Bring him.”
“He can’t walk.”
“Then he dies.”
Rowena pulled out the pendant.
The old woman froze.
Her face lost color.
“Where did you get that?”
“My friend.”
The woman’s eyes filled with tears.
“Impossible.”
Rowena stepped closer.
“Can you help?”
The woman grabbed a leather bag.
“Take me.”
Her name was Matilda Crowe.
She had once served as royal healer.
Gabriel dismissed her six months after Nathaniel disappeared.
When she saw him beneath the pine tree, she dropped to her knees.
“My king.”
Nathaniel groaned.
“Please don’t.”
Matilda cried.
Rowena frowned.
“Don’t what?”
“Bow.”
Nathaniel’s eyes opened.
“Especially while I’m lying in mud.”
Matilda laughed through tears.
“You are alive.”
“Unfortunately.”
Rowena crossed her arms.
“You were definitely funnier before the poisoning worsened.”
Matilda stared at her.
Nathaniel saw the exact moment the healer scented Rowena.
Her face transformed.
“Oh.”
Nathaniel’s expression hardened.
“Do not.”
Rowena looked between them.
“Do not what?”
Matilda stood slowly.
“My king…”
“Matilda.”
The old healer smiled.
“Does she know?”
“No.”
Rowena stared at Nathaniel.
“Know what?”
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
Matilda looked delighted.
Rowena pointed.
“I am becoming extremely tired of wolves knowing things about me.”
Matilda opened her medicine bag.
“Later.”
“Now.”
Nathaniel growled.
Matilda ignored him.
“You are his mate.”
Silence.
Rowena blinked.
“My what?”
Nathaniel sat up too quickly.
“Matilda.”
She glanced at him.
“Were you planning to hide it forever?”
“Until she was safe.”
“Safe?”
Rowena looked between them.
“What is a mate?”
Matilda’s eyebrows rose.
“You truly know nothing?”
“I grew up in Sector Four.”
The healer softened.
“A mate is…”
Nathaniel interrupted.
“A wolf tradition.”
Matilda looked horrified.
“That is the worst explanation I have ever heard.”
Nathaniel glared.
Rowena folded her arms.
“Continue, Matilda.”
The healer sat beside her.
“Wolves sometimes form chosen bonds. Marriage, essentially.”
“Fine.”
“A fated mate is different.”
Rowena’s stomach tightened.
“How?”
“The Moon Mother marks two souls.”
Nathaniel rubbed his forehead.
Rowena stared.
“You’re telling me a goddess matched me with him?”
Matilda smiled.
Nathaniel looked insulted.
Rowena immediately corrected.
“Not that you’re terrible.”
“I was not offended.”
“You looked offended.”
“I was poisoned.”
Matilda continued.
“The bond creates recognition. Strong attraction. Protective instinct. Eventually shared strength.”
Rowena looked at Nathaniel.
“When did you know?”
He met her eyes.
“The night you cut the chains.”
Her mouth fell open.
“You knew this entire time?”
“Yes.”
“And said nothing.”
“To protect you.”
“There it is again.”
“Rowena—”
“You decided what I was allowed to know because you thought information belonged to you.”
Nathaniel struggled to stand.
Matilda pushed him down.
Rowena stepped backward.
“I bought you.”
Nathaniel’s face tightened.
“And immediately told you nobody owns anybody.”
“Yes.”
“Then stop treating me like I’m too fragile to make decisions.”
“I never thought you fragile.”
“You thought I couldn’t handle the truth.”
“I thought Gabriel would kill you.”
“That is not the same decision.”
Nathaniel went quiet.
Because she was right.
Again.
He hated how often that happened.
Matilda coughed.
“I should begin treatment.”
Rowena walked away.
Nathaniel started after her.
Matilda grabbed his shoulder.
“You cannot stand.”
“She’s angry.”
“She has cause.”
“I know.”
Matilda smiled.
“You have changed.”
“It has been one day.”
“Exactly.”
Rowena sat beside a stream.
Anger covered something more frightening.
Mate.
Nathaniel.
A king.
Her.
It was absurd.
She picked up a stone and threw it.
“You’re angry at the water.”
Nathaniel’s voice came from behind.
Rowena turned.
He leaned against a tree.
“You should be resting.”
“You should stop walking away.”
“I was twenty feet away.”
“Still.”
She looked forward.
Nathaniel approached slowly.
“I am sorry.”
Rowena blinked.
“What?”
“I should have told you.”
She looked at him.
“I expected more resistance.”
“I am learning.”
“Fast.”
“You are terrifying.”
She laughed despite herself.
Then grew serious.
“What does mate mean to you?”
Nathaniel sat beside her.
“Everything.”
The answer frightened her more than any complex explanation.
“That’s a lot.”
“Yes.”
“I barely know you.”
“I know.”
“Does it mean I have to love you?”
“No.”
“Marry you?”
“No.”
“Become queen?”
Nathaniel hesitated.
Rowena stared.
“Oh no.”
“You asked.”
“If we… chose it?”
“Yes.”
She buried her face in her hands.
“A week ago I was serving stew.”
Nathaniel almost smiled.
“You could still serve stew.”
She looked at him.
“To royal guests?”
“If you enjoy it.”
“That was sarcasm.”
“I know.”
They sat quietly.
Finally Rowena asked, “Can you reject it?”
“Yes.”
“Would it hurt?”
“Yes.”
“Would you survive?”
Nathaniel looked at the stream.
“Yes.”
Rowena understood.
He would let her reject him.
Even knowing the pain.
That mattered.
“Then don’t hide things.”
He nodded.
“No more.”
“Anything else?”
Nathaniel hesitated.
She glared.
“No more.”
He exhaled.
“Your grandmother was almost certainly an Oracle.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning Gabriel may want you for reasons beyond being my mate.”
Rowena closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
Matilda called from behind them.
“My king!”
Nathaniel stood.
Matilda came running.
Too fast for her age.
“What?”
She held Rowena’s copper coin.
Rowena stared.
“How did you get that?”
“I didn’t.”
Matilda turned it over.
“It was inside the pendant.”
Nathaniel frowned.
Impossible.
The Saint’s Tear Rowena spent at the auction had somehow returned.
It lay glowing in Matilda’s palm.
A symbol appeared on its surface.
A crown.
Beneath it, a crescent moon.
Matilda’s face went white.
Nathaniel knew that symbol.
Everyone from old royal houses did.
“The Queenmaker Seal,” he whispered.
Rowena looked at him.
“What now?”
Matilda backed away.
“Her bloodline did not end.”
Nathaniel’s stomach dropped.
“What bloodline?”
The healer looked at Rowena.
“The Vales were not merely Oracles.”
She swallowed.
“They chose kings.”
Rowena laughed nervously.
“No.”
Matilda continued.
“Centuries ago, when wolf houses went to war, the Vale women could distinguish true alpha blood from stolen power.”
Nathaniel stared.
Gabriel.
His stolen throne.
The howling mountains.
The coin.
Rowena.
Matilda whispered, “If Gabriel knows a Vale heir lives, he will never let her reach the Obsidian Peaks.”
A howl erupted in the forest.
Nathaniel stood.
Another answered.
Then another.
Not friendly.
Matilda’s face drained.
“Hunters.”
Nathaniel grabbed Rowena’s hand.
“How many?”
Matilda listened.
“Eight.”
Nathaniel’s strength had not returned enough to fight eight wolves.
The branches moved beyond the stream.
Rowena heard growling.
Nathaniel pulled her behind him.
She grabbed his arm.
“You said no more secrets.”
“This is not a secret.”
“What are you doing?”
“Buying you time.”
“With what?”
“My life.”
Rowena’s face hardened.
“No.”
His eyes flashed.
“Run with Matilda.”
“No.”
“Rowena.”
She pulled the copper coin from Matilda’s hand.
The moment her fingers closed around it, the forest changed.
Every hostile wolf stopped growling.
Nathaniel looked at her.
The coin burned white.
Rowena felt words enter her mind.
Not spoken.
Remembered.
She raised the coin.
“Enough.”
The command came out wrong.
Deeper.
Older.
Power rolled across the trees.
Eight wolves dropped to the ground.
Nathaniel stared.
Rowena stared too.
Matilda whispered, “Queenmaker.”
The hunters whimpered.
None could stand.
Rowena lowered the coin.
“What did I just do?”
Nathaniel looked at her.
For the first time since she had met him, the Alpha King appeared genuinely stunned.
“You commanded wolves.”
Rowena looked at the kneeling hunters.
Then Nathaniel.
“I’m human.”
His wolf bowed inside him.
Nathaniel’s answer came softly.
“Apparently, little copper…”
May you like
His eyes burned gold.
“…that has never meant ordinary.”
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