Filed to story: Wolf Crying Mate of the Alpha by Jazz Ford
I look down and regret it instantly. Minotaurs stare and point at me before running inside the castle.
‘Oh, wands! Sir Hugo, you have lots of minotaurs incoming, and I don’t think I can hang on any longer!’ I shout as I lose my grip and fall.
I close my eyes and brace myself for the harsh landing that will either kill me or break half the bones in my body. But instead, warm, strong arms clutch me tight. Alec presses me against his masculine chest and flings his cape around me.
‘Alec! You followed me?’
‘I couldn’t stand Yiselda talking about different herbal teas any longer.’
I laugh, letting out a snort and look over his shoulder.
Magnus is relieved to see Alec has me. Sir Hugo climbs out the stone arch window and onto the roof before running along the tiles and jumping through another window. Alec sprints up a tall, bushy tree to keep us hidden. He turns me around on his lap so I can watch Sir Hugo fight his way out of the castle. He exits the castle backwards, swinging his sword. He has left a trail of feathers from killing the harpies. The minotaurs surround him and swing their axes as they circle him, but Sir Hugo doesn’t seem phased.
‘For the King and Queen of Mysteria!’ he shouts and jumps onto the back of a minotaur. The minotaur spins around, trying to grab him off his back as Sir Hugo stabs and cuts into each of them and finally into the back of the minotaur he rides, falling to the ground with it.
Sir Hugo stands and wipes the sweat from his forehead and then boasts a victory laugh but suddenly becomes quiet as we hear the thunderous roar of Typhon approaching. The ground beneath us trembles.
I whistle like a bird for Sir Hugo’s attention. He uses his forearm to block out the sun as he stares toward the trees. I wave my arm, and he nods and runs toward us.
‘We need to get out of here,’ Alec says as he clutches an arm around me and jumps down from the tree.
As he puts me down, I grip his arm, ‘We need to free Magnus and the others.’
‘We are not enough to save them. The main thing is they are still alive, and we know where they are. Until we can get help, there isn’t much else we can do,’ he says.
‘But!’ I try to protest before Alec pins me gently against the tree and presses his forehead against mine. He raises his hand and tucks my hair behind my ear.
‘Nina, I will not risk your life. We will come back for them. I promise.’
I press my lips against his.
‘Ahem…’ Sir Hugo says.
We break our kiss.
‘Let’s get back to Mystic Pride,’ Alec says.
‘No, wait! My spell books, back at our castle in Emerald Island. Perhaps I can find a spell that will help weaken Thypon or at least help us in some way to defeat him?’
‘Emerald Island it is then,’ Alec replies.
‘But I need to be back by Queen Maia’s side,’ Sir Hugo says.
‘If you want to go back to Moon Crest Castle and try and get past Thypon to enter the portal, then be my guest. In the meantime, we will be making our way back to my castle,’ Alex says to him.
‘I guess I’ll be tagging along with you two then,’ he replies.
Alec clutches me again before breaking into a sprint. I grip his shirt and hide my face in his chest until he comes to a stop. He puts me down, and I see we are between mountains and the outskirts of a small forest.
‘Where’s Sir Hugo?’ I ask.
‘Way behind. He’s human. It will take him a while to catch up on foot,’ he smirks. ‘He will catch up eventually. In the meantime, let’s figure out where we are,’ he says.
I take out the map and yelp as I’m pulled back onto Alec’s lap. He rests his chin on my shoulder as he stares down at the map with me.
‘We must be around here,’ he says, tapping the map. ‘Which means Thornwell is just over the other side of this mountain. Maybe there would be a good place to create a portal and go to Emerald Island from there?’
‘Okay, as soon as Sir Hugo catches up with us, we will go to Thornwell.’
Suddenly we hear a whimpering screech from the forest that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand.
‘W-what was that?’ I ask with worry.
Alec lifts me off his lap, stands and takes my hand. ‘We’re about to find out,’ he smiles, not the least bit worried.
‘With all the monsters that have appeared lately, I would think you would be somewhat worried about what’s within those trees?’ I say, pointing into the darkness of the forest. ‘Maybe it’s best we don’t find out what’s in there. I mean, the sun is shining out here, and there are some patches of grass that Thypon has not yet destroyed.’
I wander over to a half-shrivelled flower and pluck it from the ground. ‘See, this flower is only half dead. Let’s stay out here, out of the darkness of the forest and in the safety of the patchy grass and withered blooms while we wait for Sir Hugo,’ I say with a nervous laugh.
Alec grabs my hand and yanks me toward him, ‘Come on, Nina. You’re the Queen of curiosity. It’s not like you to not want to have a peek at whatever it is in there,’ he grins.
‘Yes, well, as you know. Curiosity has never been my friend, and I’d rather not be acquainted with it again.’
Alec pulls me in even closer, his hot breath tickles the nape of my neck, and I melt in his arms.
‘Okay, well, you are definitely making me tempted to go into the forest now,’ I murmur as his fangs glide along my nape.
He steps back, leaving me longing for his touch. ‘I thought it might,’ he smirks, ‘Now let’s go.’
The bellow of agony becomes louder as we stealthily sneak about the forest floor. Something very large moves between the trees up ahead, but it stumbles face-first, causing a wave of dust and debris to woosh towards us. Alec holds his cape up before me to stop dust and debris from getting into my eyes. Once he lowers his arm, we stare at a large reddish-brown dragon laying in the dirt, whimpering and groaning.
‘There’s something wrong with its front leg, and I think the back half of the dragon is stuck between those two large trees?’ I say to Alec and point.
‘The dragon looks to be the size of a house,’ Alec says, ‘Such a shame. I guess we will have to put it out of its misery,’ he shrugs.
‘No, we can’t kill it!’ I growl.
‘Why not? We’ve been killing all the other creatures that attack us.’
‘Yes, because they attacked us. This dragon isn’t attacking us. It’s stuck and injured,’ I reply.
‘The moment it sees you, it probably will try and attack you. I think it’s a fire dragon, so it could still kill you with fire even while it’s wedged between those trees,’ he says.
The dragons whimpering screech becomes louder as it attempts to stand.
I step out from behind the tree where we’ve been observing the dragon from.
‘Hi there, um, not so, little one,’ I say nervously. ‘It looks as though you could use some help?’ I say to the dragon.
His eyes narrow, and steam blows out from his nostrils. He looks mad. Very mad. I hold my hands up in surrender and step back.
‘I’m not here to hurt you. I promise.’
The dragon stares at me from head to toe in thought. ‘I’m going to come closer, okay? I want to look at that leg of yours. I might be able to help.’
I wait for any kind of response, but I don’t receive one, so I take the tiniest step possible and wait for a reaction. Nothing, so I take another small step and another, taking in a deep breath with each step. I pray to the Moon Goddess under my breath that the dragon doesn’t decide to turn me into a human kebab.