34. Asher

ASHER

M ara had to be insane. She just had to be. How would going to feral lands keep Phaedra safe? The only living things out there were wolves that had been banished there with their children. They were borderline rabid, always on the lookout for their next meal or their next mate. They couldn't be reasoned or bartered with… and we were about to walk right into their den.

It might as well have been a suicide mission.

We began our trek through the lands. It was just as I remembered from my dream. The air was different here, the smells foreign, and the overall atmosphere uncomfortable. We went in one direction, but it was impossible to tell if we were going straight. Without being able to consistently see the sky, we could have been walking in circles for all I knew.

At least, true to my mate's word, she didn't leave my side. Even as a wolf, when she was more inclined to be playful and impulsive, she stuck close, so much so that I felt her jet-black fur brush over mine. I didn't mind. I was glad to have her at my side, watching out for me as I watched out for her.

We walked for hours and hours, but we found no trees crossed over each other like an X. The land here felt different, the plants more plentiful, so the scent of foliage and dirt was more pungent. Ducking and weaving between trunks and branches made progress a slog. I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever make it out of this vast bramble.

The next time we reached a stream, Phaedra and I stopped for a drink. She lay down to lap at it. My poor girl was exhausted. I was tired, too, but I was used to running for miles every day, both in my wolf and human forms. She wasn't. I thought again about what Selene had said about her, how strong she was when she'd pinned her down in Penny's study.

She didn't look very strong as she drank, but it was a testament to her determination that she had gone this long without taking a break.

I leaned down to drink alongside her, until suddenly, I was terribly aware that something wasn't right.

We hadn't encountered even one feral. Hadn't even scented one. I was built for tracking and hunting, groomed from birth to find the paths of squirrels and mice. And yet, I was blind out here.

Was it because we were in this foreign place? Was I just too unfamiliar with my surroundings to get a good read on them?

Or was it because we were the ones being tracked?

No sooner had I come to that horrible conclusion, when I looked up to find a pair of eyes staring at us from between the trees.

Phaedra's hackles were raised as she hopped to her feet, seeing the eyes just a second after me. And it was good timing that she did, because the wolf suddenly charged her.

I launched myself at the feral before it reached her, tackling it to the ground, my teeth already at its throat. As I felt the windpipe crunch between my teeth, I backed off to intercept another that was coming for her. I rolled into the stream with it, our jaws snapping, claws trying to find purchase in fur made slick by the water.

But while I was wrestling with it, Phaedra was unprotected. I risked a glance at her, but she wasn't near the stream anymore. She was growling at another feral, who had decided to attack while I was occupied.

I cursed myself, trying to kick my opponent off me. It refused to let up. It had caught a mouthful of fur at my shoulder, and it wasn't letting go. I looked at her again, and watched in horror as Phaedra made the first move.

For those moments, I thought I was about to watch my mate run right into her own death—but she was so much faster than the stunned feral. She was a streak of black, darker even than the shadows between the trees, as she got behind the wolf and mounted it, closing her jaws on the back of its neck. It was over in seconds, its lifeless body slumping to the ground.

Phaedra had done it. My mate had won!

I finally managed to stop wrestling with the feral in the stream and shook the water off my fur. I went to stand by my incredible mate as more eyes glinted at us like blades through the trees.

We fought hard, she and I, but it didn't matter how many we fended off or wounded, and it didn't matter that we tried to run away to hide, the sounds of our fighting attracted more and more ferals. We couldn't keep doing this forever.

Phaedra looked at me, her bright eyes asking the same question I was. How did we get out of this?

Every possible solution I thought of required human hands. There was no time to shift, and doing so would make me even easier prey. The only thing to do was create a distraction, get their attention on me so Phaedra had a chance of escape.

All I had to do was make an opening wide enough for her to slip through. She was so fast, and I was sure she could put some meaningful distance between herself and the ferals, maybe climb a tree in her human form and get her bearings?—

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a flash of pale, human skin. I looked in horror. Yes, it was Phaedra. She'd moved a few yards away from me without me noticing, standing in the stream in her human form. Was she about to sacrifice herself for me? Make herself an easy target so I could get away?

No, she couldn't! I wouldn't let her! I howled at her, sprinting in her direction as she raised her hands at the ferals.

" Stop! "

It was like her voice joined the air and sent ripples through the forest, passing between the trunks of the all these wild trees.

And as if a switch had been thrown, the wolves stopped. Even more shocking, their eyes lightened from the feral black, as if some of their ferality had just… dissipated.

Moments of silence passed, then Phaedra stumbled back a few steps, like she'd just been hit with a sudden bout of vertigo. I ran to her, shifting as I moved, and caught her just as the strength left her legs.

I carried her out of the stream and knelt with her. She was milk-pale, but her skin was almost hot to the touch, and she was dewy with sweat. I pushed her hair out of her damp face, and she looked at me with those gorgeous eyes.

Having just been fighting for my life, it took me a moment to understand what she must have done. She had controlled these ferals with her goddess power. Her voice had commanded them to stop, and so they had.

I smiled at her, holding her close, letting out a half-relieved, half-crazed laugh. "I guess it pays to have a demigoddess on the team, huh?"

She looked like she wanted to laugh, too, but then her eyes started to close. She reached up and touched my shoulder. "Asher," she whispered. "Don't let me?—"

"What?" I asked, putting my ear closer to her mouth. "Say it again, my lovely."

At first there was nothing, just the sound of her breathing, and then her head moved, and I felt her smile against my ear.

"I think she was going to say, ‘don't let me fall asleep.'"

That wasn't Phaedra's voice. I pulled back, and found her looking up at me, but not with her gorgeous stormy-gray eyes. No, they were almost as black as the ferals' were. It was Kestrel, not my mate.

And Kestrel, in Phaedra's body, pushed me away. I recoiled from the touch, falling back from her. Goddess, she really was strong, but more than that, her touch felt wrong. Even my wolf rejected it. I put my hand over the spot where she'd pushed me, knowing I would have a bruise there later.

"Get the fuck out of Phaedra's body," I told the witch.

She laughed and ran her hands down Phaedra's body. "Why should I? Don't you like it?"

"How dare you?" My lip curled, rage pulsing through my blood. "You're disgusting."

She laughed again and let her hands fall to her sides. "Stupid boy."

"Give her body back," I growled. "Or?—"

"Or nothing," she mocked me. "Would you really lay your hands on me? The woman you're so sickeningly in love with? I don't think so. The only thing you would do with this body is… well, we both know, don't we?"

I got to my feet, glaring at her. But she was right, there was nothing I could do. I didn't have magic, and I couldn't risk hurting Phaedra. She was still in there.

"You were smart to try and hide on feral lands, though it did get you attacked by all of these mutts," she said, walking between the still frozen ferals, running her hand through the fur of those she touched. "I thought it would take me ages to find her, but she was missing less than two days."

"How did you find us?" I demanded.

"That was their fault." She gestured around herself to the ferals. "Once Phaedra used her power, I was able to find her. And now…" She wrapped her arms around herself and let out a long, reverent sigh. "Now, I have complete control over this body. Ahh… I can't remember the last time I felt so alive. Youth, beauty, these things are wasted on the young. You don't know how to appreciate them until they're gone."

"You're sick," I said. "What are you going to do with her body now that you have it?"

She smirked. "What do you think?"

It was so, so wrong to see the expression that had always been so enchanting, used against me now. It was uncanny. Surreal. A nightmare.

"I am taking my fight to Emerys," she said. "To the gods who cursed me to this ugly, terrible land, forced to do the petty biddings of you stupid, incurious creatures. But before I can get there, I intend to take over all of Isle Royale." She paused, considering, and then she gave a grin that dripped with malice. "As a matter of fact, I might take over more than just this island, more than just Michigan. After I've conquered Emerys, with my power, I could take even more. This world, the next, all of reality could become my playground if I will it."

"You're fucking delusional," I spat. "None of that will ever happen."

"Won't it?" She pointed at me. "Why don't you be a good little boy toy and get down on your knees ?"

I knew what it felt like when an alpha used their voice to control their pack. My father had done it a handful of times, so I recognized the pull to obey her command. But that pull didn't come with the urge to obey. And after a few seconds, it faded away.

Kestrel frowned. "That's odd." She looked at her hand… and then her lips pulled back from her teeth in a snarl. "How did you get this mark to return? You should never have been able to undo my magic."

Of course! The fated mate mark prevented her from killing or harming me, which meant it kept her magic from controlling me as well. That was a huge, if unexpected, advantage, and I thanked Mara, even if her plan had gotten us into this mess in the first place.

I laughed at her. "Guess you're not as powerful as you think."

She turned her glare on me. "I'll just have to deal with you at another time," she said, and then addressed the ferals around her. "For now, I want you all to keep him from following me. "

There wasn't that same ripple that Phaedra's command had, but the ferals obeyed anyway. I tried to avoid them, but they knocked me to the ground. Kestrel couldn't order them to hurt me or kill me, so the most they could do was pile on top of me and hold me down.

" You, and you. " She pointed to the two largest ferals. " Lead me out of this horrible place. "

"Kestrel, get back here!"

She ignored me, disappearing between the trees with her feral entourage.