Cloaked in Sorcery Read online

  “I need to find my friend,” Kalin said. “Wait here for me.” She raced along the castle wall, checking behind bushes and the line of trees leading into the forest. “Lenuţa, where are you?”

  “Natalya,” I said. “I changed my mind.” I faced the witch, who cocked her head my way. “You need to tell the Varlac Tsar that I killed Leo and Titus and took off, mumbling something about claiming Siberia and killing the alpha. Tell him you escaped from me when you saw me go berserk.”

  Natalya’s brow creased. “Why would you want to do that?”

  “Just promise me you’ll tell him this?” It might make the alpha paranoid enough to wait around for me to strike. Of course, I never would, but that precious extra time meant the Romanian pack would be better prepared for war. Of course, the Varlac Tsar had spies in this country, and if they saw me staying near the Romanian pack, then he’d attack at once. I had to leave today.

  She shrugged. “It’s your life. If you want that maniac coming after you, go for it. But what about your wolf girl?”

  My little wolf . . . She had wiggled her way into my heart and mind. Once the spell wore off, I’d know the truth, but in reality, it made no difference. She and her pack deserved a chance to defeat the monster planning to attack them. And if I could help, then I’d do what was in my power. Even if it was just distracting the alpha’s attention for a short time.

  “I found her,” Kalin’s voice sang from my right. She was waving us over, and I didn’t hesitate to limp closer, Natalya on my heels.

  There in the bushes, Lenuţa whimpered, gripping a knee. A cut bled across her cheek, and her dress had been ripped across her side, the gown blotted in dirt. But just below her knee, she had an open fracture—the broken end of a bone had torn through the soft tissue. Blood was everywhere.

  “Can you move?” Kalin asked.

  Lenuţa’s mouth thinned, and she pressed her lips together as she shook her head.

  “She’s losing too much blood,” Natalya pointed out the obvious.

  Kalin spun to me, her body trembling. “She’s not walking anywhere, but I have to get her to the pack for medical help, or she’ll die.” She kept turning to face her friend while chewing on her lower lip.

  “I’ll carry her,” I offered.

  “You’re limping and can barely stand straight,” Kalin said. “I’ll transform into a wolf and hold her on my back. You just follow me, okay?” She was nodding to herself, and already the snap of electricity from her change infused the air.

  I gripped her wrist, squeezing to distract her from transforming. “Kalin, I’m not coming with you.” The words fell from my mouth, and only afterward did their heaviness crash through me.

  “What are you talking about? Of course you are.” She stared at me with such vulnerability in her gaze that my insides became hollow. For a few silent moments, her chin quivered, and I swore she’d cry. Then my resolve would vanish.

  “I’ll talk to my alpha. He’ll accept you . . . He has to.” Her voice shook.

  “Kalin.” I drew her closer and wiped a free-falling tear from her cheek with a thumb. My heart was splitting in two. “I have to do this to help you. Please. But I give you my word: I will come back for you. And I always keep my word to you.”

  “No! That’s not good enough.” She pulled back from me, her eyes pooling with tears. “You promised back in the castle that you’d claimed me as yours. If you leave now, you aren’t keeping your word at all. Just give me some time, and I’ll come with you.”

  My insides shattered like shards of glass. “I wish I could fold you into my arms for eternity, keep you safe, and give you everything you want. But me leaving is the best protection I can offer. And I will be back for you, you have to trust me. I need to distract—”

  “Don’t.” She held her palm out, facing me, stopping me. The pain scribbled across her expression left my world blacker than ever before, lonelier—meaningless. A part of me prayed the spell really was to blame for this, and then I wouldn’t feel so lost and broken. Kalin had opened up a part of me I’d kept locked up for too long—the part that cared for anyone. I’d held everyone at a distance, not getting close, because that led to suffering. Now . . . I lay open and wounded.

  And that right there was the reason I had to leave. To give Kalin and her pack time to ready for the attack. This wasn’t about me but saving lives. I would return to Siberia; I had connections. Enough to help incapacitate some of the Varlac Tsar’s army and slow him down.

  “Kalin—”

  She whirled away from me, her body quivering, morphing, stretching. The popping of skin and bones made me glance at Natalya, whose face scrunched as she watched the transformation.

  Kalin now donned her white pelt with a single stripe of brown on top of her head. Her coat was short, smooth, and shiny. She faced away from me, her stance confident, as if nothing could touch her. Yeah, it was an act. I knew all too well the fine art of shoving aside emotions and pretending nothing affected me.

  I limped toward them and hunched next to Lenuţa. “This will hurt. I’m going to lay you on Kalin’s back, okay?”

  Without another thought, I pushed past my own pain and lifted the girl, who hardly weighed a thing. Kalin inched closer, and I helped Lenuţa straddle Kalin’s back. Lenuţa lay forward and hugged her neck.

  “Kalin,” I said. “I will be back for you.”

  She turned to me one last time, her eyes steady, resting on me as if I were a stranger, but beneath her gaze, heartache showed. Kalin pushed forward, trotting through the woods with her friend holding on to her, a dotted trail of blood following them.

  Nausea toiled unrestrained in my stomach. I would see Kalin again, no matter what. I’d go to Hell and back to find her and show her I kept my word.

  “What are you going to do with these two?” Natalya asked, booting Leo in the arm.

  “Bury them.”

  “Forget them. It’ll take too long, and I doubt you have the strength.”

  She had a point on all accounts. Once the spell wore off in the castle, the place would be crawling with cops. “I’ll at least hide them in the woods.” If humans got hold of them and did an autopsy, they’d discover wulfkin existed. I didn’t need every alpha in the world hunting me down for exposing our race. The Varlac Tsar was enough.

  I moved toward my fellow wulfkin and stared at their naked forms, pale beneath the moon’s gaze. Tonight had turned disastrous.

  Collapsing onto my hands and knees, I slowly rolled them toward the forest, gritting my teeth against the lacerating ache zapping up my leg. Natalya was beside me, speeding the process. With no idea what to do next, I figured I’d at least hide the bodies. Then maybe the local wulfkin pack would find Leo and Titus and bury them.

  We moved the wulfkin several feet into the forest and covered them in dried leaves and debris.

  “Natalya, leave me here. You go alone in case you bump into spies along the way. Don’t give the alpha any reason to harm your daughter.”

  “I’ll take you deeper into the woods first. You can barely stand.” She yanked me upright. Had I been wrong to fear witches, to believe charodeykas were in any way different from us? They lived a secretive existence amongst humans. To the witch sect, wulfkin appeared vicious, uncontrollable beasts. Which was true on many levels.

  We began our slow escape from the castle. We were out of the spell’s reach, and my longing for Kalin remained. Maybe the spell still lingered in my system.

  Piercing pain pulsed through my foot, and I crashed into a nearby tree. I took a few seconds to catch my breath, to stop feeling as if an inferno burned beneath my skin. Perspiration slid down my spine, and everything blurred for a few moments. Hell, I wouldn’t make it far, but we kept going.

  Dense woods surrounded us, and the first trickles of sunlight peeked out from the trees to my left. I took a moment to rest again.

  “You okay?” Natalya asked.

  “Just need a sec.” I stared at the rays, the promise of a new
day, the start of a fresh life waiting for me. Leaving the Russian pack might be a gift in disguise. My thoughts sailed to Kalin. The desire to claim her intensified, as if the earlier attraction had been just a smidgen of the emotions cascading through me. Hell.

  The spell had lifted, and now I completely understood that my emotions were real and raw. Kalin was my soul mate. Heaviness settled on my shoulders, reminding me I’d left behind my true soul mate. But forgetting Kalin was not possible, and I’d made a promise to her I intended to keep.

  I glanced over my shoulder in the direction from which we’d come. If I had allowed myself to discover this in her presence, I never would have left. The desire would have swallowed me whole. Even now, I toyed with the idea of going after her, but at what cost? The impact I could have disabling some of the Russian alpha’s army was far greater than me joining the Romanian pack to fight. So why did bitterness and regret rise like bile in my mouth?

  Natalya’s lips parted, but the crunch of debris from nearby stole her words.

  A lashing of wind collided with me, along with new scents—wulfkin, several at least, all unfamiliar. My brain was racing, but my concentration was shot. The intruders could only be the Romanian pack, and panic tightened my chest. I reached out and grabbed Natalya’s elbow.

  “Run,” I whispered. “To the castle. Hide.” I pushed her away. “Now!”

  Chapter Eleven

  Kalin

  When I’d dropped off Lenuţa at the pack house, my craving for Axe had tripled in strength—shuddering through me with despair that I’d lost him. He was my soul mate. I should have listened to myself, should have insisted he follow me, should have made a bigger effort to convince him I was going with him. But I had been pissed at him for wanting to leave and too worried about Lenuţa, so I walked away. Worse yet, Alena had confirmed Enre had returned to Transylvania after receiving my text, and now he was hunting for the Russian wulfkin in our woods.

  Branches tore at my fur as I sprinted through the forest, where lofty trees threw shadows across the land. The crisp scent of pine strangled my senses, but there was no time for stopping. Goddess, please don’t let me be too late to save Axe.

  My heart was in my throat, and I couldn’t run fast enough.

  A brisk wind shook the branches but did zero to calm the inferno raging within me. Sunlight streaked the horizon with red.

  I leaped over a boulder and scrambled up the sloping terrain. Dried leaves kept sliding under my paws. At the top of the hill, I halted, gulping for air.

  Hang on, Axe. I’m coming.

  Farther in the distance stood the fairy-tale castle that had now lost its charm, reminding me of a night that had forever changed me. Even the surrounding woods were stifling when on any other day they calmed me.

  Earthy smells hit, along with car fumes from the nearby town. No wulfkin. The more ground I covered, the tighter my stomach knotted.

  When the faint wisp of dog and wulfkin finally hit, I halted. Which direction? I lifted my snout and sniffed the wind. I could discern nothing at first. But when the breeze passed, the scent came again, stronger and belonging to several wolves I recognized. Including my alpha, Enre.

  My insides curdled, and I swung left, catching movement in the distance. Wulfkin. I yelped to announce my approach, rushing toward them. Had the pack found Axe? Suddenly, all I pictured was Axe torn apart by wulfkin, dead, gone from this world.

  Please be alive. Please.

  I’d never gotten a chance to save him, to tell him how I felt, to have a future with him. Everything else fell away. I flew over the forest floor, my heart pounding. If I were to relive the night, I would have held on to Axe and trusted in my instinct. But it was too late for hindsight when the world was crumbling around me.

  I burst into an area crowned with enormous pine branches, and their needles crunched under my paws. A brown wolf skittered across the terrain and slumped in front of me before scrambling upright. A Romanian wulfkin.

  But none of that mattered. Not when my gaze fastened on Axe surrounded by five wulfkin, each of them still in their wolf forms. I wasn’t sure if I should cheer that he was alive or shudder from the danger he’d gotten himself into—he might not be alive for much longer.

  My heart pounded, and my chest felt hollow. Blood matted Axe’s black fur. He staggered sideways. He wouldn’t last long. Still, even with his injuries, his posture was all confidence and strength.

  Enre turned to me, baring his sharp teeth. His brindled, gray fur bristled along his nape, and his whitish ears lay flat against his head, commanding me to back off. He stood twice the size of a normal wolf and howled, the pitch of his cry demanding a battle with the intruder on his territory. Axe.

  My legs twitched with the impulse to lunge forward, shove Enre aside, and protect Axe. Except, I’d wind up with my throat ripped out. No one challenged an alpha, unless it was a match to the death. But Enre was a kind leader, my best friend’s soul mate, and I could never wish him dead. Yet, guilt stained my heart, because if I had to choose who lived, I’d pick Axe. That made me the worst kind of person, and it squeezed at my brain, eliminating the thinking I needed to make my next move. I saw no way out of the messed-up situation, and I clung on to hope the for a miracle.

  Dread crept up my spine, numbing my brain. Everyone stood frozen in time, waiting for Enre’s next move.

  When the alpha leaped for Axe, I charged between the two powerful wulfkin, despite my mind yelling at me to stop.

  Enre’s jaws latched on to my front leg, his strength bowling me over. Surprise widened his gaze as he lost his footing and stumbled sideways, blood coating his chin. He shook his head, snapping his jaws at the air between us.

  I scrambled upright, refusing to show pain or weakness, even if the urge to cry drummed through me. Retreating would be declaring defeat, a show of weakness. My wound stung with excruciating pain, and I slumped forward but caught myself.

  Axe was at my side, his muzzle in my fur, growling, warning me to leave.

  Instead, I drove my wolf away, my limbs stretching, every bone aching, fire spearing my injured paw. Seconds later, I stood in my human form, cradling my bleeding arm. The piercing pain came again, ragged and brutal. But I held my ground and, like every other wulfkin here, made no move until the alpha agreed.

  Enre approached with his lips peeled over his fangs, his nose scrunched.

  I stepped in front of Axe, who kept wobbling, unable to stand still. Hell, we were a mess. We were both wounded and from opposite clans, but we shared a soul bond. And wulfkin only had one mate in life. Losing Axe wasn’t an option, now or ever.

  “Enre, please. Our wolves have bonded. We’re soul mates.”

  A deep, guttural sound rolled through the alpha’s chest, and he snapped his jaws at the air between us. I trembled on the spot. I’d never gone up against my alpha, but I’d rather die than watch Axe perish. Funny how yesterday my biggest drama had been finding a missing sock. Today, my world had shattered.

  For those few moments of silence, all eyes remained on me.

  An electric charge made the hairs on my arms shift. Enre’s body transformed, his limbs elongating, fur vanishing. He lifted himself as a man. Scratches and blood marked him, but he stood proud, his shoulders wide—he was damn muscular. He towered over most wulfkin in the pack.

  “Get out of my way, Kalin. This has nothing to do with you,” Enre barked, the darkness in his voice making me recoil. “He’s a Russian spy.”

  But with Axe’s warmth against my thigh, reminding me how much was at stake, I inched forward once again.

  “My wolf has claimed Axe’s.”

  Axe head-butted my thigh. At once, his energy sparked across my flesh, and before long, he rose alongside me in his human form. “Kalin, this is my fight.” He wiped the blood from below his eyes with the back of his hand.

  “Are you insane? You can’t even stand straight. Look how much blood you’ve lost. Why are you doing this?”

  His eyes were hooded.
“I have no choice.”

  My mouth opened, bubbling with the words at the forefront of my mind about this being the wrong time to act stubborn, how he needed to understand he was outnumbered. But that would only make him appear weak in front of the pack, giving them more reason to attack.

  Enre marched toward us, his breathing heavy and his fists clenched. Goose bumps slithered across my skin, and my insides flooded with ice. Desperation shoved me forward, and I sank to my knees in front of the alpha, deflated, tears welling in my eyes. I stared at the ground scattered with pine needles. “Enre. Don’t do this.”

  The other wulfkin around us grumbled their disapproval. Yeah, I got it; backing down would make the alpha appear weak.

  “If you kill Axe,” I said, “I’ll fight you, and you’ll win.”

  Axe’s hand was on my shoulder, pulling me to my feet. “Kalin, it’s time you left. I can look after myself.”

  I shook him away, my gaze on the wulfkin circling us with hungry stares—posturing, ready to attack. No one would help. There was nothing left for me to bargain with. I gazed around at the lofty trees, crisp pine and earthy wolf scents blanketing the air. I turned my head to look at Axe, who stood tall and proud, seemingly ready to face his death. Tears pricked my eyes, and I couldn’t bring myself to move, emptiness flooding every inch of me.

  Enre’s gaze burned into me, his eyes narrowed, rigid, cold. I’d heard tales of his fearlessness in battle, never backing down until he won.

  “Leave!” his voice thundered.

  Axe had said his parents were murdered by their alpha, yet he’d remained in the pack. That had to have taken resilience, strength, and a determination to live with such a painful memory day in and day out.