The Wolf Queen (The Queen's Slave, Book 2)

Fifty Two: Raw

"Please, help me, please." She sobbed, disappearing right before her eyes.

The ground shook and Kore crouched, a feral snarl curling her lips, her head whipping left and right as she searched for Leviathan's trail. She was so lost within her desperation that as Elizabeth screamed at her to stop, that it was a trap, nothing would reach her. Not even her very real mate, who stood a block away crying her name, broken and bloody. Her wings spread wide, unfurling like a deep sigh of relief. She looked up into the turbulent sky for a moment, and someone screamed her name, someone familiar but she could not place them.

"She's alive, she's okay." Elizabeth urged, but when Kore looked she saw nothing, and nothing made sense except that her mate had been taken from her. The woman screamed her name again, and this time she paused, a little bit of clarity returning to her.

"Perhaps." Her voice clapped like thunder when she spoke, squinting deep into the shroud of dust and smoke that had become the town. "But there is a little bit of truth in every illusion, my love. Real or not, Leviathan crossed a line. No one threatens what is ours."

"We can't leave her!" Elizabeth spoke, her mental voice was tired, defeated, yet no less angry. "We have not planned months into this war for you to fuck it all up because again, you're choosing power over the one woman who is the most precious gift ever given. Regardless of our situation, Kore, there is only one mate for us. You will not get another."

"Indeed." The second they left the ground, the bond snapped taunt, protesting the distance. Kore's jaw clenched, knowing she had to sever it for the time being, but loathing it all the same. It would be too much of a danger to Azalea and the pack to go into the Queen's nest fully bonded.

"She will understand in time, and so will you. But for now, it is too much of a risk. I need to get to Ravenna before anyone else, and I need your help to do it. Either help me or I will do it myself, but choose fast." It felt like the world had stopped spinning when she closed her eyes and commanded the bond to break. The pain came and she grit her teeth, sucking every last drop of it inside her, sparing Azalea from feeling it. When it was done, she gasped for air, forcing her wings to keep her aloft even as they threatened to fold into her back.

"It is better this way, now I can think without losing my head." She explained and Elizabeth watched shrewdly, feeling the bond sever and fighting the urge to scream.

"If you keep trying to do everything alone, you just might find yourself the last person standing. I know you are used to fighting your own battles, but take it from me, we are more alike than you think. I almost lost her, and I won't go survive that again, and you better be damn sure this is what you want to do because if we lose her I promise I will do everything in my power to torture you for it." Elizabeth warned, nothing but pure honesty in her words.

Kore chose not to respond, but Elizabeth could feel her submit to her words, which assuaged her grief some.

"Rest. I will have need of you yet." Her mental voice washed over Elizabeth laden with gentle power, and so she slept, fading into the depths of her subconsciousness.

Turning her attention to the scenery below, she scanned the rolling hills and valleys when something of interest captivated her. Sharpening her sight, she peered through the fog, her shoulders screaming with stiffness. A woman with white hair stood in a clearing, staring up at her. Coldness emanated from her and was not unlike the icy nature of her daughter.