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

Forty-Seven: A Debt Owed

If Elizabeth and Kore were gone, I had no reason to live.

A sharp sting tore through my cheek just then, and gripped with sudden rage I turned, my elongated canines barely missing the skin of her throat before she shoved me away. With the pain my mind cleared some and I gasped in horror, overwhelmed with the self-destructive path my mind had taken. Forcing every suffocating thought and feeling into a tight ball, I buried it all deep in my mind, locking the door and throwing away the key on my way out.

I had everything to live for.

I met Camille's panicked eyes with renewed sight, my jaw clenching in determination. I nodded sharply, letting her know I was somewhat sane.

"What is happening!?" I shouted over the ringing in my ears and desolation around us.

Screams came from everywhere, assaulting my eardrums with every sharp wail of pain and misery. My heart clenched as I thought of my family, praying that they were safe. I squinted through the dust and cupped a shaking hand over my mouth as the room came into view. Where the far wall had been, a huge section of wall was missing, blown apart and all but disintegrated. One wall leaned threateningly, and as I looked around, noting the prone bodies and missing limbs, I knew we had to get out of here before the entire building came down. Pushing past the sights and smells, I lunged for the bodies, checking for pulses. To my relief, many of them were still breathing.

Injured badly, but alive.

Camille met me on the floor, tightening a tourniquet around my upper thigh, and it was only then that I felt the extent of the injuries to my leg and upper left arm. Sucking in great gasps of air, my breath was ragged as I tried to push past the pain. Warmth infused the injuries and I sighed as the agony eased some. She tapped the side of her head and a moment later her scatterbrained mind barged into mine.

"I don't know! I've only felt power like this once before, the power of an ascension. Kore must've ascended into her full power. We have to get down there." Her panicked gaze met mine. "Azalea.....Michael, your......family, they're all targets."

I opened my mouth to scream that I had no idea what she fucking meant by any of that, when a body suddenly rose from the chaos, her dark skin littered with scratches and once regal clothes bloody.

Calista's rage-red eyes burned through me and her canines elongated.

"What is the meaning of this?! I swear Camille, if you are behind this I will personally-," I stopped her with a snarl, my voice rippling with authority.

"Now is not the time. I have a thousand pack members to attend to and a mate that has gone unexpectedly bonkers. I suggest you find within your however minimal capabilities to care for someone other than yourself for once, or I might as well remove your head from you shoulders before the goddess of hell can do so." The burst of uncontrollable rage that gave me courage to say such words burned through my body as fast as it had initially hit me. But I meant every single anxiety tinged syllable of it. It was taking everything in me to not dissolve into a mess of screaming and rocking back and forth, and I did not have time for her petty bullshit. Camille looked less than inclined to disagree with me and pursed her lips.

Wisely, Calista backed down but her body practically vibrated with anger as she surveyed the scene, stalking away to check on her advisers.