I was clinging to the side of the cliff, the ck Witch peering down at me. Realizing she was the one behind all of this filled me with dread–then suddenly, I felt a strong arm encircle my waist and a solid body press against my back. When I turned my head, I saw that Elias had


    climbed back up just to keep me from falling.


    He noticed the witch standing above as well and let out a deep growl, but he didn’t lose. focus. His attention returned to getting us to safety. He began moving downward again, slowly and carefully, his body shielding mine the entire way. I knew it had to be incredibly difficult for him. He was muchrger than me, yet he kept his whole form between me and


    the cliff wall, protecting me as we descended.


    It amazed me how he managed not to slip himself. Still, we made it most of the way down before the sound of crashing water reached our ears. That’s when Elias grabbed both of f my hands from behind, braced himself, and pushed off the cliff with a powerful kick. We plunged into the river below, but he never let go of me–not for a second..


    The stream’s current was strong, threatening to drag us apart, but Elias held tight. We reached the surface together, and he guided me to the edge of the river where we found arge t boulder and climbed onto it. Both of us copsed there,pletely drained. Wey side by side on the rock, catching our breath, and I looked back up at the cliff–she was gor


    gone.


    The ck Witch had vanished.


    She could’ve gone anywhere, but in that moment, I didn’t care. I only wanted to lie there for al little while, just long enough to breathe and calm down.


    I


    “You know what you just did was insanely reckless,” I said to Elias, who still hadn’t released


    my hand.


    “I know,” he admitted. “But like I told you–they’re not taking you from me.”


    “Do you really think I’m worth all of this trouble?” I asked, half expecting him to dodge the


    question.


    “Without a doubt,” he answered, his eyes locking onto mine. And what I saw in them wasn’t


    hesitation or fear–it was unwavering resolve. He truly meant every word.


    “I don’t want you getting hurt because of me,” I said, looking down at the ground as <b>guilt </b>


    tightened my chest.


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    “I’m the Alpha of the Vanguards pack,” he said without missing a beat. “If I can’t protect my own mate, what good am I to anyone?”


    When we finally stood again, we surveyed our surroundings. It became obvious that Elias had no idea where we were. He had never ventured this far from his own territory before, and with no way to contact his pack, we werepletely on our own. Our only option was to move forward and hope to find something Elias recognized–somendmark or sign that could point us home. But the odds weren’t looking good.


    We began walking away from the stream and back into the woods. This part of the forest wasn’t nearly as dense, making it easier for us to push forward. Still, my mind was a whirlwind. So far, my father had sent both a dragon and a witch after me. What else did that man have hidden up his sleeve? His mission was clear–capture me or kill me. Whichever came first. But if I died, the royal bloodline would end with me.


    I couldn’t let that happen–not to my mother, and not to the werewolfmunity. ording to Elias, many believed the royal family had simply gone into hiding to avoid being hunted down. And in a way, they weren’t wrong. I was thest remaining heir, and someone out there clearly wanted me dead.


    Instead of sitting on a throne, guiding a kingdom, I was barefoot, soaking wet, trudging through a forest with dirt on my face and fear in my chest. It was hard not to feel like I was failing everyone. The weight of that responsibility was heavy. I didn’t want to let anyone down. I knew I had to stop my father and reim the throne, but before I could do that, there were questions that needed answering–too many secrets left in the shadows.


    As the sun began to sink below the horizon, the air quickly turned colder, and I was still stuck wearing this thin white dress–which at this point wasn’t exactly white anymore, more like at stained and dirty version of it. The second Elias noticed, he instantly snapped into his usual.


    protective mode.


    He quickly located a spot that seemed secure enough for us to stay the night and motioned for me to sit on a fallen tree trunk while he went to gather firewood. Soon enough, he had a small fire burning to offer me some warmth. But more than that, he sat right behind me and let me rest against <b>his </b>chest, his body heat radiating into me and slowly easing the chill.


    I never really understood why I didn’t have that same warmth. All werewolves always seemed like they were burning up from the inside, like they were constantly running a fever–but they weren’t. And yet here I was, feeling cold all the timepared to them. Why didn’t I get that kind of body heat? It would’ve been especially helpful on a freezing night like this. But maybe


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    it was just another mystery. At this point, nothing about me was predictable. We were all learning not to expect anything normal where I was concerned.


    <b>I </b>sat there with my back against Elias, watching the mes flicker and dance, but every time I heard a rustle or crack from somewhere in the woods, my eyes darted toward the sound. I


    had no idea what kinds of things were out there in the darkness. But Elias did–he could


    immediately tell me exactly what type of animal was making the noise, like it was second <fnea13> Discover more novels at f?ndnovel</fnea13>


    nature.


    He had been a wolf much longer than I had. That much was obvious. He was far more


    experienced, far more attuned to everything than I was. I knew deep down that once we


    returned to the camp, I had to start training seriously. I couldn’t stand feeling this useless,


    this helpless, and I refused to let myself feel like this again. I was going to train, grow stronger, and all the while I’d keep reading those books. I had to uncover more about my bloodline. So far, I had only gotten to the earliest family tree recorded in the 1300s–and they


    had ten children. So how was it even possible that I was the only one remaining?


    Or maybe… maybe I wasn’t the <bst </b>one after all. Maybe there were others still out there


    somewhere, hiding. If people were trying to hunt us down, it wouldn’t surprise me if some


    had gone deep into hiding. Still, I didn’t have an answer to that, not yet. It would be amazing if


    I had family left somewhere in the world. But I wasn’t going to let myself believe it. My own


    family hadn’t exactly been dependable so far, and I wasn’t about to start depending on them


    now. I had to ept the truth: I was on my own. And honestly, that was the only thing I’d ever


    been used to.


    I had no idea how long I had been lying there before I drifted off to sleep, and I couldn’t tell how long I’d slept either. But when I opened my eyes again, I found myself lying on the ground beside a dying fire, the embers barely glowing, and a strong, warm arm wrapped around my waist. Elias’s body was pressed up behind me, his presence grounding and


    I rolled over slightly to get a look at him, and I found that he was already awake. He was lying there watching me quietly while I slept.


    “Isn’t it dangerous for us to be sleeping out here in the open like this?” I asked softly.


    “No, not really,” he replied with a <b>faint </b><b>smile</b>. But he made no move to get up or change our


    position.


    “We really need to figure <b>out </b>how to get back to the pack,” I <b>said</b>. “I don’t want to spend


    S CHAPTER 24


    another night like this.”


    More Rewards


    “I know you don’t,” he said. “It’s okay. We’ll get moving now.” He sat up reluctantly and then


    helped me to my feet.


    As soon as we were both on our feet and Elias had made sure the fire was fully extinguished,


    we continued walking along the path once more. But suddenly, the ground beneath us started


    to tremble. Something was happening ahead of us, and I instinctively grabbed onto Elias to stop myself from losing bnce.


    The mud in front of us began to rise unexpectedly, lifting up and reshaping into strange, solid forms. I stood frozen as dozens–maybe even hundreds–of small creatures took shape in front of us. Their features formedpletely before my eyes, and then, one by one, they started moving, all of them slowly turning their heads to stare directly at me.


    “Princess,” they all spoke in eerie unison.


    “What the hell are those things?” I asked in rm.


    “Golems,” Elias said with urgency. “And they’re not here to make friends. RUN!” he shouted.


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