Heard what? Wait? Where are you now? How are you talking to me?
I had to leave the grounds to get through. But I’m heading back now. If our connection cuts off, you’ll know why this time.
Heading back? Sophie…Sophie, can you hear wolves? She sounded like she had started to hyperventilate, the sound creeping into her projections.
Another chorus of howls rang out, sounding much closer than the last ones. I urged Chestnut faster. Shouldn’t we have passed back into the grounds by now? Why had I let myself be so distracted? I should have stopped Chestnut as soon as I connected with Lily.
The next howl seemed to come from in front of us, and I jerked backwards. Chestnut stopped altogether, pawing the ground, and neighing loudly. I tried to urge her on, but she wouldn’t budge.
“Come on Chestnut, come on.” I murmured, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. But my blood had now started to pound and my hands to sweat. Was that the pad of paws I could hear? And heavy breaths in the now darkening air?
As if to make things worse, a flurry of snow landed on Chestnut’s mane. I brushed it off, and tried to soothe her with my hands. “Come on, girl, we can do this.”
She danced beneath me, squealing now in fear. I looked up and straight into the eyes of a large gray wolf. I screamed and twisted to my right, only to be confronted by two more wolves. Spinning my head to the left, I saw another one. I was surrounded.
Part II
The Prince
Chapter 14
Sophie? Sophie! Lily was screaming in my mind, but I was too focused on the wolves to respond. Did Chestnut and I have any hope of outrunning them? Chestnut squealed again and half reared, flashing her hooves at the wolves. I gasped and hung on, knowing if I was thrown from her back I would have no chance.
When she landed back on the ground, she danced to one side, huffing and snorting. All the wolves were growling now, and I suspected she was about to make a dash for it whether I wanted her to or not. I felt naked and exposed on her back. If only I had something—even a sturdy branch—to defend myself. If a wolf leaped at us, I had no way to whack it away.
I shifted my seat, keeping my eyes on the wolf that seemed to be the leader. Leaning low over Chestnut’s neck, I prepared to urge her into a life and death gallop. My eyes darted around looking for the clearest gap in the circle of the pack.
Sophie!
They’ve got me surrounded, Lily. I knew I must be terrifying her, but I was too scared myself to try to temper the fear that pounded through our connection. Chestnut and I are going to make a run for it. I gulped. But I don’t know if we’ll make it. I love you.
I slammed shut our link and dug my heels into Chestnut’s quivering sides. “Go, girl!” I screamed as she leaped forward. I directed her between the two smallest wolves and, somehow, she managed to break through. The trees flashed past, the short barks of the wolves sounding behind us as they chased us down.
The snow flew up around Chestnut’s hooves, and she kept having to swerve to avoid trees, preventing us from reaching our full speed. I could feel Lily trying to connect with me, a niggling feeling in the back of my mind as I kept myself closed to her. If the worst happened, I didn’t want her inside my head.
Chestnut turned abruptly, and I grabbed at her mane, struggling to keep my seat. Our new path took us along an outcropping of stone, and I could see gray bodies running along the top, somehow ahead of us. Before I could turn Chestnut the other way, one of them leaped from the stone, flying above us and landing on our other side. Somehow, despite our earlier escape, we were once again surrounded.
A growl to my right pulled my eyes back toward the rock just as one of the wolves launched itself at me. I threw myself sideways, knowing it wouldn’t be enough to avoid the deadly claws.
A familiar roar cut through the sound of the wolves as I half hung off Chestnut, unable to see. One of the howls turned into a whimper, and a heavy weight landed hard against my leg and Chestnut’s side, sliding immediately down and away.
I swung myself back up, unable to believe my last-minute reprieve. Looking frantically around between the trees, I found the Beast. He sat atop his stallion, the two fighting as one, hooves and sword flashing. Already gray bodies littered the ground, staining the snow red.
Chestnut neighed and moved toward the safety of the stallion. But before she could place herself behind him, a wolf leaped toward us on the opposite side. I gasped, ducking once more in the saddle. For the briefest moment, as I dipped down, my eyes locked with the Beast’s before his flashed across to the incoming wolf.
A second roar filled the air as, somehow, he swung himself up to a standing position on the stallion’s back, launching himself from the saddle and over my hunched body to collide with the wolf.
I screamed, sitting back up and trying to pull Chestnut around so I could see them. The stallion neighed loudly, the sound a harsh challenge, as his hooves dispatched a final wolf. The last few members of the pack had now retreated. Only the one in a deadly embrace with the Beast remained.
Claws slashed out and red blossomed along one of the Beast’s arms. At the same time the wolf sank its teeth into his opposite shoulder. The Beast roared and ripped the animal’s head away, the muscles of his arms straining. The wolf made a final effort to lunge forward and the Beast let go with his right hand, swinging it up and around so fast that his fist smashed into the skull of the wolf before its teeth could sink in. The animal went limp and fell into the snow.
The Beast stared down at the pile of fur for a moment, swaying as red ran down both his arms. Then he looked up at me, his breath scraping harshly through his throat. Why did you try to leave? You know it isn’t safe out here.
I stared at him. “I wasn’t trying to leave. I was just…” I trailed off, realizing I couldn’t tell him why I had made the excursion outside the grounds.
Are you injured?
I shook my head. “No…no, I’m unharmed.”
A look, almost like relief, flashed across his face before his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed, falling to lie beside his defeated opponent. My eyes widened, and I drew a shuddering breath. I looked again for any more wolves but could see nothing.
Sophie! Sophie! I must have relaxed because, unconsciously, I had reopened the door to Lily. What happened?
I’m all right. So is Chestnut. We’re both unharmed.
Lily gave a shaky breath of relief. Don’t you ever do that to me again! What happened? Did you manage to get back into the castle grounds?
I sent her an image of my shaking head.
Then what happened? Are you sure there’s no more danger?
It seems clear. For now, at least.
Then you need to get back!
I hesitated.
Sophie? What aren’t you telling me?
I sighed and sent her an image of the forest floor around me.
She gasped. Is that blood? What happened to the wolves? Wait—is that the Beast? She sounded half-horrified, half-fascinated.
Yes.