Sage woke me while it was still dark out. I’d had to pull myself from the comfortable bed and brush my teeth quickly before rushing outside. Murmured low voices came from the church across the street. Sage and I crossed the brick walkway and I balked at the sight of nearly a thousand warriors. They were all bare chested despite the chilly air breezing through the town, and they held a variety of deadly looking weapons. The bright blue streaks of paint across their faces and chests gave me chills. These men were true warriors. You could see it in their eyes, the way they not only looked like they weren’t afraid of death, they welcomed it. Most of the warriors were men, but I spied a few women, just as deadly and fierce looking.
Arrow and Rab were talking animatedly to each other, while Astra had her hands on a man’s shoulders as she seemingly prayed for him. Being in such a different culture was fascinating. I wanted to know everything about the Paladins and their customs, but now was not the time to learn. Footsteps sounded behind me and I turned to see a large pack of wolves coming down the street, a hundred of them or more.
These wolves were large, larger than our city wolves, and all black, with bits of rust fur at the tips.
“Paladin wolves,” Sage whispered.
Oh.
“What if someone attacks us while you’re gone? You’re taking our best warriors!” Rab shouted, and I turned my attention back to the front of the church.
“They want to show the new alpha that they will fight for her cause,” Arrow stated passionately. “They have faith that she will heal our lands and people and not leave us.”
Guilt shot through me. These people that I didn’t even know were willing to fight for me so that I would help them. It just reaffirmed that I couldn’t go back to Sawyer until I had given my all here and helped them.
“I don’t trust her. She’ll leave when it gets hard,” Rab growled. As if sensing me, he glared behind him and met my cold gaze.
I shouldn’t have stayed and eavesdropped, but dammit that comment made me mad, and they were talking loud enough for the whole damn group to hear.
“The hell I will!” I shouted, and bounded over to them in long, angry strides, earning the gaze of over a hundred warriors who stood the closest. “You don’t know anything about me. You have no idea what I’m capable of.” I felt my wolf come to the surface then, and Rab spun fully, looking me straight in the eyes.
“Well, little wolf,” he sneered. “Half of our warriors are leaving, and if we get attacked by the Ithaki while they are gone, I will personally hold you responsible for every death.”
Moving warriors from one place to another and leaving the Paladins vulnerable was not ideal, but I had to choose the lesser of two evils. Right now, the city wolves were stuck in a bomb shelter. Clearly that situation was more dire.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less. Now, how can I help here?”
“Demi,” Sage called from behind me, voice thick with concern. “Aren’t you going to even help me lead the warriors back to Wolf City?”
Fuck. I should have told her this morning.
I turned and faced her, tears welling in my eyes. “I… I need to stay here for the time being,” I told my redheaded bestie.
Her eyes widened as she looked behind me at the warriors. “Demi, Wolf City… Sawyer. We need you right now.”
Being torn like this, it was awful. I gestured to the blackened grass at my feet, and the dying cornfields off in the distance that I could see even from here were tipped with black char. “No. You want me. But they need me.” I lowered my voice. “I’m going to stay for a few days and talk about next steps with them. I want to earn their trust, do what I can to heal them,” I told her sincerely. She didn’t get it; she didn’t understand these were my people too.
She frowned. “Fine. I’ll stay with you.” She crossed her arms in defiance.
Tears pricked at my eyes as I shook my head. “I need you to lead the warriors to Sawyer. I told him you’re coming.” I tapped my head.
It was early as all hell, we were both exhausted, but war didn’t wait for you to get a good night’s sleep.
“Fine. I’ll drop them off and come right back,” she growled.
“Sage—”
“Stop arguing with me, you stubborn ass. I’m not leaving you here with hotty alphahole over there.” She narrowed her eyes at Rab and I grinned.
Any and all hotness Rab possessed was eaten away by his asshole personality. Besides, I was only interested in Sawyer.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t admire the chiseled bodies every now and then though.
“Alright. See you tonight, then?” I asked.
Her frown grew deeper. “You told Sawyer you’re staying and that I’m going?”
My heart pinched. “It was the worst thing I’d ever had to tell him… But yes. Last night.”
She nodded. “I’ll be back tonight, then, maybe tomorrow.”
We hugged and my throat tightened with emotion. Why did I feel like I wouldn’t see her for a long time? War was ugly, and everything felt so dire on both sides of the border. I hoped I was making the right choice by staying behind with the Paladins. The thing was, the city wolves had Sawyer and these people had no one.
“Be safe,” I told her.
She wiped at her eyes and then walked over to Arrow. “Come on, I’ll show you the way.”
A female warrior stepped up to Arrow, her body nearly as chiseled as his, her breasts covered by a tiny triangle strip of suede that hung from a string that was covered in pretty red beads. She had a deadly grip on her weapon, and I knew instantly that this was Arrow’s mate. He seemed like the type who would go for a warrior woman.
The men started to disperse, and I thought I should say something, give them confidence in my abilities, although I had no idea what would be required of me.
“I won’t let you down,” I said in a strong voice that surprisingly didn’t shake.
The men looked from Astra, back to me, and then nodded, heading off to fight a war they’d never started or believed in.
I stood there, watching every single man and wolf pass by me, and gave them a tight smile. When the last warrior finally turned around the corner, Rab stepped over to me, arms crossed as he pinned me with a glare.
“Three thousand, one hundred and seventy-eight.”
I swallowed hard. “What?”
“That’s how many warriors just left. That’s how many Paladins you have decided to put at risk on your first day as trial alpha.” His eyes flashed yellow.
“Trial alpha?” I crossed my arms and glowered at him. Clearly Arrow was the nice brother. “Last time I checked, I’m the only alpha you got.”
He chuckled, looking over at Astra. “You haven’t told her anything, have you?”
Astra squirmed, adjusting her cream linen top with nervous fingers. “I told her what was important at the time.”
My stomach dropped, and my face must have shown it too, because Rab grinned. “You have no idea what you’re in for, city girl.”
He blasted past me, nearly knocking into me, and I was left staring at Astra with what I hoped she interpreted as a stunned expression.
“Come on. Let’s go in and talk.” She nodded to the large double doors of the giant redbrick church.
I squirmed. Not exactly what I wanted to do right now. But I needed some answers. Following her up the steps, I looked back over my shoulder as the sun began to rise, casting orange, buttery light over the Paladin village. It was so… stunning… and yet… clearly dying. Hundreds of the small redbrick cottages dotted the landscape, all built in straight little rows. In the distance were the open fields. Black sludgy stuff marred the tips of the corn and other crops. The trees looked… ashy… like they had been burned. The plant death covered everything. As Astra led me inside, I did a quick check in with Sawyer.
‘Sage and over three thousand warriors are on their way to you now. I’m going to do my best to help out here today and see if I can get back over to you tomorrow for a visit.’
His reply was immediate. ‘No. It’s too dangerous, just stay there. I’m sending Eugene to protect you. He should reach you in a couple hours.’
I wanted to argue that I didn’t need protecting here, but I knew it would make him feel better to send someone to look after me. It made me sick that neither of us knew when we would see each other again. ‘Alright. Everything okay there?’
It was a stupid thing to ask. What could be okay about a war?
‘My mom, your parents, and Raven’s family are safe. So that’s good.’
That sounded an awful lot like good news-bad news talk.
‘And the bad news?’
I could hear him internally sigh, and desperation bled through our imprint. ‘It’s bad, Demi. I’m glad you’re not here to see the fall of everything my father helped build.’
Oh God. I sagged in the doorway as Astra waited patiently for me to join her inside.
‘Sawyer. Tell me. I can come back. I can help.’
‘No. Stay there. The three thousand men will be a big help. I gotta go.’
He pulled away from me and I was left with my mind spinning. What the hell was I supposed to do now? My fiancé was in crisis and I was helpless to do anything.
“Everything okay, Alpha?” Astra wrung her hands nervously and I felt her trepidation through our bond.
I sighed. The entirety of Magic City was at war and I was pretty sure that war started because of me, and my fiancé was left dealing with it all, but bitching about it wasn’t going to help anyone. “Let’s just talk about how I can help here.”
Astra nodded, her brown hair bobbing. “Come on in.”
She stepped deeper into the space and behind a row of pews. I stepped inside and allowed myself to examine the space further.
Rows and rows of thickly lacquered, dark wood pews lined the giant room from the front to the back. Astra wove in and out of the aisles, making her way to a stage up at the front. It had church vibes in the way it was laid out, but I could see no religious insignia or idols. We arrived at the stage and I peered at the glowing light coming from it. I expected to see a cross or something of that nature, but instead there were hundreds of flickering candles.
“One protection prayer for each soldier who left,” she informed me.
My eyes widened.
Over three thousand tealights? That must have taken all night.
She walked across the hardwood floors and toward the flickering stage as I let my eyes go to the windows at the top of the building. There was more of that homemade looking glass. It was no Roman catholic cathedral but there was a good vibe to the place, peaceful.
Astra stepped up onto the stage and I followed her. Now that we were close to the candles I could feel their collective heat, admiring the lights as they flickered and swayed. They were stacked on little risers in ascending order.
Astra reached into a little box on the side of the stage and set one more tealight down on a space she found on the floor. Then she clasped her hands and muttered under her breath. I stood there watching her, thinking about when she’d healed Walsh and how that magical blue glitter stuff had fallen from the sky and onto her body. She’d literally saved his life with her power. I also thought about how they’d called her priestess. That was a word the witches used but she was clearly a wolf… a spiritual or religious one.
She baffled me, but in a good way.
Looking up from her clasped hands, she waved her fingers over the small candle and a flame burst from the wick. I sucked in a breath at the display of magic.
“That was for Sage,” she told me, acting like she didn’t just do something super cool and amazing like light a freaking candle with her mind!
“Are you… part witch?” I was trying to figure this all out. Figure her out.
She scowled. “The witches are evil. They’ve turned away from the Father and use their magic to power the darkness.”
Okay… I didn’t know what that meant. “The Father… being…?”
She frowned. “The Father of all creation. God. Prime Creator.”
I nodded. “Right. That’s what I thought.”
“Can all Paladins light candles with a wave of their hands?” I looked at my own fingers, wondering if it were possible. She barked out in laughter and it made her look much younger. Now I questioned my guesstimate of her age.
“Obviously not!” She laughed some more, the lightness causing my own lips to curl.
I shifted on the balls of my feet nervously as the candles flickered shadows across her face. “I don’t really know anything about Paladins, Astra. I was raised among humans.”
She frowned, grasping at her chest as if I’d just told her my grandmother died. “Shells of their former selves. May that never happen to us. You have to help us,” she pleaded.
What the what?
I frowned, opening my arms. “I’m here. I have no idea what you need from me, but I’m here. Just help me understand everything.”
She nodded. “This way. I’ll explain everything.”
Why did that give me a sinking feeling in my stomach?
