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His deep laugh resonated through his chest. “Damn, I must have hit you harder than I thought.”

He lowered his arms and set me on my bare feet. I wobbled for a minute, like a newborn fawn, before feeling steady.

Where were my shoes?

“What do you remember last?”

What had happened to me? What had I been doing? Wasn’t there something about a fight…

My memories of the past few weeks exploded like a bomb, the force knocking the wind out of me as I fell backwards onto the ground. Ezra quickly offered me a hand but I backed away.

“What did you do?” I cried, unable to keep the panic from my voice. “Where the hell are we?”

He spread his arms, his expression gleeful and childlike. “Vespera—we’re home!”

I finally took in the land around us. Wherever we were, it was definitely not winter—the air warm and the plants in full growth. Trees with braided trunks and covered in bright, iridescent flowers glowed with an ethereal light, and ferns of deep purple and blue grew in patches along the forest floor. The dirt beneath me was soft and rich, releasing a pleasant, cinnamon-like perfume as I rubbed it between my fingers.

A large firefly with wings like a hummingbird zoomed into my face, and I tried to swat it away but it just made a sound like a bell, pulling at my hair.

“Omega! Omega!” it chimed, nuzzling my strands against it’s tiny cheek.

The little creature had finally stopped moving enough for me to get a good look at it. “Oh my god, you’re so cute!” I squealed. What appeared to be a tiny woman, her skin glowing, her eyes way too big for her round face, was now sitting on my shoulder. “What are you?” I extended a finger so it could land on it, but a growl from Ezra sent the creature on its way.

“Hey!” I snapped. “Why’d you do that?”

“Sorry, pixies are pretty harmless, but they can be annoying. If you’re nice they just won’t leave you alone.”

“Pixies?” I repeated quietly.

He nodded.

It couldn’t be, there was no way pixies were real. I mean, I had literally just seen one with my own eyes, but…pixies?

Ezra’s stare followed a vine slithering down from the canopy, which then lightly tapped me on the shoulder. I shrieked and jumped about three feet to the side, and I swore the flowers themselves giggled.

“You have to watch out for some of the flora, too. If you don’t show them who’s the boss, they’ll grow all over you.”

“No.”

Ezra crouched down, stillwaytoo naked, and tilted his head. “What do you mean, ‘no?’”

I got back up on my shaky legs. “I mean no, there’s no way any of this is real. I don’t believe it. This… this is like one of those immersive experiences, right? You roofied me and took me to some big art installation in Minneapolis or something. Wow, great prank. Now take me back to my pack.”

Ezra sighed. “King Alaroth is waiting for us. We should probably hurry.” He reached out for my hand but I refused to take it.

“Fuck your king. I don’t want anything to do with him,” Ireplied.

“Is that right?”

Ezra’s face paled and he dropped to one knee when a large figure leapt to the ground from a branch overhead, landing silently with the grace of a cat. “Your Majesty, I apologize for her disrespect. Please have mercy, she’s still learning…”

So, this was the king who Ezra worshiped, the one he was selling me out to. He’d been Mr. Alpha-of-Alphas back in Maiingan Hollow, but now he was groveling on the ground, tongue-tied and scared. It made my stomach churn.

Instead of following suit I held my chin high. I refused to show him an ounce of genuflection.

The king was tall, albeit a little shorter than Ezra. His skin was pale and smooth, as though he had been carved from marble. Bright aqua eyes twinkled as they took me in, his jaw angular and well-defined. Long silver hair flowed down his back, tucked behind pointed ears.

He was dressed all in black—tight-fitting pants and knee high boots, polished to a high shine. His top was a loose, silky tunic, opened half way down his chest and tucked into his waist.