Page 64 of Ascendant King

I growled, and he stepped back, even though my frustration wasn’t with him. We needed to get through.

As I paced back and forth, my fur stood up on the nape of my neck. Around me, the pack flowed into new positions, their thirst for confrontation adding an edge to the snapping and barks as they jostled for position in the crowd. Nia slid up beside me, her black fur making her a blank space in reality.

She bumped her shoulder into mine, a clear question that I had no answer for. What were we doing? I had no idea.

I didn’t need Nia to tell me that the wolves wouldn’t stay calm forever. At a certain point, very soon, tempers would boil over. I had already ruined our element of surprise with my carelessness?—

The leaves above us shifted as an owl began to wake, its feathers ruffling. Its eyes blinked open, and it could see the entire forest, could see us beneath it, just a pack of wolves, a pack of moving bodies?—

No. I shook my head, refusing to get lost in the knowledge the forest was feeding me. Instead, I tore myself back, forcing my attention to the matter at hand.

We could circle the wards. There had to be more gaps. Isaac and Jay said they moved, which meant thatthisone wasn’t here, but more would be elsewhere.

Cade approached the wards, his boots crunching on dried leaves and twigs. He tilted his head, staring at the empty air.

Pausing, I waited to see what he would do, a curious whine building in my throat. With a glance at me, Cade raised his eyebrow, a slight quirk in the corner of his mouth. Then, he turned back to the wards.

“As Prince of House Bartlett, I give you permission to enter.” He glared at the air in front of us. Then, without looking at me, he said, “Try it.”

I hesitated, but only a half second before I trotted up to the wards. I got close enough for the magic to sizzle the fur on my face before I backed up, yelping in pain.

Cade’s nostrils flared in annoyance. At his side, his hand fisted, knuckles going white.

His voice boomed. “I am Prince of House Bartlett. My blood is what this house was built on. My magic flows here. Let us through.”

Around us, trees rustled, leaves shaking on the branches. I forced myself not to get lost in it, not allowing it to distractme from what was happening. Instead, I focused on Cade, remembering the intimacy of his palm on my chest when he was pushing his magic on my skin to heal me.

This time, Cade walked to the wards himself, extending his hand. His palm made contact, a spark of brilliant magic exploding like lines of unseen ink in the air. The scent of burning flesh filled my nose as the magic sizzled his skin, and Cade hissed.

His lips pulled back from his teeth, eyes narrowing as he pressed his hand harder against the wards.

“IamHouse Bartlett!You will let me through!” His voice was a roar, his anger whipping the air around him.

Some of the wolves whined, shuffling behind me and Nia. I stayed firm, watching Cade as he destroyed his hand.

Black lines of tattoo spread like poison from his palm, decorating the empty air in front of him.

“Let me in!” Cade’s black ink spread further, arcing a hundred feet in the air, complicated vines with sharp thorns.

“No.” The word came from everywhere at once, so loud that even I winced away from it, guarding one of my ears against my shoulder.

I needed hands, I needed to be human, but if we were about to battle Ghost Pack, I couldn’t afford the time it would take for me to shift back and forth.

Instead, I let my wolf senses run wild, trying to determine if the voice was nearby or if it was magic.

“Face me. This is my home. This is my house.” Cade pulled his hand away from the wards, blood dripping from his palm.

He slammed it back against the ward in front of him, and I heard an enormous crack, both of my ears ringing from the sound.

“This is not your house.” The voice drifted, and I couldseeit in the air, the sound waves turned visible as they traveled alongthe wards. Rainbow echoes moved through the air, shimmering on the wards.

“Itis.” Cade glared at the air, raising his hand again and smashing it into the wards. “I am House Bartlett’s blood heir. I am owed entrance.”

I could feel the rage coming off him, the tight muscles, the blood still dripping from his palm, soaking into the forest floor. He screamed and pushed his hand into the wards again.

His black lines of tattoo skittered up further, and the cracking was visible this time, the part of the wards underneath the tattoo giving way. The magic pouring thickly off him made me hesitate only a second before inching closer, nuzzling into his free hand.

His fingers twitched, brushing over my nose and snout. He didn’t look away, but I could feel the ache of the power, the pressure of it, as though it was a physical weight on both of us.