Page 100 of The Mating Quest

He disentangled himself from his sister. “I’m going after her. You’re stayinghere.”

“Fine,” she snapped. “I never wanted thisanyway!”

He gave her a questioning look. “What?”

Dakota laughed bitterly. “I never wanted to be this all powerful Wylding with super powers. All I ever wanted was a pack and a mate, young to raise. Now look at me. Did anyone ask what I wanted? If I wanted thisquest?”

Stricken, he looked at her, really looked at her and saw the misery on her face. Ethan held out his arms and she went into them. He hugged her tight and then glanced at Tristan. The wizard was tooquiet.

“Can anything be done to relieve her of thisduty?”

Tristan tilted his head. “Perhaps. If that is truly her heart’sdesire.”

Dakota sniffed and pulled out of Ethan’s arms. “I’m sorry, but I’m not cut out to be this sacrificial warrior like Ilana. I thought I could be… but I’m not. I only wanted a quiet life with a good, lovingLupine.”

“Like Ryan?” Tristanasked.

“Maybe. We have to give it time to find out. We barely know each other. I know this is selfish of me…” Her voice trailed off. “I’ve tried to be like Ilana, always ready for a fight, but… does this make me acoward?”

The wizard shook his head, his expression gentle. “This makes you pragmatic. A lupine who knows her own mind. I’ve been waiting for you to say something,Dakota.”

“Why didn’t you speak up before?” Ethan demandedTristan.

“She had to make her own choice.” The wizard gave him a stern look. “As Ilana made hers yearsago.”

Dakota ran a hand through her short brown hair. “I want to help Gideon. I will do whatever it takes, Tristan. His needs comefirst.”

For a moment the wizard smiled. Then he nodded. “You have done well, Dakota. Very well. I officially absolve you of your duties. It was already approved by thegoddess.”

“Nice of you to say so now,” Ethansnapped.

“You could have saved me a lot of anguish had you told me this,” Dakota criedout.

Tristan went to her and she backed off, as if fearful. But he put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “My dear Dakota, you needed to go through that anguish to find what your heart truly wanted. Do you knownow?”

Her eyes grew moist. “I want a chance to know Ryan better. Even if it doesn’t work out for us, his pack is what I want. They know my origins. They’ll accept me for who I am, Lupine andChangeling.”

Ethan felt relief for his sister, but his fear increased for Ilana and Gideon. “Now what? I thought Dakota was supposed to aid Gideon and be his right hand because dark forces aregathering.”

“Gideon does not need an aide to help him in his fight against darkness.” Tristan stretched and rolled his neck, as if tired. “Of all the wizards, we believe he is the most powerful, along with Alia, though no one truly knows the extent of Caderyn’s magic. Only Danu does. When Gideon met Alia in the Summer Kingdom, and they fought her father, the evil Fae King, Danu placed all his Crimson Wizard powers into Alia for safekeeping. Gideon regained his powers through anothermeans.”

If he could, Ethan would smack the Silver Wizard. What the hell was it with everyone, from wizards to Ilana, withholding information? He turned to Dakota. “If this is what you wish, then follow your heart.” She searched his face. “What of you,Ethan?”

“I’m going after Ilana. She’s all alone in the Dark Kingdom and needs myhelp.”

Tristan clapped a hand on his shoulder, his face tight. “Beware, Ethan. Cormac will use his new powers to raise Others from the dead in the Dark Kingdom. What do you know ofzombies?”

“Not much, except in a few horror films my packenjoyed.”

The Silver Wizard’s expression turned grim. “Zombies eating brains is myth. You cannot become a zombie yourself if one bites you. These zombies do not desire to eat or bite you. They are slow, but if they fall upon you, they will rip your heart out. They will do anything to kill you. And after they do, they absorb your dying magick and become even more powerful, powerful enough to raise up more zombies with the correctspell.”

His blood went cold at the wizard’s next words. “Even you, once you aredead.”

Ilana materializedinside the Dark Kingdom inside a ranch belonging to a ferocious Lupine pack. She had made a nodding acquaintance with the Lupines, and despite their wildness, she trustedthem.

More than anyone else in this wildland.

Wolf Haven was a Lupine sanctuary in the Dark Kingdom, where the wolves could live in relative safety from Dark Fae and Others like herself. She’d been welcomed by Chase, the alpha of the largest pack in Wolf Haven, after she’d rescued one of the pack’s young when he’d run away from home and couldn’t find his wayback.