Page 6 of Wolf Caged (Bound to the Shadow King #1)

KAELERON

I t was a dance I had executed countless times.

I slipped through the shadows, twining with them one moment and releasing them the next as I closed the distance between myself and my prey unseen. The full moon shone down on the frozen forest, glittering on patches of snow, turning them to diamonds beneath my silent feet.

The stench of the hooded males ahead of me strengthened, choking my lungs, pulling a smile onto my lips. It would be so easy, so very easy, to slip among them unnoticed.

To slip a claw across a throat or two.

To watch pandemonium erupt in a flash of fear.

And taste it on my tongue.

My grin stretched wider, the intoxicating urge to unleash on the unwitting shifters, demons, and other breeds who made their way towards the solitary barn almost pulling me under its spell. I tugged back on the reins as my claws emerged, black and sharp.

Now, now.

I flashed jagged teeth at the moon as my shadows faltered and reached a hand towards it, a fistful of claws that closed around the orb.

But I held little sway over it here.

So I wrapped shadows tighter around me and stepped back into the kiss of gloom beneath the trees, savouring their inky welcoming embrace.

There would be no crossing the expanse of open ground between the forest and the barn without someone noticing.

The muttered comments of the males ahead of me revealed this was the right place.

My key was right where Neve had told me it would be.

My grin returned, wider now as I sensed impending victory. No moon could snatch it from me.

“Lucia,” I murmured to the stunning orb, “By thy great goddess’s heart, grant me silence and stealth. Seal shut your eyes. Breathe darkness before me.”

I stretched my hand to the sky again, blotting out the moon, and the earth grew still and the air trembled.

The males fell silent, the scent of their fear swirling around me as they stiffened.

When I lowered my hand, darkness so thick even I could barely see through it descended around me.

I tilted my head back, raising my face to the heavy blanket of night, and slowly smiled as weak pinpricks of light gently bloomed into sparkling waves of stars that coated the sky.

One of the males stepped back, his fear striking me, speaking to me. “No. I am leaving. Nothing is worth this. I suggest you do the same.”

He twisted this way and that, wild eyes scanning the shadows.

Seeking me.

Fae filth.

Traitorous heathen.

Two of the men chuckled, as if the male had lost his mind and was overreacting.

If only they knew.

“He who turns his back on his beloved goddess deserves nothing less than my wrath.” I stroked my claws over the rough bark of the tree beside me, contemplating all the delicious ways I would carve this male up for daring to live beyond the lands of Lucia. Beyond the sphere of his goddess’s grace.

The male swung towards me, golden eyes bright, and his hood fell back to reveal hair as gold.

A hiss ripped from me.

“Seelie,” I snarled.

Recognition flashed across his face and then he was gone, only glittering air remaining where he had been standing.

My claws cleaved deep into the tree.

Foul wretch.

Neve had failed to warn me I would find one of his ilk in my path. For that, the dragon would pay.

The remaining five men hurried towards the barn, granting me silence and stealth.

I stepped out from beneath the tree, and a moment later, I stepped out of the shadows, the pointed tip of my right boot emerging first, cleaving through the darkness like a blade.

The shadows slipped away, lovingly clinging as they went, caressing with tendrils that fell away to writhe like snakes across the frozen ground.

At my shoulders, they clasped me tightly, pressing into the plates of my black pauldrons to form a cloak behind me.

A sigh escaped my lips as I tilted my head towards the night again, as endless starlight seared my eyes and bathed my skin.

I breathed it in, savouring the calm as my claws retracted and the earth stilled again, time seemingly suspended around me.

But my mind continued to race, my thoughts drawn to the barn, to what awaited within it.

What form would my revenge take?

A flicker of excitement dared to dance in my veins, tempered by ironclad calm.

Patience .

I had waited too long for this to rush now. Such a tactic had not worked in the past and was the reason I was here now. I could not risk war, and war is what I would have if I disobeyed my high king.

My revenge needed to be swift and silent.

And merciless.

To do that and not break the pact between my breed and the seelie, I needed to find a more subtle approach. Success must be assured before I made my move or the high king’s retribution would be swift and merciless in return.

My seer had foreseen that silent vengeance could be mine, without consequence, as long as I possessed the key. Without the key, I would fail.

For decades, I had waited and watched, had tested the boundaries of the pact and learned patience, tethered to my kingdom and my sanity by her vision, awaiting the next one that would bring me the information I needed to secure my key.

Each night I had asked Neve what she had seen.

And each night she had told me the same thing.

My key would take the shape of a babe with an animal’s heart.

It had not made sense until close to ten years ago when Neve had experienced a clearer vision.

It was a wolf with a human heart.

A shifter.

My eyes slipped shut and I drew in a breath, drawing in the night and power with it. Strength to remain patient, to remain still and calm, in control as I neared my vengeance.

I had searched my kingdom, and then beyond its boundaries, and when Neve had a vision that the wolf was female, I had searched even harder.

Every clue she had given me, I had used.

Landscape. Buildings. Even faces. I had scoured fae towns and far-flung places, beginning to feel as if my vengeance would slip through my fingers forever.

Until that fateful day when she had awoken me with a roar that had shaken my castle.

Phantom cold sweat rolled down my spine beneath my onyx armour, my heart galloping as it had that morning when I had run to her, when she had told me the wolf would die if I did not act now.

That I had to secure my future now . She had been pale, shaking, her eyes glazed as the vision held her captive, as she had frantically babbled what she had seen, details that had finally led me to this place.

I stalked towards the dark wooden barn, a wraith in the night, my senses on high alert, pinpointing the five males who had remained, and three others within the building.

One heartbeat was more frantic than excited and I singled it out, unsure what to expect as I wrapped concealing shadows around me and entered the auction house.

The males gathered before me, huddled around a velvet-covered cage, obscuring it.

Snarls and growls emanated from it, interspersed with flesh and bone striking iron.

The scent of fear was strong in the room as I made my way to a vacant seat and I held my curiosity at bay as I casually relaxed into it, allowing my shadows to fall enough that others might see me.

But not the occupant of the iron cage.

The blond male who reeked of wolf glanced my way and then back again, a wary look crossing his face. He leaned back and to his left, and glanced at the other wolf, this one a larger, dark-haired male I supposed was meant to be intimidating.

I inspected my nails.

Neither male were a threat to me.

Little in this world was.

Magic rose within me, tendrils of it spreading outwards, leaping in jagged motions towards the cage, unseen by the uncouth males.

And met with a powerful ward.

I held the ringleader’s gaze. He feared someone would snatch his prize and make off with it before they parted with their gold. The occupant of the cage rallied and attacked again, rattling it. Or he feared she might escape and he would meet with her fangs.

The spell also rendered her struggles useless.

Even I would need more time than she had to unravel the ward and break out of such an infernal cage.

Yet she continued to try, banging against the bars and snarling.

Admirable.

“Everyone, take your seats.” The blond clapped his hands and the males broke apart and filtered away into the shadows, each taking a seat and leaving several empty between them.

The largest gap remained between myself and what appeared to be a vampire. At least I smelled blood on him. No trace of red in his eyes as he glanced at me several times, revealing his nerves.

I kept my expression bored as I studied my opponents, adding more details to my mental catalogue of them, discerning their breeds and strength, in case one of them decided not to take defeat lying down.

Spotlights fell on the cage, all very dramatic and apparently impressive to the eager males who leaned forwards in their seats.

A murmur of anticipation ran through the room, but I remained where I was, still and calm, revealing an unaffected fae king who had seen this kind of thing countless times in my long life, even when it was new to me.

That mask almost slipped as someone pulled on the thick rope attached to the velvet cloth and it lifted to reveal my prize.

My blood thrummed as my eyes landed on the frantic little female and I found myself leaning forwards, pulled towards her as she bashed the cage with her fists and snarled, flashing fangs at the males groping her bare curves with their lustful eyes.

And when she lifted her head, chin tipping up in defiance…

By the Great Mother, the sight of her hit me like a punch in the chest.

This was no mere wolf shifter.

She was beyond beautiful, and had I not known her breed, I could easily have believed she was fae, with her long silver hair and unearthly blue eyes.