The Red Wolf (The Wolf Fey #2) by Kailin Gow Read Free Book Online

then Alistair flew off, wary of being seen with a Wolf in a war zone. I transformed once more into my lupine form and then headed on forward toward the path. Alistair had managed to give me better directions than the slurring, untrustworthy Pan had done, and this time I was sure where to find Kian's hunting lodge.
    But would Breena still be there when I arrived?

Chapter 6
     
     
    I ran faster and faster as the sun began to set in the sky. Alistair had managed to take me most of the way, saving me at least two days off my travels, but I was still worried. By now Breena had spent four days alone with the Prince Kian, and although I was glad at least that he was probably not looking to harm her, I didn't rest too much easier. The Winter Kingdom was a cold and bitter place – it was known for its austere codes of conduct and its love of duty and honor above all else. I doubted such people would be particularly welcoming to a scared, sixteen-year-old mortal girl. As bad as it was to be a Wolf in Feyland, being a human was that much worse. At least we had some form of abilities – but humans had none, and the very few that made it across the Crystal River, to make things worse, tended to be concubines seduced by powerful fairy noblemen, and hence all humans in Feyland had a reputation for being, if not somebody's mistress, then at least somebody of questionable morals, good only for a quick roll in the hay. I shuddered. I would hate for anyone to think of Breena that way – although I imagined if someone like Pan tried to insult her, she'd let him know exactly what she thought of him.
    Breena was a strong girl, I told myself. No matter how new and strange and forbidding Feyland seemed to her, no matter how anyone – let alone those blasted Winter fairies – treated her, she would keep her wits about her. She wouldn't let herself give in to despair and terror. She'd stay strong.
    That is, if she hadn't tried to escape already. My heart sank at the prospect. With Kian, at least, as much as I hated to admit it, she was (it appeared) in no immediate physical danger. But who was to say that Breena knew that – or that she believed it? And if Breena managed to be successful in escaping from Prince Kian, that meant that she was alone in Feyland. And Feyland's dangers – a serious enough problem for an experienced Wolf like me – were even more of a problem for a girl like Breena, completely untutored in fairy ways.
    But was she untutored? My mind flashed back to what the Duke had said about the Summer Kingdom wanting Breena? She couldn't just be an ordinary human – there was no way that the Summer Court would be interested in humans. After all, everyone knew that the Summer Queen Redleaf hated humans, that she despised all mortals ever since her husband, the Summer King, had taken a mortal concubine for his lover for many years, since there was a child born of that union...
    …a girl.
    The thought hit me and my eyes opened wide. Could it be? Was Breena that girl? As far as anyone in Feyland knew, the Summer King's former lover had returned beyond the Crystal River – she was in hiding as the war raged here and Feyland, keeping the heir to the Summer throne safe amongst humans. Meanwhile, Redleaf the Queen was trying harder and harder to conceive a child of her own, knowing that any child she bore would take precedence over Breena for the title of Crown Prince or Princess of the Summer Court. But from what I'd heard of the King and Queen's relationship, it would be a long time before Redleaf even had the opportunity to conceive a child.
    Which meant that Breena, if Breena was the child of the concubine and King Flametail, otherwise known as Foxflame as a human, was the heir to the Summer throne and the Summer Crown. Could that be why Kian wanted to kidnap her – to trade her to Redleaf and Flametail in exchange for the release of his own sister Shasta?
    No, that was ridiculous, I told myself. This was Breena we were talking