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

he had done – he couldn't even look me in the eye.
    “What are you doing here? Are you guarding Prince Kian's lodge, by any chance?”
    “Just get out of here, Logan,” Paris muttered. “We don't want anything to do with you.”
    I almost laughed with shock. “Don't want anything to do with me ?” I cried. “How can you not want anything to do with me – when you've done so much already? You've slaughtered my grandfather, a man who cared for you, who watched out for you...”
    “We did what had to be done,” said Jacob nervously, but it was clear he didn't believe what he was saying.
    “You could have prevented it,” I shouted. “You could have stood up to Balthazar...”
    “He's a very powerful man...there’s discord amongst the wolves.”
    “You could have done the right thing. But you didn't.”
    “Listen, Logan,” Paris took a threatening step forward. “There's two of us and one of you. And we don't want to have to kill you too. So why don't you run while you still can?”
    “Not a chance,” I said, my heart pounding. “You killed our grandfather. The debt has not yet been settled. Until I've defeated you both, I will not rest...”
    “Then prepare to die!” Paris snapped, transforming once more into his wolf form. Jacob too transformed, albeit after a moment of hesitation.
    And then they pounced on me.
    I snarled with pain as I felt Paris's teeth sink into my flesh. At first they seemed to have the advantage – two of them against one of me – and I wondered how I would ever manage to defeat them. Fur was flying everywhere; I kept sinking my teeth into lupine flesh, not even knowing where I was, not knowing which of them I was biting. Anger seeped into me – an anger that had boiled into a blinding hot rage. How dare these wolves look me in the face after killing Grandfather; how dare they live without shame?
    No, Grandfather, I said inwardly, I will avenge you. I promise.
    The pain was excruciating; I was bleeding profusely from my legs and underbelly. But as Paris reared up on his hind legs, snapping his teeth, ready to come in for the kill, I rolled over and dodged him. As I moved, I felt a force flooding through me, waves of anger and strength coming over me in turn.
    In the heat and the blood, I thought I heard my grandfather's voice.
    You are the stronger fighter, my child. You are the true warrior. Our Champion. Avenge me.
    With a roar I felled both Jacob and Paris, biting into them one last time until they slumped, exhausted, before me: they morphed back into humans at my feet, bleeding and panting.
    “Please,” Jacob cried. “Don't kill us! We surrender. We didn't mean to get involved in all of this...”
    As I looked at Jacob's terrified, tear-stained face, I remembered that he was my cousin. He was family. How could I kill a member of my own family – especially one who pleaded for mercy? Although I wanted nothing more than to ram my sword into his chest, I resisted the impulse.
    “Very well,” I said. “But you can live in Feyland no more. As the grandson of my grandfather, King of the Wolves, I lay claim now to my title – a title I have always held but have not truly earned until now. I am his heir and his avenger – the Wolf Prince. And as Wolf Prince I banish you from these lands. You must live out your days without magic in the Land Beyond the Crystal River.”
    “We submit,” said Jacob in a small voice, and after a pause Paris followed.
    “Do you swear a sacred oath, upon the most ancient magic, in the name of the most powerful Red Wolf, that you will leave Feyland tonight, and never return?”
    They nodded sheepishly.
    I took a deep breath. “Then I never want to see you again.”
    I could look at them no longer. I morphed back into my wolf form and ran on into the night.

Chapter 7
     
     

    A s I progressed further down the path, a house at last came into view. It was exactly the house Breena had described to me – a snow and bramble-covered hunting lodge