IMMEDIATELY, A VINE lashed out from a tree and lassoed my pack’s sole defender. Rune’s face contorted in a roar as he was dragged backwards toward the animated greenery.
Meanwhile, the Queen cooed. “Yes, he can see you now. Isn’t this amusing?”
She yanked at the chain again, but this time my hands rose to claw out breathing room. Blood settled beneath my fingernails, leftover from the wound at my throat. The tiniest hint of persimmon broke through the cloying floral awfulness that clung to the Queen’s body. That scent gave me the ability to speak.
“You want your son to lose to the one who betrayed you?”
On the mirror, my image disappeared. I saw rather than heard as Rune sucked in a deep breath and lost the last shred of his humanity. One blink and he’d gone entirely wolf.
His animal
