Anwen
I pluck at the neck of my wedding clothes and look at myself in the mirror.
"You look like shit," Baz says from the bed behind me. Despite Estrella's efforts, he's still healing.
"Thanks." He's right, though. Sundrop's bright colors just kind of make me look sick. And the damned thing is so starched, it crunches every time I try to move my arms. I don't know what I pictured wearing to my wedding, but-
"Fuck!" Heartrending pain rips through my chest. I grab the mirror for support and still almost keel over.
Baz pushes himself up and wobbles closer. "What?"
I claw at my shirt, but I already fucking know. It feels like something is eating me from the inside out, but I'm going to be uninjured.
Someone is trying to kill Estrella.
I roar as another wave of agony washes through me.
"Get-someone. Anyone," I spit.
"What's hap-"
I don't stick around to hear the end of his sentence.
The shift takes me mid-stride away from the mirror. I don't give a shit that the castle hallways are too small, that everyone in the whole Goddess-damned world will be walking through them, trying to get to the ceremony. Someone is trying to kill my mate, and nothing else matters. I charge through my own door, shattering it off its hinges without a second thought.
People scream as I run down the hall. Baz says something through the mind-link. I put my nose to the air.
There. Cooked sugar and sweetgrass. Above me and east.
Every step burns through my limbs. My stride wobbles. I try to hold onto the old story, but it's too fucking long. Spots dance across my vision. Estrella. The pain. Estrella. The pain.
I try to take a corner too fast, and my paws skid. My shoulder slams into the wall, and my howl sounds like a human scream. This is fucking torture. I need something.
The holy woman from Sundrop's voice rings through my mind. One heart beating in two chests.
One heart. Two chests. It's simple. Clear. And just rhythmic enough to hold onto.
I scramble to my feet and pound through the halls of the castle toward the other half of my heart.
Her smell grows stronger as I round onto the right hallway, but now it's mingled with blood. And this hall is completely empty, of course. I should've fucking known when Kieran said she was getting dressed in a tower away from everything and everyone else.
The door where her scent is strongest looks like any other for a second. Then, I see the fucking ice coating the lock and handle. If I gave a shit about things like sneaking in or using my hands or protecting a single fucking inch of the castle over Estrella, that might matter. But Floyd has underestimated me for the last fucking time.
I back up a few steps and charge. The bastard's not smart enough to have reinforced the door. It shatters away, and the impact crashes through me with a burst of pain that knocks me right off my fucking feet. I tumble into the room.
Floyd gapes. "How-"
I scramble to my paws and search for Estrella. My stomach drops.
Blood gushes from her chest. Thin, black veins spider out from the injury.
He fucking poisoned her.
I brace to throw myself at Floyd, but Estrella's eyes flutter open, and I wrench to her side.
"Right about... Nessa...." she says weakly. "Love... you."
No.
Floyd laughs and drops his dagger. "This is perfect. I'll call the Snowcrest guard so everyone can see who really killed Luna Estrella." His gaze goes hazy with the mind-link.
Instinct swallows me whole. There's no training in my lunge or snapping teeth. Just pure, primal fury at the motherfucker who dared to touch my mate.
Floyd dodges back and collides with a dressing table that crashes onto the floor. The mirror shatters. I charge him again, barely noticing the glass shards slicing my paws.
"Fucking animals." Floyd scrabbles along the floor for the dagger he dropped. "All of you Solbergs. Fight like a man, or give up all your fucking castles and pretending."
The idea I would give a shit what Floyd fucking Winters thinks of me is laughable. I didn't give a shit when I thought he was just some ass-kisser. I swipe out and catch his cheek with my claws. He dives for the dagger.
The reek of his blood spurs that animal rage higher. I am on the fucking hunt, and my prey is already injured.
Behind me, Estrella sucks in a breath. Fabric rustles. Every instinct screams to keep my eyes on Floyd-
I glance back at her. She is pushing into a sitting position. The black veins climbing up her throat threaten to choke me, but she nods. Sways, nearly falls, but fucking nods and picks a piece of glass up off the floor.
Hope courses through me, and her vision clears a little more.
One heart, two chests. Why the fuck would that only allow us to share pain?
"Mates only make you weak. Why do you think I left mine at home?"
I whip back to Floyd as he brandishes the dagger and grins like he's got the upper hand. Moron. I swing between him and Estrella to block his view of her and feint for his throat. An animal like me should always go for the killing blow. When he brings his arm up to block, I sink my teeth into my real target and bite down.
Bone crunches. Blood spills over my tongue. Floyd screams.
I spit his arm, still holding the dagger, onto the mirror shards between us.
"Fine," Floyd snarls.
He explodes into his own black and gray wolf. A few other tables crunch under his paws. There's barely enough room for one wolf here, much less two. And keeping him away from Estrella is nearly impossible. I can't give him a fucking second try.
I barrel into him, heedless of the open window behind us. I don't think we're small enough to fit through it anymore.
We slam into the wall and wrestle for dominance. He scrapes his claws along my back leg, but that doesn't even come close to hurting as much as the wolfsbane in my chest. I almost get my teeth around his throat, but he knocks me away with a paw and rolls to gain the upper hand.
Cold wind gusts through my fur. We're so fucking close to the window. Distantly, behind the fury pounding through my veins, I'm aware there's a plan there somewhere. A plan I'd come up with on another day. Today, I rake my claws along his spine and open my mouth to taste the blood still dripping from his face.
Floyd yelps and wriggles to escape my grasp. At the worst fucking time, the agony in my chest intensifies, and I lose him. He whirls around and pants something like a laugh.
He saw her.
I scramble to my feet, but I'm so fucking slow. She wobbles in the center of the room. The black veins cup her cheek. It's impossible to believe I was ever proud of my speed. Floyd leaps for her, mouth open, claws outstretched and shining with my blood.
She pulls out the shard of mirror and jams it into his open jaw.
He tries to snap his mouth shut fast enough to catch her wrist, but the glass holds for a second. Just long enough for her to move, for me to get my fucking paws underneath me. I sink my teeth into his flank. He tries to make a sound but only manages to spatter blood and pieces of glass on Estrella. I yank him back, and he slides, landing in a pile at my feet.
There's no time to save the kill for Estrella or even offer it to her. I believe he called the guard, and that means the clock is ticking. As soon as he's within range, I catch his throat between my jaws.
But I bite slowly. Savor the sour taste of his blood. I want undeniable fucking proof that Floyd is dead, that I've destroyed the threat to my mate, her family, our life together. A sandpapery whimper escapes his throat the second before he goes limp.
All his planning, all his smooth fucking talking, and Floyd Winters died as a wolf who couldn't even howl.
I drop his body to the floor and shift smoothly. My wedding clothes are a bunch of scraps, somewhere on the other side of the castle. Estrella's are covered in blood. The wedding's in an hour, and I can't bring myself to give a single fuck about any of that. All that matters right now is me and my mate, celebrating the victory we've fought so Goddess-damned hard for. I turn to Estrella.
Just in time to watch the black veins creep up to her eye. They flutter closed, and she topples, boneless, to the floor.