Honor not want to come home and be with his brothers. Right? I booked it across the grassy lawn and then onto the sandy beach, racing until I crashed right into Honor.
His mouth popped open. “Nai?” His surprise turned to anguish, and he wrapped his arms around me. “Oh no.”
“Honor,” I sobbed, holding him tight.
He stroked my hair. “Damn, girl. Who killed you?”
I pulled back, shaking my head, and wrestled my emotions under control. He seemed better, more coherent. Happy … like he would want to stay here.
No. No. No.
“No. No one killed me. I … have the gift of spirit walking. I can come and go from here in this form, but I’m not dead.” Pretty sure that made no sense. “I came to bring you home.”
I forced a smile for him, my attention bouncing from Honor to Valor, Rage’s dad, who watched me keenly. My mother and uncle Mackay approached, arms around each other, but my mom still had that sad look on her face and they kept their distance as we worked this out.
“But I am home.” Honor pulled away and then stared out at the lake. “Why would you want to take all this happiness away from me?”
He walked away. From me, his father … everyone, and headed toward the water.
Panic thrummed through me, and I tore after him. “No, Honor. Please? Everyone is waiting for you to come back. I can bring you back. Noble is going to give you his wolf form, and we can all be together again.”
He turned to face me, and his brows drew together. “You want me to go back? But, Nai, here no one can hurt me. Ever again. No more pain. No more limp. No more suffering.”
There was so much in those words, so much about his life I didn’t know … like what being burned alive did to someone’s soul.
Emotion racked my body, and even though I didn’t need to breathe, I forced several mental deep ones so I wouldn’t break into sobs again. “Honor, I won’t ever, ever let anything like that happen to you again.”
He frowned and reached out to touch my cheek. “Better me than you.”
I grabbed his hand and blurted the raw truth. “Honor, the king killed your dad. Declan’s coming for us now, in Montana. Rage is going to fight him for alpha king. I messed everything up, but I can fix this—sort of. We all miss you so much—I miss you.” I openly wept as I pleaded with my dead friend. “The king, the high mages, they pretty much all want to kill me. It’s crazy up there, and we need you. I need you.”
He looked back at his father, who gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded once. “You need to live up to your name, son. If your brothers need you, if Rage’s mate needs you…”
Honor pulled me in for a side hug and kissed the top of my head. “Okay, Nai. I’ll come back—for you.”
I threw my arms around his waist, relief filling me when he pulled me closer. We held each other tightly and then we floated up. Higher and higher we flew, clinging to each other.
When I peeked down and saw my parents waving at me, my heart clenched again. “I’ll be back to speak to you!” I shouted.
We would have our time, but it wasn’t now.
As we floated up past the castle, I noticed the Keeper on the balcony, leaning against the railing. When my gaze met his, he nodded once and then snapped his fingers.
Everything went black.
My jaw clenched, and my eyelids snapped open. I was back in the cabin, in solid form, and Noble was screaming in pain.
“Nai, help!”
Holy mother…
Noble’s wolf was … ripping away from him. Not his wolf’s soul—or whatever that transparent spirit thing was, but his actual furry wolf. It peeled away from his skin as my grandfather stood firmly at Noble’s head, his wolf held by the jaws, and yanked upward away from Noble’s face. Honor’s new wolf was practically crawling out of Noble’s body. Getting to my feet, I reached around Honor’s black furry belly and heaved with a grunt.
Noble screamed bloody murder, thrashing against Rage and Justice, who still pinned him down. With a lurch, I tumbled back as Honor fully separated from Noble. Still holding on to his wolf, I braced for impact. I crashed into the couch and then I fell backward with Honor on top of me. After a stumble, he got on all