Midnight Lies (Shifter Island #2) - Raye Wagner Page 0,78

arm.

Elaine gasped—again. This time though, she smiled.

“Thank you,” she said, first to me and then to my grandfather. “I can feel it’s … gone.”

Halle-frickin-leujah.

‘Curse is gone. I repeat, curse is gone. Kill the bastard,’ I told Rage.

Then, I collapsed into a sack of potatoes. “Is it nap time yet?”

That was by far the most stressful hour of my life.

“You should probably,” Callie said, tilting her chin up the cellar steps. “You know, go save the world or help your boyfriend or something.”

I offered her a grin. “Remind me to introduce you to Kaja. You’re gonna love her.”

I tipped my head at Honor, and without a word, he was at my heel, bounding up the cellar steps after me. Pivoting toward the open field, I stumbled and then pulled to a stop.

Dozens of wolves lay dead or dying, their blood splattered against the white snow in a garish display of the brutality of war. Dozens more of our kind sat transfixed by the ferocious battle for alpha king. Surrounded by a semicircle of wolves, two onyx beasts snarled and snapped at one another. Both equal in size, Rage and Declan had both sustained significant injuries—their fur matted and wet from their wounds.

‘Rage!’ I sprinted toward my mate, desperate to do something. ‘Kill him!’

Almost as if my words infused him with renewed energy, Rage lunged forward, dipping his head to the side as his jaws opened. When his teeth went around the king’s throat, the meadow resounded with the collective gasp.

It was a death blow, but only if Rage had the courage to rip his uncle’s—

With one furious jerk, my mate ripped Declan’s throat out.

Holy Mother freaking Mage.

And Rage became Alpha King.

Chapter 13

“The alpha king is your mate…” Callie said for the fiftieth time today, shaking her head. She perched on the edge of Kaja’s bed, wearing a borrowed teal gown from Rue while my Harvest bestie stood behind me at the vanity, curling my hair. Kaja wore a silk dress in Harvest gold. The rest of her sisters were likewise dressed in rich autumn colors. My midnight-black, floor-length dress fit like a glove, and thanks to its side slit, my movement wasn’t restricted one bit.

Callie’s repeated declarations made my anxiety ramp up from butterflies to wiggling worms, and Kaja met my gaze in the mirror.

“He’s not king yet,” Kaja said, flicking her attention to Callie. “All the packs need to acknowledge him as such before he can officially claim the title.”

Which did zero to quell my nerves.

“But they will, right?” I looked to Kaja for confirmation and then glanced to Honor as my insides twisted.

Kaja offered me a sad smile full of pity and understanding. “They will. Don’t worry.”

A strange sense of déjà vu hit me as I looked around Kaja’s dorm room: the four-poster bed and soft green walls. “It’s weird to be back here.”

My gaze snagged on Justice, the emerald-eyed Midnight brother who looked so much like my mate it was slightly uncomfortable at times, and he nodded. Honor moved in closer to my side while Kaja finished curling my hair. Rage had ordered two of his brothers to be with me at all times, my own personal bodyguards, until all the pack alphas committed to him.

Justice picked up an eyelash curler from Kaja’s dresser and stared at it. “I never thought we’d come back to school.”

“Rage will be king alpha, and all of us will just … go to school,” I said aloud.

Like nothing happened.

But so much had happened. My gaze flicked to Honor with the thought. ‘Is it strange for you to not be able to shift?’

‘Yes.’ He nuzzled my hand. ‘But not too bad.’

“It’s super weird,” Kaja offered, winking at me in the mirror. “But if we don’t like our classes, you can call in a favor with the king.”

She wiggled her eyebrows, causing me to grin.

There was a knock at the front door, and I leapt from the vanity, nearly stumbling over Honor in my haste. I raced out into the hallway and ran down to the foyer. With my heart thundering, I wrenched the door open.

“Dad!”

My father stepped up to the doorway, dressed in a nice black suit, something I’d never seen him wear. His wild golden hair was gelled back, and he was clean-shaven. Major props for going all out in respect for Rage’s coronation ceremony. Seeing him all dressed up caused a lump in my throat, and my heart swelled with love. I flew into his arms, and he pulled me into