A hand on my midsection halts my advance.

It's Wolf’s palm and he stopped me from going any further toward my goal of striking Prince Caster. His eyes are sedate but he nods as if he understands my fury.

Perhaps he feels it too.

Jace mutters something under his breath that sounds like a prayer, lips curling in disgust as he stares at Caster.

Brute must have picked up on it because like a guard dog activated, he snarls, “How dare you two look at our Prince that way? I should pluck out your eyes for trying.”

“You’re welcome to try,” Jace says, cracking his neck. His voice sounds deadly and everything about his stance says that he's itching for a battle against Brute.

I step in front of him instantly, as Brute advances. Brute has several mounds of muscle on Jace and he's also meaner. Jace is still recovering from our trip to the forest.

"Stop," I say.

Brute ignores me. He keeps walking. Jace bristles behind me.

And then two things happen simultaneously.

Wolf steps in front of me and Caster says, “Brute. Stop.”

And like a dog brought to heel, Brute pauses in his steps. I hear him snarl but can't see his expression over Wolf’s broad frame.

The door opening interrupts us as the steady click of familiar heels announce Tyne's return.

“I didn’t think I would need to remind you all that this is the Royal Castle,” he says. “And that there’s absolutely no room for childish antics and fighting.”

He glances pointedly at our group, ignoring the fact that Brute was the one who was snorting like a bull the entire time. Of course, since Brute is Caster's friend he likely has certain privileges we don't have, although earlier, it didn't look like Tyne was all that fond of him either.

And as Tyne pins us with that disapproving look, I manage to feel some sympathy for those maids in my past life. As much as I don't like Tyne, he has a way of making one feel horrible for disappointing him.

"The second trial is over,” he announces. “The first team to return with the bird, Prince Caster’s team, received three points. The second team, led by Brute received one point. The rest of the teams receive no points."

“Who decided Brute was the leader?” Jace mutters under his breath but it catches Tyne's attention. His lips quirk at the tips, his smile holding a mocking edge.

He answers with a frosty civility, “The leader is automatically decided by the individual who ushered the capture of the bird.”

“But Brute didn’t usher anything,” Jace says. “Adria did.”

“That’s not what was said Brute,” he said. “And his teammates corroborated his story.”

Jace turns a frosty glare of his own toward the twins, both of who quell and look away from his regard. Tia, however, crosses her arms over her chest and looks right back at him.

“The second phase of the third trial will be occurring in little more than a fortnight," he says. “You will report here in the morning for your orders. You may now leave the premises, collecting your stipends from the guards on the way out.”

Tyne turns, his jacket billowing behind him as he exits in the same way he came. The Prince is the first to follow him out, with Brute and Paisley on his tail. Jace is still glaring at the twins and they avoid his gaze as they walk to the door.

“I can’t believe they supported him,” Jace says when they're within earshot. "Cowards.”

"Jace, stop,” I say, watching Page's ears turn red, and Peer shoot Jace a dirty look.

“But–”

"He likely threatened them," I point out. "The twins are not as big as you, neither are they are stubborn as me. To them, Brute is a far greater threat than we are so it only makes sense for them to support him.”

“I don’t care," Jace says still glaring at the doorway as they walk through. “They all just left us there. We could have been dying for all they knew but only Page checked on us. I expected that from the oaf, but not from them.”

"Jace–"

“Lack of loyalty is the demise of any team," Jace continues, clearly in the mood to rant. "If I can't trust them to watch my back, then by all means–"

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“Jace enough,“ I say firmly. “Yes, we're a team. But we’re also five people who just met each other. They don’t owe us any loyalty yet.”

“We risked our lives for them!’

“We did it for ourselves. They just happened to benefit from it. Would you have risked your life to get the Shrewk for a member of the other team?”

He bites his lip and looks away.

“Precisely,” I point out.

"But–“

“They didn’t trust me,” I say. "And I understand why. They don't know me and I've done nothing yet to earn their trust. For most people, trust takes time."

“I trusted you,” he grumbles.

I grin. "Yes, well you're not most people. And I'm not entirely sure you're all the way right in the head either."

That finally gets Jace to smile grudgingly.

“For what it’s worth, I think the two of you did a great job,” Tia says finally shifting from her spot on the wall and walking towards us, through the bodies of those filing out. "And I'm sorry that I didn't trust you. Trust doesn't come easily to me."

Jace still scowls at her. "Yet, you trusted that Brute to be a team leader."

She shakes her head. "I didn't agree with it but the twins already said yes and it was three against one. There was nothing I could do unless I wanted Brute's to turn those meaty paws on me."

"It's alright," I say, even though Jace doesn't seem placated. "Maybe next time we can–"

The rest of my words are lost to the wind.

Because apparently, Wolf decided he was tired of making conversation. So while I'm talking he grabs my arm and starts walking at a quick pace to the door, dragging me along with him.

"Wolf–"

I stumble in an effort to keep up and I nearly fall as we walk down the stairs and across the courtyard. I find my bearings at the gates, where Wolf stops to grab two bags of coins from a tray next to the guards. But before I can catch my breath, he's off again dragging me along.

"Wolf," I cry out. "What are you doing?"

"Going home,” he says as my feet stumble again in the grass. "You talk too much."

As we breeze past the Town Square, my heart feels like it's going to pump out of my chest.

I struggle to talk as the wind slaps my face. “Could you slow down, please? I’m not entirely recovered from my trip to the forest yet.”

Wolf stops in his tracks so suddenly I nearly slam into his back. Regardless, I finally heave in a breath of relief.

“Thank you,” I say.

But I spoke too soon because Wolf doesn't plan on stopping for long. Instead, he tucks one elbow under my knees, places the other at my back, and summarily sweeps me into his arms.

“Wolf!” I squeal loudly, embarrassed as he starts moving again at the same breakneck speed.

I can do nothing but hold on because all my protests fall on deaf ears. My kicking and squealing don't even give him pause. He doesn't even look like he hears me as he continues into the clearing leading up the hill to his cottage.

It's strange.

I don't really like being touched under normal circumstances, haven't for a while. But although I don't necessarily enjoy being carried in Wolf's arms, it's not as bad as I thought. Perhaps it's because of how steady he moves, and how quick, so there's a constant pleasant breeze rustling my hair. I don't feel his feet land on the ground at all, almost like he's flying. Like we're flying together.

So after some time, I begin to relax and take deep breaths. I enjoy the scent of the grass, even with the slight zing of the coming winter in the air. Mostly, I breathe in wild indescribable scent of Wolf.

I savor the feeling of being alive.

When we reached the cottage, Wolf lays me down on the daybed. When I attempt to get up, he shakes his head and sends me a stern look. “Stay.”

“I’m not an dog, Wolf. Or an invalid." I stubbornly sit up as he strides to the kitchen banging away at the pots and pans. “And I’m fine now.”

“You nearly died,” he says. “You went far too deep into the forest and nearly died.”

“Yes, but I didn’t,” I say, then frown.

Wait, how did he know I went too deep?

Sure, Jace implied it, but Wolf says it as a certainty, like he knows exactly what happened with Jace and I in the forest.

And now that I think about it, for someone who spends almost all his time in the Dark Forest, it's downright impossible he didn't know about the Shrewk. “Wolf, why didn't you get the bird?”

He doesn't answer, moving quickly through the kitchen.

“I know you could probably have gotten it easily if you wanted to, with less effort than the rest of us,” I continue. “Why didn’t you?’

He pulls out the meat and slams into onto the work surface, beating it with his knife.

“Is it because…of what would happen to the bird?” I swallow and force out the rest of the words past a heavy throat. “Are they going to kill it?”

He is silent, efficiently slicing the meat.

"Likely not anytime soon,” he says finally. His words don't bring me any relief though.

“But they will eventually," I ask.

“The King disposes of everything that is no longer a use to him,” Wolf says sharply and then turns to regard me. “So, you’re a seer.”

I expected us to have this conversation, and surprisingly it was harder to lie to Wolf than it was to lie to the King.

Still, I nod hoping he can't sense the lie. “Yes.”

“Is that how you know that my mother is alive?”

“Yes,” I say.

My original plan, back when I thought the second trial would be a blood bath, was to get injured on purpose and be taken to a healer. The healer's room has records of each of their long-term patients and I know that while the King has Wolf's mother in captivity, he undoubtedly sends the healer to her every once in a while to make sure she's still alive. So Wolf's mother's name will certainly be in the healer's book.

I thought that while in the infirmary, I would try to somehow sneak a peek at the records and see if it says anything about where she's being held. And then I was going to give that information to Wolf as proof, in return for him helping me.

But now I don't need to. Because Wolf stares at me for a few long seconds, then nods seemingly convinced

To my surprise, he doesn't ask anything else about how I got this newfound ability. He doesn't seem to smell my lie either.

He simply turns back to the kitchen counter to dump the meat into the boiling cauldron of water.

"You're not shocked?" I ask.

"Why would I be?"

"Because it’s unexpected. There hasn’t been a Seer in the North ever."

He smiled. “Everything about you is unexpected.” He turns and approaches me as the meat boils. "There is not a single thing I can predict about you. And sometimes that amuses me. But other times it worries me."

"Why would it worry you?"

He came closer, and squats, his face now a few breaths away. "Because I don’t know yet what you are to me. I don’t know why I felt like killing everyone in that room when I thought you were hurt. And I don’t know why I feel like pressing my lips against yours right now."

My throat goes tight at the confession. Shock doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling. I try to something. "Wolf I–"

But it's too late. He kisses me.