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Kai's POV:

Meeting the Tyrant

I thought I knew what pain felt like. When I was a kid, I thought it stung for a little bit, but eventually turned numb. Then I broke my leg when I jumped off my balcony on a dare, I thought pain was fire racing up my bones, but avoidable if I could just avoid stepping on the injured part. But that's nothing, nothing compared to what I'm going through right now. It feels like hundreds of chisels turned red-hot in a furnace are being driven down to the very core of my bones. It feels like molten steel is running through my veins. It feels like rusty nails are being driven through every morsel of skin. My thoughts have ground to a halt and my lungs are clamping up, closing off my supply of air. I gulp and gasp, trying to breathe, but I can steel feel my chest tighten as I slowly suffocate.

Something cold settles around my neck. There's a short beep, muffled by the agony gripping every morsel of my being and then… the pain is gone.

I gratefully inhale air back into my now open lungs. My throat is scraped raw. Have I been screaming? I rub my face, trying to collect my still-disjointed thoughts, and my hand touches something wet. Tears?

A soft whimpering catches my attention. The wolf from earlier, the large one that all the other wolves had been attacking, was curled up in a tight ball of agony, feeble whines slipping between its teeth. A group of burly young men dressed in some kind of animal pelt surround it, exchanging confused glances.

"Are you sure you turned the collar on?" One red haired man asks sceptically.

The largest man glares at him. "Do you think we're amateurs Jerrico? Of course it's on!"

"Then why is he still in pain?"

"You expect me to know that? All this weird techy stuff is elven territory, or did you forget that all our kind is the lowest of the low?"

The red-haired man, Jerrico, sniffs haughtily. "Maybe you're the lowest of the low, but I'm-"

The large man waves his hand dismissively. "Yes, yes, we know you're the queen's favourite puppy. Doesn't mean she won't make you break your own neck without a second thought, no matter how many new pets you give her." He adds with a scowl in my direction. I glare right back. Did he think I asked to get abducted?

"Alpha Strom, looks like this guy's not going to be able to walk." One of the young men surrounding the large wolf call out.

The largest man sighs in frustration. "Fine, we'll just have to carry him to the palace. Anything to keep Her Highness from breathing down our necks much more."

"Watch what you say, Strom." Jerrico growls.

Strom snorts.

We are led to a huge castle, and I can't suppress a shudder. It's a beautiful building, made of perfect white stone with turrets and towers straight out of a fairy tale. But there's something… cold about it. Imposing. Maybe it's because I already know who lives there, maybe it's just the utter perfection of the place. But it's a truly terrifying place.

Jerrico keeps a firm grip on my neck as we enter the building. Soldiers and wolves patrol the corridors, not even sparing us a passing glance. The floor clicks audibly under claws and shoes, making me wince.

Eventually, we arrive at a great set of huge wooden doors. A white-blond wolf with ice-blue eyes standing outside them studies us curiously as we approach. I narrow my eyes. Weird. I could almost swear I know that wolf. But before I can think on it further, one of the soldiers pushes open the doors and Jerrico shoves me roughly forward.

A strangled cry of surprise tears itself out of my throat as I'm sent sprawling on the gleaming clean floor tiles. There's a loud thud beside me followed by a weak whine. Seems like my fellow prisoner just got the same treatment.

"Captain Solis." a high, cold voice intones, "What is this?"

Painfully, I raise my head to look at who had spoken. Every muscle in my body tenses, and my breath gets stuck in my throat. The speaker is a woman, sitting on a black throne wearing a black crown with tall, spiralling points. This was the queen that Selene was talking about, the vampire queen who rules over Luna with an iron fist. Levana.

"I've brought you the renegade werewolf, My Queen." Jerrico says in a voice like molasses, "He was a worthy opponent, but he is now well and truly subdued."

"I can see that." The queen says coldly, "I was referring to the human."

Jerrico grabs my hair and pulls my head back, forcing me to grit my teeth against a yelp of pain. "This was one of the humans who witnessed the murder of Head Thaumaturge Sybil Mira. I thought I would present him as a gift to you."

Levana steps off her throne in a smooth, elegant motion, and slowly walks towards me. She gently takes my chin in one hand and turns my face this way and that, as if she was examining merchandise. Eventually, her blood red lips curl into a satisfied smile. "This is a fine present Jerrico."

I forcibly wrench my head away from her grip, my stomach roiling with disgust as I glare at her.

Levana's smile widens. "I will especially enjoy disciplining him."

Jerrico bows low to the ground. "I live to serve My Queen."

Levana turns her cold, dark gaze to the werewolf who was brought in with me. "Now then. Let's have a look at this werewolf that broke my captain's arm and killed my head thaumaturge, shall we?"

My eyes widen with sympathy for the wretched creature as Levana walks towards it. It's a terrifying beast, and I'm not inclined to trust it after seeing it tear open Sybil's throat, but it didn't deserve whatever Levana was going to do to it. Nothing deserved that fate.

Just like with me, Levana turns the werewolf's face in different directions. From where I'm crouching, I can just make out the intense green of its half open eyes. That shade of green… where have I seen it before?

Levana smirks. "Well, well, well." She says, a tinge of amusement tinting her voice, "Here's a face I never thought I'd see again."

"Pardon me Your Majesty; you know this mutt?" Jerrico asks incredulously.

"I'll admit, it's a little difficult to recognise him. After all, it's been, oh, about seven years? But I know it's you, Alpha Intended."

There is a stir among the soldiers gathered in the hall. Those in their wolf forms bristle with surprise, while others just look at the prisoner, their eyes wide with shock and… respect?

Strom takes a hesitant step forward, his gaze fixed on the "Alpha Intended". "You don't mean… that's Ze'ev?"

"The very same." Levana replies calmly, seemingly unaware of the audible gasp of surprise at her words. "It seems he's not been dead all this time."

Looking at the werewolf, Ze'ev or whatever its name is, with its chest heaving and small pitiful whines whispering through its jaws, I can't help but think that statement won't be true for much longer.

That is, until it suddenly twists its head out of Levana's grip and sinks its wicked fangs into her ivory skinned hand.

The queen shrieks in pain, but before her guards can so much as take a step toward her, Ze'ev has released her hand and jumped to its paws with an agility and grace that shouldn't belong to something so big and bulky. Before I know it, it's bounding toward me. I stumble back, but instead of attacking, it just grips my hood in its teeth and bounds for the door, dragging me beside it.

A few guards chase after us, but gone was the half-conscious pathetic beast they were forced to carry. In its place, is a determined, graceful creature who can run at roughly the same speed as a champion racehorse. And it might be just my imagination, but they don't seem to be trying very hard.

We make it out of the castle relatively easily, but still Ze'ev doesn't slow down, much to my dismay. I mean, I'm grateful that it got me out of there and everything, but it feels like I'm being strangled to death here!

Ze'ev takes us into a nearby forest, with giant trees I have no name for and, finally, gently releases my hoodie.

Awkwardly, I get to my feet and look at the Ze'ev. This time, I ignore the fangs and claws that made my heart skip a beat with fear. I ignore the blood still matting its fur. Instead I look at the dark shade of brown of its pelt. I look at the way the fur sticks up like it's been hit by lightning. I look at its muscular body and the determined way it holds itself. I look at its vivid, intense green eyes. And I look at its left foreleg, where I can't help but wonder if, under all that fur, is a picture inked into the skin, of the very creature standing before me.

I groan and pinch the bridge of my nose. "Wolf… please tell me that's not you."

He ducks his head, and I swear I can see the apology in his eyes.

A/N: The end of the cliff-hanger! But Kai and Wolf are still stuck on Luna, and Wolf's not exactly made a good first impression on the queen. Will the rest of the gang be able to save them?

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