Wolf Pact - By Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,1
next week formulating a plan. Their collars hindered their power and tethered the wolves to the underworld. He was certain that once they were broken and the wolves were free, they could easily subdue the trolls who guarded them, but once they were out of the den, how would they get aboveground? How would they cross Hell's Gates into the land of the living? There were rumors that the Gates were falling, that the archangels' strength had been sapped - but the masters kept them in the dark, and there was no way to know what was true.
The great wolves of old used portals; that much he knew. The Praetorian Guard moved through passages, roads of space and time that allowed them to be anywhere and anytime in history. But the knowledge of the ancient wolves had been lost for centuries. The passages were closed to him and his kind.
But Marrok believed they would open for him. Marrok told him to try. The white wolf was from the den across the river, and his greatest friend. Marrok knew about the chronologs, about the passages, about their long and storied history. Marrok knew about his talent and told him to go, and the rest of them would follow. He hoped Marrok was right.
He waited until a night when the trolls seemed tired, when their guard was down, when the masters were distracted with other tasks, and he gathered the wolves of his den together.
I'm going tonight, he said, looking at their eager young faces. Who's with me?
The wolves looked to Ahramin. She had some misgivings, but ultimately she approved the plan, as he knew she would. She was as reluctant to be turned into a hound as any of them.
He'd stolen the sword earlier that day. It had been easy enough; it was a little thing, the size of a needle, and he'd kept it in his mouth. The locks on their collars broke at its touch. The freedom was almost debilitating; he could feel the power flood through his body, through his soul. Wolves were strong, stronger than the masters once, it was whispered - maybe it was true.
He led them past the trolls who guarded their dens, almost making it out the door when one of the younger wolves stumbled and twisted her ankle. Help! she cried.
She'll only slow us down, Ahramin growled. We'll come back for her.
No! Please! Tala pleaded. Her big blue eyes locked on his, and he didn't see how he could refuse her.
She's coming with us. Tala had helped him when he was down; he owed her this much.
This is a bad idea, Ahramin warned.
She was right.
Tala followed as they left the den, but her slower pace gave the hounds time to realize what was happening. They came, roaring and enraged, salivating at the thought of ripping the wolves apart, and they caught up to them right at the border between the worlds. The wolves were certain to be captured until Ahramin lunged for the master, ripping out his demon throat.
Go! she yelled. Already the hounds were rounding up the others, locking collars on their necks, dragging them back down to the Ninth Circle of Hell. I'll hold them here, go!
No! cried Edon, who'd always loved her.
You know I'm right, Ahramin said. She was so brave, so fearless. Do what you have to do.
More hounds were drawing closer.
In a moment, they would all be captured.
He closed his eyes and without thinking, only feeling, he opened a space between the worlds, breaking through the gate that kept them in the underworld. Before him opened a path, blazing with light and surrounded by fire. Follow me, he called to the pack. Quickly! he yelled, pushing Tala forward.
One by one they jumped over the ring of fire and into the light that stretched far off into the distance.
They fell out onto a forest floor, and the ring closed behind them. He was in agony, and beside him, he heard his brothers howl. Their limbs were stretching; they were losing their fur, torsos lengthened, their facial features receding.
"What's happening?" someone cried, and it was no longer the growl of a wolf but a higher-pitched almost melodic sound. A voice.
He looked down to see hands, bruised and bloodied and covered in calluses.
"I think ..." he said cautiously, finding it strange to hear his thoughts spoken out loud for the first time, "I think we've become human."
Chapter One
The world was ending. The world was on fire. He had never seen anything