Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
The huge bulk of the wolf seems almost too large for the narrow, mossy clearing, and when his long, bushy tail smacks against a tree, several shelled nuts fall to the ground, making so much noise Hawk tumbles, trying to get away. He lands on his side and stiffens, glaring at the offending tree as if it were guilty of bearing fruit. He growls at it and finally settles, grinning at me with teeth like the purest crystal.
“Do you understand me?” I ask, looking into his obsidian eyes. When he nods, I sigh in relief, but it’s short-lived when I face reality. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve not read anything about what happens to the bearer of the Sunwolf Crown. The risk was yours, I don’t begrudge you for the choice you made, as otherwise, I would have been dead and unable to use the mask anyway, but how will we go on?” I ask and stroke the golden skull he has for a head.
Hawk gets back on his feet and shoves my chest with his muzzle. I bite back a moan of pain when he pushes too hard, but this is an attempt to comfort me, so I keep my mouth shut and stroke the smooth surface of his skull. I no longer see any bloodstains on the horns, which means he must have dunked his head in the water sometime on the way.
He moans in sympathy, and something tugs at the mystical connection we forged merely days ago, when I took him as my Dark Companion. My stomach drops at the realization that even that has changed, almost as if there is a thick door separating us, and I can only hear him scratching at it. So I allow him in.
A gateway opens in my mind, letting in the light. And with it, his voice.
[Sylvan, I’m okay! I’m still me,] Hawk tells me, and his thick, warm tongue laps at me so hard it pulls up my shirt and tickles my stomach.
I stroke him above the teeth, looking deep into eyes like two voids. “You’re not ‘okay’, my darling. This is a big, big problem. What if we never find a way to change you back? You’re massive and shiny. You will be hunted.”
Hawk blinks and cocks his head like one of the many dogs I’ve seen in the realm of humans, but before I can say another word, his form erupts in white light and prompts me to close my eyes. I fear it might burn me, but moments later, a big, warm hand squeezes my own, and his sweet, raspy voice strokes my ear.
“Sylvan?”
He’s there. In human form. I go straight in for a hug, but then back away with a hiss when my arm once more throbs with pain. My eyebrows rise at the sight of his face. His eyes are the first thing I notice, as they are like black rock filling in for eyeballs. And then there are the dark gold markings on his face, a symbolic wolf skull etched in skin. At least he’s not glowing.
“How did you do that?”
Hawk is so exasperated by my reaction to his touch that he blinks, watching me with a frown. And while the person in front of him speaks in his voice, has his personality, and his face, I cannot help the fact that I find the dull black of his eyes unsettling. It’s as if he’s charred from the inside.
He doesn’t notice my hesitation and shrugs. “I… just did. It felt as easy as moving my hand,” he tells me and waves.
I’m about to pull him down for a kiss when I spot the outline of a castle above his shoulder. Far away, perched on a hilltop beyond the trees, the tallest towers of the Nocturne Palace reach into the sky with their jagged rooftops.
I point it out to him. “That’s it! The Nocturne Court. Which means we’re in the royal forest. It might not be a safe place, but I actually know my way around here.”
Hawk offers me a bright grin of sharp teeth and moves as if he were about to squeeze me… only to stop before touching my injured shoulder. Instead, he presses a kiss to my forehead. “Yeah! So we’re almost there? Amazing. Can’t wait to sleep in a bed again. Do they have beds my size, or will I need to use doggie ones now?”
I shake my head. “It’s not funny. And I have no idea how we will be greeted now that you’re wearing the Sunwolf Crown. We will need to sneak in, but I know several secret entryways.”
Hawk frowns and touches his face. “I… don’t have the mask.”
I stroke his cheek, wishing I had a pocket mirror, though I doubt he’d see much in this darkness anyway. Unless the change has also affected his vision. There are still so many unknowns.