Read Online Maiden's Wolf (In Deception's Shadow Book 3) by Lisa Blackwood - Free Book Online

tolerate each other.
    Still, a
foolishly hopeful part of her heart rather wished this lupwyn would look at
her, and the Larnkin she hosted, and consider her a part of the magical
community. Not once in her life had she belonged anywhere.
    Only Old Mother
and her brother Roan were anything like her, and even then she sensed her power
was something that would someday alienate her from them as well.
    Beatrice knew
well that she might never belong, but she’d settle for a place to build a home
safe from the threat of acolytes and the danger of constantly being hunted.
    She eyed the
lupwyn with mild calculation. Maybe she could convince him to allow her and her
family to travel with him for a time.
     

Chapter Ten
     
     
     
    Silverblade came
awake slowly, hoping all the horrors in his mind were nothing more than a
terrible nightmare. Yet he knew everything that had just happened was all too
real.
    His mother.
    The acolytes had
taken his mother from him. Grief and rage spun across his soul until they solidified
into one tightly woven need for revenge. If he was alive—which the dull ache of
his body suggested he was—then revenge was still possible. He would find the
acolytes and he would make them pay for what they had done.
    But first, he
would need to remain out of the acolytes’ reach until he healed.
    He already knew a
bit about where he was and who he was with, his sleeping mind having sensed and
catalogued those key pieces of information. But now he groggily took in more
details of his surroundings and found himself tucked in a blanket. A fire
burned brightly nearby with what smelled like rabbit stew suspended over the
low flames. A female human sat across from where he lay—Beatrice. She stirred
the stew and added a sprinkle of some herb as he watched.
    More details of
his new situation seeped into his foggy mind. He had been healed—at least
physically. He couldn’t reach his Larnkin or call his magic. By the dual
sensations of feeling the fur along his back and the blanket brushing against
his naked, furless front, he knew he was trapped between forms. Just like an
overeager adolescent trying his hand at shapeshifting for the first time
without the guidance of an elder.
    But there were
worse things than being trapped between forms. Like not knowing his present
location in relation to the acolytes. Or having dragged the young healer into
this mess.
    Beatrice was
brave, kind-hearted, and wasn’t the type to blame him should the acolytes find
them, but he would blame himself. He needed to find a way to get the human
safely away from the acolytes and then find his people and report what he’d
learned about the enemy.
    “Since you’re
awake, lupwyn, I have some questions for you. And by the way, what’s your real name?”
    Beatrice stared
at him, her expression calm and thoughtful, not filled with fear or revulsion.
That was a good sign, wasn’t it? But he didn’t respond to her question, not
knowing what to say to her. Even being trapped between forms probably wasn’t
enough to confuse her as to who he was. His human features were probably still
similar enough to his trapper disguise that Beatrice wouldn’t mistake who he
was.
    After giving the
stew one more stir, Beatrice sat cross-legged and rested her hands on her
knees. Her body language said she’d wait all day for him to speak if she had
to.
    He sat up slowly,
mirroring her position. “My birth name is Silverblade.”
     “I’m Beatrice,
but you already knew that.” The human smiled, a merry light in her eyes. “When we
first met and you introduced yourself as Janinson, a trapper fresh from the
Empire, I knew you lied. I always thought your name was fictitious. Old Mother
and I just assumed you were hiding from the acolytes, same as us. It never
occurred to me that your power ran so deep as to hide your true nature.”
    “I never intended
to deceive you, but I had my orders.”
    She tilted her
head at him, that thoughtful look back in her gaze,