The Wolf Crown (The Wolf Kings #2) (MLM)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

                Jack was underwater. At least, that was what it felt like. He was freezing, surrounded by a faint pressure, floating in a sea of darkness as far as the eye could see.

He'd opened his eyes disoriented, panicked and lost, until the memory of what had happened flooded back. The Shadow Wolf, he remembered, had shot out of the ground towards him like a torpedo, and before Jack could so much as take a step back, it had sunk its claws into him. He'd tried patting down his chest for marks or torn flesh, but he couldn't move his arms.

His heart hammered and his muscles ached, and he didn't know if it was because of Tiberius not being here or because he was worried he was dead. If he could reach for his notepad, he would try to jot down some of the mess going around in his head now.

Namely:

Am I dead?

Am I dying?

Can I feel the mating bond even in the afterlife?

If I'm not dead, where the fuck am I?

Theory:

Inside the Shadow Wolf?

The very thought turned his stomach, but it made sense, didn't it? The Shadow Wolf was much bigger than he was, and if it wanted to, couldn't it swallow Jack? Maybe he'd seen it wrong, and it wasn't the Shadow Wolf's claw that had come for him, but its mouth?

As if in response, something glowed out of the corner of his eye, and he looked down to find his engagement ring shining brightly. Not the Werewolf Stone, but the gold itself. It shined like a lantern, bright enough to leave a faint warm glow on Jack's clothes and skin.

"Tiberius?" he whispered.

"No. . . . Your wolf mate is not here, King Jack."

Jack felt the voice like tremors in every inch of his body. It sounded like a heaving, ancient beast, deeper than even a wolf's growl. He couldn't move, but if he could, he would curl in on himself.

"Who's there?" he demanded, glad at least his voice still worked, but even as he asked the question he knew the answer.

"I am the one you call the Shadow Wolf," the voice rumbled. "I had a different name once, when I was like you . . . but it is long forgotten now."

Jack's heart hammered in his throat. "Have you killed me?"

A low chuckle. "Even if I wanted to, I could not."

He swallowed. "Because of my ring."

"Clever, indeed. . . . So you've discovered my one weakness. . . . Truly worthy of the royal title the stars have given you."

"Thank you," Jack gritted his teeth. "I've never been flattered by a serial killer before."

A loud boom echoed through the vast darkness, and once Jack's bones stopped rattling, he realized the Shadow Wolf was . . . laughing.

"So many lifetimes have passed . . . and you pitiful creatures still amuse me. . . . I know of you, King Jack . . . the stories spoken of you have reached even my ears . . . and yet . . ." another chuckle, "you still fail to realize that all is not always what it seems . . ."

"Oh, I see," Jack smirked bitterly. "You're not actually a serial killer, you're just an innocent, right? You really expect me to believe you over my own eyes?"