The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 446

Chapter 446

The walk down into the valley took the better part of an hour, switchbacking along a trail that Nico apparently knew by heart, cutting through pine forest that thickened and turned warmer the lower we got until the peaks gave way to a wide green bowl with a lake at the bottom of it, blue and still and rimmed with smooth gray stones.

It was gorgeous, of course, just like everything else here.

We spent the better part of the afternoon in the water, swimming and laughing and sunning ourselves on the stones, and for a little while, I felt good. Relaxed. Like I could make it through this heartbreak without losing myself entirely.

I should have known better than to trust that feeling.

The first sign something was wrong was Nico going still in the water, head tilted, nostrils flaring.

“Do you smell that?” he asked.

I didn’t. Not at first. But then the wind picked up, and the acrid scent of something all too familiar, lots of them too, filled my nostrils.

Rogues.

They came out of the treeline before any of us could get out of the water, a dozen of them at least, maybe more, all in wolf form. I didn’t have time to count, but I knew one thing: we were outnumbered, and they looked very hungry, and there was no fighting this, which meant we had to run.

Amelia had the same thought I did and grabbed my arm, hauling me out of the water behind her while Nico took up our rear, snarling at the intruders.

“Move,” she said. “Now.”

We didn’t make it far. The first rogue hit the ground in front of us before I even saw him coming, teeth bared. Nico shifted and swiped a claw at the rogue, catching it across the face, but it only seemed to anger the rogue

more.

The rogue snarled, leaping at us. I just managed to shift in time, leaping out of the way, before it struck me.

Finally, the last two rogues turned tail and ran, realizing that the fight had been lost. I shifted back, gasping, as did Nico and Bastian.

“What were you thinking?” Bastian barked, whirling on his brother. “You know it’s not safe out here! Not with all the rogues in the region-”

“I just thought-”

“Well, you thought wrong.”

I opened my mouth to say something, to tell him that it wasn’t Nico’s fault, but just then, a weak voice called out, “Guys…”

We all turned to see Amelia stumbling out from behind a tree, clutching her stomach. Blood was gushing between her fingers, her face was pale, and before any of us could react, she collapsed to the ground.

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