The Princess's Revenge Chapter 96

Valencia’s POV

Fire. Blood. Screaming.

I was flying above it all, watching the world burn below me. Warriors writhed in flames, their bodies twisting as the fire consumed them. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils. Wolves howled in agony as their fur caught fire.

And there, in the center of it all, was Logan.

The gray wolf's teeth were still buried deep in his neck. Blood pooled beneath his black wolf form. His eyes were open, staring up at me with an expression I'd never seen before.

Fear.

He was afraid of me. Terrified. Just like everyone else staring up at the sky.

"Valencia!" His voice echoed in my mind, desperate and broken. "What have you done?"

I tried to speak, tried to tell him I was sorry, but only fire came from my throat. More screams. More death.

Logan's neck twisted at an unnatural angle. The gray wolf had torn through everything. His lifeless face suddenly filled my vision, those gray eyes empty and accusing.

"You killed them all," he whispered.

I jerked awake with a gasp. I was lying on frozen ground, completely bare. My heart hammered against my ribs as the nightmare faded, leaving only the sick feeling in my stomach.

Where was I?

The morning sun was just starting to peek over the mountains. I sat up slowly. Everywhere I looked, the ground was torn up. Deep grooves in the earth, like something massive had been dragged across it. Trees were knocked over, some snapped in half, others completely uprooted. The grass was flattened in wide swaths, creating strange patterns I couldn't understand.

"Where am I?" I whispered, then winced. My head was killing me. Like someone had taken a hammer to my skull.

I pressed my palms against my temples, trying to ease the pain. Think, Valencia. What happened? The last thing I remembered was... the battle. Logan riding out alone. All those wolves attacking him. The gray wolf at his throat. And then I'd jumped. Jumped from the castle wall because I couldn't just stand there and watch him die.

I was supposed to be badly injured.

I looked down at my legs. They were fine. Dirty, covered in mud and what looked like ash, but fine. I flexed my toes, bent my knees. Nothing hurt except my head.

"How did I get here?" I stood up slowly, wobbling a bit. My legs worked perfectly. "And why am I naked?"

The valley around me was a mess. Whatever had happened here, it had been violent. But I couldn't remember anything after hitting the ground. Just darkness.

"Logan." His name came out as a sob. "Oh god, Logan."

He'd been dying. That gray wolf had him by the throat. There'd been so much blood. And I'd left him. No, I'd tried to help, but then I'd fallen and... and I didn't know what happened after that.

"I have to get back." I took a shaky step forward. "He needs me. If he's still..."

I couldn't finish that thought. He had to be alive. He had to be.

I looked around again, trying to get my bearings. The valley was circular, surrounded by high rock walls. There was something familiar about the shape of those walls.

My eyes caught on a gap between two large rocks. It was narrow, barely visible unless you knew where to look. But I did know where to look.

"The hot springs," I breathed. "This is where the hot springs are."

Logan had brought me here. We'd sat in the warm water together. That felt like a lifetime ago, but it couldn't have been more than a few days.

"Whisper Valley." The name came back to me. About an hour's ride from the castle. An hour by horse. On foot, it would take me nearly two hours to get back.

I turned in a slow circle, trying to orient myself. If the hot springs entrance was there, then the path back to the castle should be... there. I could just make out the trail leading up the valley wall.

In the distance, high on the cliff, I could see Cliffwatch Pack's castle. It looked so small from here. Smoke was rising from several places, but I couldn't tell if that was from cooking fires or... or something worse.

"Two hours," I muttered.

Two hours. Logan could be dead by then. The whole pack could be destroyed. Elton's army could have won.

I shook my head hard, ignoring the spike of pain it caused. I started walking, ignoring the rocks and twigs under my bare feet. The sun climbed higher as I walked, but it didn't bring much warmth. The snow started falling as I climbed the rocky path. Fat, white flakes drifted down from the gray sky, landing on my bare arms and melting instantly against my skin. Any other person would be freezing, but I barely felt the cold.

"Please be alive," I whispered for the hundredth time. "Please, Logan."

My feet found each foothold automatically. The path was steep here, winding up through pine trees and boulders. Snow was already starting to stick to the branches, turning everything white and quiet.

I stopped to catch my breath. My head was still pounding.

"Valencia!"

I froze. Someone was calling my name.

"Valencia! Where are you?"

Hope exploded in my chest. That voice - I knew that voice.

"Here!" I shouted back. "I'm here! On the eastern path!"

I started moving faster, practically running up the trail now. The voice was getting closer.

"Valencia!"

"I'm coming!" I called.

Through the trees, I saw movement. Someone was running toward me, carrying something bundled in their arms. As they got closer, I recognized the blonde hair.

"Delphine!"

She saw me and her face lit up. "Oh thank god! Valencia!"

She was crying as she ran to me, nearly dropping the bundle of clothes she was carrying. We crashed into each other, hugging so tight I could barely breathe.

"You're alive," she sobbed into my shoulder. "Thank god."

"I'm okay." I pulled back to look at her face. I was about to ask her about Logan when—

Delphine's eyes went wide, her mouth falling open in shock. Her gaze was fixed on my neck, and slowly, her hand rose to cover her mouth.

"Valencia," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Your... your collar."

My hand flew to my throat instinctively. My fingers found only bare skin. The collar that had marked me as property, as less than nothing. It was gone.

"How—" I started, but the words caught in my throat. My hands explored my neck frantically, feeling for any trace of the metal that had been my constant companion since childhood. Nothing.

The realization hit me like a physical blow.

I was free.

The tears came without warning, hot and overwhelming. Years of suppressed emotion poured out of me all at once. I collapsed to my knees in the snow, sobbing so hard my whole body shook. Every breath was a gasp, every sob torn from the deepest part of my soul.

"I'm free," I choked out between sobs. "Delphine, I'm actually free."

She dropped the clothes and fell beside me, pulling me into her arms. "Yes," she whispered, crying too now. "You are. You're free, Valencia."

The weight that had pressed down on me for fifteen years was gone. Not just the physical weight of iron around my neck, but the crushing weight of being owned. Of being nothing. The collar had been the symbol of everything I wasn't allowed to be, everything I wasn't allowed to want.

And now it was gone.

I touched my throat again, hardly daring to believe it was real. The skin was soft, unmarked. Like I had never worn chains at all.

"I don't understand how," I whispered, still crying. "But it's gone. It's really gone."

Delphine squeezed me tighter. "However it happened, you deserve this. You deserve to be free."

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart and wipe the tears from my cheeks. The joy of freedom was overwhelming, but there was something more urgent I needed to know.

"Delphine," I said, my voice still shaky from crying, "how's Logan? Is he—"

She laughed through her tears. "Alpha Logan is in his room recovering. Dr. Vance is treating him. He's going to be fine."

My knees almost gave out from relief. "He's alive? Really?"

"Yes! He's badly hurt but he'll heal."

"And Elton? The army?"

"They retreated. They're gone."

I stared at her. "HOW? There were hundreds of them. Logan was surrounded."

Delphine looked confused for a second. "We should talk about that later. Here." She thrust the bundle of clothes at me. "Aren't you cold? Put these on before you freeze."

I took the clothes and started pulling on the wool dress. "I don't really feel cold anymore."

Delphine slapped her forehead. "Oh! Right. I forgot." She turned and shouted over her shoulder. "I found the Luna! Everyone, over here!"

I nudged her with my elbow as I pulled the dress over my head. "Don't call me Luna. Just use my name."

She made a face at me. "In private, sure. But you are the Luna now. It's respect."

I rolled my eyes at her, but I was smiling.

Footsteps crunched through the snow. Ryan appeared first - one of Elias's warriors. Two female warriors followed behind him. Then I saw Echo and Maya hurrying up the path.

Their faces all lit up when they saw me.

Ryan stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "Luna... your... your collar..." He pointed at my neck with a shaking finger, unable to form complete words.

The others followed his gaze, and I watched their expressions change from relief to complete shock. Echo's hands flew to her mouth. Maya's eyes went wide as saucers. Even the two female warriors behind Ryan took an involuntary step back.

Heat crept up my neck as they all stared. I felt exposed under their scrutiny. I touched my throat self-consciously.

"I... I don't know how it happened," I said, feeling awkward under their intense gazes. "When I woke up this morning, it was just... gone. I have no idea what happened to it."

The group exchanged bewildered looks. Ryan's mouth was still hanging open. One of the female warriors whispered something to her companion that I couldn't catch.

Echo ran straight into my arms. "Are you okay?" Her voice was thick with tears.

I patted her back gently. "I'm fine. Really."

"Luna," Ryan said, bowing his head slightly. "We're glad you're safe. When you jumped from the wall, we thought..."

"I know." I finished tying the cloak Delphine had brought around my shoulders. "I don't really remember what happened after that."

The warriors exchanged looks.

"You don't remember?" one of the female warriors asked.

"No. I woke up in Whisper Valley. Everything after I hit the ground is just... gone."

They all stared at me. Delphine opened her mouth, then closed it again.

"What?" I looked between them. "What happened? How did Elton's army retreat? How did I end up in the valley?"

Ryan cleared his throat. "Luna, maybe we should get you back to the castle first. Alpha Logan will want to know you're safe."

"He's awake?"

"In and out," Delphine said. "But he keeps asking for you. Every time he wakes up, the first thing he says is your name."

My heart squeezed. "Then let's go. We can talk on the way."

We started walking, the group forming a protective circle around me. The snow was falling heavier now, covering the ground in a thin white blanket.

"So what happened?" I asked again. "After I jumped?"

Nobody answered at first. They all seemed to be waiting for someone else to speak.

Finally, Echo said quietly, "You saved us, Luna. You saved everyone."

"What do you mean?"

"You..." She looked at the others for help.

"There was a dragon," Maya said simply.

I stopped walking. "A what?"

"A dragon," she repeated. "A huge red dragon. It appeared right when Alpha Logan was about to die."

My mind went blank. "You're joking."

"No, Luna." Ryan's voice was serious. "We all saw it. The dragon burned half of Elton's army. They ran after that."

I looked at each of their faces. They weren't joking. They really believed they'd seen a dragon.

"Where did it come from? Where did it go?"

Another exchange of looks.

"Luna," Delphine said carefully. "The dragon... it was you."