Heart of the Wolf Prince

Prologue

My heart's on fire.

I can feel it burning in my chest, with all its leaky valves and thin-lined walls. It beats sporadically, pushing and squeezing. Pushing and squeezing. My lungs burn, and suddenly air seems too precious, too rare; something just out of my reach.

Everything's always just out of my reach.

Jolts of pain lash through me, from my chest to my pelvis to my toes. It's strange how the very thing that's supposed to keep me alive is killing me right now. Then again, it's been trying to kill me all my life. For once, it may succeed.

It will succeed. I turn my head, hair rushing over my temples as I press my cheek to the dirt. Everything is a blur of colour – red, gold, grey, black, black, black. Black like the edges of my vision. Black like the prickling on my skin. Black hair. Black eyes.

Someone calls my name in the distance, and for a moment, I see gold. Golden eyes. Golden eyes that turn to yellow, to grey, then nothing. My name is called again, but I don't hear it. All I hear is the roar of the fire in my veins, spreading to my brain like poison. Spreading down my legs and arms and fingers. Spreading like the raging flames of a forest fire.

Maybe I am just a forest, my strength dictated by factors beyond my control. Maybe I've never really had any control at all.

So, I close my eyes.

And burn.