Savage Wild Gods Deleted Scenes

The final book in the Savage Wild Series contained a few scene reworks and some changes to character arcs. Like the other deleted scenes, I highly recommend finishing the series before reading these:

A short deleted scene where Val actually goes to visit Peyton before she finds her stepbrother Joshua, sneaking into the Wilds under Rune’s nose.

A couple weeks back Peyton had sent word that Seattle had become too dangerous in the aftermath of Sotera’s attack, and her and the surviving humans had moved to Castle Rock, one of the only surviving human towns within the Wilds themselves. She’d assured me that Rune was okay with it. I’d believed her because I’d had to. I believed her because I had to trust that Rune followed through on what I’d asked him to and not harmed them.

He wouldn’t, I chastised myself. You know him better than that. At least you used to.

Still, I picked up my pace.

I came across the first of the encampment on the outskirts of Castle Rock, rows of enormous tents and shelters built from overhanging, overlarge leaves and the interiors of fire-scoured trees. Bioluminescent mushrooms and flitting fireflies created dull shadowy figures. I could hear them murmuring and the occasional burst of laughter as I drew closer, then skirted around the outside.

I needed to find someone I knew while drawing the least bit of attention. Easier said than done. There had to be a few hundred people in this camp alone.

For the second time in as many minutes, I spun, spooked, as a branch crackled behind me. I squinted as the beam of a flashlight shone directly in my face.

“Who’s there?” a woman said breathlessly. The beam dropped to my Wild-spun cloak. “You’re not supposed to be here. Your high king said we could stay here. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean you have permission to bother us.”

“And if I’m here to visit a friend?” I asked.

There was a sharp intake of breath. The flashlight dropped just enough that I could finally see who’d stumbled across me. My jaw dropped. “Gracie!”

“I’m looking for someone I know. Peyton, my… My friend.”

Gracie’s eyes went wide as she gestured back to the glow of the camp. “She’s here. She’s with the others who used to be part of the worshippers of the Mother Tree, and some of those from the Department of Fringe Affairs. Some woman who said she knows your stepbrother, Joshua.”

Leah, it had to be. I wondered if she still blamed me for his death. I wondered what she’d do if she saw me.

“I want to see Peyton,” I said. “Just to make sure they’re okay.”

Gracie cocked her head, clearly confused. “That wildling you were with, Rune, the high king, he said we were allowed to be here. He has bothered us. Didn’t you ask him if she was all right?”

“I wanted to check for myself. And…” I gently grabbed her arm as Gracie turned to lead me back into the camp, “I’d like to not be seen.”

Gracie hesitated, but thankfully didn’t question anymore before leading me around the outskirts of the tents, in the deep shadows of the branches and out of the glow of fluttering bats and fireflies.

“I’m sure you already know since you’re working with Rune, but things have been crazy here,” Gracie said, voice low.

She didn’t know about who I was, what I was, now. I’d kept that a secret on purpose. Still, it was a struggle to nod and act like I did just as she thought. “You said the DFA were here?”

“Those who didn’t defect to Father Dumas. The rest tried to take back what remained of Seattle from his worshippers, but…”

Gracie’s lips tightened, and I could guess that many of those who had tried hadn’t made it back. “Let me guess,” I said. “Father Dumas horded weapons.”

“Lots,” Gracie agreed. “An army’s worth, and not just any weapons. Magical ones. I heard even the high king tried to attack him and couldn’t do anything.”

Rune had attacked Father Dumas all on his own? He’d pretended to agree to leave Father Dumas alone, but if he was breaking that then either he didn’t mind breaking the promise, or he was desperate for another reason.

“How if Father Dumas surviving King Bendeti of the Undersea?” I said. “Bendeti should have taken over.”

Gracie shook her head. “No clue. Doesn’t seem like they give each other any issue, though. Maybe Bendeti is as scared of Father Dumas as we are.”

Maybe. Or it was something else to be worried about. If Father Dumas and King Bendeti had some sort of agreement, there would be trouble. More than I was sure I could handle.

We stole across the street of a neighborhood, overshadowed by trees and enveloped in the Wilds; walkways laid under sprawling roots, slender, gurgling springs that split houses, and colonies of mushrooms that grew over rooftops.

“And Rune,” I asked, barely daring to. “How’s he treated you?”

I didn’t miss Gracie’s surprised look, as though I should already know the answer. “Fine. Good, actually. He doesn’t visit much.” She gave a small chuckle. “I tried to see him as just another wildling. Just that obnoxious guy that took over my apartment for a few days. But out here he’s…”

“Something different?” I guessed.

“Dangerous,” Gracie said. “And beautiful. And…” Gracie blushed, shooting me another furtive glance. “But you already knew that. At least the beautiful part.”

It was my turn to blush. “He’s always been dangerous. I think that’s why I—”

I couldn’t finish the thought, though Gracie stared at me hard enough to make my skin buzz. “Uh-huh. Have you talked to him about it?”

“No,” I said, too quickly.

“Oh. Good.” Gracie brushed aside a low-hanging frond. There was a larger collection of tents up ahead and she easily navigated us around them. “You two seemed close.”

“We were—are—but I…it doesn’t matter.”

I internally winced as Gracie slowed to a stop. Her gaze met mine. “Val, you’re not with Rune, are you? I mean, you’re not working with him anymore.”

I gave a jerky shake of my head.

Gracie breathed out. “Then where did you come from? And what have you been doing?”

That was an explanation that would take too much time. Time I was realizing only now I really didn’t have. My anxiety at being caught here was growing every second. It felt as though every eye of the Wilds, every beast and branch was nearby, listening in, calling on their ruler; She’s here, she’s here.

“I just need to see if Peyton and the others are okay.”

Gracie gave a slow nod, though she too looked nervous. We approached the tent Gracie told me was Peyton’s. I crouched nearby, hidden, and waited. A moment later Peyton came out. She looked drawn and tired, but fine, and I could feel my anxiety fleeing my tense muscles. She crossed to another collection of tents, those with people wearing DFA gear. I spied Leah, wheelchair bound, sitting around a crackling fire, a beast roasting over it, and a pile of ripened fruit collected nearby.

“Where’s Joshua?” I murmured. “My stepbrother,” I added at Gracie’s questioning look. “He went off to do something without telling anyone. I thought he’d be back by now.”

Leah had blamed me for that, claiming I had something to do with his disappearance. It wasn’t the craziest claim. Before Sotera collapsed Seattle Joshua and the DFA had seen me as practically a terrorist. If he wasn’t my stepbrother, I was sure he’d have tried to hurt me more than he already had, and I him. Maybe even worse.

But he was capable and trained. Whatever he’d gone to do, I was sure he’d be fine.

Still.

“You can ask them,” Gracie said.

I watched Peyton as she stood around the fire with the others, clutching the outside of her arms and swaying gently. She smiled when one of them cracked a joke, but the edges of her eyes seemed a bit strained. I could ask them, but like with Rune and the wildlings, I didn’t belong among them. And I was out of time.

I stood, feeling a cold trill of dread curling in my stomach. I’d seen what I’d needed to. And my original plan to talk to Rune was laughably idiotic now. It was a mistake to come here without a plan, without any goal of what to ask.

“Val?” Gracie whispered after me as I took off into the trees. “Val, wait!”

“I’m so glad to see you, Gracie,” I said as I walked, meaning every word. “I’d stay if I could.”

She stumbled a little over some roots, but managed to tug on my sleeve and bring me to a stop in a small depression hemmed by flowers each as big as my head. Above, a sleeping flock of birds perched, a few of the ones we’d awakened peering down at us with their gold-red eyes.

“You don’t have to go,” Gracie said. “Whatever happened, I’m sure we can figure it out. Either with the DFA or the wildlings.”

“I’ll be back,” I assured her. I wasn’t sure when, and I wasn’t sure in what capacity, but I’d be back once I got things straightened out.

Gracie gaped, trying to wrap her mind around something I couldn’t even put into words myself. “But…but…”

“Take care of yourself,” I said. “Next time—”

I felt it moments before Erebus gave a low, warning growl. I felt a pulse of magic shudder through the trees and the plants at my feet. The trees bent to crowd me in. Roots rose up and formed into a circle, beyond which was a pitch-black path of nothingness, with greenery lacing the outside edges. The blurry outline of figures began to step through.

“Val?” Gracie cried after me as I stumbled back, then hurried away.

In the final book Rune actually catches Val instead of her going to save him, which I felt aligned with her suppressed feelings for him more.

“How did you know I was here?” I asked when Rune didn’t immediately answer.

Rune scoffed as though it were obvious. “I am of the Wilds and the Wilds is in me. Though I’m not omniscient, of course I noticed the moment you arrived. You have a loud heartbeat, remember? And the power you stole from me is more obvious than ever.”

The underbrush rustled, and a moment later a dark-skinned, muscled man in military fatigues and gripping a sword rushed broke into the clearing. Garrett, the de-facto head of Castle Rock. Behind him, I could see Gracie, panting like she’d sprinted to warn him the moment Rune arrived, along with a half dozen of Castle Rock’s children, their eyes glowing a vibrant lapis blue.

“Rune,” Garrett said, giving an acknowledging nod of his head. His eyes brushed over me and widened before returning to Rune. “Please, let’s not have any trouble.”

“I have a bad habit of being drawn to it,” Rune said lazily.

“Or creating it,” I snapped.

The corner of Rune’s mouth twitched. “We’ll resolve this,” he said to Garrett, not looking away from me. “Right, Val?”

“That’s up to you. We’ll resolve this,” I assured Garrett, feeling like I was anything but.

Garret swallowed and gave a tight nod of his own. Rune’s wildlings peeled off. Cassius brushed past me, grinning. “Good to see you again. Don’t be too hard on him.”

“No guarantees.”