Page 2 of Doyle

"I--or rather William has a proposal," I said.

Every instinct in my body screamed against the idea. Even my inner dragon rebelled against it, but it was William's request, and I respected his wishes.

"William wants to try negotiating with Liliana," I said.

"Fool," Ivan muttered under his breath.

At that moment, I snapped and came at him, partially shifting my claws in the process. Ivan, merely dodged my blows, a smirk on his arrogant face.

Zane got between us, easily shoving the two of us apart.

"Enough. We cannot have the two of you fighting now. Doyle, explain," Zane said.

"William has a proven track record of mediating between two supernatural groups," I pointed out. "Let him try. William wants to avoid further bloodshed. We've lost a lot of shifters on our side."

Zane considered me a moment.

"This is foolishness," Ivan grumbled.

"It is worth a shot," Zane admitted. "We'll send a messenger to Liliana and proceed from there."

I touched the mark William left behind on my body. Right now, it was hidden under my clothes, but I could still feel its warmth.

Keep your promise, I desperately thought. Because if William was taken from me in this war, I would be lost. William was my heart. If he disappeared, I doubted I'd ever find my way back.

THE PRESENT

The pain woke me up. Tangled and covered in sweat in my bedsheets, I briefly touched William's handprint over my heart. The pain was irrelevant.

I welcomed it because it was a reminder that William was still watching over me, even now.

I turned to my side, half expecting to see William's face, his smile, but there was only empty space.

A century had passed since they took him away from me, and yet I have missed his presence every single day.

They say a shifter who lost his mate lived a half existence, and it was true enough.

Some days, I could barely get out of bed, let alone function properly. Revenge for William was the only thing that kept me going.

Otherwise, I would be rotting in the grave by now.

The sound of a child's laughter, followed by a thud from downstairs, made me sit up. Vengeance and family, I reminded myself. I scrubbed at my face, wondering what day it was.

After I returned to Sky Stead with Draven, our newest pack member, and his mate Tobias, Zane had been concerned for my mental state.

I couldn’t blame him. As the lead alpha of the group, it was his job to look out for everyone.

He thought seeing Draven with his newfound mate would make me think of William and thus, make me feel suicidal again. So Zane asked me to stay with him and his family for the duration.

I appreciated Zane's concern, but some days, he really needed to mind his own business.

A knock came on the guest bedroom door. Before I could tell whoever it was to go away, it opened, revealing Zane's kids, Ariel and Porter.

Both kids were, thankfully, in their human forms. They pounced on me without reserve, and I soon forgot about the dream I had about William.

"Uncle Doyle, Daddy made pancakes for breakfast," Ariel announced.

She slid next to me and flashed a toothy grin. While she had Otis' hair and eyes, she had inherited Zane's dragon. She was a miniature of him in some ways.

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