Page 15 of Fated
His father sat surrounded by papers like a king presiding over court, the car’s interior thick with the scent of leather and aged whiskey. The stark formality felt like a deliberate rebuke to the hedonism of his morning, to everything he was trying so desperately to prove.
“You’re late.” Darius didn’t look up from his papers, each syllable cutting like a blade.
Kai settled into the seat across from him, forcing his jaw to unclench. “I’m here, aren’t I?” His hands curled into loose fists in his lap, an ingrained habit after years of swallowing his father’s disapproval.
Darius’s green eyes—so like Kai’s own—flicked up, sharp and assessing. “You smell like distractions.”
The criticism hung between them, thick as smoke, carrying layers of meaning: weakness, failure, a son primed to throw his destiny away.
Kai pressed his tongue against his teeth, grounding himself in the lingering taste of Ava. He said nothing, silence thickening the tense air between them. His father’s displeasure was nothing new, but today it struck closer to the barren space behind his ribs—to the doubts he’d just tried to bury in Ava’s body.
Darius slid a folder across the seat, movements as precise as his words. “Let’s go over the northern territory dispute.” His tone shifted to the one that had brokered many pack treaties. “The summit isn’t just about the usual politics this year. It’s about setting the tone for your leadership.”
He reached over as Kai opened the folder, tapping one long finger against a map of the now-abandoned Denali lands. Darius paused, studying Kai’s face. “The rogue attacks have some packs making moves to secure stronger alliances, stronger bloodlines.”
The emphasis wasn’t subtle. Darius’s finger moved from the map to a list of attending alphas and their unmated children. “This is your chance to certify Bloodstone’s continued position as the most powerful pack in the region...if you play your cards right.”
Kai reviewed the contents of the folder, forcing himself to focus on the maps and boundary lines instead of his father’s expectations that pressed down on him like a physical force. Territory disputes he could handle. Those, at least, followed rules he understood.
“How do you feel?” Darius prodded. “Prepared?”
The question carried that familiar edge—asking one thing while demanding answers to a dozen others.
“I’ve got it under control.” For once, Kai’s confidence wasn’t forced. “Redridge’s claim is tenuous at best. They don’t have the numbers to stretch into a larger territory, and they can barely staff patrols for their current borders. And Ironclaw—” He tapped the northern boundary line. “They’re overextending themselves. They’ve already taken over two abandoned packlands. Pushing to grow at a rapid rate will only weaken them. Establishing a neutral zone is the only logical solution.”
His father’s eyes narrowed, but something like approval flickered in their depths. “Good analysis, but don’t get overconfident.” Darius’s approval vanished, gone as fast as it formed. “Ironclaw’s alpha is cunning, and like any young alpha trying to prove himself, he’s desperate. He’ll exploit any hesitation and try to use your position as an heir against you. I believe Thorne’s trying to replicate the success your grandfather had growing Bloodstone’s hold in the central part of the region. I think he sees the Denali massacre as an opportunity. More land, more resources. A chance to grow his pack through territory and make Ironclaw more attractive for...strategic alliances.”
The implication was clear. Marriage alliances. Territory exchanges. The politics of power that had governed their kind for generations.
Kai straightened, meeting his father’s gaze. “There won’t be any hesitation.”
A faint smile touched Darius’s lips. “I’m counting on it.” He gathered the maps, sliding them back into the folder with care. “Speaking of alliances…”
Kai’s stomach contracted into a tight knot. Orion’s restless pacing beneath his skin made his muscles twitch. “I’ve already told you—”
Darius’s raised hand cut through his protest like an alpha command. “I know what you’ve said, but I’m not asking for your opinion on fated mates. I’m reminding you of your duty to this pack—to our bloodline. Every Bloodstone alpha since creation has led with their fated by their side, their combined strength blessed by Selene Herself.”
Orion hummed contentedly at the mention of their Goddess while the memory of Kai’s morning passion soured further with his father’s disappointment.
Darius leaned forward, alpha aura pressing against Kai’s skin like storm clouds heavy with lightning. Where their power met, the air crackled with generations of Bloodstone strength—everything Kai’s incomplete aura could be.
“You feel it, don’t you?” Darius urged. “The limitation in your power? That wall you can’t break through? Until you claim your fated mate, you’ll never unlock your full potential as an alpha.”
The words were another strike to the void in Kai’s chest that he’d desperately tried to fill with Ava and their hope for a chosen bond blessing. His fingers dug into his thighs as the truth settled like lead in his stomach.
“You’ll attend every social function,” Darius continued, bitterness edging his words. “You’ll speak to every unmatedfemale. And if she’s there...you will find her. The pack needs more than territorial strength to weather what’s coming.”
A chill ran down Kai’s spine at his father’s tone. Images of what the Denali massacre must have looked like flashed through his mind. The rogue attacks were increasing, growing bolder, more rapid, and his father’s expression held something he rarely showed—fear.
“Bloodstone will need their future alpha to be at full power, and that means an alpha bound to his true mate.”
The implication of Darius’s words felt like silver in Kai’s veins, but he forced himself to nod. “Understood.”
The limo slowed as they approached the summit lodge. The sprawling timber structure rose against snow-capped peaks like an altar to Selene Herself. The crisp mountain air flowing through the lowered window hit Kai’s lungs like absolution, sharp and clean, washing away the lingering heat and perfumed intimacy of the morning. Each breath felt like stepping closer to something inevitable.
Kai took in the surroundings: the line of luxury vehicles filling the circular driveway, the pack banners snapping in the wind—each one a declaration of power, of bloodlines, of destiny. Dread settled in his stomach at the sight of females gathering near the entrance. Their laughter and chatter vibrated against his molars until he had to consciously unclench his jaw.
Inside him, Orion rose to the surface as unfamiliar scents teased his senses. His sudden alertness felt like another betrayal, but Kai couldn’t deny the primal instinct to search—to hunt—for that one perfect scent that would call to both wolf and male. A mélange of fresh fragrances carried on the wind—jasmine, vanilla, wild roses—but none of them sparked that soul-deep recognition his wolf yearned for.
