Page 200 of A Warrior's Fate

That long ago?

Isla choked and reached for her glass of wine. That meant Zahra had known the entire time in the hall as she lied straight to her face. “How? Did I—did I say something?”

Zahra laughed, lazily lifting her head. “Your bond.”

“You could…sense it?”

“I sensed him—or that part of him that’s been with you since your destinies were woven before your time. Call it mother’s intuition.” Zahra lunged for her own glass of alcohol, inspecting the way the liquid sparkled in the sunshine. She motioned towards Isla’s neck. “You were not mated then. I would’ve noticed in that dress you were wearing. Chosen by him, I’m assuming, along with the jewelry from our vaults.”

Isla flushed and absently reached up to graze the spot on her skin. There was a question in her words. A why.

How could she best describe what the past few months, the past few years, had been? Everything she’d felt and experienced since she’d come of age at eighteen. Even a bit before that.

“I didn’t want a mate,” Isla settled on. “For various reasons, and Kai respected that—among other things.”

Zahra appeared amused by her vagueness, and maybe a bit prided by her son’s actions—or lack thereof. He hadn’t forced her into anything, something Isla had also made note of that night they’d met.

“So, what changed your mind, then?” She swirled her glass before taking a sip.

“I love him.”

The answer was simple. So easy and quick and wholeheartedly honest, Isla laughed as she’d said it.

For as much as he drove her crazy and could piss her off…

“I love him,” she repeated through a breath. “And I can’t picture my life without him in it.”

Zahra nodded her brows as if saying, good answer. “I’ve heard and I’ve seen that with fated connections, the love isn’t guaranteed, so I’m happy it seems you two…” Her eyes drew along Isla’s frame again, and Isla realized that she somehow recognized the shirt as Kai’s. There were only so many assumptions one could make—given the circumstances, how she looked. In the middle of the damn day, too. “Get along.”

As Isla’s cheeks heated again, Zahra’s laugh echoed through the yard. “Just saying, I am fully prepared to spoil my grandchildren rotten.”

Isla’s thoughts returned from the ferry, from the foyer, along with that gut-twisting feeling that came with the notion that she’d one day be…a mother. Not just to anyone, but to a future alpha.

Her hand drifted to her lower belly. If they were trying to prevent anything, they really hadn’t been smart about it.

“We haven’t really talked about it yet, but I hope we have some time first. It’s a lot to adjust to already,” Isla confessed, surprising herself with her own openness. But Zahra, of all people—maybe would understand. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared of all of it. What comes next. I mean, as the Beta’s child, I was merely a spectator growing up. Within the circle, yet far enough away that with the inner machinations and what goes on behind the curtain, I’m as good as clueless. I can play the lady, but I’m not a queen.”

“No one is born a queen. The idea of what a luna is shifts like the seasons. Changes as easily and routinely as the moon. Over dynasties. Within years, months even, what’s needed…it’s different.” Zahra’s tone was soothing and assured. “You’re not meant to be me, and Kai isn’t meant to be Kyran. Our pack is entering a new age with you two at the helm, and the continent, the entire world is changing, too. And you’ll adapt with it. You’ll become exactly what it all requires when it’s time.” She nodded her head. “Frankly, you may be ahead of the game right now, too. A queen with a warrior’s heart and skill seems necessary.”

A weight on Isla’s chest eased, was replaced, and she gnawed on her bottom lip.

Talk about overwhelming. Driving a new age? A changing world? Being what’s needed. At the right time.

She hated that Ezekiel’s voice, of all voices, rolled through her head. His words that had haunted her since he’d spoken them to her in the woods of Callisto.

A queen needed and a queen deserved…

Isla ducked her head to focus on her food. “I know I’m going to need to earn people’s trust here and their respect, and I want to—earn it, I mean. I don’t want them to feel stuck with me as a ruler because they have no choice. I don’t want them to think I don’t care or have what’s best for them in mind. They deserve better than that. They should feel secure in who’s leading them. Protecting them.” She sighed. “And I’m sure it’ll be hard, but I want to do it without completely renouncing my family or where I came from. Because as angry as I am about certain things happening, I wouldn’t be who I am today without them either.”

She chanced a look up at Zahra, unsure what to expect, but was relieved to see a soft smile on her face. She carefully lifted her glass to Isla in a toast. “Well, you’ve already earned mine.”

Isla’s heart swelled, and she beamed back. “Thank you.”

And they returned to finish their meals.

After lunch, Zahra had offered Isla something else that she’d so desperately needed: a chance to bathe and wear some proper clothes.

She’d pointed out the eastern wing, where Kai’s rooms were—now also Isla’s rooms—but Isla had been hesitant. Call her crazy or sentimental or whatever, but she hadn’t wanted to go in there without him. At least, not for the first time. Zahra had understood—as she always seemed to—and instead, directed her to one of the guest suites. It was there that Isla had met one of her handmaidens, not much older than she herself was. Tall and thin, donning a plain navy apron-style dress over a white shirt, with her dark hair intricately braided into a coronet, was Maeve.

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