Page 248 of A Warrior's Fate

She whipped around to face him, snapping, “Is that where you disappeared to? You gave me a heart attack.”

“I took a little walk around. Scoped the terrain,” Sebastian brushed her off before meeting Ameera’s eyes and then everyone else’s. “He looks exactly as you’d expect a man who’s been a rogue for twenty years to look. Rough. Covered in scars. He’s a big guy. If you told me he’d survived the Hunt, I’d believe it.”

Isla bit the inside of her cheek as her stomach turned. She’d been briefed on Brax’s history, and the fact he had been a warrior did nothing to ease her spirits. Nor did the reason he’d been exiled before he’d received his lumerosi or joined the ranks. He’d killed two men during a bar brawl—unshifted—following his time in the Wilds when he’d returned to his home pack of Rhea.

Sebastian nudged her with a shoulder. “But Kai’s the alpha who killed four bak. I’d put my money on him.”

Isla narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t put any bets on this, right?”

“I have limits, Pudge,” Sebastian said, sounding offended.

“I’m sorry,” Isla groaned before jumping to her feet. “If I keep sitting here, I’m going to lose my mind.”

But before she could start pacing, the door of the room opened. The smell of smoky jasmine filtered through the air, and everyone stilled, holding their breath, staring at Kai in the doorway.

His hair was wet, glistening with some type of oil, and pushed back like he’d run his fingers through it, though some pieces curled back around his forehead. He donned black silks, much like those of the Hunt, and beneath them, Isla could see a glimpse of black paint on his skin. The moon phases, like the arena’s stone floor, across his chest.

Kai cast his eyes between them all, closing the entrance behind him. “Don’t look at me like I’m a ghost already.”

No one thought it was funny.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair again. “I have to go. So, you might want to go to your seats.”

No one moved.

Several seconds of quiet passed before Rhydian rose. His eyes were glassy, as were all of theirs, and he moved to hug his brother. “This is so fucked.”

Kai had his arms around him and squeezed his shoulder in agreement but said nothing.

Ameera wiped her eyes, going to Kai next. “Rip him apart,” she commanded through gritted teeth.

Jonah had abandoned his books. “What she said.”

Davina had barely been coherent, and after Sebastian and Adrien went forward to offer him the shake of a hand and a pat on the shoulder, all that was left was Isla.

She and Kai simply stared at each other as the rest of the group waited by the door, not sure if they should watch or look away or leave. She didn’t think she could open her mouth and speak without her voice cracking, and once that happened…

She didn’t want to cry. Not here. Not now. Not yet.

Kai held out a hand. “Do you want to walk with me? By tradition, as my luna, you would be at my side until I stepped in anyway, but you can taper off before anyone sees you. It’ll just be the rest of the procession.”

It was a simple decision for Isla to make.

When they all exited and everyone else went left to go to their seats, Isla and Kai, her arm looped through his, went right. There was a stretch of passageways that meandered from the underbelly of the arena up to the main floor, where they’d been before. It struck Isla how similar they felt to the tunnels they’d found beneath the house in the wasteland, and every so often, she’d catch a glimmer of unharvested crystal in the walls. The crowd was getting louder now. She could hear them clearer with each step, and she battled for every even breath.

They took maybe longer than they should’ve to get to their destination. Kai explained that he’d spoken with his mother, and that the priestess who’d been praying over him knew he’d been mated. She could feel it, feel Isla, a steady presence threaded through him.

“She said you must’ve been strong-willed. I said it was more like stubborn.”

Isla bumped him with her hip while he laughed. But all joy faded to nothing as they turned a corner and found themselves before a group of guards. All of them sketched a bow—for him—then their eyes shifted in her direction. Some of them she recognized as members they’d walked with before.

“Lead the way,” Kai told them while Isla remained at his side. She held onto him tighter.

The crowd was impossibly loud now. So much like the city, making Isla dial back her senses. She focused on Kai’s presence, his scent, the bond, and the feel of his skin against hers. Drank in every piece of him she could.

One more turned corner, and they would be on the long stretch that fed into the arena. The light from the stadium spilled through the tunnel’s mouth and cast back to them, a yawning glow that had soldiers’ shadows dancing on the wall.

Isla had glimpsed the hollow path before Kai came to a stop, holding her back.

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