Page 30 of A Warrior's Fate

But then came the voices.

She turned her head and noted the smallest glow of light at the end of the corridor. Feeling an unearthly draw, she braced herself and went to it. As she neared, the voices increased in volume, enough to figure out to whom they belonged.

One of them was the Beta of Deimos’s, and the other was Kai’s.

Isla froze, their tones taking on new aggression. As she had in the fields before crossing through the Gate, she picked up pieces of their conversation. They were talking about the meeting. Something about the beta going in Kai’s place while he recovered. Something the alpha hadn’t agreed to.

In a lull, which she figured was a signal the exchange was coming to an end, Isla turned to dart away. But then—

“You’re aware that trust is an alpha’s biggest strength, that belief in their leader is what holds a pack together…you risked your life to save that girl.”

Isla’s steps ceased.

The last words had left the beta’s mouth with such malice. Even though there were very, very few people he could be alluding to, she refused to believe he was speaking about her.

“I’m not going through this with you again, Ezekiel. I wasn’t going to leave her in there to die.” There was a coldness in Kai’s tone she’d never heard before; it chilled her more than the air.

It was as if Ezekiel hadn’t heard him. “Not only did you jeopardize your own hide, but the hierarchy within Deimos, the bloodline of your forefathers. And for what? A woman insolent and dim-witted enough to—”

“Watch your tongue,” Kai growled.

Isla glared, even though the beta couldn’t see it. Her un-bandaged hand clenched into a fist at her side. Protocols be damned if she had him face to face.

“Who is she?”

“Just someone I met at the dinner.”

“And yet she was bold enough to approach you without invitation? In your graces enough for you to allow her to?”

Kai was silent.

“Need I stress how your personal affairs are no longer your own.”

A pause. More silence.

“You are not just one of the alpha’s sons anymore. The former antics of a second-born prince are over. They cannot happen.” The beta’s words were pointed, sharp. “Any dame you bring to your bed is one your people will cast as a future luna, the bearer of their next leader, a bloodline entangled and buried deep in our soil for the rest of time. It goes without saying the questions that would arise, the unrest that would ensue if rumblings emerged that a potential queen was not only of Io but the daughter of its Beta.”

Isla wasn’t sure which part of his spiel had made her more furious—his casting of her as some hapless girl sleeping with the alpha or his notion that it would be so abhorrent because of who she was.

There was another hesitation, but then came a shallow gasp. Isla could’ve sworn she heard a mumbled no before Kai answered, “She’s nothing to me.”

Upon his reassurance, said so absolute, she had to remind herself that it had been their deal. No one could know about their bond, as they’d decided. It was their choice to save her future. To allow her to do as she wanted, to become a warrior and not be trapped in the life of a queen. But Ezekiel was Kai’s beta, his second-in-command besides whoever became his luna. That bond was also considered sacred, in a different kind of way. It required trust, honesty, and understanding. The function of a pack depended on it.

It hadn’t been lost on her that Kai never refuted his beta’s claims. No protest to the questions, the unrest, the threat to his stance as a leader if he dared take her as his mate. It was as if he understood the implications all along…and was actively avoiding them.

If one thought logically and pitted them together, who was really getting the truth from the alpha’s mouth—the woman he’d known for just over a week whose only tie was something beyond their comprehension or his highest-honored officer with whom he entrusted his pack?

“It’s imperative you keep it that way,” Ezekiel said, his words terse. “It can’t happen.” He spoke as if he knew, as if he’d figured it all out.

Kai’s response was low. “I’ve handled it.”

CHAPTER 9

Isla had been holding her breath for so long, she could feel a singe in her cheeks, so hard that she could hear her blood rush in her ears, so strained that her pounding heart rattled her entire body.

But it wasn’t because of shock. No—she’d surpassed that emotion a while ago. Now, it was rage: pure unadulterated rage, and she feared the furious sound would give away her location. Though, she didn’t care for the consequences of being caught eavesdropping. She was more concerned with those which would occur if she were unable to hold back her desire to tear the alpha apart the second he met her gaze.

She felt like the floor had dropped out from under her, that the past week had been a ruse.

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