Page 38 of A Warrior's Fate

Something else that she hadn’t been expecting. That innocent fluttering began brewing in her stomach again, that warmth, that comfort.

What if she had said yes? How different would things have been right now?

As a thought popped in her head, she couldn’t hold back a sharp laugh.

Kai furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you coming up with another way to seduce information out of me?”

“No—I just wish I could’ve seen your beta’s face when you told him that the insolent, dim-witted woman is one screw away from being his superior.”

Kai broke out in a grin, tilting his head, signaling that it was just as amusing as she’d imagined it would be. “He means well.”

“I’m sure he does.”

“He’s protective of our pack and of me, and sometimes he oversteps because of it,” he said. “He was my father’s best friend. He’s known me since I was a pup.”

That made sense. An alpha’s beta was their choice. Typically, it ended up being the alpha’s closest friend, their greatest confidant. Like her father and the Imperial Alpha. And what would likely be Adrien and Sebastian—frightening.

“And that’s why you haven’t replaced him?”

“My father was alpha for almost twenty years with him as beta. He has experience and connections with the council I can only hope to maintain as well as my brother would have…I’m starting to regret spending more time avoiding Mavec growing up than being at home in it.”

Isla arched an eyebrow, both at his aversion to the city and at the fact he was so freely speaking with her about something that felt so personal. “I heard Mavec’s beautiful?”

“Beautiful, yes, and incredibly suffocating. If your warrior travels eventually bring you our way—and I’m sure they will—I’d say don’t waste too much time there. Stay at the Starlight in Ifera and spend the rest of the time out in Abalys—not alone, though, definitely not alone. Probably have a weapon on hand, and don’t wear anything expensive.” He listed the rules with mirth, a reminiscence. Like he’d done it all before. “And if you end up drinking and playing cards at Talha, stay away from Charley’s table. He’s a cheating bastard, but great if you want a decent war story or need a good laugh. He’s won the tavern’s limerick contest the past ten years…I’d warn you that the rhymes are quite dirty, but you don’t seem to have much of a problem with that.”

Isla hadn’t realized that as he’d gone on his tangent, the grin on her face grew and grew. His joy was infectious. She’d never seen him speak so highly of something, seen such a spark in his eye. And from what he was describing, she also became exceedingly curious. Abalys didn’t sound like much of a fit for an alpha, though Kai spoke of it like home. A reminder that there was so much about him that she didn’t know…and would never know.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Isla said, and Kai looked at her, his smile softening. She felt so exposed under his gaze. “What?”

“I wasn’t sure what to expect when I realized my mate was at that dinner, but you definitely weren’t it.”

Isla’s smile faltered, but she recovered quickly, masking it with a snicker. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

“You didn’t.”

He said it so sincerely that it scared her.

Her breath hitched, and those damn butterflies multiplied. If this were any other man, this would typically be the part she’d kiss him, sweet and soft, an urge she surprisingly hadn’t felt yet with him until now.

Kai looked away from her and back out at the field, saying nothing more. He just rested his forearms on the railing and alternated his focus between the fire and the sky. For a moment, Isla felt obligated to cut into the silence, to ask him what he was still doing there, but then stopped herself.

She didn’t want him to go.

So instead, she turned and rested in her spot, her perfect spot, letting her eyes slide closed, listening to the soft sounds of wind and bugs and fire and Kai’s soft breathing. And then finally—not just for one second, but several—under the glow of the moon and with the comfort of her mate beside her, Isla’s mind found peace.

PART II

THE BUSINESS OF SHADOWS

CHAPTER 11

The mate bond of wolves was something revered.

It was sacred. It was special. It was a foundation of their kind, a fabric in their hallowed Code, and what made them unique from the beings of the other continents, other realms. But the ethereal connection was also an onus. It made them weak. It made them vulnerable. One could say it held so much power that it almost negated any notion of free will.

And for that reason, among some others, Isla had decided years ago that it wasn’t worth it. She didn’t want it. Especially not after she finally felt like she had some control over her life.

This led to the thing she hated most about the annoyingly handsome and infuriating Alpha of Deimos—for the smallest of moments, he made her question that.

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