Page 76 of A Warrior's Fate

“That’ll be in a few weeks. And you’re one of the most promising new recruits we have—slaying two beasts—I’m sure you’ll be out there before you know it.”

Isla’s jaw tightened, missing the opportunity to extend gratitude for the compliment, too busy reliving the most terrifying moment of her life. And too angry.

Don’t, she warned herself, biting down on her tongue. But she couldn’t pretend it didn’t bother her that the Imperial Alpha didn’t want anyone to know why she’d killed two bak. How she would’ve rather not have had to.

“It’s awful what happened out there.”

Isla’s features faltered.

Was he actually…acknowledging what had happened?

The Alpha’s eyes flashed with a slight challenge, and Isla paused.

This was a test.

One to see if she’d speak freely about the incident or if she’d obey, keeping it all under wraps as he wished. But was that the only reason he’d wanted to meet with her? Why he’d gone through the trouble, taken time out of his day…lied to Winslow about it? Or had the liaison been clued in the entire time, and the whole point was to ambush her?

Isla held in her groan.

Too many questions.

Too many questions and she had enough to deal with already.

She could just give him what he wanted, all of them, this hierarchy. Lie and tell them she’d leave everything forgotten. That, or she could actually do it. Toss her bag with the marker, the dagger, the book, even her gown that still smelled of Kai into the Barit Sea. Let all of it sink to the depths of nothing and move on with her life. That would be the smart thing to do.

She looked down at her water as she swirled it around her glass and braced herself for the line she was about to toe. “They came out of nowhere. We’re lucky we got out alive.”

The Alpha nodded as if accepting her position. He threw an arm out to the side to drum his fingers along the back of the couch and rested his ankle on his knee. “Yes. It’s a good thing Alpha Kai was out there with you.”

Hearing Kai’s name made her stomach flip, and hearing it from the Imperial Alpha’s mouth, spoken as if her mate were a peer, not a lowly subject, had Isla becoming hyper-aware of the exact high-standing Kai held. As if she’d never truly gauged it all before.

Her eyes shifted briefly to the map at her side, a clear view of the masses of Io and Deimos with Oberon’s territory set between them.

She tracked over the sketches of Deimos’s own mountain ranges, over the long stretch of river that led out to the ocean, cutting between Mimas and Tethys. The land was broken up into four main regions—Surles, Abalys, Ifera, and then in its heart, denoted with a large black eight-pointed star and a sketch of a palace that she assumed was the Pack Hall, was Mavec.

Her lips threatened to twitch downwards, as she briefly wondered if Kai still thought of her too. If he’d sought something in their wilting bond—just randomly, just to see—and found nothing. If he’d been disappointed by that. If he’d ever felt that comfort from it, from her, at all.

Goddess, now’s not the time.

Biting down on the inside of her cheek, her gaze went back to her glass.

Focus.

“He saved my life,” she said, voice low.

The Alpha was quiet long enough to make Isla look up to meet his eyes again. “Saved your life and killed four bak,” he boasted. “One of the highest counts in our history. The ‘hero of the Hunt’.” Isla’s grip tightened. There was something about the tone the Alpha had used that she wasn’t keen on. “Your father and all of us are very grateful.”

Her father.

Still back in Callisto.

“Taking care” of things.

She ran her tongue over her teeth. “I haven’t been able to see my father much since I emerged. With all the meetings and whatnot.” There was a bite to her tone that she hadn’t intended. “I had thought he’d be returning with us, but it seems he stayed back.”

The Alpha’s eyes narrowed for only a moment before they softened, and he threw on a grin to match. It was more unnerving than anything. He rose to his feet and walked back over to the dry bar to pour himself more whiskey, letting the silence gather in a way that was almost suffocating. “That’s my fault, I apologize. Reporting fatalities from the Hunt is typically my responsibility, but I have too much to tend to here.”

The words clattered around Isla’s skull as she watched the translucent brown liquid splash and pool into the glass. It felt like a lead ball had been dropped in her stomach.

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