Page 118 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

I was terrified of how we’d protect Petal without her losing both of us to the deadly curse, but I had to be strong. Gael was right; if there was no hope, why would the Goddess do any of this? We were already under the gun, even trying to play by the rules.

My earlier determination that maybe it was time to strip off all the curses and face the ODL toe-to-toe came roaring back to the forefront of my mind as I turned off the shower. If they were going to hunt us anyway, we needed to be at full strength to fight back.

The prospect was terrifying, but the idea had taken root. I dressed quickly, happy to be warm and clean again, but it was eerily quiet with only the two of us in the bunker. I was ready to get out of here as soon as I was dressed.

When we climbed into the car, though, I gasped with realization. “Gael, we can’t go yet. Your letters! I left your letters inside a tree trunk. We have to go back and get them, please! I can’t leave them.”

His hand on my arm stopped me from bailing out of the door I’d just flung back open. “I’ll write you new ones, Leigh. Those are just paper. The important thing is you and me, here.” His eyes shone with sincerity, which made the knots of regret in my muscles loosen just slightly.

“But they were precious to me. All the things you shared, the funny stories and the sad ones. The one about you cashing in your v-card, by the way, made me laugh so hard. It takes a very secure man to admit how badly that went.”

He rolled his eyes at my barely repressed laughter. “I’m glad you enjoyed them. I made myself a promise that I wasn’t going to keep anything back. Even stories that should never be told about the embarrassing sexcapades of youth. But I promise I’ll write you more.”

“Okay,” I reluctantly agreed, reaching over and shutting the door again.

The bunker’s garage was attached to another long tunnel, which let us out several miles away from the castle. I was anxious when the door lifted, but we were on a deserted back road, surrounded by thick, overgrown forest, with not a sign of another soul in sight. Gael waited until we were on the nearest highway to call the rest of the pack.

I was glad for the reprieve. My emotions were everywhere. I had mate marks. Gael had mate marks. I knew in my gut that our agreeing to bond was the right decision. But even so, there were still so many things up in the air. How would Petal be safe? Was Gael meant to die with me and leave her orphaned? Were we going to be hunted down so soon by the insane mob outside that it didn’t matter?

That grim thought would keep me up tonight, I had no doubt.

I was a roll-with-the-punches kind of girl, but this was my child’s life at stake. There weren’t many possible outcomes I found acceptable. The conversation at least provided a distraction from my mixed-up knot of emotions.

Reed was the one who answered. “You make it out okay?” he asked without preamble.

“Yep, we’re on the pavement. Did you guys have any trouble?”

“Not unless you count Cristian refusing to evacuate. He’s still in the castle, but all the household staff made it safely home and have checked in, and the perimeter crew is almost finished with the sweep-up. Andrei called in so many of the Pack Caelestis males, the remaining invaders didn’t take much persuading to leave. But the news is still ramping up, and we need to lie low. Lucien left with the household staff. He’s going to try to work on the IGC from the inside and meet back up with us when it’s safe.”

Anxiety grew in my belly, adding to the brew already stewing in there as I listened to the exchange. We’d been doing our best to keep Brielle’s curse quiet. We hadn’t had a choice over Varga, the castle attacks, or the ODL attacks—anything.

Though I supposed Kane could have chosen to execute Varga quietly. But either way, Petró would have made a stink.

“Where are we going?” I asked as Gael hung up with Reed.

“To see my sister,” Gael said, reaching over and taking my hand. “She lives in basically a fortress. I’m not sure how else to describe it.”

“You called it a Maiden’s Enclave on the phone with Kane earlier. Is it far?”

“We’re going to be driving overnight, but we’ll get there in the wee hours. You can close your eyes if you’re tired.”

It was like the suggestion pulled a yawn out of me against my will. He cracked a smile as he glanced away from the road at me for a split second.

“It’s going to be a long night. We’re safe now, and I promise you that nothing and no one is going to make it past me to you or Petal. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

“Okay,” I murmured.

I still had questions. Why did his sister live in this enclave and not with their family? How were we supposed to lie any lower if trouble kept findingus? Was my palm ever going to stop glowing? What the hell was a maiden’s enclave anyway? But my eyelids were heavy, and exhaustion was a thick blanket weighing me down. I squeezed Gael’s hand and let my eyes close. The questions could wait for tomorrow.

“Leigh?”Gael’s voice was a soft invitation, and the smell of coffee tingled delectably in my nostrils. “Are you hungry? I stopped at a drive-through because we’re almost there. Ithought you might like sustenance before we arrive and get mobbed by the maidens. They don’t get a lot of visitors, so it tends to be exciting.”

I blinked away the sleep in my eyes, shifting up straighter in my seat and accepting the cup of coffee he offered as I tried to process what he was saying. There was a bare hint of light staining the dark satin sky, and I had no idea what time it was, only that no reasonable person would be awake at this hour.

“I’m not really hungry. When you saymobbedby the maidens… what exactly does that mean? Are they like… nuns? Are we going to disappear into a sea of habits, or…”

“They’re nun adjacent,” was all he said, and then we were rolling down a road that seemed far too narrow for this behemoth of an SUV.

I wasn’t awake enough to decipher what that meant. So I just sipped my coffee and watched the rocky landscape slip by.

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