Page 6 of A Trial of Fate

Chapter Three

Iwalked onto the porch of my family home and gently turned the handle of the door to enter. Due to my uncle’s standing in the pack, we were more fortunate than most. The rustic two-story house held three bedrooms upstairs, with an enclosed kitchen, study, and family room downstairs. Large windows were in every room, keeping the connection to the surrounding nature that we and our animals craved. The elaborate garden in the back just outside the kitchen was a masterpiece that we all enjoyed from the hard work of my dear cousin, Neera.

The smell of the decadent stew brewing from the kitchen filled the house, and my mouth was already beginning to water. Julia was the heart and soul of this family—and man, could she cook. I tried my best to take after her in the kitchen, but some recipes never turned out the same. Baking, however, now that was where I shinned.

I turned the corner and placed my bag on the nearby chair as Julia called out to me, “I’m sorry I started without you. Magnus and Neera were starving, and I didn’t know when you’d return.”

I scurried over to the fire and examined the boiling pot over the open flames. “Seems like you did just fine without me. It smells amazing!”

Julia blushed against the freckles on her tanned cheeks. Her luscious brown curls fell freely over her headband as she brushed a bead of sweat from her brow due to the heat of the boiling stew pot. “Thanks. I could still use some help with the bread, though. Mind checking on it for me?”

“Sure thing,” I answered as I snuck a spoonful of the stew into my mouth without her noticing. I rationalized that it needed to be taste tested before serving it to the others, and I had no problem being the tester when it came to Julia’s cooking. “Anything else you need? What type of meat did you decide to use in this one? Did the carrots get added last, or did you put the celery in before?”

Julia rolled her eyes at my continuous questions. She was used to it at least and didn’t seem to mind when it centered around what wascooking in the kitchen. “Just focus your special touch on the bread… I will fill you in as you work.”

“Where are Neera and Magnus anyway?” I asked as I left the delicious pot of stew and moved toward the oven.

I noticed Julia eyeing my spoon full of stew, but she smiled sweetly, ignoring my impatient, growling stomach.

Shifters were always hungry, and I mean always. Our metabolisms ran higher compared to humans, and our body temperatures were on the warmer side as well. It came in handy when the adults shifted, and they didn’t have a scrap of clothing on them. They didn’t need it to stay warm, even in the colder months of winter.

“Neera was tired, so I sent her upstairs to rest before dinner,” Julia said, glancing up toward the second floor where our rooms were located. “And Alistar called Magnus to his quarters in the main house before you arrived. It seemed urgent.”

Our pack lands encompassed the northern section of the mainland of Valdor, hosting the entire population of shifters in our world. Alistar, as our alpha, oversaw and protected hundreds… maybe close to a few thousand of us now. An alpha was comparable to a king or queen in the fae or human customs, and my uncle Magnus was his second—his beta.

“Huh, that’s weird.” I wondered what would cause Alistar to call his beta in such haste. Gilen and the others didn’t seem pressed by anything besides being tired from a training session that I managed to meander away from. Hmm. Maybe I should have attended the group training session after all. “Magnus didn’t say why?”

“Nothing. Just that he would be back as soon as he could.” Julia didn’t seem worried or upset, and it helped put me at ease.

“I imagine he will, considering the delicious feast you were preparing in the kitchen.”

Julia’s kind brown eyes shone with a spark of pride and gratitude at my compliment. “It would have been better with my trusty assistant in the kitchen with me.”

I smiled as I turned the bread in the open oven and sprinkled chunks of butter into the cuts on top of the loaf. It would crisp in a few minutes, giving it a crunchy texture I knew my cousin Neera couldn’t get enough of. “I’m sorry,” I said. “Gilen found me on the beach, and we ended up cliff diving with the others.”

“Not surprising,” Julia muttered unkindly to herself. It took me by surprise, so I turned and gave her a curious eyebrow raise. “He stopped by today, looking for you. I told him you had a new batch ofbooks to read, and that was all the hint he needed to find you, I guess.” Julia slowly turned the ladle and glanced up at the top shelf. “Reach that for me, please?”

I wasn’t done interrogating her soured tone when I mentioned Gilen. “Sure thing,” I replied as I shuffled over to the cabinet and easily reached the spice rack on the top shelf.

“Thank the gods you were blessed with a height advantage from your father. I would never get this recipe right without you.”

Emery, my father, was the former alpha of the Solace pack. Former due to the fact that he died fighting for the land treaty with the current human king, Taran, before I was born. My mother, well, there was not much to tell or know about her besides the fact that she was human.

Twenty-two years ago, I was abandoned, wrapped in a purple blanket that I still had tucked under my pillow, on the outskirts of the Solace pack lands. Thankfully, my uncle Magnus found me and instantly knew I was his kin—an extension of his family—sensing my father, his lost brother’s, scent on me. There was no questioning that I was coming home with him—half-shifter or not. I was family. I was a part of the pack.

Towering just under six feet tall, I was almost a foot over Julia’s barely five-foot-three stature. “Happy to oblige,” I said as I handed her the spices and watched Julia calculate which ones to add to the stew to make it just right. “Oh, before I forget to tell you. Rhea wants me to meet her at the tavern tonight. Did you need anything before I go meet her?”

“No, but I do appreciate you checking in with me. Even though you’re old enough to be living out on your own,” Julia added with a wink. “Come on, Skylar… any males tickling your fancy lately? You are almost at the prime mating age with your shift likely happening sooner rather than later.” Julia couldn’t help gossiping. She and my younger cousin Neera both, actually. I held an adventurous, independent spirit and found myself in the middle of things often, but gossip was something I tried to avoid.

“And leave this paradise?” I laughed, gesturing to the room. “Not a chance. Can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“And we wouldn’t want to,” Julia replied with a genuine motherly smile. “Your shift will come all too soon for us, Skylar. I’m excited for you… but also…” Julia sniffled.

“Don’t get emotional on me now,” I said, trying to comfort my aunt. “I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. Where else would I go thatcould even remotely compete with my home?”

“You’re just as wild as your animal, Skylar. With all the books you read and the time you spend daydreaming of adventures, you’re not meant to be caged. You are meant to leave our quiet life here for something worthy of that special magic I feel from you.” Tears pooled in Julia’s eyes, blurring her vision, and she missed the placement of her ladle. “Ahh!” Julia gasped as the hot iron of the pot burned her hand. I could see her skin bubble and turn bright red in an instant.

I reached out to inspect her. “This is a good one,” I said, moving her hand over gently in my own, careful not to inflict any more damage caused by the hot cast iron.

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