Page 11 of A Trial of Fate

I took another long draw from my glass until it was empty. This was a question I asked myself over and over again. How did I feel about Gilen? I was obviously attracted to him, and we had been close companions our entire lives. There wasn’t a female around who would deny how handsome, strong, and caring Gilen was. But, was all that enough?

As stupid or foolish as it sounded, I didn’t just dream of a mate bond linking me to someone. I needed to feel true love. And I blamed my human side for this fact.

“I think I …”

My words were cut short by the sound of the tavern door being shoved open by two large wolf paws armed with claws. A massive midnight-black wolf the size of a small horse filled the door frame with pale blue eyes that shone like stars against his ebony fur coat.

Talon.

Rhea kicked her chair back and stood at attention, her stare locking with his from across the tavern. Shaw moved around the table to my right while none other than Gilen emerged at the black wolf’s side. His head stood at Talon’s shoulder, armed to the teeth with a sword, bow, and various daggers strapped to his frame.

“There you three are,” Gilen said with a sigh of relief. “Come with me. My father is calling in every able-bodied shifter to help patrol the borders.”

“What’s going on?” Shaw asked. I scoffed loudly, annoyed that he beat me to the question.

“Our borders have been breached. We believehuntershave entered our pack lands.”

That one word sobered every drop of liquor from our bodies. I stood ready to fight, fire blazing brightly in my amber eyes with my animal coming to attention. Thehunterswould pay with their lives if they dared to step foot in our lands.

“Lead the way,” I growled with resentment burning in my soul.

Chapter Four

The night before the full moon gave us the advantage, our powers naturally rising with the phase of the full moon. I didn’t know why the hunters thought tonight was a good idea to try their hand at invading our territory, but not much they did made sense to me.

Hunters were a group of magically altered humans that were elite members of the human king Taran’s personal army. They were supposed to only protect and defend. Alas, that was not the case. With their increased speed, stealth, strength, and heightened senses, they were the perfect weapon to extinguish the human’s greatest threat to their territory—shifters. And, like us, they could see in the dark.

Shifters are not immortal, but we live two or three times the human lifespan. The High Fae, and perhaps other fae subspecies of the Inner Kingdom, were the only beings in Valdor known to be immortal. But none of them have been seen outside their territory for nearly five centuries. They played no part in the dynamics of our daily lives, and frankly, there was enough going on in the mainland of Valdor to keep us busy.

Entering the training grounds behind the alpha’s house, we all glanced at Alistar from across the way, watching him become the eye at the center of the storm that engulfed our pack.

Our alpha, Alistar, took the form of a large tan wolf with a gray face with haunting hazel-brown eyes. He diligently watched over his gathering warriors, meticulously calculating and plotting our defenses behind his golden stare. Alistar had the same dark blond hair as his son, Gilen, curling around the nape of his neck and blowing gently in the light breeze that whipped through the open area.

When Alistar looked at you, there was no doubt about his position in our pack. He was our alpha, our leader. He remained calm in the center of all the chaos, keeping a stern but relaxed demeanor among everything spinning around him.

I knew he was telepathically sending out his alpha commands to his various leads, preparing them to advance into the darkening night. No doubt, Magnus had already taken a legion of his bears and waspatrolling the southern perimeter.

Everyone was busy gathering weapons or shifting into their animal forms, preparing for a hunt of our own. Gilen led our group to the back of the compound, where a gathering of shifter warriors prepared different scouting parties under Alistar’s command. I couldn’t help but notice that there was a difference in the way Gilen was walking. His shoulders were pulled back, and the gleam in his golden eyes was focused and calculating. He was beginning to embody the role of alpha, and everyone we passed seemed to notice it as well.

“Arm yourselves.” Gilen’s deep voice directed the three of us toward the table. It thrummed with power, making it difficult to disobey even if the others wanted to. “Those of you who cannot shift, make sure your fighting leathers are secured and you have enough weapons.”

Rhea and I quickly checked the straps of our brown leathers, made sure they were in place, and outfitted ourselves each with a bow and quiver of arrows. I strapped twin daggers to my thighs while Rhea selected a short, curved sword that hung from her hip. Shaw added long twin blades to his back, already wearing an assortment of daggers hidden on his person in various locations. Since he was once caught off guard and unarmed, he had vowed he would never do it again.

“Put these in your quivers,” Gilen commanded as he handed Rhea and me a different set of arrows. “And tonight, don’t wander far from the group.” The last statement I knew was meant specifically for me. He was always the rule follower. Never one to question a command from our alpha, and always first to point out how I made a mistake or didn’t do things just the right way.

“Well, what if I see something?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Gilen’s eyes narrowed and flicked to mine, his annoyance at my question now unmistakable. “Then you report to me, and we investigate it together.” Gilen turned and tightened his sword belt before leaning in closer to whisper in my ear, “My father won’t tell me exactly what’s out there, but I have a strong feeling it’s more than just hunters. Please, for me, Sky… don’t try to handle a threat without someone with you. Follow the rules I am setting and don’t set off on your own.”

His plea hit me hard and fast in the center of my chest. I softened my gaze, submitting to his request. I felt my animal stir inside me, not liking the fact that I was backing down without more of a fight. I pushed her influence to the side, knowing that, in this instance, it was better not to pick a fight.

“Fine,” I growled with discontentment.

“Fine? Fineis all I get?” Gilen furrowed his brow and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Fineis the best I can give you right now, Gilen,” I huffed as I stuffed the new arrows in my quiver.

The duty to protect our home was the priority, but I was still confused and a bit pissed off when it came to the topic of him and me. We needed to talk, or at the very least, I needed to yell.

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