Page 10 of A Trial of Fate

“Have you thought about what else happens when mates claim each other?” Rhea asked, and I silently stared back at her, cursing the whiskey shot she had me drink. “With a shared claiming mark and bond, you also share your power. Your healing magic would provide the best protection and ability for Gilen to be a true and unmatched alpha. It makes sense why he would want to keep you around.”

“I want to protect our pack just as much as anyone else,” I argued. “So why would this be a bad thing?”

“I know you do—but some of us are just meant for more. The world is calling to you, Skylar. It always has been… You just haven’t woken up and heard it yet.”

“What’re you saying?” I knew that everything Rhea was telling me was from the heart and how she truly felt.

“I’m not a seer. I don’t have magic powers to predict the future… but I have always known you were special. You, my dear friend, would be trapped and suffocated being the mate of a male like Gilen. He will force your hand, expect you to extend his bloodline, and take away your voice. He is not a bad shifter or male by any means. He’s my friend too, but…” Rhea pursed her lips.

“But… but what if we are fated mates?” I dared to ask the question I had been pondering since I was a teenager. “What if our animals recognize the bond in each other and we are mates?”

“Then you can tell your animal to stick it where the sun does not shine.” Shaw’s gravelly voice was unmistakable. “Because she picked the wrong male.”

Rhea and I whipped our heads to the seat behind us. “When did you get here?”

“How many of those have you two downed tonight?” Shaw asked as he casually sipped his own drink.

“Apparently not enough,” Rhea answered with a sly smirk. “I can still only see one Shaw.”

I pulled up a chair and encouraged Shaw to join us. “Come on. Don’t be the creeper in the corner and act like you don’t know who we are,” I teased. “Because, like it or not… you’re stuck with us, buddy.” After a moment of quiet contemplation, he shook his head and stood up to join our table.

Shaw, like me, was adopted and raised by parents who were not his own. Talon’s family took him in after Shaw’s parents were captured and killed by a radical, magically altered group of humans called hunters. Shaw was unfortunately not spared from their grasp. The hunters tortured him, slicing his hands and forearms to shreds before releasing him back into the woods of our pack lands. His scars still lingered to this day.

We still didn’t know why they let him go, and Shaw refused to talk about the horrors he endured while he was with the hunters. None of us pushed him to do so, either. Hunters were still known to wander into our lands and capture shifters for mere sport.

“What do you have to add?” I asked Shaw, knowing he had been listening in this whole time.

He brushed back his raven hair that shone with hints of blue in the candlelight and glanced at Rhea with his keen dark eyes. Shaw was careful, always watching and calculating his steps ten paces before the rest of us. I could tell from his shared expression with Rhea that they both definitely knew more than I did.

“You two know something!” I shouted. “Tell me!”

In his own defense, Shaw threw up his scarred hands, his palms facing me. “All I know is that Rhea is more familiar with the mating bond than she would care to admit.”

I raised my brows in utter shock, my jaw practically dropping to the table as I turned back to my other friend. “What, really? Rhea, you have been holding out on me!”

She narrowed her eyes. “He told you… didn’t he? Gods-damned prick—”

Shaw nodded, flashing a hint of smugness in his grin. “Of course he did.”

“Oh my Gods. Talon,” I exclaimed and nearly jumped up out of my seat. “Talon! Talon! It has to be.” Those two were like an old, mated couple, bickering every chance they got. They challenged each other, and somehow, their spicy mixture of personalities blended perfectly.

“Mother,” Rhea cursed. “Shaw, I know Talon’s family took you in, and you two are basically brothers… But why did he share that with you?” Rhea buried her face into her hand and signaled to Elain for another round.

“It’s what we were discussing while out on the rocks today. Gilen was the one to bring it up, and Talon told him all he knew from his experience with Rhea,” Shaw said in his defense. “Even though it was the second time I’d heard it.”

“Back to Skylar, please,” Rhea groaned, burying her face in her hands.

My heart sank in my chest, and my insides tightened. Gilen was the one asking about the mating bond.

Also… the news that Talon had felt something with Rhea was mind-blowing. But since she hadn’t yet shifted, the bond wouldn’t completely take root until her animal form was released. She would be able to feel traces of it, though. Like a whisper at the tips of their tongues, but nothing concrete. Now, all their bickering was beginning to make sense.

“Well, what do you think?” I asked Shaw, and I could detect his uneasiness as he shifted in his seat.

“Talon is my brother, and Gilen is my friend.” My shoulders sank a little as Shaw paused for a moment, carefully thinking about what to say. “But you are also my friend, Skylar, and I won’t lie to you. Gilen is a worthy male… I would be proud to one day call him my alpha and be in his pack. But, as much as it pains me to admit it, Rhea is right. When it comes to you, I’m afraid he would try to cage your fire instead of letting it burn.”

“Neither of you are helping.”

“You didn’t ask for our help. You asked our opinions,” Shaw replied calmly. “The real question is how do you feel about him? What are your thoughts?”

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