Page 17 of A Trial of Fate

Neera had this innate calmness and caring capacity for others that was unmatched by any shifter in our pack, along with her effortless beauty. She had long, slender limbs with a slightly taller stature than her mother, and she carried a graceful nature that I could never hope to achieve in my lifetime. Her midnight-black hair cascaded into natural voluptuous curls along her mid-back, framing the delicate features of her face. The freckles on her tanned cheeks were kisses from the gods themselves that highlighted her beautiful green eyes gifted from her father.

I often teased Magnus that he would have his hands full when Neera was older, scaring away males who wanted to stake their claim and steal her away. Lucky for all of us, though… Neera wouldn’t settle for anything but a mating bond.

Shifters were able to recognize a mate bond once the sun rose after our first shift. Some could sense the connection to their mate beforehand, but the bond was not sealed until our animal souls recognized it as well. Not every union in our pack, however, was the result of a mated pairing. Alistar, our alpha, claimed his mate, Helen, without the presence of the bond.

At the ripe age of eighteen, Neera was a hopeless romantic, and there were countless males eager to whisk her away from our home and claim her as their own.

I dabbled in romance, but nothing ever truly felt right. My most recent relationship was with a bear shifter named Xander, which lasted just shy of the six-month mark. Uncle Magnus was convinced we could be a mated pair, but once Xander shifted, he quickly broke things off. I never really received a good explanation as to why, but Rhea and Shaw wouldn’t let me sulk for long. He was the first male I thought I would give myself to, but fate apparently had other plans in store for me.

“Come over here and sit with me.” I said, as Neera scooted over in the large, cushioned seat, patting the pillows with her dainty hand.

While growing up, Neera loved to tend to the gardens outside the window next to this loveseat while I read. She would sometimes ask me to read aloud and tell her about all the heroic tales and worlds of the characters I would lose myself in time and time again. She was especially interested in the love stories and the adventurous trials characters would overcome for true love to prevail. This place was ourlittle nook—our sanctuary together.

I sighed and slumped my shoulders forward, joining her on the loveseat. “How could I turn my nose up at that offer?” Neera smiled, draping a blanket over the two of us as I settled in next to her. I waited with bated breath to see if she noticed any changes to my scent from Gilen, or even Silver Shadow. She hadn’t shifted, so her senses were not as acute as Julia’s. As my moments of silence ticked by, I sighed in relief and relaxed when she didn’t seem to notice anything different.

“Well?” Neera asked.

Pursing my lips, I decided to take Rhea’s approach to this situation and just rip the bandage right off. “There are High Fae in Valdor.”

Neera tensed and turned toward me, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. “What? They… they never leave the Inner Kingdom.”

I raised my brows and flashed a sarcastic grin. “Never say never.” I couldn’t help teasing her just a little.

“Clearly,” she huffed, rolling her eyes at me. “Is that why Mom and Dad are gone?”

“I imagine Alistar wanted his beta by his side when he met with the high queen of the fae. Apparently, herhigh princeis the one I met in the woods tonight,” I said, leaving some of the finer details about me shooting him quiet for now. I couldn’t help but wonder what else Gilen was hiding. What more did he know about the reason why they were here? He was the alpha’s heir… He had to know more.

“Wait, w-what!” she stammered, sitting cross-legged on the seat and facing me. “You could’ve led with the fact that you met one of them!” She gasped. “Wait a second. Do you think… Could they be here because of the wilt?” Neera asked.

Her question was the same one I dreaded asking myself. “It might be the only reason they would leave their Inner Kingdom and venture into the mainland of Valdor,” I said.

“Because it could be happening there as well.” I never gave Neera enough credit for her sharp mind.

“Very true. But why now? The wilt has been around for our entire lives,” I wondered aloud. “Why not yesterday, last year, or last month? Why have they decided to return now?”

Long ago, longer than any of our current elders or ancestors could recall, shifters and High Fae lived together in the Inner Kingdom and all throughout Valdor. Humans were the newest occupants of our world, arriving on ships that crossed the vast unknown eastern sea. Thedivide between shifters, humans, and High Fae was the result of a bloody war of power between the three species. Eventually, after countless battles with no clear victory and so much death, the lands were divided.

The veil, a magical barrier, isolated the High Fae’s territory called the Inner Kingdom from the rest of Valdor, while shifters and humans divided the mainland. I wasn’t really sure why the veil was created, but everyone assumed that the High Fae constructed it to protect their lands from any intruders. Of course, this was all assumed because no one had heard of or even seen one of their kind in centuries.

Until now.

“Oh, and I forgot to add,” I said shyly, twirling a strand of hair in my fingers and glancing out the window, “I shot one of the high princes with an iron arrow.” Neera whipped her arm out and firmly slapped me on the side of the head. “Hey,” I yelped. “What was that for?”

“For not thinking before acting! Are you serious, Skylar? You shot one of them with anironarrow? How did you even manage that?”

“I thought it was a hunter!” I exclaimed in my own defense, rubbing my head. “Once I realized it wasn’t, I tried to help him. He did get me back for it though…” I held up my bandaged arm to show the evidence of the male’s retaliation. “He bit me. Right down to the bone, so I guess he and I are even on that count.” I paused for a moment, my thoughts circling around the high prince. “You know, I have no idea who he was. I don’t even know his name.”

“Whatdoyou know about him?” Neera asked, giving me a peculiar expression that reminded me of her mother, Julia, and made her seem much older than she was.

You mean besides immense stubbornness, a twisted sense of humor paired with beautiful, alluring gray eyes that mimicked a raging mountain storm,I thought to myself.

My animal stirred inside my chest at the thought of him, but I immediately forced her presence back down. “The other one called himSilver Shadow, I think.”

My cousin’s eyes widened, and this time, she promptly smacked the wound on my bandaged arm. “Neera! Gods be damned, that hurt!” I growled at her. “There’s a dressing here for a reason, you know!”

“For someone so smart you are very dull at times, Skylar!” she scoffed and threw the blanket to the side, storming off toward her father’s study while muttering to herself.

That was very uncharacteristic of her.

---