Page 31 of A Trial of Fate

It was all starting to make sense now, and I was beginning to put the pieces together as I watched the exchange between the two males. It was crazy and an utterly insane theory, but all signs were pointing to it.

Gilen had commanded Xander to end our relationship.

“Good,” Gilen growled, narrowing his stare and pushing out a wave of power that made the hairs on my arm stand at attention.

My animal naturally awakened to answer the challenge, and she didn’t hesitate to flush my body with her own strength.

“Glad you decided to finally show up,” he said as he looped an arm around my shoulder and possessively tucked me into his side.

I couldn’t help my grin spreading from ear to ear, nuzzling into the nook of his collarbone. “I made it.” I felt Xander’s eyes watching us, but I couldn’t care less at this moment.

Gilen flashed me a wide grin. “I only doubted you… for a moment.”

He reached to cup my face with his strong hand and leaned in to kiss me. It was soft, unhurried like yesterday’s, hidden away in the forest. He was easy, gentle, and tender. Delicate, like a mate greeting their other half after finally coming together after time spent apart.

“Go now, Xander,” Gilen commanded without even turning to look at him, and Xander quickly obeyed, darting away back into the woods. Gilen held me close as we walked down the dirt path together, joining our people in the meadow where the full moon was beginning to rise overhead.

Rhea was my best friend, but Gilen had always held a special place in my heart. Since my uncle was the beta of the pack, wepractically grew up together, and I never had to taste the sting of loneliness with him by my side. He was the rule follower, always there to pull me back if I ever strayed too far. We balanced one another, and Gilen was the first person to ever witness my healing powers.

When we were small children, Alistar called Magnus to his manor to review their plans for securing the outer borders. Naturally, I begged Magnus to come so I could play with Gilen. A single day seemed like an eternity when you were separated from your friend at that age. He happily obliged, which also gave Julia a quiet moment in the house with baby Neera.

The males left us to play in the yard, and Alistar used his alpha command to ensure we didn’t wander… but I had other plans. We could not leave the yard, but he never said anything about climbing above the area. I practically had to drag Gilen up into the trees that day. Everything was fun, laughter, and games until Gilen jumped and missed the branch on one of the neighboring trees. He fell… colliding with the earth and shattering the bones in his arm.

I rushed down to him to help. His screams and tears were flowing, and I knew he was badly hurt. I didn’t know how to help, but instinct told me to reach out my hands and try to ease his pain. Suddenly, my palms glowed a golden color, and my powers manifested, healing his broken arm.

Anynormalshifter would have freaked out and run for help… but not Gilen. He was amazed and praised me for my special gift, encouraging me to share it instead of hiding it away. I don’t know what would have happened if I had come into my powers with anyone else but him.

Entering the meadow, we stopped when we saw our friends, and he boldly pulled me in for another soft kiss. The heat from his body wrapped around me as my desire began to build, flipping my stomach and flushing my cheeks red. I didn’t want this to end. I didn’t want him to ever stop kissing me.

“Ahh-hem,” Rhea coughed.

Gilen pulled his luscious lips from mine, and I shot an evil glare in her direction. Rhea shrugged her shoulders and turned back to her conversation with Shaw and Talon. Her words of caution the other night flooded the logical side of my mind. I wanted to heed my best friend’s warnings about Gilen, and Shaw’s, but the reality of him was all too much for me to just push aside.

Thankfully, Gilen didn’t break away and lightly kissed my forehead. “We will continue this later,” he whispered as he kept onearm around my waist, holding me close against his side.

Butterflies danced inside me, and all I could do was nod that I heard him. The questions began spinning around in my mind with whispers of a secret hope becoming a reality. Were we fated mates? This was crazy. Me, the half-breed late-blooming shifter, bonded to the future alpha. The other females in our pack who had chased after him for years would not be pleased.

Dozens of us waiting to shift were gathered here tonight, and I could only imagine how many more were still coming. Alistar issued an order to all Satellite regions of our pack to send representation to our main stronghold for tonight. Every shifter who might transition to their animal form was here in attendance, making this one of the largest gatherings of our people.

The Solace pack held a majority of its members here in the main village, but there were also factions spread out around the northern areas of Valdor. Alistar communicated through sub-alphas he placed in positions of leadership in the other regions under his protection. If we counted each shifter in Valdor, we would be close to a few thousand of us all together. Nothing compared to the human population, but we were able to hold our own and keep a strong grip on our territory.

Humans might have the numbers and a select few with access to magic, but we had the strength of our people and fierce fighting animal forms. We were naturally faster and stronger, and once we shifted, those abilities increased tenfold, along with the rapid healing abilities similar to the fae.

Among the chaos and frenzy of Gilen’s isolated attention and the large number of us here tonight, I almost missed the arrival of the High Fae Royalty.

Daxton marched out into the meadow, and every pair of shifter eyes snapped in his direction. His casual dress from before had vanished: donning leather boots with his dark gray trousers paired with ebony armor with intricate silver threading, and a cloak draped over one shoulder, with the other holding an emblem of three silver mountain peaks. He was armed to the teeth, with a long silver blade strapped to his back and daggers at his belt. He held a cold, distant expression I recognized from the descriptions written about him in the texts.

Right now, he was the Silver Shadow. A deadly warrior that struck fear into the hearts of all those who opposed him before his sword finished the job. His hair was tied back from his face, exposing his menacingly terrifying storm-cloud stare, the distinctly pointed ears,and the remarkable beauty of a High Fae.

That was one side to him, but I knew there was another. My mind drifted to our conversation on the beach and the previous night when I had healed his wound. There was a different side to him—a humorous, perhaps gentler demeanor that he had to keep hidden beneath the surface to protect himself.

Castor strutted out behind his brother, and I mean literally strutted. He wore a similar coloring to Daxton’s attire but a longer dress coat instead of a cloak over a shoulder and carried far fewer weapons.

I chuckled at his casual yet authoritative presence following in Daxton’s footsteps. Castor’s silver hair flowed in his face, and as he reached up to casually brush it away, he flashed a brazen grin at any female he could. I swear I heard swoons from behind me as Castor paraded with more confidence than a peacock on display out toward the gathering crowds. I snickered and rolled my eyes, unimpressed by his flashy demeanor.

Gilen pulled me closer to him. “Looks like the High Fae you shot the other evening is healed.”

I only nodded. There was no way I was going to ruin this moment and let him know I bent his rules. I turned to look at Gilen, but his eyes were firmly set on his father, who had entered the clearing.

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