Page 67 of A Trial of Fate

“Bastard,” Rhea muttered under her breath. “He should be the one telling you this.”

“Elaborate … Now, please.”

Rhea brushed back her hair and rolled her eyes. “How much do you want? And how honest do you want me to be?”

“Go for it. I want it all, Rhea. There are too many questions in my life right now, so just give it to me straight.”

“Alrighty then, I like this new shift in you. Not backing down and standing up for yourself. It looks good on ya.” She reached down into her boot and pulled out a second hidden flask. “I knew we would need this other one.” She took a long gulp and tossed it over to me. “The day after the full moon gathering, when we realized what happened to you, Gilen completely broke down. He shifted into his roc and immediately started searching for you. Not even Alistar could force him to shift into his human form. He was locked inside his animal, refusing to communicate with anyone.”

“I-I didn’t know …”

“It’s okay. We honestly couldn’t make sense of it either. Luckily, the High Fae brothers jumped into action and gathered a group of us together to search for you. Daxton was the one who first found the wagon trail.”

“So it wasn’t Gilen who led the search party?”

“No. No one could talk to him, but I believe when he realized what we were planning to do, his animal began to loosen its grip on him. Once that happened, the tracking accelerated, and we followed as best we could, but those fucking hunters are crafty.”

I knew exactly what kept them from finding my scent. “The iron.”

“Exactly.”

“Then how did you find me?”

Rhea rubbed the back of her neck. “I still have no idea how Daxton tracked you, Sky. And I didn’t bother to ask. I was just so relieved we were able to find you. We had been searching for a little over a week with no trail to follow once the dirt turned into rock. Until…”

“My blood! So it did work?”

“Smart thinking there, you clever fox. The silver and black-haired fae was already leading us in that direction when Gilen confirmed his route, finding your trail.”

“Wait… wait, hold on a second. Daxton was leading the search parties?” This was news to me. I put it together that he joined with Castor, but I had no idea he led them.

“Yeah, I don’t know how, but his instincts were spot on. They saw things I would have missed and even picked up on the hunters’ magic. Once they pointed out the difference to Magnus, he shifted into his bear and could follow it until we hit the mountains. Once we reached the eastern range, we separated into two different parties. That was why I wasn’t there when you were found. Magnus and the two princes went one way while Gilen, Talon, and I took another group. The horn you must have heard was a signal to the others when their lair was found.”

“The horn. I definitely heard the horn bellow twice. That was why they were so panicked when they came to get me.” It all made sense now. “When I was carried to the surface, I remember Gilen screaming my name.”

“That was the first time since you were taken that he shifted out of his roc.”

“Why?”

“Great question!” Rhea threw her arms up in the air. “The bastard should be here to answer that one.”

My mind raced with questions, but the one I needed an answer to most was the first to come out of my mouth. “Rhea, why did Gilen ask Shaw to take my place?” My friend turned to me. She didn’t say anything in reply, so I asked again, “Why would Gilen ask Shaw to take my place?”

Rhea crossed her arms in front of her chest and mumbled, “Fucking. Bastard.”

I was now completely confused. “Rhea. Do you want to tell me, but you can’t?” A firm nod was all I could get. “You are under an alpha command.” Her deep blue eyes shone with agony as she nodded once more.

“As I said… bastard.” Rhea’s second flask was now officially empty, following a few more colorful curses.

“Why would Alistar command you not to speak on this?”

“Not Alistar,” Rhea grumbled as she screwed on the cap.

“Gilen?”

Another nod, yes. “Gilen is powerful, Sky. His magic has steadily grown since he shifted, and he will soon be stronger than his father. We can all sense the change… even Alistar. He is going to abdicate the role of alpha to Gilen soon.”

My eyes widened, and my jaw fell to the ground. “That is insane!”

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