Page 181 of Fated or Knot

“Has Pack Ellisar…touched you?”

She pressed her lips together. “Not yet. They won’t bite me into their pack until…” She gave a watery little laugh. “Floris lost his fangs. His designation is already changing. You guys did it for Lark, but it saved me.”

I tilted my head. One of my brothers must’ve been the one to rip out Floris’s fangs. He’d change into a shade of himself, reduced to the equivalent of a beta with a severely damaged pack bond. Alpha fangs weren’t just for show, after all. “Well, thank the stars. And if no one else says it, thank you for saving Rennyn. He’s like another father to me.”

She nodded, dropping her gaze. “I can’t tell you much else.”

“That’s all right. I have experience with cruel vows now.”

“You’re talking about Lark.”

“Aye.”

Laurel stewed in a moment of guilt before asking, “Is she doing okay?”

“Better than ever.”

She offered a fleeting smile. “I’m glad she has you all.”

Here was the opening I was waiting for. I regarded her with sympathy, reflecting on how she had no one. Her mother was still ill from the royal pack’s tortures, and Pack Ellisar had proven to be rotten helpers. She was a female in need of a change of fortune. Just like Lark had been.

“You could have our help as well,” I said quietly.

She shrank away further when I held out my hand. “What do you mean? Your pack hates me,” she mumbled.

“Nay.” I forced a smile and kept my hand extended. I hoped she felt the calm that radiated off of me, something that seemed to come and go at the whims of my magic. Sometimes, it was helpful to have around. “Judging by how things have gone, it would seem we never truly got to know you. I don’t know if I can offer you friendship, Laurel. But I would like to be your ally. Youneed help, and I need someone who can assist us in ending Pack Ellisar’s threat for good. What do you say?”

Several emotions played out over her expression. Hope warred with fear and doubt as she had to wonder if I was being genuine. I was. I knew that Lark would do the same thing if she was the one standing here. She didn’t hate her stepsister, either, despite being pitted against her for most of their lives.

Laurel unfolded herself from the lonely corner of her mind. She reached out and shook my hand.

51

LARK

Iwoke before Tormund and Kauz with a wistful sigh. Fal hadjustbeen about to kiss me when his dream fell apart around us. I closed my eyes, picturing him as he’d appeared in the dream. Artfully disheveled from his usual perfect presentation. His blue-black hair tousled, a hint of heat warming the gray tones of his cheeks, and his feline stare, gleaming and hungry.

Rut was contagious amongst packmates and he’d been close to Marius for a few days. He must’ve caught it, to look at me with the same burning lust that I’d thought I’d only see on my feral mate’s face. Fal’s desire to do more than brush his lips over mine had practically radiated off of him, yet he’d held himself back with self-control for the both of us. I would’ve been more than willing.

I let the melodies he’d given me play through my head as I waited for my mates to wake up too, comfortably wrapped up with them on either side of me. It was a gift to have lyrics I could carry again, even if it had been many years since Cymora forced me to stop singing, so my voice would no longer outshine Laurel’s.

I wondered what Kauz was finding in her mind. His face was peaceful at rest. Did fully trained dream wardens ever have a bad night’s sleep, though? It must be nice to grow up able to shed a nightmare as easily as waving a hand and willing it away. I could’ve used such power to destroy countless terrible dreams.

Tormund stirred before he did, so I flipped over to snuggle into him. We whispered together as we shook off the last vestiges of sleep slowly. He was a little surprised to hear that I wanted to sing to the metalarks today. He’d been the one to point out that my namesake birds would come out in the morning, probably while I was still lying in bed. It was my goal to collect a few of their star-flecked feathers.

Of course, in my mind, I’d sing one of my newly learned songs to them and they’d be so enchanted they’d hop right into my hands. I’d gently comb free loose feathers to take home with me. Realistically, that wouldn’t happen, but the animal lover in me could still picture it.

“You know, they probably sell the feathers around here somewhere, li’l bird,” Tormund suggested gently.

“We can look if?—”

Kauz woke up with a gasp. “Oh good, you’re both awake. We need to go home right away,” he said.

We ordered a quick breakfast to be brought to our inn room, and as we ate, Kauz told us about the memory he’d witnessed in Laurel’s mind. Something that’d happened yesterday, but still chilled me to the bone for multiple reasons.

Pack Ellisar had their talons in my stepsister.

She was being compelled by Cymora, just like I was.

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