Page 155 of Fated or Knot

I also wasn’t doomed to hurt my li’l bird every time I made love to her. That thought had been completely unbearable. I just had to love her right the next time, and then I’d be freer to pleasure her like she deserved.

I celebrated my newfound knowledge by pulling out chunky mallows and a couple of fireproof sticks from my supply bag. Dad watched me toast a sweet with a breath of fire and eat it still bubbling with heat before he said, “Pass me some of those.” And I gladly toasted mallows with him while we chatted about easier topics.

We returned to the palace after a couple of days, and I was in much better spirits until I noticed Fal waiting for us by the stable yard. He stood out amongst the dirt and animals, primped and polished with his silver earrings glinting in the sun. The pack bond was calm, at least. Kauz and Marius were too far away for me to easily pick out what they were feeling.

“Ach.” He was about to rope me into something. I just knew it.

After the stable hands took our horses, I hugged Dad goodbye. He lifted me off my feet, the only male able to turn around my usual affection. “Love you, Dad,” I said. He grunted back like he always did, but he was smiling slightly as he patted my shoulder and returned to his duties.

I went to tend to my mare, Rory, personally and took my time. Either Fal would go away, or he’d be standing right behind me the next time I looked, sneaking up on me like thecat he halfway resembled. I glanced up, and aye, there he was, leaning indolently against a wooden beam. “Welcome back, little brother. Learn anything?” he asked with a smirk.

I didn’t let him get my hackles up. I may have fire in my blood, but I wasn’t Marius. “Aye. What’d I miss in the meantime?”

He flicked his fangs with his tongue. Something was bothering him. “I’m glad you’re back, it’s good timing. So, it turns out one of Kauz’s friends was tailing a certain pack. When she couldn’t gain access to Kauz’s dreams to tell him something, she told my father instead, and he took his sweet time sharing the news with me.”

It took me a few moments to pick up what he meant. Kauz’s friend?Oh. He’d sent a spy, a fellow dreamlander he could communicate with at night, to follow the pack that thought they could buy access to Lark. I stepped away from my horse and balled my hands into fists, willing my anger not to rise just at the mention of those assholes. My own brothers wouldn’t tell me things if I made a habit of erupting every time.

I took a couple deep breaths and fished out a sugar cube to feed Rory. I stroked her neck and whispered, “I will let someone else take care of you for now, my girl.” Whatever it was that Fal said next…I wanted to be out of a flammable structure just in case.

The dark elf left the stables and waited for me to join him at a safe distance. Then he looked up at me and whispered, “Pack Ellisar is on the way here.”

“What?” I demanded. The rage kindled immediately, stretching my clothes, though they were built with extra room for such a moment. Billows of smoke escaped my clenched, sharpening teeth.

Fal barely blinked. He’d seen this happen enough that he was unimpressed when I couldn’t keep it together. “According to thefriend, they’re going to arrive today. How do you feel about being part of the welcoming committee?” Though his expression didn’t change, I felt the shift in the pack bond. There was anger lurking under his practiced façade, and it was just as potent as mine.

“I would love to welcome them,” I answered, then dropped my voice to the closest thing I could make to a whisper. “Did Mother hear back from…”

He was already shaking his head. “I’ve asked when we’re going full Unseelie with the situation. My father thinks today, on the incoming pack. We can’t owe them even a hint of a grievance if they come here and die before Lark joins Pack Sorles.”

Brutal. If only we took the same approach with the fish.She was still sitting in a jail cell, then, if Queen Alora hadn’t written us back. “Wait, is the fishling still here?” I asked.

“You know, I haven’t given her two thoughts since we came home. I’ll ask. Perhaps she can leave today,” he said.

And that’s how, a couple hours later, Fal and I ended up on a train platform with a glum mermaid standing between us. She was going to leave on the train that delivered Pack Ellisar, killing two birds with one stone. All Lark would have to know was that we took care of the bigger issue and she wouldn’t have to see her whiny stepsister again.

Not that Laurel was whining now. In fact, she hadn’t said more than a quiet “thanks” when we told her she was going back to Thelis today and given her time to pack. With her slumped posture and downcast gaze, she was the very portrait of an enemy we’d defeated.

While I’d never really liked her, I didn’t see a point to laying her any lower than we already had. She was returning to Osme Fen without more than a few slivers to her name. It was likely the town had declared a new owner and moved on from where Cymora had left it, so there wasn’t a warm welcome awaiting her back home.

A small army of police and guards were posted around the station, dressed and armed discreetly so we wouldn’t scare any of our subjects. The moment a trio of barkfolk alphas disembarked, they would be surrounded and taken to the palace. We’d make it look as if they’d disappeared—or like they’d never been here in the first place. But they would no longer have any opportunity to trouble Lark.

I’d asked Fal what these barkfolk males even looked like. He’d answered flippantly, “Dead.” His mind was clearly fixed on someone else, and that someone was our mate. I’d told him I needed to knot her properly to get myself back under control, and he’d started whispering bedroom advice over Laurel’s head, careful to speak Serian so she had no idea what he was talking about.

So, I imagined Pack Ellisar as scraggly walking trees with faces crudely carved into their trunks. Very flammable. Very vulnerable. They’d probably be more humanoid than that, but they were going to be unmistakable, especially with the dreamlander spy signaling us.

“Are you ready for your date?” I asked, trying to distract Fal.

The pack bond pulsed with longing that I echoed immediately. We both missed her. “For the most part. I haven’t bought tickets yet, since a lot depends on how long she’s away from Neslune. How about you?”

I smiled broadly. “Her present should be arriving in a few days.”

“Oh, what is it? I got her a rock.”

I’d have been a little offended on her behalf if I didn’t know he was making light of an ancient dark elf tradition. I told him all about what I’d gotten her, too excited for it to be a secret for much longer. He nodded along, suitably impressed with my quick and meaningful acquisition.

Laurel turned and craned her head up to look at me. Some of my excitement faded as I glanced at her. I knew that thoughtful face she was making at this point. She was about to ask a question, most likely a dumb one.

“Is my mother dead?” she asked in her native Theli.

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