Page 3 of Shrine of Fire

Stefan maneuvered us until we reached the closest balcony. A fresh breeze carried into the room, carrying the smell of salt water and flowers, and as we walked outside, I realized what Stefan had meant.

Ayla and Yvenna were out there. Ayla’s alpha Kai was standing stiffly off to the side, eying Yvenna like she was dangerous. He was still wary of the fact that when Yvenna had still been under the influence of the Faceless One, she had attacked Ayla’s Shrine.

“—sorry.” Yvenna raked her hands through her blonde hair. She had dark circles under her eyes.

Ayla held herself rigidly. “It’s alright. You know I don’t like crowds.”

“I was never a fan of these events, anyway.” Yvenna’s voice held a note of bitterness. “It seems a bit uncouth for me to walk around expecting people to applaud me, when I’m the reason why everything got broken in the first place.”

Yvenna looked back toward the ballroom and noticed that we’d come out onto the balcony.

Zara tilted her head. “It’s not your fault, Yvenna. Not completely.”

“Sure.” Yvenna snorted. “Anyway, I’m tired. I just wanted to check on Ayla.”

Ayla gave the other omega a small smile. “I’m fine.”

She looked anything but. Ayla had spirit magic herself, and both she and Zara tended to look at Yvenna with a degree of fear in their eyes.

Not because they were frightened of her, but because they could easily have ended up the way she did.

Spirits used to possess omegas with spirit magic before the spirit world was sealed away.

Zara walked up to Yvenna and pulled into a hug. “We’ll figure this out. Get some rest.”

Yvenna’s grip on Zara tightened before she stepped back quickly. She turned her attention to me. “You’ve decided to bond the Shrine of Everlasting Fire?”

“Yes.” I swallowed hard.

Yvenna looked back at Zara. “Does Nova have a spirit guide yet?”

Zara shook her head. She looked at me and then at Ayla. “Neither one of you must rush into bonding a spirit to help you control the flow of magic. We have some time for you to get to know the spirit realm a bit better.”

Zara had the easy way out. One of her packmates was a shaman who was stuck in the spirit world for a thousand years. After Zara helped fix the Shrines, she helped Kivai stabilize in the mortal realm. He would be able to help her out with spirit world nonsense.

I straightened my shoulders. I was determined not to leave all the burden on Zara, not for long. We didn’t know enough about how this would work in the long term to completely relax.

“Right then.” Yvenna rolled her shoulders. “I’m exhausted. I’m turning in.” She looked at me. “Good luck.”

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to turn in as well.” Ayla gave us all a polite smile. She stood up stiffly, holding her stomach. Kai was at her side immediately.

“You’re sure you don’t need a healer?” Zara gave her a sympathetic smile.

Two days ago, Yvenna attacked Ayla’s Shrine, and Ayla had been wounded during the battle in the altar room. In addition to that, she was an empath. The dark-haired omega was very sensitive to the feelings of the people around her.

Being in a room full of hundreds of scared and excited people wouldn’t have been restful on a regular day, much less on a night like tonight.

Letting out a soft sigh, I walked over to one of the stone benches that were placed along the balcony, between the windows, and sat down.

Just as I started wondering when I could escape, Hashir appeared in the doorway along with a plate of food, followed by Valens, Zara’s other packmate, a giant delta who preferred nodding over actual conversation.

Deltas were the fourth designation, after alphas, omegas, and betas. They couldn’t bond a pack like alphas, and they didn’t have heats like omegas, but they sensed pack bonds better than alphas and, therefore, most often helped with finding unbonded omegas and bringing them to safety.

Hashir closed the distance between us and handed me a giant piece of cheese. He was my friend but sometimes the affection I felt for him warred with my guilt over finding joy in another person. How could I be happy and smiling while my pack was dead and in the ground?

Sorrow flashed over me, so acute it stole my breath for a second.

“This is where everyone is hiding out.” Hashir nudged Valens. “They’ve been keeping secrets from us.”

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