Page 11 of A Warrior's Fate

Now, Isla herself began to pace agitated circles on the greenery.

“My mate. I actually found my destined mate, and it’s an alpha.” Isla threw her arms out in exasperation. “You’re my mate, and you—you don’t even know my name, forget knowing me, and I know barely anything about you. How—how does this…”

In her peripheral, she realized Kai had stopped moving, so she slowed herself to a halt. She turned to find that same lazy smirk of his that she hadn’t been sure if she wanted to slap off his face or kiss earlier. He seemed less annoyed now, but more amused by her franticness.

She was thrilled to provide some entertainment.

“What?” Isla snapped, all rules of proper engagement out the window.

His half-smile became a full-on grin. “You should know your family and pack members speak very highly of you, Isla. Especially the Imperial Heir.”

Isla blinked, ignoring how hearing her name off his lips sent a shiver down her spine. “You spoke to my family about me?”

“As you said, I don’t know you, and I wanted to learn something about the woman who was meant to become my mate,” he explained. “They’re very proud of you and what you’re about to accomplish.”

She didn’t have the capacity to absorb the inspiring words. “You didn’t tell them, did you?”

Kai shook his head.

She let out a sigh of relief, but as she replayed what he’d said, she caught onto the past tense. The woman who was meant to become his mate.

Looking from her feet to his, hers then his, it dawned that he was equally keeping his distance as she was.

What the hell?

She’d heard all the stories of alphas who’d laid their claims on their mates, chosen or by fate, without a second thought, bestowing that fateful bite without any consent. A mark that deterred all other wolves and potential suitors because no one would dare challenge them. The chauvinistic action made her want to punch them in the throat.

But still, here she was—and there she had been earlier—right in front of Kai, neck open and exposed, his legitimate destiny, yet he made no reach. Not an attempt.

As hypocritical as it may have been, she was pissed.

“Why haven’t you done anything yet?” she asked before she could stop herself. “Is that why you didn’t tell me you were an alpha when we met? Were you vetting me somehow? I know you don’t know me well, but…am I not good enough for you or something? Because certainly, Alpha, I can assure you—”

Kai had been building up to a chuckle as she went on her rant but eventually cut her off.

“You’re going in the Hunt tomorrow,” he said. A statement, not a question, but an answer was expected.

“Yes?”

“You want to be a warrior.”

“Yes, but what does that—”

“Tell me.” Kai took a few steps forward. “How can you be a warrior and a queen?”

The question lingered in the air as Kai began pacing a languid circle around her, arms behind his back. Regal but also almost predatory. The movement was even; he didn’t dare inch any closer. His voice was low, and his speech smooth. It reverberated deep into those untapped parts of her being.

“You and I both know the second I touch you, we’re not going to make it back to our rooms or even back inside that building. We’re going to seal our fate right here on this grass, on those stairs, probably even amongst those orchids—again and again and again—until we don’t know where one of us ends and the other begins. And then we’re entwined, we’re bound. No others. No choices. You leave your family, become my luna, bound to my pack, to me, forever. Is that what you want?”

It took a second for Isla to register his question, her mind drunk on his words, on the picture he’d painted. On the thought of her naked body against his, his lips on every inch of her skin as he ravaged her and had her crying out under the moonlight. It would be more than just mind-blowing sex with a man she barely knew. There would be something else lurking there. A connection, an intensity, a burn so deep and divine despite being completely loveless.

She would never know the wonders of that bond with any other person. Never. This was her other half.

She could take him, she naively thought for a moment, blinded by the lust. Maybe after she’d gotten to know him, in time, at his simplest…

But there was no “simple” when it came to an alpha.

He’d said it himself, she would be not only bound to him but bound to his kingdom, his people. She’d have to leave her home and family forever. And she would be a queen.

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