Page 12 of A Warrior's Fate

A queen.

She may have had the poise of a lady—under normal circumstances when she wasn’t confronted by her destined mate the night before she was to face potential death—and the spirit of a warrior, but not the true grace of a luna. She’d seen what the role demanded, and that wasn’t even what lurked behind closed doors. She didn’t fit the mold. She didn’t want to be tied down and confined within walls and strict rules. Not like that.

Kai stopped in her eye-line and stared down at her, still wearing his sly smile. She wondered if he could sense what he’d aroused. “You’re allowed to say no.”

Isla took a deep breath and shook her head to clear it. Was he giving her an option to reject him? Was that even allowed with an alpha? Or was he rejecting her?

“Why…why give me an option?” she asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “There’s a reason we’re destined. Having a mate, me as your mate will make you a stronger alpha, and your legacy…”

Our legacy…

“Why would I give her any satisfaction?”

It took Isla a little while to figure out who he was referring to.

“You’re spiting Fate?” She nearly laughed. All of this was some grand scheme against a goddess? “I’m some kind of pawn in your vendetta against a deity?”

Isla regretted her question as Kai’s face became dark, his smile faltering.

“She’s taken nearly everything from me,” he said, venom lacing his words. “And if I have any duty to you as your mate, I’m not going to let her do the same to you. Consider it my gift.”

“So, you’re rejecting me to save me?”

Kai’s grin returned, though more faint. “There’s no rejection. There’s been no acknowledgment.” He put out his hands, presenting, “We’re free.”

Isla’s eyebrows shot up.

If they did not touch, she could not touch them. They were rid of the pain that came with turning away Fate’s will. It made sense, in theory.

Kai continued while moving to grab his coat to go back inside, “When this Hunt ends, you will go back to your territory, and I will lead mine.”

“And we forget,” Isla finished for him despite feeling like there was a punchline here that she was missing. It all felt too easy.

“And we forget,” Kai repeated, approaching her again, daring to move so he was only a foot away. “Hopefully, your warrior travels never take you to me in Deimos. I don’t know if I’ll have as much self-control a second time.” His eyes drew long lines over her body as they had earlier. “You should thank that liaison of yours. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Isla squirmed, fighting temptation under his close gaze. “Did he say something?”

“If he hadn’t shown up out here when he did,” Kai leaned down until he was just inches away as if taunting Fate—and testing Isla’s willpower—as he whispered, “you and I weren’t making it to dinner.”

With that, he turned on a heel to walk back up the stairs to the party. He stopped part way up and spun back around, shoving a hand in his pants pocket. “If I can make one request. A favor.”

Isla, who was working to regain her composure, cocked her head to the side. “Yes?”

“Turn in for the night. If I have to watch that general put his hands on you one more time, I may no longer be able to guarantee that I won’t kill him.”

Isla laughed, a true laugh that had been difficult for her to find lately. Considering whenever that passion of his shone through, she felt the nearly irrepressible urge to jump him; it was easy to heed. “Consider it a gift.”

Kai snickered at her mocking and nodded in what was likely a thank you then continued his way up the stairs.

Isla watched him disappear, slightly mesmerized by the way his body moved, while an amalgamation of thoughts ran through her head. Within the span of a few hours, she’d found her destined mate, learned that he was an alpha—an alpha, need she not forget, she’d speculated was a murderer not too much earlier in the night—and conspired with him to work a loophole into a sacred wolf tradition to continue unhindered with their lives.

Maybe they were perfect for each other, equally insane enough to believe this would work. They were trying to make Fate their bitch, and Isla couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling that the goddess wouldn’t go down without a fight.

This was only the beginning.

CHAPTER 5

The Wall of Niesle—named after the Imperial Alpha under whose command it was raised—loomed menacingly above the mass of shifters as they moved along its base. The feat of stone stretched so high that it disappeared into the low-hanging fog, a consequence of the small bout of rain that had ceased just before the group set out to their destination.

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