Page 16 of A Warrior's Fate

“Are you now entitled to all of my secrets?”

“Just the ones that put my life at risk.” Isla squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “Goddess, I can barely think when I’m near you. What’s going to happen in there?”

“You seem to be mouthing off pretty well right now.”

She looked at him hopelessly. “This isn’t a joke.”

“I never said that it was.” Kai let out a long exhale. “You were dealing with a lot last night; I didn’t see a need to add to it.”

“You don’t know what I can handle,” she reminded him. “You don’t know me.”

Kai folded his arms, and Isla tried to ignore how his muscles looked beneath the silks. “Do you want to back out?”

“What?” The question took her aback. “Of course not. I can’t.”

“And neither can I,” he echoed. “The Wilds are expansive, and the beasts are plenty. You stay on your side of the wood; I’ll stay on mine. It’ll all be fine.” He began to swing and stretch his arms. “I shouldn’t be long anyway. I hear there’s a wager going around in my favor.”

Isla’s face went flat.

So, Sebastian’s betting was really going around. Only he could make such a hallowed tradition into a gamble.

Indignant to counter his arrogance, Isla crossed her own arms across her chest and lifted her head. “Yes, well, I guess everyone will be in for a surprise when I’m the one who ends up on top.”

Kai laughed as he began fixing the wrappings along his forearms. “I’ve admittedly dreamt of a few situations where that happens,” he met her gaze, “and this isn’t one of them.”

She’d walked straight into that one.

Isla clenched her teeth as she fought away the images his insinuation had conjured. Images that had flashed in her mind while she’d been splayed across her bed last night. As much as she’d tried to banish his presence from her fantasies, his touch, though unknown to her, had been the one she craved and the only one her body would submit to, tangible or not.

She’d never tell him it was his phantom fingers digging into her hips and his name that had unintentionally escaped her mouth once she’d finally reached her blissful release.

At the reminder, her body thrummed, and she could tell from the mirth in his eyes that Kai could sense it.

Isla glared, quashing the feelings with a quickness that she impressed herself with. “You have the power of a deity on your side. You’re not nearly as charming as you think you are.”

With those as her parting words, she turned to walk away, but after a few feet between them, she heard, “Isla.”

Isla spun back, expression stone. “Yes?”

Kai’s own face was somber. “Be careful out there.”

Isla swallowed and nodded as a form of returning the sentiment. She twisted to continue back, but before she moved, she threw over her shoulder, not to be rude but because it was necessary for her survival, “Stay out of my way.”

As the sun finally set and the goddesses raised from their slumber, the moment they all had been anticipating was imminent. The hunters said their final goodbyes to those they knew in attendance, and Isla was lucky that the small group of people she was closest to were all able to be with her. Adrien and the Imperial Alpha had been the first to wish her well before seeing off the others.

Isla remained with her father who stood in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. His green eyes, which only Sebastian had inherited, were glassy. That was enough for Isla to clue in on his emotions. The hulking Beta wasn’t about to break down in tears in front of his subordinates, even if he was sending his only daughter sailing off into perilous waters.

“Your mother would be so proud of you,” he said, voice gruff.

Isla smiled softly, becoming very aware of that hollow place in her heart that had lingered since they’d lost her. She could only imagine how her father felt. All he had now was her, Sebastian, and the unsettling aura of a mate departed.

She placed her hand over his. “I know.”

Sebastian came over and slung an arm around her, completing the family union. He gave her a shake. “Come on, big money, Pudge.”

Their father eyed him skeptically, to which his eldest child responded with a pseudo-angelic grin.

As the moon reached its peak, the temporary farewells ended, and the hunters lined up facing the Gate. Isla could hear her blood rushing in her ears, her body buzzing as the call came to shift.

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