Page 169 of A Warrior's Fate

With her face a picture of determination, Ameera stalked forward and greeted the establishment’s appointed security measures with a tip of her head. A vibrant voice carried through the air with the noises of a crowd and the smell of booze when they opened the door for her before the heavy wood was closed.

Now just her and Rhydian, Isla looked around. In the distance, a familiar tea shop caught her eye. She wasn’t too far from where she’d been this morning. From the call center, the alleyway.

“I’m going to check this way,” she told Rhydian, already beginning her steps in that direction.

The guard nodded before turning to the opposite side, and the two split off. Though they weren’t apart long.

The alleyway had been a dead end. As Isla had walked, she’d alternated her stare from the crowd to the ground, searching for any more clues. Any more rubies. Any specific dark, forbidding crystal. But nothing was amiss, nothing added, and her wolf had not reacted. When she met Rhydian back in front of the club, he was holding another container of food. Something golden and crispy that smelled faintly nutty. Of course.

“Find anything?” she questioned, unable to mask her amusement. “Other than something to eat.”

He shook his head, a smile on his lips as he offered the cup to her. She happily took one of the strips.

“No—did you?”

“No.” She popped the piece in her mouth—yet something else to drool over and savor—before going in for another.

As she ate it, Rhydian gave her a deadpan look. “Do you want me to get you one?”

“No, it’s fine.” Isla took another.

The guard sighed. “Okay, Davi.”

To that, Isla smiled.

She looked at the closed door of the bar. “She still hasn’t come out?”

“Not yet. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.” Isla bit the inside of her cheek, but before she could say anything, Rhydian continued. “Did you know him well?”

“Callan?” The question was purposeless. “Uh, you know, we ran in the same circles. Warriors and all.”

Kai knowing their past was bad enough.

“Is he a bad guy?”

Isla gave the question some thought. “Not innately. He’s a product of how we were raised and would do anything to get validation from certain people with more questionable moral compasses.”

Rhydian furrowed his brows. “That’s a lot of words.”

Isla let loose a breath, simplifying, “He’s an arrogant prick, but I don’t think he’s capable of things as heinous as murder or want to be the reason people end up dead.”

At the mention of murder, Rhydian’s expression had turned solemn. He looked to his food as if contemplating another bite, but averted his gaze away as if he couldn’t stomach it.

“I didn’t think they were really killed.” Alpha Kyran and Jaden. Rhydian’s voice was as soft as the breeze that blew by. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell us.”

Part of Isla couldn’t either, but she also understood.

“He has his reasons for why he does things.” She matched his low tone and shrugged. “I’m still learning them.”

“He’s always tried to hold the world on his back.” Rhydian met her eyes. “Even before all of this. Now the world’s bigger, heavier, and he’s still trying. It’s going to break him.”

“I won’t let it,” Isla said without hesitation.

The answer was enough to bring light back to Rhydian’s face. His gaze traveled up and down her body. She was so small, not compared to most, but to men like him. He laughed. “He can be a stubborn bastard.”

Isla matched his grin. “And so can I.”

Another assessing look before he offered her more food. “I’m happy he found you.”

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