Page 224 of A Warrior's Fate

She held back her glower, just long enough for them to settle, before she shoved them both—hard. “Why do neither of you ever fucking listen to me?”

“And there’s Isla,” Adrien muttered, rubbing his arm.

Sebastian scoffed, rolling his shoulder. “Yeah, hello to you, too, Pudge.”

“Pudge?” She heard Rhydian question from behind her. He, along with Davina and Ameera had moved to the other side of the room, dividing it evenly between the wolves born of the north and central packs.

“He has many names for her,” Kai replied, voice dancing with an amusement that should’ve tipped her off, but she was too focused on her family before her to think.

“Why are you here?” She continued to glower between the boys, despite the excitement blooming in her chest. Worry for them usurped it.

“I can’t visit my sister?”

“Not when she tells you not to.” She pointed her glare at Sebastian. “How—how did you even get beyond the borders?”

Her brother jutted his chin. “Called in a favor with the brother-in-law.”

His brother-in-law?

Isla tilted her head, the words sounding so foreign before they clicked.

A warmth spread through her, a fluttering at the fact Kai was becoming a part of her family.

But then it clicked again.

Isla whipped around and found her mate smiling wryly, standing a few inches closer than everyone else. Either because he’d stepped forward or they’d shrunk back. Behind him, Ameera was pouring a sizable glass of liquor.

One night before bed, half-asleep, Kai had asked her how the talks with her family had gone, and she’d told him she assured the boys that she was okay and that they didn’t need to come for the challenge. That seemed to surprise him enough to crack his eyes open a bit wider, and upon the slight catch of her voice as she explained further, he pulled her close. She confessed that she’d wanted them there but couldn’t risk it. Any of it. Their safety in Deimos or their safety in Io for fraternizing with her.

Yet, here they were.

“You did this?” Isla asked.

Kai opened his mouth, ready to defend himself, and then closed it. “He is unnervingly convincing.” He tipped his glass towards Sebastian. “I couldn’t say no.”

Isla blinked. Though it felt like there was much more unsaid she could push him for, the situation he presented sounded so bizarre it distracted her. She could barely picture it without wanting to laugh. Sebastian phoning Kai, maybe in the middle of the day, maybe cutting through a meeting, after convincing several operators that he had dire news to deliver to the Alpha of Deimos. Only for Kai to pause whatever he was doing to pick up, to entertain her brother’s nonsense, and then scheme a way to get him here. Both of them, here.

As if he could feel the emotions battling within her, Kai’s voice became a caress in her mind. “I wouldn’t have let them in if I didn’t think they’d be safe, no matter how much they asked. I promise I won’t let anything happen to them.”

“Well, it is family night.”

Everyone’s eyes went to Davina who’d stepped forward. She was the unofficial organizer of the night, ensuring that each day leading up to this, everyone knew the gathering was about having fun and forgetting about everything. There was to be no talk of the challenge or Ares or Phobos or rogues. She’d already confiscated Jonah’s research and shoved it beneath the counter.

This was a night to simply be with each other—a night Isla desperately needed—and though there were three men in this room that she was ready to kill, they were arguably the three who cared for her most and her, them. She’d let them have it, but for now—

Isla turned back to Adrien and Sebastian, both tensing.

“You are both dumbasses,” she said before going on her toes and throwing her arms around them again. “And I did miss you.”

They both let out sighs of relief, and she sensed Kai relax, too.

She sent back through the bond, “I’m not done with you yet.”

A laugh echoed in her head.

“I figured.”

The following round of formal introductions was more awkward than she’d expected. Sebastian had gone over easily, earning waves and quiet hellos, but presenting Adrien as solely her best friend, family, too—something other than the Heir to the position held highest above them all—had earned blank stares and exchanged glances.

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