Page 263 of A Warrior's Fate

“Kai,” she sobbed his name this time as if she were still trapped and needed help. Needed him to prove it to release her from this prison she’d put herself in.

“Isla,” he said, and the floodgates opened, tears flowing down her cheeks as he pulled her up higher and hugged her to him.

Isla was shaking, shuddering with sobs as she wrapped her arms around him. She pulled herself even further into the embrace with as much strength as she could muster, burying her face into his neck, breathing his scent, timing his heartbeat. And despite everything she’d endured, it felt like nothing in the world could touch her.

“You’re okay.” She felt his lips against her skin as he whispered and kissed it. “We’re okay.” She pulled back to look at him, finding wetness on his cheeks, too. She wiped it away and felt him lean into her touch as he repeated, “We’re okay.”

She closed the distance between them, and the kiss was the last piece she needed to ground her in the fact that this was real. That she was with Kai, that somehow, she’d…gotten away.

That question fell briefly to the back of her mind as she relished in the comfort, in his touch. But something was still off, missing or dimmed between them. Missing within her.

Isla broke the kiss, her breathing heavy as she pressed her forehead to his and said, “The bond–it’s–I can’t…you’re not there.”

Kai squeezed her tighter. “I know.”

He didn’t ask why, not yet. Likely afraid to push her.

Isla reached inside herself for another piece but found stillness. More tears threatened to fall. “My wolf is gone.”

Kai’s jaw tightened beneath her fingertips, and he pulled back only slightly to better view her face. “What?”

Isla braced herself and looked around them. If this was real, if Kai had her….

“Did you kill her? The witch?” She pulled herself from his grip, and when she turned to settle her back against him, not keen to entirely leave his hold, she found they weren’t alone.

A woman was kneeling beside the far side of the cave wall, her skin flushed and hair messy. She donned a familiar uniform of maroon and gold. Isla pressed into Kai whose arms had circled her waist. “Who are you?”

The woman offered a tight but pained smile. “Raana.”

Isla’s brows lifted. “Adrien’s witch.”

She laughed but cringed at what must’ve been a tinge of pain. Isla resonated with the feeling. Every movement of hers still ached. “Is that what he calls me?” Raana attempted to joke.

“She healed you.” Kai’s breath was warm against her skin, and Isla snapped her head around to look at him, eyes wild. Seeming to understand her concern with the implications, he said, “You were dying. There was no other way.”

Isla’s mouth felt like sandpaper as she swallowed. She knew immediately that no one could ever find out.

“Where’s the witch?” she asked, and Kai’s brows drew in confusion. “She had me. The one who had your brother and father killed. She was here, and—” Isla fought to stand, dread sweeping through her. “We have to help my mother.”

“Your mother?” Kai wouldn’t let her get up. He took her face in his hands and forced her to look into his eyes. He scanned her features before giving a glance at Raana. Questioning and threatening as if asking, what did you do? When he returned to Isla’s face, he spoke gently, “Isla, your mother’s dead.”

Isla shook her head so furiously it hurt and wrenched out of his grip. “She isn’t. She’s the one who…” She didn’t know how to say it—or did but didn’t want to. “She killed them.”

It wasn’t hard to understand what she meant.

Kai’s eyes widened, and Isla didn’t know if she should’ve been grateful not to have such a keen awareness of what he was feeling. “What?”

She brought her hand to his face, his features crestfallen as he shook his head, and Isla knew he was refusing to believe that the person who’d taken his family, who’d ruined his life, who he hated with every part of him was the mother of the woman he loved.

Guilt roiled in her gut. “I’m sorry,” she said, and her voice became a small plea. “She didn’t know what she was doing. The witch had complete control of her.”

Kai said nothing, only blinked and looked away, jaw tensing. Isla didn’t know what she could do. There was no way to make it easier, no words she could say. She remained there until Kai met her gaze again, his eyes frighteningly dark. “Where is she now?”

Isla fought every instinct in herself to jump up and run these tunnels to track her down. “I don’t know.” She settled just a bit longer to let him adjust as she explained, “There were bak down here. We fought them together, but one got her and she was bleeding, badly. When I went for help, the witch got me. She killed Renoir, or her rogue did. His body’s somewhere towards the end of the tunnel wherever we were. She did something to Brax, so he’d have a better chance fighting you.”

All Kai seemed to be able to do was listen and then sigh a curse. All of this had occurred while he was fighting. He pinched the bridge of his nose and ran his hand over his hair. “Well, that makes sense.”

Isla inclined her head, recalling something of the witch’s words in her haze. I want to see what he’s capable of. “How did you beat him?”

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