Page 47 of A Warrior's Fate

She brought her gaze back down to meet his, ignoring the comment and cutting to the main objective. “What now?”

“I have no fucking idea.”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. He’d sounded so sure in his demands to bring Lukas to some aid.

The Heir rubbed his forehead. “I either did the right thing or I’m about to return home to another Winslow packet and lecture about how I’m supposed to handle myself in the subjacent packs.” He eyed the space behind her as if he could see the former trainee across it. “He wasn’t like that the last time you saw him?”

“No, not at all. We worked together when we were in there, fought together. He was himself. Perfectly fine until—”

Kai and I distracted him…

Kai and I let him get taken…

Kai and I—

Isla bit down hard on her cheek, the pain pulling her from the thoughts. “He was fine,” she forced out.

Adrien nodded, thankfully not catching onto the spiral she’d gone down, too lost, likely, in his own. “I know my father departed after the alphas’ meeting today, but your dad should still be here. I’ll meet with him and then find Seb. We’ll meet you in your room in an hour. Be there this time.”

“Of course,” she said, more eager and defensive than she’d meant to, not forgetting she hadn’t offered him an answer as to where she’d been before. “Don’t let them hurt him.”

She received another nod, more like an “I’ll try”, before Adrien stalked away. She spun and followed his form until he was nothing but a speck, then empty air. Along the way, she caught the last few stragglers departing too, which meant…

It was then that a gust of wind blew by, shockingly strong, casting her hair into her face and rustling her jacket. She tightened her grip around her body, blaming the chill she felt on that breeze, and not the sound of the grass shuffling behind her as someone moved through it. Not on the scent that wafted to her nose, overtaking the enduring bite of magic, and instilling a comfort in its essence of something warm and woodsy, with a hint of spice and something else she couldn’t quite place.

And just like that, the world suddenly felt so, so small.

Even with the monstrous feat of architecture hovering above. Even with the vast and endless gem-freckled sky. Even with the oblivion the field seemed to fade into at either side…

It was just the moon, the stars, the dark velvet they adorned—and them.

Kai came to a halt what sounded like a few feet behind her.

Just walk away, she told herself, practically begging her feet. Just walk away and be done with him. You already said your goodbyes. Just end this here. Right now. Go to your room. Meet Adrien and Sebastian in an hour. See Lukas. Fix him. Go back to Io. Move on. Forget. Forget, forget, forget—

“What was that about?” Her traitorous tongue or her exhausted mind—she wasn’t sure which to curse.

“Nothing,” Kai answered plainly. “Pack business.”

Isla held back a roll of her eyes and kept her tone unwavering. She’d gathered that much. “Of course.”

“You’re safe.”

“Right.” The response was quick and followed by the bite of her tongue. His reassurance was like salt in a wound, using her own words against her. If her life didn’t hang in the balance, he owed her nothing.

More footsteps whispered through the grass before she felt the warmth of him radiating as he stood at her side.

“Are you okay?” His voice was laced with a disarming gentleness she wasn’t expecting.

“I don’t know.” Once again, she damned her mouth and cringed at how weak the words sounded off her lips.

When she’d started to fall apart during the chaos with the Gate was the last and only time he’d ever witness her like that. She’d battle tooth and nail with herself to ensure it.

“You were in my head,” she said sharply, adding a little extra bite, using whatever anger she’d felt at that moment to fuel the fire needed to weld her shattering mask back together. “You tell me.”

“I wasn’t in your head.”

She wasn’t keen on his aloofness. “You did something. How?”

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