Page 49 of A Warrior's Fate

About halfway up the field, he could have veered for a quick shot to the lodging areas where he, no longer a patient, stayed. But he remained at her tail.

“I believe our business is done, Alpha,” she called to him.

“Back to ‘Alpha’ now, I see.”

“That’s what you are, is it not?”

“I think we’re at the point where you can call me whatever you want.”

“How about asshole?”

“I think you can do better.”

She growled. There were plenty of things she’d like to say but refrained. “Stop following me.”

Kai let out a breath. “I need to make sure you’re okay.”

Isla stuttered in her movements. Make sure I’m okay? He’d sounded so honest.

She recalled the look he’d given her as the Gate held tight, as the bak roared, and she began to crumble and descend into that place. When those connections wrapped around her and held for dear life. It was so easy to forget in the moments when he drove her mad, when the world kept buzzing around at a pace she could barely keep up with, but he looked out for her, even if it was for his own sake as much as her own.

Still, with that in mind, she said, “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

A lie but he didn’t need to know that.

Kai snickered. “Easier said than done when your favorite pastime seems to be sprinting towards danger whenever the opportunity arises.”

Her jaw slacked. “I do not.”

“You’ve proven otherwise.”

“You’ve barely known me a week.”

“And yet, you’ve stressed me enough for a lifetime,” he said with a tinge of exasperation. “Every chance you’ve had to get yourself in trouble or nearly killed, you’ve taken it. And I’ve come to know that look in those dazzling eyes of yours.”

She held in her groan as she fought her heart and mind to make sure neither took the beguilement for anything other than what it was.

She knew her mate’s tendencies well, already. How he used charm to disarm and distract her, and surely others. How he calculated things. How he was always one step ahead of her, and by the time she realized, another. They’d said their goodbyes. They’d parted. No love or emotions to bind them. Just figments and fragments of fading stars, fraying threads. They had nothing necessary to offer each other at this point. So, there was a reason he hadn’t left her alone yet. Another play at hand.

He’d since sped up to join at her side.

“What look?” she asked carelessly, barely peering over.

He pointed. “That one.” She went cross-eyed for a moment as she stared at the digit, inches away from her nose. “You’re about to do something you shouldn’t, and you know it too.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She shot her narrowed gaze up to him. “And get your hand out of my face.”

She hated the mirth her aggravation seemed to bring to his features—and even greater than that, she despised that joy looked good on him. She hadn’t noticed the slightest dimples bracketing his smile before.

He dropped his arm. “What’s your thing with this guy anyway?”

“What guy?”

“The hunter from Tethys that you’re running off to see.” When her eyes widened and then promptly narrowed, he added, “I didn’t read your mind, you’re just horribly predictable. So, what is it? You seem to care a lot. Here—back in the Wilds. You were ready to jump into that mess to help him, and though I’d still hedge my bets on you and that temper, that guard looked—”

“Nothing like that if that’s what you’re worried about,” she cut him off, sick of hearing how smug and correct he was.

“I wasn’t.”

---