Page 105 of A Warrior's Fate

“Crazy how the mate thing works.” Davina chuckled. “I’d peddled this nonsense all the time, and I never really believed it until I felt it.”

Isla couldn’t stop her head from jerking, earning a soft tap to right it again. “You were the one who worked at the mate gatherings?”

Davina leaned back, a hand on her chest with mock amazement. “He told you about me?” After Isla nodded, unable to contain a smile, she continued her work. “The pay was horrendous, and I felt terrible about it. Sorry saps.”

Isla’s grin bittered. “Yeah, sorry saps.”

The two settled into silence as Davina finished pressing the powder, then reached for a brush of a fluffier variety to dust a shimmer over Isla’s cheekbones. As she did, Isla found herself closing her eyes, getting comfortable. She didn’t know Davina that well, if at all besides these small stories that had been shared, but she felt understood by her in a way she hadn’t been before.

Isla opened her eyes and looked at Davina through the reflection. “What happened after you were mated?”

“I pulled my skirt back down.”

Isla snorted.

Davina smirked. “After my shift ended—meaning, I got fired—I went back to Rhydian’s.” She shrugged. “And I guess I never left his side after that.”

Isla bit the inside of her cheek. It was exactly as she thought it would be. Mated and dropping life as one knew it to take on one with another. She’d leave—she’d lose—everything.

“Did that scare you?”

As if she’d sensed the sincerity and unease in which Isla spoke, Davina’s tone had gone soft. “I think it scared both of us, but I don’t think it’s meant to not be a little terrifying. I find, the beauty of a mate is that…” She padded along Isla’s cheeks with the rouge. “Even though it’s scary and uncertain, it’s not just you who’s terrified and unsure. You figure it out together. All of it: the newness, having someone there to care for, to worry about. Someone to care and worry about you. Probably in a way no one else ever has.” Isla caught her jaw tensing, and the memories that seemed to be flashing behind her eyes. “Yes, it’s sudden and it’s overwhelming, but that’s just the way life is. I wouldn’t want to work through it with anyone else. I can’t picture my life without him there.”

Isla swallowed, allowing the words to sink in, watching as Davina’s eyes glossed over. Noting how she’d gotten choked up.

Realizing she’d gone a bit too serious, Davina cleared her throat, and her lips twitched into a devilish smile. “And then there’s also the amazing sex. That helps with the adjustment.”

Once again, they descended into hysterics.

Isla wasn’t sure how Kai had known, but the dress made her look like a dream. And not necessarily the whimsical kind. The smooth black fabric bunched and hugged, draped and flowed, in all the right places, accentuating every curve that seemed non-existent in her warrior garb. It brought out the best parts of her, and the jewels were dazzling. The mix of diamonds within the ruby made it seem like she was a fiery star fallen from the sky before the sun had finished setting.

Davina had been an artist and Isla her canvas. Her face had been made up in the perfect balance of sultry and sweet. Unassuming. There was a dewy look to her skin, drawn and highlighted, tinted rosy to the right shade of innocence. Charcoal lined her eyes, her lashes plumped and long, and crimson—matching the jewels around her neck, dangling from her wrist and ears—painted her lips. She’d allowed Isla’s hair to dry into its natural state, letting the waves take the wild shape they wanted before she’d swept it off to the side, clipping it over, and then sliding the tiara-like comb through her tresses.

Davina sighed in satisfaction as she stepped back, admiring her work as Isla towered over her small stature in her heels. “Kai is going to be furious with me.”

“Why?” Isla asked, feeling invigorated in the ensemble and conceitedly unable to stop staring at herself.

“Because you are sex on legs, and he already has a hard enough time containing himself around you.”

To that, Isla scoffed, but her cheek nearly bled between her teeth as she kept from a wicked grin.

Eli’s reaction when she’d met him in the lobby was another great way to boost her confidence.

“You look…wow.” His eyes were wide as he took her in, and it seemed his gaze didn’t know where to land. Though the ruby pendant glittering between her breasts, just covered enough by the deep V of fabric, seemed to be his favorite resting place. “Wow.”

Isla glanced at Davina sitting at the concierge desk, pretending not to be watching and failing at hiding her smugness at the compliment of her efforts.

“A man of many words.” Isla couldn’t help but tease before nodding towards the lobby door. “Come on. We can’t be late.”

They had got a town car for the night, courtesy of the “alpha’s estate”. It was yet another way that Kai seemed to have his hand in everything, but it was much nicer than the warrior’s transport van—which still hadn’t returned from the guard’s mountain base—so Isla couldn’t complain much.

As they drove along the streets of Mavec to get to the Pack Hall, a soft hum of music cooed from the radio while Eli also made attempts at small talk. It mostly pertained to Io. Isla’s life there. Her father. How often she’d find new members entering her pack. It seemed he didn’t care he was becoming more and more transparent with his motivations as of late. Isla only offered him baseless answers, too distracted by the raucousness of life they passed on their route and the nagging in the back of her mind of Davina’s words.

They hadn’t gone down into the heart of the city, but they still had a fantastic view of it as they crossed the bridge over the river to Abalys. Isla gaped at the sights all over again, taking note of every little shop she’d like to visit, every parlor, every square. Where, maybe, she’d want Kai to take her. Or maybe Davina. If she ever got the chance for free time.

Once Eli had turned the car in a way that left the city nothing but lights in a whisper of fog, Isla faced forward to behold a new marvel.

“Not a palace, my ass,” she muttered, observing Deimos’s Pack Hall.

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