Page 111 of A Warrior's Fate

“Alpha!”

Eli, the dumbass when it wasn’t battle strategy, none the wiser in his semi-drunken state, stepped forward with his hand outstretched.

For once, Isla was grateful.

Kai, in a snap, appeared to be the picture of coolness, but she still felt it lingering. That tug. That hold.

He grabbed the general’s forearm. “General.”

Eli pulled away and turned to Isla, expecting Kai to take hold of her arm next.

They would do no such thing, but they would pretend they hadn’t seen each other for over a month.

“Alpha,” Isla said, getting a grasp on herself and standing tall.

“Warrior,” Kai echoed. He put his hands behind his back as if he had to lock them there. Away from her or to keep from punching Eli who was getting increasingly closer to her side again.

“It’s nice to see you,” Kai said stiffly, eyes flicking to the general periodically. He gestured to her arm that had once been swathed in heaps of bandages and donned her scars. “You seem to be healing well.”

Isla smiled. “I’m back to form.”

Kai returned it, excitement and relief flashing in his eyes. “You’re able to shift again.”

Eli’s hand fell to her shoulder and, either from drunkenness or stupidity, caressed down the exposed skin of her back. “You couldn’t shift?”

Kai’s brows drew into a scowl, and his arms loosened.

Isla felt something shift in the room then. Felt Eli’s fingers tense as he swayed and brought his other hand up to rub at his temple. “Oh.” He shook his head as if to clear it.

She furrowed her brows, slipping his grip as she assessed if he was okay before looking at Kai. Her mate appeared to shake his head too, and his scowl had become a concerned and confused grimace.

But before she could question anything, a voice, sweet and seductive, emerged from the guests.

“Alpha Kai.”

Isla turned and found it was the beautiful woman with the sapphire tiara and matching eyes. Deimos incarnate.

“Amalie.”

Isla blamed the way Kai relaxed on the distraction from Eli. Not on the presence of the woman before him. Or maybe, somehow, through some odd bond transfer, all his tension had gone straight to Isla’s shoulders.

She found her fingers constricting at her sides as she darted her eyes between them. They were a good-looking couple. Murmurs of excitement surrounded the exchange, a few too many pondering if Amalie was to become luna. The perfect fit given her ties to an alpha bloodline and Deimos’s strong relationship with its southern neighbor.

“I forgot to mention something in our meeting earlier,” Amalie said, not paying Isla any mind, though Isla knew she saw her. She noted how the woman’s eyes had slid between the similar patterns on Isla’s gown and Kai’s jacket, signaling not a threat to the alpha-blooded she-wolf, but a challenge. “Do you have time after the festivities tonight to talk again?”

A meeting? After the festivities? That would be nearly midnight. Isla knew nothing good, nothing she’d want could happen during talks after midnight.

Kai glanced briefly at Isla. “I don’t, but speak with Marin. She can tell you when I’m free, or you could talk to Ezekiel.”

Isla tried to keep her satisfaction at bay, which wasn’t hard when it was so overtaken by irritation as Amalie reached for Kai’s sleeve.

“Okay.” Her delicate fingers brushed over the fabric of his suit jacket. “Is this new?”

Like some kind of twisted gift from the Goddess, Isla spotted Ezekiel then, watching her intently.

Unless she was here to claim Kai as her mate, she shouldn’t interfere.

She was going to if she didn’t leave that room. She was going to interfere and make a scene and probably ruin everything.

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