A Warrior’s Fate (Wolves of Morai #1)

Chapter 44

CHAPTER 44

I sla kept her hands at her sides and fought every instinct to reach for her blade or draw her claws.

She counted forty members of the Imperial Guard, meant to cover Imperial Alpha Cassius, as well as three other members of his Council who flanked him. She was too distracted to recall their names. Too irritated by the looks they all had on their faces, so much like the one Callan wore. Not one that everyone in Io possessed.

This was the closest she’d felt to being on a battlefield.

As they drew nearer to the opposing group, it was as if the ground beneath her feet trembled,not just from Kai and Cassius—who were still restraining the true extent of their power—but everyone else. It was overwhelming how no one in the stadium made the effort to mask their auras. Not the guard at her back, not the guard before her.

Not her, either.

But maybe she should’ve, given the way stares flickered in her direction, seeking the rising essence’s source while she lingered a few feet back from the front line amidst the Deimos soldiers. Confusion had risen on both sides. The power was not of an alpha but stronger than one should’ve been for a common wolf.

But she wasn’t a common wolf. Not anymore, even without having gone through the Rite to make her Kai’s equal. Even if the rich amethyst of a queen hadn’t colored her wolf’s eyes, she felt it. The surging in her blood, prickling on her skin like during the rogue attacks at the banquet. A power of her own writhing in her gut, working alongside the beast she held within her.

Luna…

“Alpha Kai.” Alpha Cassius’s voice echoed within the space as he took a single step forward, his guard following suit, to meet the wolves of Deimos in the dead center of the arena.

After a narrowed look from Marin and a caress along the bond as if Kai was trying to soothe her, Isla reined in her power. She looked down at her feet, noticing she was standing on a large inscription of the full moon. Spanning out left and right were its preceding and subsequent phases.

Kai shocked her as he smiled at Cassius, not as feral as the Imperial Alpha had but with that lethal coolness he’d exuded since they’d met in Callisto. “Imperial Alpha.” He gave a deep bow of his head, and Isla clenched her teeth as Cassius’s eyes ran over him, sizing him up.

When Kai straightened, the Imperial Alpha lowered—his bow just as deep, to Isla’s surprise—and as he rose, his hand went up with him. He extended it towards his peer, and Kai’s brows raised at the Alpha’s gesture. Once it dawned, he fought a frown and reached forward.

A warrior’s embrace.

The action wasn’t commonly exchanged between two alphas, even those who’d both successfully completed the warrior rite as they had. It was as if Cassius wanted to make a point. Wanted to remind Kai that whatever had occurred in the Hunt, whatever historic feats had earned him his warrior status, no matter how many bak he’d killed, Cassius had put him in this arena today.

He’d been the decider on him fighting for his life.

It would always come down to him.

Isla growled under her breath. “Prick,” she remarked down the bond, and Kai’s soft returning laugh, though not visible on his face, helped ease her aggravation.

Not enough, clearly.

As though Cassius could sense her, he dropped Kai’s arm and moved to put her in eyeshot. She hated how he looked at her, so falsely gleeful, so predatory. “There’s a familiar face. ”

It was the spark to a flame, not within her, but within her mate. A flaring of Kai’s power had eyes going his way, and she swore Cassius stepped back, just a hair.

It was the opening something cruel in her had been seeking, and despite the third warning look she was now receiving from Marin today, she stepped forward.

Imperial Alpha Cassius was in her home, standing before her mate. He’d lied to her back in Io, wanting her to believe herself a murderer. He probably knew what was wrong with Lukas all along and had him imprisoned regardless to keep his secrets safe.

Isla didn’t balk or break the Alpha’s stare until she was at Kai’s side. And after a shallow bow, she fixed her gaze on his again, her shoulders back, her head high. “Imperial Alpha.”

Her voice hadn’t even sounded her own. If Kai’s was laced with ice, then she breathed fire. She felt the guard behind her stand at attention and clocked every twitching muscle of Io’s battalion. Mostly men. No weapons on hand. All of them could shift. Where was the witch he’d brought? Raana.

“I like this side of you,” Kai said, something like pride ebbing between them. “Alluring as it is terrifying.”

Cassius’s eyes narrowed. “Isla, what have I told you? You’re family. No need for formality.”

The drop of her name, his words rippled through both sides, sending them whispering.

She ignored it. “In the presence of others, I feel it is necessary. Better to set an example than boast as the exception.”

The Alpha pursed his lips as if impressed by her philosophy, though still countered, “It seems General Eli didn’t share the same sentiments when it came to you.” He turned to Kai. “I’m surprised you could convince him to let you have her. He’s quite fond of our Isla. As it seems you are.”

Kai may have appeared coolheaded, but Isla could feel his temper flare. She felt him reach an edge and knew that one more comment or ill glance directed her way would lead to a full-scale war on this stone.

She could see Cassius’s game. The line he was drawing between the two factions, using her as his tool. She hadn’t wanted to renounce where she’d come from to be respected as queen, but from what she was hearing from everyone around her—with every word he spoke, pulling her to Io’s side—he was making it seem near-impossible not to.

The sounds of several approaching footsteps drew everyone’s attention to a space on the far side of the arena. From a tunnel’s mouth emerged fifteen more maroon and gold-clad soldiers, and leading the group was Imperial Beta Malakai.

Isla didn’t care to wonder where they’d been. Shock washed over the battle of contempt and elation within her to see his face.

It had only been a few weeks, but he looked…tired. In stark contrast to the dark circles beneath them, Malakai’s eyes lit up when they fell upon his daughter.

Through the bond, Isla felt Kai tense, but it wasn’t for anger or defensiveness. He was nervous, and it seemed like it was for no other fact than he was meeting her father.

The Beta picked up his pace, steps ahead of his men, and Isla could only release a breath and accept his open arms when he damned all protocol to blow by everyone and go right to her. His body like a bear’s; he’d always given such great hugs, perfected for those moments when he’d tried to pick up the pieces, uplifting his children, after their mother had gone. But they had become less frequent as they got older, as something drew him, or maybe drew them, away.

Isla’s feet were suddenly off the ground, and Malakai squeezed her tighter. “My little warrior.” The pride in his voice nearly broke her.

“Dad, you have to put me down,” Isla grumbled but couldn’t hold back a smile. “You’re embarrassing me.”

Malakai let out a staccato sound of apology and obliged, but not before giving her one last squeeze. He nodded to everyone on Io and Deimos’s sides before bowing deeper to both alphas. He focused on Kai in particular. “Apologies, Alpha.”

Isla couldn’t miss the conflicting emotions on Kai’s face. “It’s fine. I understand. Your daughter is,” Kai glanced down at her, “one-of-a-kind.”

“She is,” Malakai said. “I wish we were here under different circumstances.”

“As do I. ”

Malakai looked to Isla. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with the warriors?”

So, he really was uninformed about many things.

“I’ve been on Alpha Kai’s guard because of the…circumstances.” She resisted the urge to glare at Cassius. He was playing her father a fool.

Malakai glanced back at his Alpha and best friend, his brows furrowed. Cassius’s features remained impassive, and he looked beyond him to Kai. He inclined his head. “I’m sure you have much to get to. May Fate be in your favor, Alpha.”

He was walking away. Cassius didn’t want to breach the conversation. Didn’t want Malakai to know.

“It seems she has been so far,” Kai said, and Isla knew Cassius had caught the hint that many others had missed.

As the two sides split away, Isla found herself rooted, watching her father’s form recede.

Did she want him to know what she was feeling? The way her heart couldn’t settle. How she couldn’t hear the word tomorrow without feeling nauseous. It wouldn’t have made a difference. He couldn’t stop the challenge. Cassius knew everything and had no qualms. He’d been treating her father more like his foot soldier, it seemed, than his second-in-command.

“Dad.”

Isla called his name before she could stop herself, and Malakai turned around. She balled her hands into fists. Behind him, Cassius and the guard who’d gotten a few feet ahead had frozen where they stood, and Isla felt a rise in power from him, a warning that was answered by another that rose at her back.

She and her father were in the middle.

Isla swallowed, concern usurping any desire to lash out. “Never mind.”

“Is it weird that we’re having a fight to the death in a place like this?” Rhydian’s question, those particular chosen words, had earned a few sidelong glares from those around him. He was perched on one of the many chairs meant for those who frequented the space to prepare or unwind before and after their events.

“This arena was originally used for battles like this. Not alpha challenges but duels,” Jonah offered his twin, not lifting his eyes from the two books in his lap. Neither of them was the journal. One was text in the native language, and the other he kept to translate what he couldn’t understand.

“Why are you doing that here?” Ameera muttered to him with a subtle glance up at Adrien and Sebastian.

Jonah wouldn’t look up at her either. “Because I’ve almost figured this out.”

The woman’s name and Aneurin’s ramblings. Isla still hadn’t told him about the dream she’d had, the warnings she’d shared haunting her every moment her mind had found relief from thoughts of what was to occur in a mere hour or even less.

The challenge would begin when the moon was at its peak, and even if she couldn’t see it, she could feel its aura now, more than ever. Could sense the deities hovering. The Goddess and Fate watched while Eternity waited eagerly for the new soul she’d guide through to the afterlife.

Something must’ve beendone to the room to make the noise of the crowd seem louder. Something to make participants eager to get out there and bask in their glory. But with each passing second, the amplified sound only made her feel sicker.

There was the warmth of a hand on her back as if he could sense it. Adrien. She hadn’t told him she didn’t see Raana, and he didn’t ask. Sebastian sat on her other side. They left her little room on the couch, or maybe it just felt that way, the walls closing in as reality did.

“Where is he now?” Davina asked, voice quivering.

Isla couldn’t bring herself to look at her. It was foolish, but the way she’d been clinging onto Rhydian for stability and support made everything worse.

Ameera answered, “Being prayed over, probably.”

Because they wouldn’t be able to reach him for his last breath to mutter the invocation for safe passage into the next life.

Isla could feel something stirring in her from whatever he was going through with the Elders. The challenging of an alpha was as much a spiritual endeavor as it was physical and political. It was why it took place beneath the full moon, like the Alpha and Luna Rites.

By now, Kai would’ve stripped and been painted with the proper adornments. Would’ve been given the ceremonial robes that he’d remove before shifting, and as whatever Elder or priestess prayed and hummed over him, he’d be taking in the pungent odor of jasmine incense. It was always jasmine when they reached out to the Goddess.

Though they weren’t the classical magic users, something within the rituals and traditions of wolves drew from the ethereal.

Isla squeezed her eyes shut. Goddess, this needed to be over.

“Has anyone seen him? Brax?” Ameera said the name with such disgust. “They kept him covered while they brought him in from the rogue lands.”

Sebastian stirred at Isla’s side. “I did.”

She whipped around to face him, snapping, “Is that where you disappeared to? You gave me a heart attack.”

“I took a little walk around. Scoped the terrain,” Sebastian brushed her off before meeting Ameera’s eyes and then everyone else’s. “He looks exactly as you’d expect a man who’s been a rogue for twenty years to look. Rough. Covered in scars. He’s a big guy. If you told me he’d survived the Hunt, I’d believe it.”

Isla’s stomach turned. She’d been briefed on Brax’s history, and the fact he had been a warrior did nothing to ease her spirits. Nor did the reason he’d been exiled before he’d received his lumerosi or joined the ranks. He’d killed two men during a bar brawl—unshifted—following his time in the Wilds when he’d returned to his home pack of Rhea.

Sebastian nudged her with a shoulder. “But Kai’s the alpha who killed four bak. I’d put my money on him.”

Isla narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t put any bets on this, right?”

“I have limits, Pudge.” He sounded offended.

“I’m sorry,” Isla groaned before jumping to her feet. “If I keep sitting here, I’m going to lose my mind.”

But before she could start pacing, the room’s door opened. The smell of smoky jasmine filtered through the air, and everyone stilled, holding their breath, staring at Kai in the doorway.

His hair was wet, glistening with some type of oil, and pushed back like he’d run his fingers through it, though some pieces curled back around his forehead. He donned black silks, much like those of the Hunt, and beneath them, Isla could see a glimpse of black paint on his skin—the moon phases, like the arena’s stone floor, across his chest.

Kai cast his eyes between them all, closing the entrance behind him. “Don’t look at me like I’m a ghost already.”

No one thought it was funny.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair again. “I have to go. So, you might want to go to your seats.”

No one moved.

Several seconds of quiet passed before Rhydian rose. His eyes were glassy, as were all of theirs, and he moved to hug his brother. “This is so fucked.”

Kai had his arms around him and squeezed his shoulder in agreement but said nothing.

Ameera wiped her eyes, going to Kai next. “Rip him apart.”

Jonah had abandoned his books. “What she said.”

Davina had barely been coherent, and after Sebastian and Adrien went forward to offer him the shake of a hand and a pat on the shoulder, all that was left was Isla.

She and Kai simply stared at each other as the rest of the group waited by the door, not sure if they should watch, look away, or leave. She didn’t think she could open her mouth and speak without her voice cracking, and once that happened…

She didn’t want to cry. Not here. Not now. Not yet.

Kai held out a hand. “Do you want to walk with me? By tradition, as my luna, you would be at my side until I stepped in anyway, but you can taper off before anyone sees you. It’ll just be the rest of the procession.”

It was a simple decision for Isla to make.

When they all exited and everyone else went left to go to their seats—except Sebastian, who would wait in the room so Isla knew where to go—Isla and Kai, arm-in-arm, went right. A stretch of passageways meandered from the arena's underbelly up to the main floor, where they’d been before. It struck Isla how similar they felt to the tunnels they’d found beneath the house in the wasteland, and every so often, she’d catch a glimmer of unharvested crystal in the walls. The crowd was getting louder now. She could hear them clearer with each step, and she battled for every even breath.

They may have taken longer than they should’ve to get to their destination. Kai explained that he’d spoken with his mother, and that the priestess who’d been praying over him knew he’d been mated. She could feel it, feel Isla, a steady presence threaded through him.

“She said you must’ve been strong-willed. I said it was more like stubborn.”

Isla bumped him with her hip while he laughed. But all joy faded to nothing as they turned a corner and found themselves before a group of guards. All of them sketched a bow to their alpha, and then their eyes shifted in her direction. Some of them she recognized as members they’d walked with before.

“Lead the way,” Kai told them while Isla remained at his side. She held onto him tighter.

The crowd was impossibly loud now. It was so much like the city, making Isla dial back her senses. She focused on Kai’s presence, his scent, the bond, and the feel of his skin against hers. Drank in every piece of him she could.

One more turned corner, and they would be on the long stretch that fed into the arena. The light from the stadium spilled through the tunnel’s mouth and cast back to them a yawning glow that had soldiers’ shadows dancing on the wall.

Isla had glimpsed the hollow path before Kai came to a stop, holding her back.

“Give us a moment,” Kai said to the guard, and without question, they obeyed, their growing shadows showing their distance.

Isla focused on the darkness, wholly still and clinging to Kai’s arm. She didn’t want to look up. Didn’t want to acknowledge him or any of this. She wanted to wake up. Needed to wake up right now, wrapped in his arms, her head on his chest. All of this having been a nightmare.

“Isla.”

“No. ”

Her voice cracked, and she felt wetness trail down her cheek.

Kai spun her around and took her face in his hands, forcing her to look up at him.

Her lip quivered as she mapped every feature, her breathing shallow. Kai stroked her skin with his thumb, flicking away her tear, and Isla lofted onto her toes, bringing her mouth to his with a force that sent him backwards.

Nothing much else was needed after the kiss. No emotional last-minute confessions. No last-chance declarations. Only three simple words muttered against her lips, and then again as Kai pressed his forehead to hers. “I love you.”

It was the first time he’d said the words aloud, but not the first time that Isla had felt it. He’d shown his love in his actions, in his other words.

It took every bit of her to remain uprightand not to burst into tears. “I love you.” It felt like her chest had been ripped open.

Kai beamed, leaning down to kiss her again. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.”

As Kai walked away, Isla felt a new kind of cold. She hurriedly wiped her tears and schooled her face before a guard approached from the other side of the wall, meant to get her safely back to Sebastian.

Further and further apart, Isla could feel Kai’s emotions shifting. Raw and volatile.

“Shut me out,” he told her, but she didn’t know if she could. Within the arena, they’d be close enough to communicate, which meant their perception of each other’s feelings, each other’s pain, would be amplified. He didn’t want her sensing anything he was going through, and she didn’t want to distract him with how she felt, either.

So, as she meandered through the same passageways, she tried to build a wall. To cut herself off from him, but not before uttering those three little words one last time.

She must’ve looked rough because once she reached where Sebastian had been waiting, he immediately wrapped her in a hug. “He’s going to kick his ass.”

Isla breathed a laugh, wrapping her arms around her brother’s back. “Yeah. He is. ”

They were almost rounding the corner of the path to their seats when Isla felt it. When she smelled it. Sebastian had, too. But it was her who reached for her knife, and with a swiftness she didn’t know she had, stopped short and spun, lunging at the person who’d been silently stalking them through the darkness.

She pressed her blade to the killer’s cloth-covered throat, seething, “What are you doing here?”

An ally or not, they were the last thing she wanted to deal with right now.

They didn’t flinch, but she felt them swallow. “We need to go,” was the only thing they said.