She shrugged one shoulder, leaning back in the chair as if this were any other casual conversation around a campfire, and not a permanent, life-altering decision. “Here’s the thing. What’s fated for you isfor you,which means nothing you do can fuck it up. You’ll end up right where you’re supposed to be in the end, no matter what decision you make. That’s fate.”
My fists clenched in the comforter. Was she right? I’d never thought of it that way. It was just an idea, but if that were true, it would take all the pressure off the decision I faced right now. If I were meant to stay a maiden, that would happen. If I weremeant to take a mate, well, those marks would appear and take away my option to stay a maiden.
I chewed my bottom lip, nodding slowly as it all sank in.
“So you’re saying I don’t have to decide?” I finally asked, still mulling it over.
Galyna, badass partner extraordinaire, rolled her eyes like she was a teenager instead of a full-on boss bitch. “Goddess, you’re dense. Yes, you still have to decide. You’re not a fucking sea cucumber. But you can’t decidewrong.”
I bit back a laugh. “A sea cucumber? Really?”
She sighed. “Seriously, being stuck in this house fucking sucks. All that’s on TV is nature documentaries. Do you know how boring human TV is?”
“You could read a book.” I grinned, knowing exactly what she was going to say.
“Screw you, I’m going for a run. Now get out of the damn bed before I drag you out of it and beat your ass with a training sword.”
She stomped out of the room, squinting at me before intentionally slamming the door hard enough to make the whole cottage rattle.
I laughed and threw back the covers. Scooping up the delicious coffee, I made a decision.
Who fucking knew where it would lead, but at least it was something.
Chapter 14
Valens
Iwas climbing the Goddess-damned walls. Even Savvy had gotten sick of my surly attitude and was no longer sucking up to make up for her mistake.
Now, she was just angry.
Luckily for me, I was too restless to sit around and let her tell me about it.
I wiped the sweat from my brow, dropped my hammer, and turned over the piece of steel in my gloved hand.
The shape was coming in nicely, even though I didn’t have a specific end goal in mind. My hands were working while my brain was offline.
It was the only way to stay sane as long as Elodie was avoiding me.
A knock on my workshop door interrupted my happily numb state. I dropped the cherry-red piece of metal on the anvil and turned to see who was brave enough to interrupt a man with a scalding-hot forge and a literal burning brand in hand.
It was Lucien.
Fuck.
“Alpha. You’re out and about early. Everything okay?”
He arched one eyebrow like a sarcastic fucker. “You tell me. You were beating the shit out of that metal like it owed you money. No, like it snuck out your sister’s bedroom window.”
I lifted my lip in a low growl. “That only happened once, and she was fifteen at the time. Plus, he wasn’t sneaking out of her window. He was twenty-five, human, andcreepingoutside her window. We now have a mutual, unspoken agreement to pretend neither of us knows who or what the other is doing.”
He snorted. “Be that as it may, you don’t have that agreement with me.”
Balls.
“Elodie’s avoiding me. And while I know I should be focused on where Sandrine is and what the pixies have to do with the mess we’re in and who sent the assassins—” I exhaled hard, all the fight leaving me in a rush as my shoulders slumped. “I can’t focus for shit when I don’t know if she’s okay.”
“Damn.” He ran a hand through his not-yet-styled hair. “Galyna’s still freezing you out, huh?”
