We continued several paces in silence, and I noticed how Sara scanned the woods ahead of her. One glance over my shoulder confirmed that John’s gaze also skimmed the trees from behind us.
“So you live off Alpha Island?” I asked, probing in the politest way I knew to discover if they were outcasted rogues.
She laughed. “Yes. My mate and I were banished about twenty years back. When I found out I was pregnant with our twins, Sadie and Audrey, I was thrilled. But a few months later,Declanbecame alpha king.” She said his name with venom. “And the laws changed.”
I nodded, sympathetic to her hatred of that man. “I’m from Crescent Clan.”
Brushing my hair away from my forehead, I showed her my clan mark, and her expression softened. Everyone knew the story of Crescent’s banishment to the mortal world.Everyone.
Sara glanced back at John, her eyebrows raised. “See, she’s one of us.”
John glared, pointing at Rage. “He’snot.”
I gritted my teeth and ignored John. Still, I was curious. “Why were you banished? What law changed to make you targets?”
Sara smiled, but it was a sad sort of smile, the kind that didn’t reach her eyes. Pulling back her thick bangs, she showed me her clan mark. One I knew well because my bestie wore the same. “I’m from Harvest. He’s Daybreak.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. Wow, so she, being from Harvest Clan, had gotten pregnant with a Daybreak heir’s children? Yeah, that wassonot allowed today. But it used to be when Rage’s dad was king? Interesting … I never knew that.
Her hand lingered on her forehead, and I noticed for the first time, there were marks on her ring finger.
Mother of all mages.
There on her ring finger … she bore the white marks of … I pivoted and looked at John’s hand.
Mate marks.
I was 84.2% sure I saw that right, so I shook my head and looked again. Still there. “You guys are fated mates?”
She nodded, and I held up my hand, which won me her grin—a real one.
“Just like you.” She beamed.
Rage and John looked at each other’s fated mate marks, and both of their stern expressions softened, but neither said a word. Looked like the two brutes had found something in common.
“But … did you say the law changed?” I asked, reviewing the rest of what she’d revealed. “As in, it used to be okay to mate with someone outside your pack?” I wanted to clarify that point because if Rage’s dad used to allow inter-pack mating, he was my new hero.
“That was before Declan became king,” John growled as he stepped up next to Sara. “Only a coward makes a decision that would go against fate.”
“Declan changed the law about fated-mates?” I asked, looking to Rage for confirmation. “He can do that?”
Rage’s pulse feathered in his neck, and he clenched his teeth. “My father, who was king before Declan, honored the fated-mate process, no matter who fate brought together.”
“Yes, and with the High Mage Council’s blessing, Declan destroyed the law honoring it.”
Whoa. I had a hard time believing Gramps would be okay with that. Maybe it was a majority rules kinda thing. Maybe Grandpa and I needed to chat more. A lot more.
“I’m sorry,” I said as we continued to walk. I was sorry that Sara and John were cast out. I was sorry the law was changed. And I was sorry that Rage had to find out over and over again how much of a douche his uncle was.
Sara shrugged. “Don’t be sorry for us. We’re happy. Probably even happier out here than we’d be on the island. We have our own land. No one bothers us much besides the occasional drunk bear, and we take in all the wolves thekingbanishes. After twenty years, we’ve created a little pack of our own.”
John’s gaze flicked to Rage, but Rage said nothing.
Well, now that she’d shared their story, I felt like we should be honest with ours. ‘Are you okay if I tell them about us?’
I watched Rage closely, surprised when he nodded. ‘Sure.’
After a deep breath, I said, “We’ve been banished too … sort of. The king and his wolves are hunting us. I’m pretty sure they are, so you might be in danger … for taking us in.”
