Valkaryn’s presence hummed quieter now, a steady pulse against my palm. She didn’t speak, but I felt it. She was watching him. Waiting.
She was giving me the chance to decide if I could trust the wolf whose teeth had just saved my life.
I decided I might just have to. Tomorrow, my life was in Kaelric’s hands.
An hour later, the Watchers were dragging dead bodies out of our apartment.All within the rules, they said, asif they didn’t want to bother with the paperwork. That was two initiates down, and only five of us were left. We hadn’t even started the first trial. It wasn’t lost on me that both initiates died in my presence. The first one was when she tried to steal Valkaryn at the ball, and now these.
‘You didn’t kill anyone,’Valkaryn assured me.
When the Watchers left, Kaelric and I ate a light breakfast in silence. I wanted to go see my mother before catching the train to the first trial. She was meeting me, and he knew that.
“I should never have let you take watch,” he finally said.
My fork clattered onto the plate. “I said I was sorry!”
He was never going to let me live it down.
Kaelric glared at Valkaryn. “She let him get too close to you. She’s capable of more.”
I could feel Valkaryn bristle at my side.‘Tell him I know what I’m doing and he needs to mind his own business.’
“She said to mind your own business, and I agree.” I raised one eyebrow.
He groaned, rolling his eyes. “Let’s go meet your mother and then get on the train.”
“You don’t have to go with me,” I told him.
He barked out in sarcastic laughter. “I clearly do!”
Ugh.
I was starting to regret this whole pairing.
“Considering you just saved my life last night, I’m going to let the attitude slide,” I told him as I stood and grabbed my packed bag.
He gave me a half-cocked grin. “Oh, is that right?”
I stepped closer, locking in his gaze. “Just this once.”
Mirth danced beneath his twinkling green eyes. “No one speaks to me like that back home.”
I matched his smile. “You look like you like it.”
He looked me up and down so slowly that heat coiled in my stomach and bloomed throughout the rest of my body. “Just a bit, little cub.”
I’d gone from little human to little cub. Was that a good thing?
“Cub? I’m a lioness,” I countered, crossing my arms against my chest for good measure.
He booped the tip of my nose with his finger. “That’s cute,” he said, and then turned and led me out of the apartment. I growled the entire way into the hall.
It was a ten-minute walk to the hole in the gate where my mother would be waiting. Halfway there, Kaelricrevealed he’d filled an entire duffel bag with extra food for them. He didn’t make a big deal about it. Just tossed it to me and said it would go bad while we were gone.
We would only be gone not even two days, but I appreciated the offer, so I just nodded and thanked him.
As we turned the corner, I peered at the fence and saw… my sixteen-year-old little brother, Tyrus, waiting for me.
A stone sank in my gut, and I broke into a run. My mom would never send my brother. It was dangerous.
