“Why did you help them? Agree to house hundreds of people you don’t know and can’t possibly care that much about.”
He had to have mentally hailed those wolves right when the fire started. They’d gotten supplies, the train, and ridden through the night while we were fishing bodies out of the rubble. While we were saving my family, he was already planning for their future. It wasn’t normal. He didn’t know them. I wanted to know why.
He swallowed hard. “Because you care about them.”
My heart shattered. I wanted him to pull me into his arms and kiss me.
“Why do you care about what I care about?” I asked. I needed to hear him say it. The one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about since Valkaryn had mentioned it. Since he kissed me.
His eyes went yellow. Stepping forward, he cupped my jaw in his hands, running a thumb over my lips. “Because you’re my mate.”
I gasped. That word.Mate. The reason he couldn’t eat first in my presence, the reason he was so possessive around Cassian. The reason for so many things. It was true.
“How can I be your mate if you’re not supposed to be with humans?”
His gaze fell on my lips. “I don’t know. A mistake.”
This wasn’t a mistake.
“Then how can you be sure I am your mate if it’s a mistake?” I pressed.
He chuckled. “A male wolf, an alpha at that, knows when he meets his mate. I knew the second you walked into the binding arena. I could smell it on you, see it in you. Iknew…” He growled. “…you weremine.”
My mother had trained me to stay away from possessive guys, but this was possession I wanted to lean into, because hearing Kaelric call me his mate made everything inside of me feel right.
I grinned, but he wasn’t smiling back. Why wasn’t he smiling back?
“I want to be your mate. I want to beyours,” I told him, leaning into him so that our bodies were touching.
My words seemed to have an effect on him. His gaze went to my lips and then back up to my eyes. “It’s complicated, Brynn, and we have to go now.”
“I’m not a child. I can handle complicated. Tell me. Tell me why you look like the only thing in the world you want to do is kiss me, but you won’t.”
He swallowed hard, releasing my face and stepping away from me.
His gaze went to my sword. “It’s?—”
“Don’t say complicated!” I crossed my arms andcocked my hip. “I’m your mate. You said so yourself. Can’t you trust me with the truth?”
He exhaled. “Fine. You want the truth?” He pointed to my blade. “Valkaryn was my mother. The king she loved, myfather. In one night, they were both killed, along with all of my siblings, and my people were taken hostage by a rogue alpha. I’ve been waiting years to reclaim my throne, to get justice for what was taken from my family, but I cannot do it withoutthat, the Alpha Killer.”
I stumbled backward, in shock at his truth. He was the son of the king from the story Elia told my siblings?
“And as an alpha from a royal bloodline, I cannot rule without children.Heirs. I cannot have offspring with a human. So just forget about whatever this is between us, okay? Itmustbe a mistake.” He turned and walked away, but I stalked after him.
“Mistake?” I ripped his shoulder backward so that he was forced to face me.
His eyes were glowing yellow.
“I don’t know much about wolfkin, but I know they mate for life. I know their mate bonds are chosen by the Creator himself. Are you saying the Creator made a mistake?”
“Maybe,” he pressed, “the reason my wolf bit you so hard during the binding was because of that. He wasafraid of not bonding properly. An alpha submitting is unheard of. It took everything we had. Maybe that went wrong and?—”
“But you submitted before. Five years ago, in the trial.” When he betrayed his sponsor to save that girl. It felt good to know that the reason he broke my arm was a mistake.
Kaelric shook his head. “I wasn’t alpha then. I was seventeen. I became alpha the following year.”
A train whistled off in Aerlyn, and Kaelric cursed. With one motion, he yanked my arm, and then we were both running.
