I push back, unwilling to hear my father’s opinion when it so clearly isn’t shared by the vast majority. “I’ve been judging her because of whatyoutaught me. The other elders want her! Why can’t you?”
I know I’ve made a mistake before the question leaves my mouth.
“Have you so easily forgotten what she’s done to this family?” My father’s fingernails dig into my wound and reignite the pain tenfold. “She killed your brother. The heir to our bloodline. An alpha wolf.” He clenches his jaw tightly. “Your mother cried for an entire year. Do her tears mean nothing to you? Would you have me let your brother’s killer roam free? Your mother’s tormentor?”
“No, I—of course not.” I rack my brain to think of an alternate solution. “There must be another way. We can keep her on pack grounds. Hold a trial.” Even as I say the words, I know that a trial would be futile. Anyone convicted of killing an Alpha heir won’t stand a chance against a tribunal of angry shifters.
My father shakes his head. “I’m disappointed in you, Alistair. You are blinded by this woman’s trickery.” Releasing me, he takes a single step back. “Any bond you think you have with her is false. If she can wield fire, she can cast spells to manipulate your heart. You are not to blame for believing her lies; I should have better educated you.”
I ignore my aching neck to grip the edge of the desk. “She isn’t manipulating me. I feel our bond as clearly as I know my own wolf.”
“How can you be sure that your emotions are your own?”
Closing my eyes, I listen to the beat of my heart. Moments with Sienna roll through my mind, and I pay attention to my emotions. Anger. Lust. Sorrow. Everything that I should befeeling—or everything that a wild wolf fighting their fated bond would feel. Where do her emotions end and mine begin?
Our latest conversation rolls through my mind like a storm cloud. “She said something to me,” I murmur, unable to meet my father’s eyes. My gut churns as I replay my encounter with Sienna on the rotunda balcony. “About Viserys.”
“So she admits her guilt.”
“No, she . . . she says that he was sent to kill her.” I take a small breath. “What exactly did you order Viserys to do when he found her?”
I know what Viserys himself told me before he left and what the reports say after his death was confirmed. Our pack heir went into the wilds to rescue a young shifter lost in one of the valleys bordering our territory. But did something happen for Viserys to change his mind? Was she too wild to save? Did she attack him?
My father, the reigning Dire pack Alpha for the last century, remains unflinching in the face of my uncertainty. “What I ordered Viserys to do died with him.” Placing his hand on my shoulder, he exhales. “We do not disturb the dead by asking questions that are best left buried.”
Chapter 26
Callum
Vampires are notoriously patient creatures.While the rest of the world rushes through life in fear of its inevitable end, we endure, expertly playing the field until every minute detail aligns in our favor. It’s how our species has survived for so long with so few numbers: exceptional lives become exceptional eternals.
But when life itself adapts to survive, the endurance that was once a great strength becomes a disease.
Vampires are no longer terrifying creatures of legend.
We’re a dying breed.
The rest of the realm knew that something was wrong long before our kind. A witch’s strongest spells suddenly conjured shadows instead of storms. Merfolk culture began to fade with each receding tide. Shifters bickered as familial power weakened with each generation. The signs were there, but we didn’t care to listen.
Only once our bones turned brittle and our fangs began falling from our mouths did we finally understand: the only true eternal is Death himself . . . and a vampire is just another soul for him to collect.
I used to be a patient man.
Now, I can’t afford to wait—and I no longer want to.
A future with my mate is all I can think about.
Time moves slowly as I wait for Sienna to emerge from the academy’s tallest tower. Wisely, Revyn has made himself scarce since the mating games ended. His actions tonight forced her into shift and endangered her life. No matter how much he loves her, he’s proven that he can’t be trusted with her well-being. If he doesn’t leave of his own volition, I will have to step in and force them apart. I only hope that Sienna’s affection for him doesn’t blind her to the danger he poses.
The only way she survives him is by outliving him.
Footsteps echo down the stone stairwell, and as soon as Sienna emerges from the spire, I sweep her into my arms, absolutely delighted when she doesn’t protest. She wraps her arms around my neck and sighs into my hair, the heat radiating off her body a direct contrast to the chill of mine. Most creatures dislike death, innately fearing it and everything it touches—including vampires. But Sienna has never been afraid. She’s seen enough of death to walk comfortably alongside it, and I marvel at how lucky I am not only to have met her but to have won over even the smallest fraction of her heart. Though we have not known each other for long, her company tonight proves our growing connection.
She trusts me more now than she trusts her wild mate, her fated, and possibly even herself.
That alone means more to me than having a thousand more sunsets.
I carry her out of the castle. There’s still an hour until daybreak, and I don’t intend to waste a single moment prior.
