Chapter 15
KAELERON
From my perch on the sturdy branch of a pine tree, shrouded in shadows and as still as the night, I watched the people below me, cataloguing everything about them so I could report it to Saphira.
I raked long claws over the bark between my boots, gently scoring it to satisfy my need to tear into the wolf shifters below me.
I wanted to go in there right now and slaughter everyone, but I could not.
I could not tell who was with Saphira’s pack and who belonged to the one whose territory I prowled like a wraith, studying them and forming a battle plan.
There were a few among the people below me that I recognised, despite the distance between us.
The blond alpha wolf and his bodyguard.
They strolled through the small town, many of the wolves greeting them, the insidious prick’s head held high as he surveyed all he ruled and the fools petted his overblown ego.
Several females fawned over the alpha, and he preened at their attention, saying things to them I could not hear at this distance.
The temptation to move to one of the roofs of the buildings was strong, but I tamped it down.
It was better to remain where I was, on the fringes of the town, where nature was strong and could easily conceal me.
Lucas moved on and his brute of a bodyguard branched away from him as they entered a green, heading towards the barn where many had congregated.
Saphira’s pack.
Several males stood guard outside it, and benches had been added around a firepit in the centre of the green, one that blazed brightly as females and males lingered around it, talking animatedly, seemingly uncaring of the fact they were holding another pack hostage.
My crimson gaze danced over the people I could see, seeking ones that were familiar to me, and ones I knew only by the descriptions given to me by Saphira and Morden.
There was no sign of her parents today, nor the female and male she had described, and again there was no trace of Morden’s sister. It was not good news all around.
I had hoped to find something that would alleviate Saphira’s fears for her family and some evidence that my messenger was still alive.
But it seemed I would be leaving with nothing.
I tracked Lucas with my gaze, claws digging deeper into the branch as my body coiled, muscles tightening in preparation to leap, to teleport to that male and tear into him.
My dark lips stretched into a cold grin that flashed my fangs as I sank into that urge, as I let it roll over me, filling my mind with a vision of carving him into pieces with my black claws, making him suffer for what he had done to Saphira, and to her pack.
He would beg for death by the time I was done with him.
And I would order him healed and do it all over again.
Forever.
I closed my eyes and drew down a shuddering breath as darkness clouded my mind and my heart. I turned both towards Saphira, filling my mind with thoughts of her instead, and my heart with her light.
She had trained so hard after we had satisfied our blazing needs, fighting to grow stronger so she could face this male.
How violently she had reacted when I had killed the fae female who had attacked her.
How vicious she had been when I had stolen her vengeance from her.
That moment replayed in my mind, keeping me in place on the branch as effectively as shackles might have.
Because Saphira needed this fight.
She needed this coming confrontation with Lucas.
And the victory over him that would follow it.
She needed the closure and the healing it would give her, so she could put it in her past and move forwards with her life.
I would not take that from her, no matter how fiercely I wanted to butcher the male.
I sank into the shadows flecked with starlight before my darker urges could get the better of me, returning to Saphira.
She paced the glade while Morden tended to the fire, doing a poor job of pretending he was not eager to hear my report as his grey gaze shot to me. Saphira noticed the jerk of his head and spun on her heel, coming to face me, and was across the distance that separated us in an instant.
“Kael.” Her palms landed on the breast of my tunic jacket, her blue eyes bright with curiosity and fear.
I dipped my head and brushed my lips across her forehead, savouring the connection that it forged between us, as glad to see her again as she was to see me.
“Perhaps I have no need of a spymaster. I seem rather adept at this.” I mourned the loss of contact between us as she stepped back.
She gave me a small smile. “Malachi won’t be happy if you steal his job, and you have a court to run.”
That smile fell.
I brushed my fingers across her cheek. “My sister agreed to work with Rhyn in my absence. She understands why I must be here rather than splitting my time between you and my court.”
A decision I had made the moment I had discovered that Morden had intended to betray Saphira. I had not trusted the male before, but somehow I trusted him even less now.
“I just feel bad. They need you.” Saphira shrugged as she sighed, as if that action would cause the tension and guilt she felt to roll off her back.
“You need me,” I countered.
That small smile returned.
“Any luck?” Morden snapped, apparently done with being ignored.
I braced myself for Saphira’s reaction and slowly shook my head.
Sure enough, her smile disappeared again and that guilt she felt returned full force. She paced away from me, her steps agitated and her scent shifting, growing sharper and darker, and I could sense her anger as she glared at the fire.
“I am sure they are well. Perhaps tomorrow I could teleport closer, could even use my shadows to conceal me as I scouted inside the barn.”
She shook her head and came to face me, the firelight dancing over her braided silver hair and shapely form, accentuating them and the beauty of her.
She stole my breath, a fierce warrioress bathed in fire, determination flashing in her striking blue eyes as one hand gripped the hilt of the dagger I had made for her.
“I need you to do something else tomorrow.” She took a step towards me, fingers flexing and clamping down hard on the grip of the dagger. “I need you to teleport us to the Ryland Pack.”
“If you are sure.” I studied her, seeking signs that she was not ready and that this might be a bad idea.
But all I saw was steely resolve.
She nodded.
Morden looked as if he wanted to say something, but sensibly remained silent.
“I must check in with my sister and then we shall dine and rest, and while we do so, we shall plan.” I went to her, lifted my hand and gripped her nape as I lowered my head.
She lifted hers towards me, a silent order I obeyed, dropping a kiss on her lips rather than her forehead.
And then she uttered words that almost stripped me of my resolve and the desire to check on my court.
“I’m going to bathe at the falls while you’re gone.”
I bit back the groan that pushed up my throat at the vision of her bare body glistening with water as she floated in a pool flecked with starlight, her delicious curves bathed in moonlight.
“Tease,” I murmured with a half-smile.
Her delighted eyes said she knew it, that she knew the power she wielded over me and how I would not be able to stop thinking about her while we were apart, would likely rush my meetings in order to return quickly enough to catch her bathing.
Finally.
“I had an excellent teacher.” Her smile teased me as much as her words had, and my own smile widened at her admission that I had freed this side of her.
A side I rather liked.
Her hand trailed down my chest, fire rolling in its wake, and then she was striding away from me, a swing to her hips that made me want to follow her.
My mind rolled back to how I had taken her against that tree, fucking her so hard, a mindless slave to my need to claim her.
I was used to wars, had fought in many, but never had I felt there was so much at stake.
Never had I feared I might lose. The thought that I could lose Saphira to her fated mate had stirred a fierce need to physically claim her and remind her how good we were together.
I had been aware of Morden nearby, at the camp, and I had been staking a claim on her with that male too.
One I intended to reinforce now.
I slanted a look at him, one filled with darkness and malice, that had my heart growing black as night and my darker side rising to the fore to turn my eyes blood red and my fangs sharp.
And when he dared to meet my gaze…
I snarled.
“Saphira is mine.”