Chapter 4/ the wolf lands

Darling’s POV.

Chapter Four

The Wolf Lands

Darling Kate’s POV

The farther we drove from Oberon’s castle, the harder it became to breathe.

That made no sense.

I should have felt relieved.

Nolan wasn’t sitting beside me.

Oberon wasn’t watching from across a ballroom.

Nobody was whispering about how many men had supposedly paid for me.

For the first time in years, I was physically beyond my father’s reach.

And yet I couldn’t relax.

Maybe because I had no idea where Kazan Blackwood was taking me.

I looked through the passenger window.

Dark mountains rose on both sides of the road, their peaks disappearing beneath thick clouds. Pine trees crowded close together, and moonlight occasionally flashed between their branches.

The farther we traveled, the fewer houses I saw.

Eventually there were none.

Only wilderness.

Only darkness.

Only wolves.

I could sense them.

I didn’t understand how.

Something inside me recognized their presence before I saw a single one.

My fingers tightened around the edge of my seat.

Kazan noticed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where are we?”

“Blackwood territory.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“It literally answers your question.”

I turned toward him.

“Do you always have to be difficult?”

His mouth twitched.

Barely.

But I saw it.

“You’re the one arguing with every answer I give.”

“Because half your answers sound like orders.”

His almost-smile disappeared.

Ophelia sighed from the back seat.

“You two are definitely mates.”

I looked over my shoulder.

“Don’t say that like it’s a good thing.”

She laughed.

Kazan growled.

“Ophelia.”

“What?”

“Stop.”

“There you go again,” I said.

He glanced at me.

“What?”

“Ordering women around.”

Ophelia laughed harder.

I couldn’t help it.

A small laugh escaped me too.

Kazan looked between us.

“This isn’t funny.”

That made it worse.

For a few seconds, I laughed.

Actually laughed.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done that without forcing it.

Then I realized Kazan was staring at me.

The amusement disappeared from my face.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re staring.”

“I noticed.”

“Then stop.”

He looked back at the road.

My cheeks warmed.

The mate bond gave a strange little pull.

I hated that I noticed everything about him.

The shape of his hands around the steering wheel.

The muscles in his forearms.

The way his jaw tightened when he was irritated.

His scent filling the vehicle.

And beneath all of it, something that didn’t belong to my conscious thoughts.

Recognition.

My body knew him.

My magic knew him.

Whatever part of me existed beneath reason looked at Kazan Blackwood and whispered one terrifying word.

Mate.

But my mind remembered something else.

His hesitation in the ballroom.

Is it true?

The warmth inside me vanished.

I turned back toward the window.

We drove through enormous iron gates.

Two wolves stood beside them.

Not men.

Actual wolves.

One was gray.

The other almost black.

Both lowered their heads when Kazan’s vehicle passed.

Beyond the gates, the forest opened into an enormous valley.

I sat forward.

Lights glowed everywhere.

Homes.

Cabins.

Larger buildings.

Roads wound between them.

Farther away, I could see training fields illuminated beneath tall lamps.

People were still outside despite the late hour.

Some were human.

Some weren’t.

A massive lodge stood on a hill overlooking everything.

Stone on the lower level.

Dark timber above.

Wide balconies.

Huge windows glowing with warm light.

“That is not a house,” I whispered.

Ophelia leaned forward.

“Technically it’s the pack house.”

“That’s worse.”

She smiled.

“Wait until you see inside.”

“I don’t plan on staying long enough for a tour.”

Kazan’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.

“Where are you going?”

I looked at him.

“I don’t know.”

“Exactly.”

“And?”

“And you have nowhere safe to go.”

My spine stiffened.

“That’s not your decision.”

“I didn’t say it was.”

“You implied it.”

“I stated a fact.”

“There’s a difference between being right and having the right to control what I do.”

The vehicle went silent.

Ophelia leaned back.

Apparently she had decided not to stand between us this time.

Kazan parked near the lodge.

He turned off the engine.

For several seconds he stared through the windshield.

Then he looked at me.

“You think I’m trying to control you.”

“I think you don’t know the difference between protecting someone and deciding for them.”

His eyes flashed gold.

“My wolf recognized you the second I walked into that ballroom.”

“I know.”

“He is losing his mind right now.”

“That sounds like something you two should discuss privately.”

Ophelia made a choking sound behind us.

Kazan ignored her.

“He wants you inside our territory. He wants guards around you. He wants every threat within a hundred miles removed.”

“And what do you want?”

That stopped him.

His eyes met mine.

For once, he didn’t answer immediately.

“I want to know you’re safe.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“No.”

His voice lowered.

“It isn’t.”

Something about the admission surprised me.

I opened the door.

Cold mountain air rushed inside.

I stepped out.

The moment my feet touched Blackwood land, something strange happened.

A pulse moved through the ground.

I froze.

The cold beneath my skin answered.

For one heartbeat, everything disappeared.

The lodge.

The vehicles.

The lights.

I saw snow.

Miles and miles of it.

A white forest beneath a silver sky.

A woman stood between the trees.

Long pale hair moved around her.

My heart stopped.

“Mom?”

The vision vanished.

I staggered.

Kazan caught me.

His arm wrapped around my waist.

His other hand gripped my forearm.

“Darling.”

I couldn’t answer.

“Look at me.”

I lifted my eyes.

His face was close.

Too close.

His body was hard against mine, his hold strong enough to keep me standing.

The mate bond surged.

Heat rushed through me.

At the same time, frost raced across the ground beneath our feet.

Kazan looked down.

Ice spread in delicate patterns across the stones.

Ophelia stepped out of the vehicle.

“Okay.”

I pulled away from Kazan.

“What?”

She pointed.

“That.”

The frost continued expanding.

“I didn’t mean to.”

“I figured.”

Kazan crouched.

He touched the ice.

His fingers came away wet as it melted beneath his skin.

“What are you?”

I flinched.

He immediately stood.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“How did you mean it?”

“You’re Fae.”

“Half.”

“And you’re doing something I’ve never seen Fae do.”

“My mother could.”

Both of them looked at me.

I swallowed.

“Sometimes.”

“What kind of Fae was Maeve?” Ophelia asked.

“I don’t know.”

Kazan frowned.

“You don’t know what your own mother was?”

“No.”

The judgment in the question irritated me.

“She spent most of my childhood running from Oberon. Teaching me Fae genealogy apparently wasn’t high on the list.”

“I wasn’t judging you.”

“It sounded like it.”

His jaw tightened.

Everything with us became an argument.

Maybe that was easier.

Anger was safer than attraction.

A door opened behind us.

Several people came outside.

The first was a tall man with sandy-brown hair.

“Alpha?”

His eyes moved to me.

Then widened.

He smelled it too.

The mate bond.

I could tell by his expression.

“Don’t,” I warned.

He blinked.

“Don’t what?”

“Whatever you’re about to say.”

Ophelia laughed.

“Good luck, Sam.”

Sam looked at Kazan.

“She’s your—”

“Don’t,” I repeated.

He closed his mouth.

“Smart man,” Ophelia said.

Kazan rubbed a hand over his face.

“Can everyone stop making this worse?”

“No,” Ophelia and I said together.

We looked at each other.

She smiled.

I almost did too.

Then more wolves gathered.

Some kept their distance.

Others stared openly.

I wrapped my arms around myself.

Suddenly I was back in Oberon’s ballroom.

Eyes.

Whispers.

Judgment.

Kazan noticed immediately.

“Enough.”

His voice changed.

Alpha power rolled across the yard.

Everyone went silent.

“Go inside.”

They moved.

Quickly.

I stared at him.

“That was impressive.”

“Was that a compliment?”

“Don’t get excited.”

His mouth twitched again.

Ophelia touched my arm gently.

“Come on. I’ll show you where you can sleep.”

I hesitated.

Kazan stepped toward the lodge.

I stayed where I was.

He noticed.

“What now?”

“I want something clear.”

He waited.

“If I stay tonight, I’m staying because I choose to.”

“Yes.”

“If I want to leave tomorrow, I can leave.”

His wolf flashed through his eyes.

But Kazan nodded.

“Yes.”

“You won’t lock me in a room.”

His expression darkened.

“No.”

“You won’t assign guards who stop me from leaving.”

“No.”

“You won’t tell everyone I’m your property because I’m supposedly your mate.”

A growl escaped him.

I raised an eyebrow.

“That didn’t sound like agreement.”

His hands curled into fists.

“My wolf doesn’t like the word supposedly.”

“Your wolf will survive.”

Ophelia whispered, “I’m starting to like her.”

Kazan shot his sister a look.

Then he faced me again.

“You are not my property.”

I searched his face.

He meant it.

At least right now.

“And I’m not something you bought.”

“No.”

“Say it.”

His brow furrowed.

“What?”

“Say you didn’t buy me.”

Pain flickered across his expression.

Maybe he finally understood how that moment in the ballroom had looked from my side.

“I didn’t buy you, Darling.”

My throat tightened.

“I paid Nolan because I wanted whatever hold he believed he had over you gone.”

“And the two million?”

“I’ll deal with that.”

“He’ll disappear with it.”

“I don’t care.”

“You should.”

“I have more money.”

I stared at him.

“That is an extremely Alpha answer.”

Ophelia snorted.

Kazan ignored her.

“I care more about getting you away from him.”

There was that word again.

Protecting.

I wanted to believe him.

But men had hidden terrible things behind beautiful words before.

I looked toward the lodge.

“One night.”

Kazan nodded.

“One night.”

“And tomorrow?”

“You decide tomorrow.”

Something inside my chest loosened.

Not completely.

Just enough.

Ophelia led me inside.

The pack house was enormous but surprisingly comfortable.

Stone fireplaces.

Wooden beams.

Old photographs covering the walls.

Couches that looked used instead of decorative.

People lived here.

Really lived here.

It didn’t feel like Oberon’s castle.

That place had been designed to display power.

This place had been built around family.

I didn’t know why that realization hurt.

Ophelia showed me upstairs.

Kazan followed.

I stopped.

“Why are you coming?”

“Because my room is upstairs.”

“Oh.”

His eyebrow lifted.

“Disappointed?”

“Keep dreaming.”

Something warm passed through his eyes.

I looked away.

Ophelia opened a bedroom door.

“This one.”

The room was beautiful.

Large bed.

Fireplace.

Private bathroom.

Balcony overlooking the forest.

But the thing that caught my attention was the window.

Frost covered the bottom corner.

I walked toward it.

“Was that already there?”

Ophelia shook her head.

“No.”

I touched the glass.

The frost spread beneath my fingertips.

A pattern formed.

Not random branches this time.

A symbol.

A crown.

I jerked my hand away.

Kazan stepped closer.

“What is that?”

“I don’t know.”

That wasn’t completely true.

I had seen that crown before.

In one of Maeve’s old books.

I couldn’t remember where.

Kazan reached toward the glass.

The moment his fingers touched the frozen crown, a violent pulse of magic threw us backward.

Kazan caught me before I hit the floor.

The window cracked.

Ophelia shouted.

And a woman’s voice whispered through the room.

Soft.

Distant.

Familiar.

Darling.

My blood froze.

“Mom?”

Silence.

Kazan looked at me.

“You heard that?”

My heart hammered.

“You did too?”

“Yes.”

That terrified me more than if I’d been the only one.

I moved toward the window again.

The frost had changed.

Words appeared beneath the crown.

Three words.

WINTER REMEMBERS HER.

I stared at them.

Kazan stood beside me.

For once, neither of us argued.

Neither of us knew what to say.

My mother had been dead for four years.

Oberon had spent those years looking for me.

Power I didn’t understand was awakening inside my body.

And somehow, the moment I crossed into wolf territory, something ancient had noticed.

I wrapped my arms around myself.

“I thought leaving Oberon’s castle would make things simpler.”

Kazan looked at the frozen message.

“So did I.”

I glanced at him.

“You really thought taking a strange Fae woman home because your wolf yelled mate was going to be simple?”

His mouth twitched.

“When you put it like that…”

“It sounds stupid?”

“Extremely.”

I laughed softly.

This time he smiled.

A real smile.

It transformed his entire face.

For one dangerous second, I forgot the rumors.

Forgot the ballroom.

Forgot Nolan.

Forgot everything except the man standing beside me.

Then Kazan’s eyes dropped briefly toward my mouth.

The mate bond pulled.

My breath caught.

His smile vanished.

Neither of us moved.

Too soon.

Far too soon.

I stepped backward.

Kazan immediately gave me space.

“Get some sleep.”

I nodded.

He walked toward the door.

“Kazan?”

He stopped.

I didn’t know why I’d called him back.

Maybe because despite everything, I didn’t want him leaving while that message remained on the window.

“What?”

I looked at him.

“Do you still believe what Oberon said about me?”

His expression became serious.

“I don’t know what happened to you.”

My stomach sank.

“But,” he continued, “I’m beginning to understand that I asked the wrong question.”

I stared at him.

“What should you have asked?”

His gaze held mine.

“Whether you were given a choice.”

My throat tightened.

I couldn’t answer.

Not yet.

Kazan seemed to understand.

He opened the door.

“I won’t ask tonight.”

Then he left.

Ophelia quietly followed him and closed the door behind her.

I stood alone.

For the first time in years, Nolan wasn’t on the other side of my bedroom door.

Nobody was waiting to tell me what I owed them.

Nobody had locked me inside.

I could leave.

Kazan had promised that.

Whether he would keep that promise remained to be seen.

I walked to the window.

The frozen words were still there.

WINTER REMEMBERS HER.

I touched the crown.

This time the magic didn’t throw me backward.

It welcomed me.

A whisper moved through my mind.

Not Maeve’s voice.

Something older.

Something sleeping.

Something that had waited a very long time.

Come home.

I pulled my hand away.

Beyond the glass, wolves howled across Blackwood territory.

One howl rose above all the others.

Deep.

Powerful.

Alpha.

Kazan.

The cold beneath my skin answered him.

And somewhere far beyond the wolf lands, I knew Prince Oberon was no longer wondering whether Maeve’s daughter had inherited her mother’s power.

Tonight, I had given him his answer.

Winter had returned.

And it had returned inside me.