Chapter 9: The Price of a Mate

Kairos' POV

The mention of Harlan immediately caught my attention.

I had received the contract weeks ago, delivered through a trusted intermediary with assurances that the arrangement was legitimate. The document had promised me a mate of exceptional strength, a woman whose abilities would help secure my position among the next generation of pack leaders. Harlan had been careful about the details, claiming that certain matters needed to remain confidential until the agreement was fulfilled. I had accepted the secrecy because the price he demanded was considerable, but I had assumed the exclusivity of the arrangement was beyond question.

That was when I found out this “mate” in question was the human girl. Except now, she wasn’t looking so human after all, and it was all happening so fast.

"What about him?" I asked.

Draven unfolded the parchment and held it out.

"Read it."

I took the document and scanned the first few lines. My expression hardened as I recognized the wording, the formal language and the promises made by Harlan. Even the seal at the bottom looked identical to the one on my own contract. I read the page again, this time more carefully, searching for some detail that might distinguish it from the agreement I had received.

There was none.

"Where did you get this?"

"Harlan sent it to me," Draven replied. "A few weeks ago, as it happens. He promised me a mate capable of changing the balance of power among the packs. He was very persuasive about her qualities, too. According to him, the girl would be worth every coin, every favor and every obligation involved in securing the arrangement."

I looked up slowly. "Who is the woman?"

Draven shrugged, though his expression suggested he was enjoying my growing anger. "He didn't give me a name. He said I would meet her when the time was right. But after today's little performance, I have a suspicion that our generous Alpha has been keeping the same secret from both of us."

I glanced down at the contract again. Harlan's seal stared back at me, and the realization that he might have negotiated the same arrangement with another Alpha was almost too insulting to consider. Kane was right.

We were being played.

I had paid an enormous sum and committed political favors to secure the promised mate. If Draven had received an identical offer, either Harlan was a fool or he had deliberately planned to set us against each other.

"Does anyone else have one?" I demanded.

"That, my dear Alpha, is an excellent question." Draven took the parchment back from me and folded it carefully. "I haven't had the opportunity to ask everyone. But if Harlan has been making promises to the Seven, I doubt you and I are the only ones who have been fortunate enough to receive his generous attention."

I wanted to tear the parchment apart. Instead, I forced myself to consider the implications. Harlan had introduced Elara to the academy as his adopted daughter, allowing everyone to believe she was little more than a human he had taken pity on. He had permitted Lila to humiliate her publicly and had never shown any indication that Elara possessed the abilities described in my contract. Yet the girl's transformation suggested that Harlan had known more than he was willing to disclose.

"Why tell me this now?" I asked.

"Because I don't appreciate being made a fool of." Draven's tone had lost some of its playfulness. "If Harlan has sold the same woman to several of us, I intend to find out what he believes he's accomplishing. And if she turns out to be as powerful as today's events suggest, I would prefer to know what we're dealing with before the Elders decide to bury the truth."

He glanced toward Elara's cell one last time before starting down the corridor. At the turn in the passage, he stopped briefly and looked back at me. Then he disappeared around the corner, leaving me alone with the guards and the sleeping woman behind the bars.

I remained there for several minutes, turning his words over in my mind. The contract was real, and Draven had received one of his own. That alone was enough to justify confronting Harlan, but I could not ignore the other possibility: the man might have deliberately concealed Elara's true nature because he wanted the Seven to compete for her. If that was his plan, he had badly underestimated the consequences.

I left the cells and went straight to my private quarters, where Kane was waiting beside the table with the reports I had requested earlier. He looked up when I entered and immediately noticed my expression.

"Something has happened," he said.

"Pack a small bag. We're leaving the academy tonight."

Kane set the papers aside. "Where are we going?"

"Blackthorn territory. I want answers from Harlan, and I'm done waiting for him to provide them at his convenience."

He studied me for a moment, then began gathering the supplies we would need for the journey. Kane had served me long enough to know that questioning my decisions while I was in this state would accomplish little. Still, I could see the concern in his face as he secured the papers and checked the contents of his travel bag.

"What about the Elders?" he asked. "They may not take kindly to you leaving without notice."

"They can ask me about it when I return."

I changed into dark travelling clothes and retrieved the contract from the locked drawer where I kept important documents. I folded the parchment and tucked it inside my jacket, determined to place it in front of him and demand an explanation.

Before leaving, I returned to the corridor overlooking the holding cells. Elara was still asleep, completely unaware.

What exactly are you?

I wondered what she would say if she learned that Harlan had negotiated her future without her knowledge, and whether she understood that her sudden display of power had placed her at the center of something much larger than the academy's petty rivalries.

For now, she would remain under the Elders' watch. I had no intention of leaving her there permanently, but I needed to know what Harlan had done before I decided how to proceed.

Kane joined me at the exit, carrying our bags, and we slipped through a little-used service passage before the night guards changed shifts. Neither of us spoke as we crossed the outer grounds. I had spent years establishing my position at the academy and among the Seven, and I knew the risks of leaving without permission. But if Harlan believed he could deceive me, take my money and manipulate my future without consequence, he was about to discover how badly he had misjudged me.

By the time we reached the forest road leading toward Blackthorn territory, my decision had become absolute. I would confront Harlan in his own home, with his contract in my hand, and I would not leave until he told me the truth about the woman, he had promised me.

It was time to end this game.