Twist of fate ||

The Night Before

*****

I had asked Roxan to get the slave rule, written by the council of elders after the Third War ended.

I smiled, grazing the tip of my fingers on it. “Every slave, bond or free, wherever they were and whatever pack, could only be redeemed back by her true family with the proof of the sacred family bond or by a mate with the proof of a mate bond.”

The stupid girl had gotten herself ensnared by the ghost of my past, but there was no time to think about that. Alpha Loeka had to step in.

I asked Roxan to fax the law to Alpha Loeka. Smiling contentedly in my chair, I dialed his study.

“Alpha Loeka on the line. Good evening.” His voice sounded testily.

“Good evening to you too, Loeka. Did you get my fax?”

He exhaled deeply. “I just did, Sigewuf.”

“You see, I won't be able to redeem your daughter back from the vicious alpha who now has her in his grip as a slave because your daughter couldn't wait for the mating ceremony.”

“And your point is?” Loeka asked, waspishly.

“You would have to do that, Loeka."

“I think you got that part wrong, Sigewuf. The contract stated our duty to her remained only before the marriage. You chose not to wait for the mating night before taking her with you. This is your cross, Sigewuf.”

He was smart.

“I believe you didn't read every part of the contract. The last part included, ‘Your duty to her may have to remain even after the mating ceremony if she needs your help,’” a sly grin caught on my lips.

“And right now, I think she needs that help right away because she clearly isn't in a safe place.”

I heard him mutter a curse under his breath. I pretended not to hear.

“I know you're glad about doing something great for your daughter.” I was pulling the trigger.

“Sure. What pack exactly are we talking about here, and what vicious alpha? The alphas in the north are all vicious.” Alpha Loeka laughed without mirth.

“A man of humor, you are, Loeka.” I said, scraping the surface of the table. “I'll send you the details. Good night, Loeka.”

“Good night, Vikron,” I yelled into the phone before punching the red button on the screen.

*****

The Next Day

*****

“I want her back!” I yelled into the phone, but the line was already dead. I threw the phone into a corner, exasperated.

What was even going on? After eleven years, my nemesis reappeared out of nowhere. He was banished from the pack, but who had thought he would survive the pain? The same man who had been the reason for the death of most of the pack—my half-brother—was back and with the one thing I needed most in my life now. The thought was driving me insane.

Didn't parents have a right over their children? More reason I had asked Alpha Loeka to go get her since Vikron had said she was his slave.

“Mmmh.” Roxan cleared his throat, trying to make me aware of his presence.

“What is it?” My voice was hoarse.

His eyes connected with mine as he stood poised, his heavy frame pressed against the edge of his shirt. His face still bore the soreness of someone who had experienced life.

“The girl, she isn't exactly what Alpha Vikron said she is.”

The beam from the drapes fell on my plaid shirt. “Make me understand, Rox.” I said calmly, hoping what I thought wasn't what he meant.

“The girl, Camille, isn't Vikron's slave but his mate,” Roxan said, with an indistinct look on his face.

This time, strangely, I collapsed into the chair behind me. It felt like I had been knocked off a skyscraper and left to crash.

It was like a door had been flipped, revealing its other side—another dimension—something entirely different.

“That can't be possible,” I muttered. “Alpha Loeka said she had never left Aston-Lakenheath before. Plus, Vikron had been a deathword around the pack for eleven years. She couldn't have heard about him and decided to run to him.”

“Alpha, it's true. Camille is his mate. He told her family this morning.”

The half-smoked cigar dropped from my hand. My pulse was racing at a speed I could hear.

“Did you find a mate bond on her?” My words came out in weak trickles like a drying tap.

“I have no idea,” he said, apologetically.

“Then find out!” I snapped, slamming the table so hard some of the papers flew into the air.

He left with a nod.

I couldn't ignore Vikron's mark on Camille. That would be a disaster. Why had I figured that out? The Vikron I knew had no business with slaves.

I had expected him to smile, laugh, pump a fist, run around screaming that night when we met in the woods, but he had done nothing. Probably gawking at my stupidity in believing his words. He reminded me of the many reasons I had resented him in the past.

“I said it,” my wolf was howling. “She's going to bring the past, the present, the future together!”

I said nothing.

What were the odds Camille found Vikron, or that he had found her? My thoughts were chaotic.

I wasn't asking questions, but I was beginning to need answers.