Chapter four

Rowan's POV

The night was loud with the sound of war, steel crashing against steel while claws tore into flesh and bones snapped beneath the cold haze of the moon.

I shifted my grip on my sword as an enemy warrior charged towards me. I stepped aside, avoiding his claws before driving my blade into his chest. His body fell to the ground, and I turned just in time to block another attack.

I pushed him back with my sword before delivering a strike across his neck.

"Hold your positions!" I ordered without taking my eyes off the battlefield.

My men advanced, forcing the remaining enemy warriors backwards. Their commander stood among them, his eyes fixed on me. I knew what he wanted. A fight.

I walked towards him, my sword hanging loosely in my hand. He shifted into his wolf and charged. I waited until he was close enough before moving aside and driving my blade into his side.

He staggered. I pulled my sword free and struck again.

His body hit the ground, and the remaining warriors slowly lowered their weapons.

The war was over.

I stood there with my sword still in my hand, waiting for someone to tell me what came next. Nobody did. My men were already looking for their own people, and I had no one to look for.

***

I sat behind my desk, going through some documents when a knock came at the door.

"Come in."

One of my men walked in holding an envelope.

"This came from Bloodcrest, Alpha."

I raised my head and stretched out my hand. He handed it over before leaving the office.

I stared at the envelope for a moment before opening it. The Bloodcrest seal was on it, and I already had an idea of what it contained.

An invitation. It was the first letter anyone had sent me in ten years.

I pulled out the letter and read through it. Alpha Bloodcrest wanted me to visit his pack because he had something important to discuss with me. I dropped the letter on my desk.

What could he possibly want from me?

My eyes caught a small note attached to the letter. I pulled it out and read the words written on it.

Your father's file is still in my possession.

For years, I had been trying to find that file. Every lead I followed ended nowhere, and the few people who knew anything about my father's death had refused to speak.

Now, the man responsible for keeping it from me was inviting me into his territory. A man who hides a file for years doesn't offer it for the price of a visit. It was bait, and I knew it. I was going anyway.

I folded the note and placed it inside my drawer. I wasn't going to tell anyone about it. That was the real reason I would be going to Bloodcrest.

There was also something else waiting for me there.

My mate.

I already knew who she was. Alice, the woman I had never met. I had felt her for three years, a faint pull in the middle of every battle, and I had never once let myself think about it.

I leaned back in my chair. I wasn't going there for her. She hadn't asked for me, and I had no intention of begging her to want me.

But I needed that file, and if going back to Bloodcrest meant facing her, so be it.

***

The rejection happened while I was on my way to Bloodcrest.

I felt a sharp pain in my chest. My hand stayed on the reins long after the pain stopped. Someone had said the words to the mark, and I knew who. I didn't answer them, and I don't know why. The bond didn't close.

My mate had rejected me.

Of course she had.

I stared ahead for a moment before continuing the journey. I wasn't going to turn back or waste time thinking about a woman who had already made her choice.

By the time I arrived at Bloodcrest, I had pushed the pain aside.

I walked into the hall, my eyes moving across the people gathered inside. My attention soon settled on a woman standing near the centre of the room.

Alice.

Her eyes were red, and she quickly looked away when our eyes met. She had been crying.

I said nothing as I walked further into the hall. My eyes moved to Nathan, who was standing beside her.

His face had gone pale. He looked between me and the Alpha, clearly struggling to hide his reaction. I watched him for a moment, wondering why my presence affected him that much.

Then I looked away.

I wasn't here for him, and I had no intention of discussing anything from the past. I had come for something else, and I planned to get it.

***

"Have you lost your mind, Alice?" I asked.

She blinked, but didn't let go of my hand immediately. I glanced down at her fingers before looking back at her face.

"Did you not hear me?" she asked. "I said marry me."

"I heard you the first time."

"Then why are you asking if I've lost my mind?"

I pulled my hand away from hers. The mark on her wrist was still visible, and I knew she could feel the bond just as much as I could. Yet she stood in front of me asking me to marry her after rejecting me.

Interesting.

"Yesterday, you rejected me. Today, you're standing in my house asking me to marry you. Do you expect me to take you seriously?"

Her expression changed slightly, but she quickly recovered.

"I have my reasons."

"I'm sure you do."

She folded her arms across her chest. "Look, I know you probably hate me, but I need your help."

I almost laughed. She had rejected me without ever seeing my face, and now she needed my help.

Nobody had asked me for help in ten years. Nobody had asked me for anything. It took me a moment to understand that this was what she was doing.

"What makes you think I'd help you?"

"Because it would benefit you too."

I raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly would marrying you benefit me?"

She hesitated for a moment before answering.

"My father wants me to marry the Brickwell family's son. If I marry someone else before the next Lunar Moon, I won't have to go through with it."

So that was it.

She wanted to use me to escape another marriage. I looked at her for a moment, trying to understand how she thought this arrangement would work.

"And you think I'm willing to become your husband just to help you?"

"No. I think you might agree because Nathan would hate it."

Nathan.

I stared at her. So she wanted to marry me to get back at him. That explained why she had come here, but it also told me how little she understood about the situation she was getting herself into.

"Is that why you came here? To make your former boyfriend jealous?"

"He's not my boyfriend anymore."

"That doesn't answer my question."

She looked away briefly before meeting my eyes again. "I also don't want to marry the Brickwells."

I studied her face. She was trying to look confident, but I could tell she was nervous. She had probably expected me to agree immediately, or perhaps she hadn't thought this far ahead.

I should have sent her away.

But marrying Alice would give me a reason to remain in Bloodcrest. It would also put me closer to the Alpha, the same man who had my father's file.

I had spent years trying to get it back. I wasn't going to let another opportunity pass me by.

"Fine," I said.

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"I said fine. I'll marry you."

She stared at me as if she hadn't expected that answer.

"But I have conditions."

Her expression became cautious. "What conditions?"

I stepped closer, looking directly into her eyes.

"Two rules," I said. "No lies between us. And no feelings."

"That's easy," she said.

She said it quickly, like someone who had never been wrong about herself. The mark on my wrist was still burning where she had touched me. I didn't correct her.