29

ARIA

We traveled for ten long hours up the mountain and never crossed paths with a single wolf. Not a scent. Not a sound. The quiet pressed in the whole way. The moment we finally stopped, the shift rolled off me and left me standing in my human skin again, cold settling fast into my bones.

I shivered hard. My wolf had enjoyed the freedom too much. Every time she stayed out that long, pulling her back felt slower and rougher, like she resisted just to remind me she could.

Liora shifted beside me and we dressed without speaking. The silence felt heavy but familiar. She dug through the pack and pulled out the small jar of cream, then nodded toward my knee. “It’s aching again, isn’t it? You should have let him break it. It would’ve healed the right way.”

A fallen log sat nearby, half-rotted and worn smooth. I eased myself down and took the jar while she crouched to start a fire. “That’s easy to say for someone who’s never lived under a man’s hand.” The cream warmed as soon as it touched my skin. The heat sank deep and sharp, and I had to clench my jaw to keep from making a sound. “There isn’t a situation where I’d willingly let another man break a bone in my body.”

Liora paused and looked at me. Her face tightened, concern slipping through. “Who hurt you, Aria?”

“No one here.” I dipped my fingers again, using less than the amount I knew I should. I didn’t know how long this had to last, and wasting it felt foolish. “I need to move while I still can. Being human too long makes everything stiff. Anything you want me to do?”

“Gather some more kindling,” she said, already stacking wood. “And stay where I can see you.”

I gave her an annoyed look. She only smiled wider. “I may be a submissive wolf,” she said lightly, “but I still have my orders. And I can fight if I need to.”

Bending down, I picked up a handful of sticks and ran my hands over them, feeling for damp spots or rot. “It’s not about that. Not you being submissive. Not you being in charge of me.” I added the dry ones to the pile. “I’m used to both. I left to be free, and somehow I just traded one jailer for another.”

“Kael isn’t a jailer,” Liora said without hesitation. “He’s trying to keep you and your baby safe.”

“Until he decides the baby isn’t his,” I said, reaching for more wood, “and it’s no longer worth the effort.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Is it not his?”

“Does it matter?” I asked. The words came out flat. “He doesn’t seem interested in being a father. Which is strange. Men with power usually want heirs. It’s almost expected.”

“He’s complicated,” she said after a moment, her voice gentler. “But he’s a good man. A good wolf.”

We clearly didn’t see him the same way. I let that thought pass without pushing it. “When did his brother die?”

“Two years ago.” Her eyes filled quickly, tears shining but not falling. “Marrow was a good alpha.”

“Of Goldenreach?” I asked, the answer already forming. “Wait. Were you their healer? Are you all from Goldenreach?”

“Not Corvin,” she said quietly. Her gaze dropped to the ground. “He traveled with Kael. Has for years. But Nyssa was Marrow’s third. Lucan and Fen were guards. They loved him. All of them did. Leaving Rune behind nearly broke them. Rune became alpha after Marrow died. Kael promised them revenge. That promise is the only reason they followed him.”

Two years ago.

That was before Kael wore a crown.

The thought hit hard and stayed lodged in my chest. Had he taken the throne just to hunt down his brother’s killer?

It was hard to understand that kind of loyalty. That kind of devotion to blood. No one in my family would have lifted a finger for me, no matter the cost.

What was the point of a crown out here in the High Wilds?

Then it settled into place. Power meant reach. Access. Information that no one else could touch.

I looked back at Liora. “You loved him.”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” Her voice wavered. “We thought… maybe the mating bond would come, given enough time. It mattered to him. He loved Rune’s mother. Truly believed she was his mate. When Rune was born, she left. After that, he wouldn’t be with anyone unless the bond was real.”

“Plenty of wolves build lives without a mating bond,” I said. “Most don’t even believe in them anymore.”

“Marrow did.” She swallowed hard. “We’d known each other for years. One night, while I was stitching him up, something shifted. We looked at each other differently. He said if we lowered our guard, if we stopped fighting it, maybe it would happen. A week later, he was dead.”

That explained more than she probably realized. Why she stayed close to Kael. Why vengeance mattered so much. Why she hadn’t turned back.

If the bond had snapped before Marrow died, she wouldn’t even be standing now. She would barely be breathing.

Lucky wasn’t the word. It didn’t fit. But she was still here. Still walking. Still fighting.

A shout broke through the trees, sharp and sudden.

My head snapped up. My body tensed. “What was that?”

“Lucan,” Liora whispered. Fear edged her voice. “Damn it. Shift.”