After a long silence, it is Savea who breaks it. “You’ve spewed more believable words than this, Serenia, but claiming to be the next High Alpha’s mate is a little immature. Don’t you think, father?” she asks, hooking to their father’s arm like she didn’t just get smacked to the ground minutes ago. Omega Brant glares down at his daughter. “What nonsense are you shouting about? Tell me the truth, or I’ll damn you to your room for the rest of your life!” “It is the truth, he claimed it himself at the ceremony last night!” Serenia cries, never feeling so desperate to have everyone believe something she can’t even believe herself. “A rejected mate is never given a second chance,” he says calmly to her. At his words, a pain stabs her deep in the chest, reminding her of the days she was writhing in agony in her bed from the rejection of the mate bond, her father never once visiting to check on her wellbeing. “Why don’t we have the future High Alpha and his entourage, join us for dinner
Serenia leaves Kai in the forest after once again turning down his offer to live with him – her one chance at a better life. With the brief interactions she has had with Kai in the short time they’ve met, she can already tell he would be ten times a better mate than Rune or any other male in this tribe ever would be. He is disgusted by the idea of multiple wives and fake mates and has treated Serenia with more respect and care than any other has ever given her. But that isn’t enough to make her turn her back on her mother. If she can’t go, Serenia doesn’t either. The goal is to get a better life for both through Serenia. Despite her resolved feelings, she can’t help but also feel torn and guilty for rejecting Kai. She had felt nothing but guilt from the moment they met for not being able to feel any sort of mate bond between them as he claims, but she also couldn’t feel the one between her and Rune. The only proof she has that she was in fact bonded to Rune was the blinding pain sh
“What the hell is wrong with him now?” Gunnar whispers to Niklas, slumped over against the wall of their guest quarters, and points to Kai in a similar position on the opposite wall.“What do you mean? He looks fine,” Niklas says and waves him off.“Fine my ass, the guy looks like he might break down any second, that’s not right.”Niklas sighs and looks toward Kai, frowning when he too sees how miserable he looks huddled against the wall.“What was the last thing he did before coming here?” he asks but Gunnar shrugs.“He left before the ceremony even finished, I’m not sure where he went after that, but I’m pretty sure he left the building at the very least.”Niklas rolls his eyes. “Great investigating skills. You were supposed to be keeping tabs on him, I told you he had been acting weird ever since we got here.”“Why am I on babysitting duty? I already have enough of that with Harbin back home.”Niklas shoves him away and gets up to walk over to Kai, crouching down to wave a hand in
Serenia’s last hour in her childhood house goes by in a blur. After the tense conversation with Kai and her father, she waits as Kai lets his awaiting members through the front door with one she recognizes as Kai introducing as the newly appointed Beta of the Wolfmane Tribe, Niklas, asking her where her stuff is. In a daze, she leads him toward the back of the house and to the basement door to her bedroom. She doesn’t pay attention to him the entire way down, only turning to see his enraged reaction once she enters her room. “Is everything all right?” she asks quietly. She is afraid to even move looking at his face. “No, everything is not all right. Is this how you’ve been living? For how long?” he asks, rather loudly compared to her mouse-like tone, his voice echoing off the concrete walls. Neutral disregard is the most she was expecting from this stranger, she doesn’t know how to react to his surprising surge of anger as he continues to look aroun
Serenia leads Kai to the edge of the forest behind the Alpha house, feeling most comfortable out here among the quiet stillness of the trees and the light push of the wind through her hair. “I apologize again for my behavior earlier. Had I known what you and your mother have been going through, I would have been more mindful of how irrationally I’ve been acting,” Kai says in a rushed voice. She stops and looks back at him with a curious and confused look. “How do you know of what my mother and I have gone through? Have you visited the Omega house recently?” she presses him. Kai holds up his hands and shakes his head. “I haven’t gone there since arriving here, I swear.” She gives him another curious glare but drops it anyway. “It’s no rumour in your tribe it seems, the way you and your mother are treated in that house. It is completely unheard of, but not illegal, for a high-ranking house to have more than one wife, let alone three. All me and my warriors did was ask around about
“All right, so slight change of plans,” Kai addresses their small group gathered on the forest edge. “Serenia is unable to travel in beast form, which means we won’t be able to take the same way that we took to come here.” “Going on foot will add at least a whole other day to our trip. Alpha Erik and the others are going to wonder if we’ve been delayed,” Gunnar calls out. “That’s why you’re going to go ahead and inform my father, Niklas and I will stay back and guard Serenia during the trip. Don’t worry, we’ve both made the journey enough times we know our way around. We shouldn’t be delayed by more than a day.” Kai can both see and feel the ashamed and nervous energy from Serenia, he can only imagine how guilty she feels for hindering the journey, though none of them find her at fault, telling her that will make no difference, he already knows. Therefore, he doesn’t want to make her feel any worse by voicing how much longer it will take.
Never has Serenia felt such an exhilarating sense of freedom as she has while riding on the back of Niklas’ massive wolf, rushing through the forest like they are being carried by the wind, floating at amazing speed. She never wants this feeling to end, she never wants to stop feeling so free. Is this what it’s like? Though I’m not on the ground, I can almost feel the pounding of the Earth beneath my feet, the rush of adrenaline as I’m launched forward with a powerful gust. I can go anywhere and everywhere my heart desires. This is what she has been missing out on while everyone else has been enjoying their freedom to shift and run wild like their kind are meant to do. She isn’t meant to be cooped up in this small and frail body, with limited abilities. She can barely see the trees as they blur by, the smells drifting by too fast for her to catch, she is completely blind to where she is and where she is going. If anything, she is mor
By the time night falls Kai has successfully gotten a fire going and captured a couple of small hares to cook for the night, letting Niklas and Gunnar run wild and catch their own dinner, a great excuse to leave him and Serenia alone for a little bit. Sitting by the fire and eating their shares of meat sticks, Kai is expecting Serenia to ask questions about what to expect when they finally reach Wolfmane territory to get an idea of what she is about to walk into. Instead, she sits and listens intently to the rather noisy forest scene, the birds never ceasing their chirping and in turn, bothering the bullfrogs commuting to the stream. She reminds him of a wide-eyed doe sitting in the middle of a meadow, opening her eyes and ears for the first time and experiencing the natural sounds of life. Kai thinks back to the few times he had entered the forest territory of the Raseri Tribe and doesn’t remember hearing many sounds if any sounds of birds or insects.