Page 15

A lina

“He slept on your porch?” Zahra gasps.

“Yep.”

“The whole night?”

“I can only assume so.” I shrug, taking a sip of the herbal tea I prepared for us. “Noah nearly stepped on him when he opened the door to run out to the bus.”

Zahra snorts. “What did he say?”

“Who? Noah?”

“No, Rowan!”

I gaze out the kitchen windows. Now, in the soft golden light of late afternoon, Rowan is nowhere to be seen. I know he’s not parked down the road and patrolling the property either, because otherwise I’d smell him.

“Nothing,” I answer Zahra. “He stayed in his wolf form. Stood right next to Noah like an obedient hound until the bus came. Then he ran off into the woods, and I hopped in the shower. By the time I was done, his truck was gone. Haven’t seen him since. ”

“Weird.”

“I know.”

Zahra adjusts in the rickety chair across the table from me.

Today, we’re experiencing the extremely rare event where we both have a day off at the same time.

And since Noah will be going directly to a friend’s house for a sleepover after school, I don’t have a whole lot going on today, so I invited Zahra over.

Also, I know it’s time to tell her the truth. She helped me through the worst period of my life; I’m sure she’ll have some good advice for me now.

My best friend crosses her arms and observes me quietly for a long moment.

“It doesn’t really sound like the behavior of an Alpha who has rejected his Mate.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s only because Noah exists that he’s even here in the first place. He doesn’t care about me.”

Whatever attraction he feels for me as a result of the Mating bond is on a purely physical level. His desire to get me naked is the result of a biological instinct, not because he loves me. It’s the only thing I can believe.

Because if Rowan really loved me, he’d find a way to overcome his fear of the prophecy.

Zahra quirks an eyebrow at me. “That’s not true.”

“It is.”

“I just don’t get it. The chemistry between the two of you is off the charts. It’s not just Mates. It’s the bond between an Alpha and his Luna. You’re literally meant to be, Lina.”

Her words cause me to flinch. There’s no physical pain associated with them, but the emotional ache in my chest throbs like a real injury.

Zahra is saying exactly what I wish could be true. Deep down, despite how long I’ve spent hating Rowan for rejecting me, the wolf within me has always yearned to have the bond repaired.

“It’s not that easy,” I tell her. “In fact, it’s extremely complicated.”

“Okay, fine. Why is it complicated? Explain it to me like I’m five.”

I don’t even bat an eye at Zahra’s attitude. I’m used to it.

“You know how the Greenbriars are extremely…traditional?”

“I guess so. ”

“They cling to the old ways. That includes listening to the guidance of our wise woman, Kseniya,” I continue.

Zahra nods thoughtfully. “Right. Very old school. Mystical, magical nonsense.”

“Well, it’s not nonsense to the Greenbriar pack. And, honestly, I don’t think it’s nonsense in general. Kseniya has never been wrong before. Nor have her ancestors. She foresaw my parents’ deaths, after all.”

Instantly, the sarcastic humor slips out of Zahra’s expression. “Seriously?”

“I mean, she foresaw that they would meet their demise when they least expect it. That’s the problem.

The prophecies are usually pretty vague.

My parents were on guard all the time because of it, though.

They thought that if they constantly expected to confront their own doom, then it would never happen. ”

“Sounds exhausting.”

“And useless. They were ambushed by Samson Blackburn on a regular patrol just outside the border near the western mountains. They didn’t expect the Blackburns to be there because they didn’t expect anyone to be there.

And that’s when it happened. Kseniya’s prophecy came true, and I was orphaned all in the span of one hour. ”

Zahra leans forward across the table, placing her hand on top of mine for a moment. “I’m really sorry, Alina.”

I force myself to smile breezily. “It was a long time ago.”

“Lina…”

“Anyway,” I barrel on. “She’s always right.”

“So, what? There’s a prophecy about you?”

“Technically, it’s about Rowan. She spoke it aloud upon his birth, when I didn’t even exist yet.”

Zahra cocks her head to the side. Bracing myself, I recite the prophecy out loud for her, word for word.

“‘Ruin him’?” she echoes when I’m done.

“Yep.”

“But that could mean anything!”

“Yep. ”

“It could mean you’ll kill him or cause his death, of course, but it could also mean a thousand different things.”

“Yep.”

“So, the Greenbriars found out that you were the one who was destined to ruin their precious Alpha and banished you?”

I bite my lip. “Not quite. I ran.”

“You…?”

“It all happened very fast.” I frown down at the tea leaves muddied at the bottom of my cup. “We hooked up, the bond clicked into place, Rowan rejected me, and I was gone before the sun could rise.”

“You didn’t even wait around to see how the pack would react?”

“Why would I do that, Z? I already knew. Kseniya’s word is truth. I could never stand beside Rowan as his Mate as long as everyone in the pack believed that I would be his downfall.”

Zahra furrows her brow. “That’s bullshit. The old woman could be wrong. There’s a first time for everything.”

“Yeah, well…that’s just the way it is.”

“Rowan is an Alpha,” she argues, clenching the hand that was resting on mine into a fist and lightly bringing it down onto the table. “He’s going to be king of the pack! An ancient, powerful pack! Why would he bow to the nonsense claims of a random, senile woman?”

I deflate, letting Zahra’s righteous anger on my behalf wash over me.

She doesn’t get it. I’d hoped she’d understand, or at least try to, but I also know how unique Greenbriar customs can be.

We are one of just a few remaining packs that descend directly from the ancient original shifters, and that comes with certain qualities that other packs, like the Whiteroses, don’t share.

Deep down, though, I agree with Zahra. Kseniya isn’t exactly my favorite person.

Never mind that I can count on one hand the number of interactions I’ve had with her before.

She’s the one who foretold my parent’s doom, and she’s also the reason that I am doomed to live a life of unhappiness separated from my Mate.

How does she sleep at night, knowing that she has brought so much doom and gloom to people?

Zahra is shaking her head. “Fuck him, then. Fuck Rowan. He’s a coward if he’s letting something that insignificant—”

“It’s not insignificant, though. ”

“So, you’re telling me you also believe in this bullshit prophecy?”

I glare at her. “How can I not? My parents are proof that her words have legitimacy.”

“But Lina, that’s—”

Before she can finish her sentence, there’s a loud pounding on the front door. Both of us jump at the sudden banging sound, twisting to face the entryway with twin expressions of shock.

“Alina!” calls Rowan from the other side.

Blinking in surprise, I glance out the window. Rowan’s truck isn’t in the driveway, and I hadn’t been expecting him to stop by, at the very least, until it got dark again.

He bangs on the door again. “Alina, are you okay?”

There’s a wild urgency in his voice. Something akin to panic. I jolt upright, rising to my feet to go answer the door. Zahra remains where she is, knowing better than to get in the way when there’s a frantic, demanding Alpha nearby.

Before I can even reach the door, however, it’s flung open.

Rowan barges inside, eyes dark and wide.

His gaze sweeps the entryway quickly, then lands on me.

He steps forward, grabbing my shoulders to hold me in place.

I freeze, gaping at him as he does a quick perusal of me to ensure that I’m still in one piece.

His scent almost stings my nose from how much anxiety tinges it.

“What’s going on?” I ask. “Everything’s fine, Rowan. I’m fine.”

When his Alpha instincts confirm that I am, indeed, completely and totally fine, he lets go of me and steps around me, letting the door slam shut behind him.

He sees Zahra, who is very good at reading a situation. She makes herself as small as possible, lowering her eyes to the floor as the Greenbriar Alpha prince stalks toward her.

Rowan must sense that she’s not a threat in the span of just a few seconds, though, because he halts in the middle of the kitchen and turns back to me.

“Where is Noah?”

I furrow my brow. “What do you mean?”

“Where. Is. My. Son.”

“At school, for fuck’s sake! ”

“It’s four in the afternoon, Alina. School is over.”

I throw my hands up in exasperation. “Then he’s at his friend’s house already! He’s having a sleepover.”

Rowan’s expression darkens. “You’re letting the Greenbriar heir sleep under a foreign pack member’s roof?”

I scoff. “Um…yes? It’s just Susie Canan’s boys, Zack and Cameron. They’re good friends with Noah. He goes over there often.”

“Where do they live?”

He can’t be serious. Kids have slumber parties all the time. Especially nine-year-old boys. The worst that will happen is that they’ll stay up until two in the morning playing video games and probably drink too much Mountain Dew. It’s hardly the end of the world.

“Why do you look so freaked out, Rowan? Where’s the fire?”

His chest is heaving from how hard he’s breathing.

Did he run all the way here from Greenbriar territory?

He does look pretty disheveled. And now that I’m getting a close look at him, there is a streak of dirt on his face and a stray, damp leaf sticking out of his collar.

The smell of the forest clings to him, and the electric, wolfish glimmer in his gaze confirms that he’s spent most of the day in his other form.

The room shrinks around us as realization strikes me.

Rowan isn’t just freaked out right now. He’s on the war path.