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Morlie wouldn’t tell her sister how she’d been attacked or how she was being trained to fight for her place beside her mate.

Before she had gone to live with the Lupine, she would have sought out her sister and asked her for her help or guidance in handling the coming violent situation, but now, Morlie knew she was not the young girl her sister had to protect.

She was now a wolf, growing resilient and more confident in her abilities.

“She is adjusting well. I’m proud of my mate.” Chanin curled his arm around Morlie’s waist and pulled her closer. “And it's good to see you again without a broad sword at my throat.” Chanin teased, reminding them all of the day on the meeting grounds.

Chanin and Kai laughed. Morlie rolled her eyes.

“My baby sister is fierce and amazing. I pity anyone who underestimates her, " Kai said, holding her gaze.

Morlie’s heart swelled as she saw the pride reflecting in Kai’s gaze. It felt good to hear her sister’s praise.

“Can we talk here?” Morlie glanced around. Even though there was a crowd of people, Morlie was surprised to notice that others were talking amongst themselves as if they were waiting on something but not paying the two sisters much attention. “Speak about our Drahk connection?”

“Yes. Yes.” Kai rushed on, “There is so much I need to tell you.”

“How long have you known? Did you hide this from me while I was here?” Morlie’s chest tightened to think this was one more thing Kai had thought her too young and fragile to handle. “Is this why you brought us beyond the Wall... to come here?”

It’s alright, mate. Chanin’s supportive voice in her mind caused warmth to spread through her body.

“No. Not at all.” Her sister reached for her hand and then squeezed it.

“I only found out this information this morning. Coming to the Drahk territory happened purely by chance when Aodh’s dragon was drawn to me.

” A small smile curled the corners of Kai’s mouth.

“Anyway, I was trying to discover the origin of these rings.” Kai lifted her free hand and showed the gold band around her thumb, their father’s ring.

Morlie lifted a hand to the match hanging on the leather string around her neck. “We know they came from our parents. Why were you searching for more answers?”

It wasn’t making sense to Morlie.

“There’s a reason I not only kept them when our parents passed but could never sell them, even when your health was failing. Suffice it to say that I discovered that the gold is a special kind.” Kai released her hand but remained close.

“Special?” Morlie arched a brow at her sister. “What do you mean?”

“They’re dragon’s gold.” When Morlie began to question her, Kai held up a hand. “I don’t know tons about it. Just that they were blessed and bonded by a Mage.”

“Blessed...bonded...what?” Morlie stared at her sister as her mind attempted to understand Kai.

“Yes. By a spiritual leader like Apophis. He’s only a quarter Mage and therefore only has access to a fraction of the Mage power that sealed the promise on these rings.” Kai aimed her ring at Morlie’s makeshift necklace.

“The rings are a sealed promise?” Morlie frowned. “Of what?”

“Love. Commitment. But mostly dedicating of the firstborn female child as a mate to a Drahk.”

Morlie’s brow had gone so tight her head was starting to ache. Only the firstborn?

“How? Why, Kai?”

Kai inhaled. “Drago.” Kai pointed toward the pile of cooling ash in the clearing and then toward the sky. “He was our great-great-great uncle.”

Morlie started to interject, but Kai’s hand forestalled her.

“Simply put, our great-great-great-grandmother Jaseena fell in love with a Drahk male. They were forbidden to be together, but Draig, Drago’s brother, was in line to be Mckenna before he passed in a terrible war.

He refused to give Jaseena up and claimed her as his mate.

There was a wedding because her human father wanted to ensure their union was blessed under the eyes of God.

However, from what I heard, Mages can be tricky, and the one back then, generations ago, not only blessed their union but set a spell on the rings that would forever bind our lineage to the Drahks,” Kai recounted.

Behind her sister, a lot of movement seemed to be happening, but Morlie ignored it as she attempted to understand his sister's words. Morlie ran a hand through her short curls. “This doesn’t make any sense. Why hasn’t there been another mate pair through the previous generations?”

“Think about it, Morlie. From what Dad told us of his family, his side only has birthed males for as far back as he could recall until us.”

“So, the promise lay dormant until you. The firstborn female in generations.” It was Chanin who finished putting the pieces together. “That’s why it didn’t matter that you were not marked like Morlie.”

It all clicked for Morlie as well. “And how the mark placed on me at the health center brought out my wolf gene, which most likely I received from our mother.”

Everything became more apparent as Morlie realized during the ceremony that the Drahks had not been slighting her when they didn’t acknowledge her as a relative to Drago. For them, just like the Lupine, the shifter link was the level that mattered most . I’m an over-sensitive fool.

Never . Chanin growled. You care deeply for the people that are yours, as I know you will grow to feel the same way about the Lupine, as their Alpha she-wolf.

Morlie’s throat tightened at his words.

Kai exhaled, and her shoulders sagged as if she had been carrying a weight on them. “Exactly.”

Morlie nodded. Once again, she touched the smaller of the two rings, which rested on her chest. “I guess I should give this back to you. I feel like you are the rightful owner of the set.”

When Morlie started lifting it from her neck, Kai softly touched her wrist, stilling her movements. “No. You deserved something to remember them as well.”

“Besides, she will not need it.” Aodh’s broad-shouldered form stepped beside Kai.

Morlie watched her sister’s face light up as Kai turned and looked up at Aodh. Kai’s love for the massive man radiated along her face.

“Because I have you and our offspring.” Kai leaned into him as she rubbed her swollen belly.

“And because you will be wearing my ring by the end of tonight.”

It was as if Morlie was watching her brilliant sister’s brain short circuit as Kai stood there staring at her mate.

Morlie had heard Aodh’s words, too, and was trying to figure out his meaning.

However, she could see what Kai could not: Tana stood a few feet behind Kai, holding a strip of lace and flowers similar to a photo she’d seen of an old-style wedding veil, with Eilidh beside Tana holding a bunch of wildflowers. Morlie smiled at her old friend.

“What do you mean?”

“I asked Chanin to bring your sister to our territory to stand with you because I’m marrying you tonight.”

“What?” the word came out of Kai’s mouth with the weight of a piece of paper drifting to the ground.

If Morlie weren’t a shifter, she wouldn’t have heard it.

Aodh held Kai’s waist and pulled her close as he stared down at her. “You have lost so much today, little flame. All your family, besides Morlie, once again. I want to give you what Draig willingly gave Jaseena...a bond between Drahk and human for eternity.”