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Chapter Thirty-One

AUTUMN

T hree red roses bloom from the cave floor and widen until they crumble to ash and fall in particles to the floor.

“Good! That was great control.” A soft pat on the back is all Onai gives me. She has been careful to separate her training persona from her friendly one. It helps me focus as well, and I’ll never be able to repay her for everything she has done for me.

“I had a great trainer.” I wink over at her.

“The best.” She shrugs. “You don’t seem to be as distracted today.”

“Well, there is a lot less sexual tension now. Maybe I’ve learned to adapt to the emotions the bond brings. They don’t affect me as much.”

“And have you thought any more about the Joining?”

“I let Renall mark me, but I still have my reservations about the Joining or what it will mean for me. Do you have any doubts about yours someday?”

“No, this is all I know. This is what is expected of me.” She shrugs again, looking into the distance. “Sometimes I worry that I won’t find a wolf that could ever compare to my father. I worry that he won’t see anyone as good enough unless a mating bond confirms it.”

“How will you know if Trefaun is your true mate?”

“Well, I won’t know until I turn eighteen and see if a bond forms. But if nothing does click, I can make my own choice.”

“What if your mating bond forms later? Then what?”

“I mean, what are the odds, Autumn? All the wolves I know are here in this cave. If my mate is not here, I will never find him. So if no mating bonds form when I turn eighteen next year, I will mate with Trefaun.”

“Renall said I was his true Guardian. He said speaking telepathically before the Joining is a good sign that we have a strong bond.”

“I agree with him, my parents are the only other people I know who can speak telepathically through the bond.”

“Oh, I didn’t know they had that ability.”

“Sometimes I wish they didn’t, believe me.” Onai’s eyes widen as she shakes her head. “But I can only hope to have a bond like my parents one day whether it be with Trefaun or someone else.”

“I’m glad I stayed then. I thought Renall would be able to mate with another Guardian if I had left, but I see how ridiculous that sounds now.”

Onai scoffs, picking at a string on her yellow dress. “We were all really surprised he got a new Guardian.”

“Why?”

“Well, most wolves think he doesn’t deserve a Guardian after what he did,” she mindlessly states, ripping at the string.

“What did he do?” I ask tentatively.

“Oh my,” she pauses, blinking many times and realizing she made a mistake. “I said too much, it’s not my place.”

“Please, Onai, I’m sleeping in his bed—if there is something I should know about him–”

She looks at me for a long moment. I think she will deny me again, but she lowers her eyes and says, “It was just a rumor, but it’s been mentioned a lot … especially now with the trial bringing it back up …”

“Yes …”

“The rumor is that …”

“Yes, spit it out.”

“The rumor is that he killed his last Guardian,” Onai confesses, covering her mouth afterward.

“What?” I gasp. “I think I heard you wrong, murder? I’m Guardian to a Guardian murderer? Aren’t there laws about that—I mean, Guardians are precious to you guys, right?”

“It’s never been proven; a private trial was inconclusive, but word around the cave is it’s been silenced because Renall and father are close friends. It’s another mark of contention, that’s why this trial had to be public, father got a lot of backlash for the last private trial for Renall. His power is being questioned.”

“I see.” I’m questioning a lot more than Zev’s power. Renall has never been anything but nice to me, and yet everyone believes he was responsible for the death of his previous Guardian. Did he kill her to get a new more powerful one? If so, is he going to do that to me?

No, we can't possibly be talking about the same man. The man who risked his life to save me and guide me here.

“How …” I swallow. “How did Cora die?”

“She fell off the cliff outside, the one where the wolves gather on a full moon.”

“Fell? How is that a murder?”

“Her affinity was earth. She had to be incapacitated not to save herself.”

“Oh.” Unconscious and being thrown off the cliff to her death does sound like murder to me. Is that something Renall is capable of? If not, why hasn’t he brought this up before? You would think he would be worried this would come out.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you. It’s just a rumor. I mean, something else could have happened. No one knows for sure.”

“No, no, I’m glad you told me.” I’d rather know the truth, ugly bits and all.

“After all, I don’t know what was said in the trial with my parents. I don’t know all the details,” she continues.

“It’s okay, Onai, I needed to know. I have a lot of thinking to do, and I’m going to need all the facts.”

“I just hate seeing you like this.” She places a hand on my arm. “You were just so happy, and now I ruined it with my big mouth. I should have just kept it shut like my Mother told me to do.”

“This is not your fault.” I place my hand over hers. “Hush now, we both know I would have found this out sooner or later.”

“Yeah …” her voice trails off. But her downcast eyes tell me she doubts that.

“I just need to decide if this is the type of information that is going to make or break us.” I bite my lip, staring off into the wall.

One thing is for certain, Renall of Warrior Clan is the first man to win my heart and subsequently break it.