Page 24 of Traitor Wolf (Bonded by Fate Duet #1)

Chapter Seventeen

W hen we got back to the dormitory, everyone learned that one initiate didn’t make it out of the first trial, which brought our numbers to four.

Over a third of us were gone, just like that.

I knew which one it was. I’d watched his throat be ripped out after he tried to attack me.

The wolfkin who’d betrayed him, to protect me, had been given a traitor mark and sent home.

I still couldn’t fathom why she’d done it.

Didn’t she want to win the weapon her initiate held?

That night, I slept fitfully, haunted by dreams of holding Valkaryn alone before an oncoming wolfkin army. A sharp knock at the front door of the dormitory jolted me upright. I heard Kaelric shuffle down the hall, and I crept to my door to peer through the crack .

Kaelric was shirtless, all chiseled muscle and coiled tension, a blade already in his hand as he swung the door wide. Another wolfkin stood there, also shirtless and clearly roused from sleep.

“Moonbridge has fallen,” the wolfkin said quickly. “The raiding party was just leaving when they came upon Elia’s carriage.”

Elia.

Kaelric gripped the doorframe with his free hand. “Is she alive? She didn’t call out to me.”

“She’s alive,” the wolfkin confirmed. “But she was taken. They have an Elite with them who cast a shield over her. She can’t contact us, but one of my men saw it happen. He’s following the carriage at a safe distance. They’re heading towards Grimreach.”

Kaelric’s entire demeanor changed. “Fetch the Elite named Cassian. He should be outside standing guard. Be ready to leave in ten minutes. We’re going after her.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Time froze. The whole room felt like it tilted on its axis.

Alpha.

Kaelric was the alpha of the wolfkin.

I stepped into the living room, my breath catching in my throat. Suddenly, everything made sense. The way the others bowed their heads to him. The way he could speak into everyone’s mind. Why he wanted Valkaryn so badly.

He was the alpha of one of the two packs in Fenmyr.

Kaelric turned, unsurprised to see me standing there. He brushed past me and went to his room, setting his blade down.

I followed, stunned.

He wasn’t packing. No shirt, no boots. Just raw determination.

“You’re going to run to Fenmyr? It’ll take all night,” I said, knowing it was nearly sixty miles away. Why didn’t he take a train?

“Half the night,” he said gruffly. “I’m faster than you think.”

He strode past me into the kitchen, poured a massive glass of water, and downed it in one go.

“I want to come with you. Elia helped my family when my mother was sick. I want to return the favor.”

“No,” he said firmly, setting the glass down.

I crossed my arms. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. I’ll take a train and meet you there. You’re not my alpha.”

The look he gave me was molten heat and steel. It made my insides twist.

“You’re magicless. And you barely know how to wield a blade, let alone the power Valkaryn carries. You’re too weak. Stay and train with Cassian, and I’ll be back in a few days.”

Weak?

Fury roared in my chest. “How do you know I don’t know how to use her power?”

I yanked Valkaryn from my hip, savoring the chill in the air as the blade cleared its sheath.

He met my gaze with something close to sorrow. “Because in the trial, she didn’t help you. Not once. Without me, you would’ve died. That means you’re not ready. I can’t go after two people. Stay here.”

The final two words hit me like a blow.

Stay here.

I gasped, anger and shame battling inside me. Weak?

But he was right, Valkaryn hadn’t helped me. Not even once.

Why?

'I know what I’m doing,' Valkaryn whispered in my mind, but I was too hurt to reply.

Cassian appeared then, looking groggy but awake. I imagined these night shifts were taking their toll on him. Kaelric didn’t wait another second. He mumbled something to Cassian, and then he was gone.

“Kaelric had a family emergency,” Cassian said with a yawn. “Get some rest. We’ll train in the morning.”

I nodded and returned to my room, but instead of lying down, I stared out the window, gripping Valkaryn.

The jerk called me weak. I’d prove him wrong.