Page 32 of Traitor Wolf (Bonded by Fate Duet #1)

“A way out,” he said. “The war in Fenmyr is still active, but the western territories remain untouched. My mother’s home village of Hildreth is hidden in the glens, protected by mountain passes and a pack that is loyal to me.

It’s not luxurious, but it’s safe. And it’s theirs, if they want it. ” He motioned to my people.

My jaw unhinged. Move to Fenmyr? The entire population of the Dregs? But we weren’t wolfkin.

He looked out over the burned valley. “I’ve secured passage for all of them. Food and temporary shelter until they can rebuild on our land—and of course protection.”

I didn’t speak for a long moment, swallowing down the sob that kept trying to creep up my throat. The wind caught the hem of my cloak, carrying with it the smell of soot and something new. Hope ?

“There’s war going on in Fenmyr?” I asked quietly.

Kaelric nodded. “Yes. But your people will be protected as if they were my own.”

I didn’t know much about wolfkin war, and he didn’t offer any more explanation. But… possible war was better than what my people had now, which was nothing.

The Dregs had always been a place no one else wanted to look at. Now Kaelric, the traitor wolf, was offering my people a way out. A place to rebuild. Food and protection.

“Is there enough? For everyone?” I asked.

He nodded. “Hildreth has the richest soil in the realm, with a year-round growing climate. Sugar snap peas, pumpkins, and berries grow wild on the roads. We have acres and acres of open flat land for building, and thousands of trees. Each family would have to build their own home, but the tools, the supplies, and help would all be given to them.”

This time, the sob did escape me, and I spun around so that he wouldn’t see it. I remembered his words then, right before he’d kissed me, when he’d said he had wanted to grow wings and fly me away so I would never cry again.

I heard him step closer and felt his warmth at my back, not touching me but close enough that I felt his heat. “I’m sorry you had to just see your childhood home burn down. If I could take this pain from you, I would.”

He thought I was crying because I missed my home. No. I was crying because he was doing more for my people than Aerlyn ever would.

“What about jobs? How will they earn a living?” I asked, my back still to him.

“Every citizen of Fenmyr is assigned a community job at age seventeen. We don’t use coin.

You work in your assigned job, and everything in the community is shared with each other.

If you don’t like your job, you can apply for a change every year.

There are no taxes. As the alpha, I make sure everyone is provided for. ”

I swallowed hard, having to fight down another sob. No taxes, no coin, guaranteed jobs. Only having to work at age seventeen instead of twelve. Everything shared. It sounded like a dream.

“Tell them,” he said. “Let me know their decision. The train leaves in an hour. They can keep the supplies either way.”

My heart was overwhelmed with gratitude, and I nodded, wiping at my eyes.

Over the next hour, Kaelric’s men handed out supplies.

Each family got a large canvas tent, blankets, building tools, food, and water.

After that, my mother and I split up and went around telling them about Hildreth.

We told them about Kaelric’s promise that they could live in Fenmyr until we figured out something long-term.

Or maybe that was the long-term. I wasn’t sure how we could ever come back from this without Aerlyn’s help and the Elites that ran it.

We told our people there was a war going on there, but that Hildreth was far removed from it.

We told them it had plenty of food and trees for wood, and we could build homes there.

Real homes. One by one, they murmured to each other, and when the answers rolled in, they said yes .

Desperation didn’t leave room for doubt.

For most of them, it wasn’t just a better option; it was the only one.

After hugging my family tightly, I said goodbye to them as they got onto the train headed for a part of Fenmyr I had never been to or heard of.

I stood on the cracked stone platform, arms wrapped tight around my middle as my people, my family, boarded the train bound for Hildreth. They moved in quiet lines, clutching bundles of salvaged belongings and supplies the wolfkin had handed out just moments ago.

The children were the only ones not quiet. They ran in tired circles, giggling despite the smoke, despite the unknown. I watched my little brother, Finn, hoist his stick into the air, waving it at me through the train’s glass window.

Tyrus was the last to board. After hugging me, he met my eyes and nodded, like we understood each other now in a way we hadn’t before. As the next eldest, it was on him to make sure our mother and siblings settled into this new life.

Because I might not be alive this time tomorrow.

Kaelric stood near the engine car, arms folded, speaking quietly with the male wolfkin who seemed in charge. He’d done what I never could. He saved them, all of them. It caused my puppy love for him to grow into something deeper. Something that scared me. I needed Kaelric Morvain like I needed air.

The whistle shrieked, and Kaelric stepped back.

The train lurched forward, and I stood there as everything I’d ever known vanished into the smoke.

I turned from the soot-stained platform and came face to face with the alpha wolfkin. We were alone, just us, the smoke and the open fields and the weariness of a night not slept.

“Why?” I asked him.

He swallowed hard, meeting my gaze and holding it. “We have to go, Brynn. The train for the Steel Mountains will be leaving Aerlyn soon.” He moved to step away, but I stepped right in front of him and blocked his path.

“Why?” I pressed, harder this time, angry.

“Why what?” His voice held a tenderness that thawed my irritation .

“Why did you help them? Agree to house hundreds of people you don’t know and can’t possibly care that much about.”

He had to have mentally hailed those wolves right when the fire started.

They’d gotten supplies, the train, and ridden through the night while we were fishing bodies out of the rubble.

While we were saving my family, he was already planning for their future.

It wasn’t normal. He didn’t know them. I wanted to know why.

He swallowed hard. “Because you care about them.”

My heart shattered. I wanted him to pull me into his arms and kiss me.

“Why do you care about what I care about?” I asked. I needed to hear him say it. The one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about since Valkaryn had mentioned it. Since he kissed me.

His eyes went yellow. Stepping forward, he cupped my jaw in his hands, running a thumb over my lips. “Because you’re my mate.”

I gasped. That word. Mate . The reason he couldn’t eat first in my presence, the reason he was so possessive around Cassian. The reason for so many things. It was true.

“How can I be your mate if you’re not supposed to be with humans? ”

His gaze fell on my lips. “I don’t know. A mistake.”

This wasn’t a mistake.

“Then how can you be sure I am your mate if it’s a mistake?” I pressed.

He chuckled. “A male wolf, an alpha at that, knows when he meets his mate. I knew the second you walked into the binding arena. I could smell it on you, see it in you. I knew…” He growled. “…you were mine .”

My mother had trained me to stay away from possessive guys, but this was possession I wanted to lean into, because hearing Kaelric call me his mate made everything inside of me feel right.

I grinned, but he wasn’t smiling back. Why wasn’t he smiling back?

“I want to be your mate. I want to be yours ,” I told him, leaning into him so that our bodies were touching.

My words seemed to have an effect on him. His gaze went to my lips and then back up to my eyes. “It’s complicated, Brynn, and we have to go now.”

“I’m not a child. I can handle complicated. Tell me. Tell me why you look like the only thing in the world you want to do is kiss me, but you won’t.”

He swallowed hard, releasing my face and stepping away from me.

His gaze went to my sword. “It’s?—”

“Don’t say complicated!” I crossed my arms and cocked my hip. “I’m your mate. You said so yourself. Can’t you trust me with the truth?”

He exhaled. “Fine. You want the truth?” He pointed to my blade.

“Valkaryn was my mother. The king she loved, my father . In one night, they were both killed, along with all of my siblings, and my people were taken hostage by a rogue alpha. I’ve been waiting years to reclaim my throne, to get justice for what was taken from my family, but I cannot do it without that , the Alpha Killer. ”

I stumbled backward, in shock at his truth. He was the son of the king from the story Elia told my siblings?

“And as an alpha from a royal bloodline, I cannot rule without children. Heirs . I cannot have offspring with a human. So just forget about whatever this is between us, okay? It must be a mistake.” He turned and walked away, but I stalked after him.

“Mistake?” I ripped his shoulder backward so that he was forced to face me.

His eyes were glowing yellow.

“I don’t know much about wolfkin, but I know they mate for life. I know their mate bonds are chosen by the Creator himself. Are you saying the Creator made a mistake?”

“Maybe,” he pressed, “the reason my wolf bit you so hard during the binding was because of that. He was afraid of not bonding properly. An alpha submitting is unheard of. It took everything we had. Maybe that went wrong and?—”

“But you submitted before. Five years ago, in the trial.” When he betrayed his sponsor to save that girl. It felt good to know that the reason he broke my arm was a mistake.

Kaelric shook his head. “I wasn’t alpha then. I was seventeen. I became alpha the following year.”

A train whistled off in Aerlyn, and Kaelric cursed. With one motion, he yanked my arm, and then we were both running.

There was no time for this conversation.

How convenient. And probably for the best, because I was angry with him.

You didn’t tell a woman she was your mate, but that you didn’t want her because she couldn’t have your children.

It was rude! I wanted to throat punch him, but I was too busy running to catch the train.

Valkaryn slammed against my back with each step, and I was suddenly angry at her, too. ‘You didn’t tell me he was your son,’ I chided her.

‘You didn’t ask.’ Her response was cheeky, and I wasn’t having it.

‘It was his story to tell,’ she said finally. ‘His pain to share.’

That dusted off my anger. It did sound painful to have your crown stolen from you and your parents killed. Siblings. Your mother’s soul bound in a centuries-old sword. It was awful.

We cleared the opening in the gate, and I boarded the train in silence, Valkaryn slung across my back like a second spine. The train car felt cold and empty as the door hissed shut behind me.

The next trial was about to begin, and my life was a mess.