Page 7 of Traitor Wolf (Bonded by Fate Duet #1)

That’s when they attacked. I watched as a small pack of three gray wolves broke away and pounced on the white wolf.

They moved so fast, I could barely track them.

Snarling, snapping of teeth, chunks of fur and blood flew as the four wolves tangled together.

The weirdest part? The other wolves stood frozen, heads bowed as if in reverent honor.

A howl rent the air, and then the white wolf broke away from the fight with two of the gray wolves dead at his feet and another slinking away, limping.

I stood and clenched my fist, holding my left arm out to the white wolf as the others had; my knees shook with fear. Being bitten by a wolf was not something I looked forward to.

“He has a traitor mark!” Cassian shouted. “Don’t bond him.”

What?

I frowned, peering back at the wolf just as it leapt into the air toward me.

There, on its chest, was a branded burn mark in the shape of an X.

I didn’t know a lot about the trials, but I knew what a traitor mark was.

It was rare—in fact, it never happened. When a wolf bonded with a human in the trials, then left them for dead halfway through and didn’t protect them as promised, they were traitor marked.

This wolf had previously bonded with a human and didn’t protect them as promised, probably causing the human to die.

I moved to yank my arm back, but it was too late.

His jaw clamped down across my arm, and he bit down. Hard .

A scream ripped from my lungs as a searing pain flared to life across my skin. I felt something invade my mind, like a presence that was familiar, but also foreign, because it was not my own.

‘That weapon is mine,’ a male voice spoke into my mind, and I gasped.

My head snapped to the wolf as he held my flesh in his mouth. I locked eyes with him, unprepared to hear another in my own head. I’d heard rumors of such things but thought it was a myth. His glowing yellow eyes seared into me as if seeing my whole soul. I felt raw, exposed, consumed.

I gripped the King Killer tighter, and it flashed golden as if in defiance of him.

‘Not right now, it’s not,’ I countered, speaking into my own mind and wondering if he heard.

A snarl reverberated into my skull as I felt a dominating presence press down on me. My knees buckled, but I pushed against it, knowing it was him.

‘You want this weapon?’ I cocked my head, holding his gaze. ‘Then you’ll have to fight by my side, protecting me, and help me win this trial. Or is that too hard for a traitor wolf?’

He bit down then, harder, until I heard my bone snap.

An animalistic wail left my lips. It sounded so foreign, I didn’t recognize it as my own.

Searing hot pain throbbed in my arm, but I didn’t break his gaze.

Something about this wolf, his dominance sliding over my skin, felt ancient, powerful.

I instinctively knew I shouldn’t break his gaze, that if I did, we wouldn’t bond, he wouldn’t submit.

But the bastard just broke my arm, of that I was sure.

I moved the arm holding the King Killer until the tip was pressed against his neck, deep into his fur.

‘If you ever hurt me like that again, I’ll take your head,’ I promised him .

He immediately released my arm and bowed, submitting.

Gasps of shock surrounded me, and even I was taken aback. That was easy… I mean, not at first, but as soon as I threatened him with the weapon, he submitted.

I stared at the sword in my hand, and the glowing stopped.

The crowd erupted into chatter, and I tried not to listen to them, but it was impossible.

King Killer.

Traitor wolf.

She’s magicless, so how did that weapon choose her?

The wolf submitted to her.

The others bowed to him.

Traitor.

He’ll abandon her.

She’ll die in the first trial, King Killer or not.

She’s magicless.

A rat from the Dregs.

This will be fun.

Entertainment.

I’ll put money on her death.

I swallowed hard and peered down at the wolf beside me.

He wasn’t staring at me, though. He was looking at the sword in my hands as if looking at a long-lost lover, my blood dripping from his mouth.

All of a sudden, Cassian was there, ushering me and my wolf away so that the next contestants could have a turn.

Even Corvessa was speechless.

When I got back to the little locker room, Cassian and the wolf followed me inside.

I set the blade in the corner and sat down on the bench, my bleeding arm throbbing as the pain radiated up to my shoulder.

“I… that… no words,” Cassian said, looking at the sword, and then from the white wolf and back to me.

The wolf glanced at the sword as well, then back at me reluctantly. He padded over to me, and I growled.

“Stay away from me.” My arm was broken because of him; he’d gone too far. None of the other contestants’ wolves seemed to bite them that hard. He nearly snapped my arm right off!

‘I can’t heal you with my mind,’ he countered, and then began to shift.

One second, I was looking at the white fur of his wolf, and the next, it smoothed to tan skin, arms emerged, then legs, then his face.

His obsidian-black hair reminded me of a midnight sky.

It spilled down his shoulders in damp waves.

A few strands clung to his sharp cheekbones, framing eyes so intensely green they made my breath catch.

Not soft green—no, these were feral, vivid, the kind of green that warned predators not to come closer, even as they pulled you in.

I was surprised to see that he was fully clothed in gray breeches and a tan tunic, with leather strips at his wrists. I knew the wolfkin had human forms, but I hadn’t known they could look this good.

He was the most handsome man I’d ever laid eyes on.

And I hated him.

“Don’t touch me,” I snarled as he moved closer.

He tossed a glance at Cassian. “I have healer magic.”

Cassian raised an eyebrow. “Really? That’s rare for a wolfkin.”

The guy with the dark hair looked annoyed. “Yes, really. But I need her to stay still. Will you help me pin her down?”

Jumping up from the seat and grabbing my sword, I pointed it right at him.

“Pin me down and lose your balls,” I spat.

Cassian grinned, and the wolfkin’s eyes flashed yellow, though he looked impressed.

“One cut from that blade and more than my balls would be gone,” he assured me. “Do you even know how to use it? What it does? No? I do. So we’re going to work together. And you can’t win this thing with a broken arm.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I know, because you broke it!” I snapped.

Cassian cleared his throat. “I’m going to go get a healer friend of mine. You two need to work out your differences, because you’re supposed to be a team.”

“I’d rather be teammates with a rabid raccoon,” I stated as Cassian slipped out of the room, leaving me with the handsome jerk who was looking at me like I was a stain on his shoe.

“I want that weapon, so I’m going to help you win,” the wolfkin stated.

I rolled my eyes, pointing the tip of the weapon at the X mark peeking out from under his tunic. “Says the man wearing a traitor mark.”

Anger lit up his face, and he moved forward, pressing the sword into his skin so that I had to retract my hand or cut him. “Don’t speak of things you know nothing about,” he barely managed through clenched teeth.

There was something under the anger. Hurt . I swallowed my retort.

“You chose me, pal. Last time I checked, you were supposed to protect me.”

He reeled back as if I’d slapped him .

I lowered the sword, wincing at the pain in my arm, which was becoming too much, and the wolfkin sighed.

“Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot here. Let’s start over. I’m Kaelric, your sworn protector.” He held out his hand as if to shake mine.

I wasn’t dropping this sword in his presence, nor was I giving him my injured arm.

He sighed again. “I didn’t mean to break your arm. My wolf didn’t want to submit, and this was the only way. It won’t happen again.”

Interesting. He spoke about his wolf as if it were another being, or only part of himself. Maybe it was—two halves of the same whole.

“Why didn’t he want to submit? Because I’m a Dreg rat?” I scowled. Was everyone a rich, judgmental jerk?

Kaelric peered down at me with his emerald-green eyes, and I couldn’t help but remark again at how handsome he was.

“He’s used to being in charge. We both are. We don’t submit to anyone .” He growled the last part, and I grinned.

Stepping forward, I popped up onto my toes in an effort to reach his height. A futile attempt. He was a giant of a man.

“And yet you did,” I whispered in his ear, taunting him. “You submitted to me.” I don’t know where this boldness was coming from—he was a wolfkin after all; he could tear my throat out. But he’d broken my arm, and I wanted him to pay for it.

I popped back down on my heels and saw the glare back in his gaze.

“You little magicless human, we submitted to that .” He pointed to the sword in my hand. “And nothing else.”

Well, his pleasant demeanor was nice while it lasted.

“Now stop being stubborn and let me heal you,” he ordered.

I snort-laughed, backing away from him. “You will touch me again over my dead body.”

He growled in frustration. This time, it was half wolf, and I took two steps back.

Just then, the door opened and Cassian returned, a short male with slicked-back red hair trailing in his wake.

“This is my friend, Jasok,” Cassian said. “He can heal your arm mostly, but there might be some residual pain.”

Jasok waved shyly to me. “I’m still learning how to use my power.”

Kaelric grinned beside me, and my stomach flipped over at the sight of his gorgeous, straight white teeth, the two canines protruding onto his lower lip slightly. “I can heal you completely. No pain. No broken bones, no bruising,” Kaelric boasted.

“No thanks,” I told him, and walked over to Jasok, giving him my injured arm.

I could hear Kaelric’s heavy breathing beside me, but I didn’t bother to look at him.

Cassian and Jasok shared a look, then Jasok got to work on my arm. Kaelric stepped outside to guard the door while Jasok wove purple strands of light all over my arm, like weaving a basket.

Halfway through his weaving, I felt a snap and screamed.

Kaelric came bursting through the doors, hands shifting to claws as if ready to fight. When he saw that it was just me being healed by Jasok, he relaxed.

I peered at Cassian. “What happens next?”

“You will sleep this week at Aerlyn Academy. Each weekend, you will take the train to the Steel Mountains to fight in the Arcane Trials.”

I nodded. “I need to get word to my mother. She’ll be worried about me, and my brother will need to show up to my jobs or—” I stopped talking because they didn’t need the particulars. “I just need to send a letter. ”

Cassian nodded, leaving the room and returning with a pen and paper.

Once my arm was healed, I thanked Jasok and then sat in the corner writing a letter.

Mom,

I survived the first step! I got a powerful weapon and bonded with a wolf who will protect me and keep me safe.

I won’t be able to show up for my shifts, so have Tyrus cover for me for the next three weeks, so we don’t lose the income.

I’ll send food if I can. I love you. Give everyone a hug for me.

-Brynn

Cassian took the letter from me and stood there, confused for a second.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

His cheeks pinked. “Nothing… I just don’t know that my courier has ever been to the Dregs. How will he find your mother? I hear the homes there are not numbered. ”

They weren’t. And calling it a house was kind. It was a glorified stack of wood and moldy thatch roofing.

“Everyone knows everyone in the Dregs. He can ask where Brynn Brighton lives, and they will guide him.”

He nodded once and left with Jasok. Then it was me and Kaelric again.

My arm still hurt, but it was seventy-five percent better and no longer swollen or blue. I looked up to see Kaelric staring at me with a concentrated expression.

“What?” I snapped.

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“You sound like an old pissy woman. Just out with it.” I knew he wanted to say something.

“Fine! You have no magic. I can smell that. You’re skin and bones and likely the weakest fighter I will ever train with, and yet… she chose you.”

I tried not to let his words hurt me, but they sank into my soul and settled there.

He was the second man to call me skin and bones in the past few hours. Weak. No magic. He was right about all of it.

“She?” I assumed he was talking about the sword. But I wasn’t sure.

“Valkaryn.” His tongue rolled the R, and I didn’t recognize the language. “The King Killer. ”

“And what do you know about her ?” I pressed the sword to my side, and I swear I felt a pulse of power go up my arm.

He peered at the weapon longingly. “Everything.”

He was so cocky, it was annoying.

“How can you know everything about a weapon no one has wielded in a thousand years?”

He looked sad then, desperate, as if he wanted to reach out and steal her from me.

“Because she was my father’s, many moons ago, and next she’ll be mine.” It sounded like a threat, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up at his declaration.

I snort-laughed. “She was your father’s? That would make him over a thousand years old.”

He said nothing. And I realized I had no idea of how the wolfkin aged. It was a sobering thought. The man before me didn’t look a day over twenty-two. But was he really?

“I vow to you, Brynn Brighton, I will slay any Elite that stands in the way of your winning this trial.”

He held his fist out to me. A promise.

I glanced at the X mark on his chest. “I can’t trust a traitor. Your words are empty.”

I could see the rage build in his gaze, eyes flashing green to yellow, green to yellow.

“Nevertheless. My promise stands.” He shoved his hand back into his pocket and left the room.

I peered at the sword in my grip, examining it closely for the first time.

There, in the hilt of the weapon, was a howling wolf, and for the first time, I noticed a crown at its feet.

Interesting.