Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I walked down to the training camp, spotting Shawn doing pull–ups on the parallel bars. “Shawn!” I called, waving to him,

Shawn dropped off the bars and rushed over, giving me a sweaty hug. “Hey, you! I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Did you really expect me to ignore your note?” I asked, hurt that he’d think such a thing. Whether I’d been taken as Hale’s Luma or not, we were still friends.

“What note?” Shawn asked, giving me a slight frown.

“You didn’t send me a note?” I gaped. I thought back to Giselle in the doorway. Was this a ploy of hers to make me look disloyal to Hale?

Well, even if it worked, I was never going to give up Shawn as a friend anyway, so Hale could swallow his jealousy – if he was jealous. “I got a note that said to meet you here. It was supposedly from you.”

“It wasn’t.” Shawn’s eyes narrowed, and he came to the same conclusion as I did. Almost. “Maybe you should run back up to the castle before someone important sees you. You don’t need Hale angry with you right now.”

I raised my chin, defiance cking out of every pore. “Shawn, you are my friend. Nothing is going to change that. Whether you sent the note or not, I was going to see you sooner rather than later, I need to apologize for not being able to our marriage contract…”

carry out

Shawn shrugged. “Kora, since we were kids, you’ve only had eyes for Mason Hale. As soon as he accepted you as his mate–which shocked the hell out of me, and everyone else, by the way–I knew I’d be bowing out gracefully.

“But honestly, Kora,” Shawn pressed my shoulder; his eyes narrowed, it was rare to see the icy coldness there, “I don’t know what he’s thinking about. He makes you the target of the whole pack. Take care, Kora. I can’t protect you when you are in the pack house.”

“I know. It’s insane. I still don’t believe it,” I confided in him softly. “I mean, yes, not only me, but half the pack is going to crucify him.”

“Only half?” Shawn teased.

I swatted his shoulder. “And he hasn’t spoken a word to me since it happened. Apparently, he’s away on pack business.”

“Well, gird your loins, because he’s going to be at least talking with you when he gets back, if not expecting.. you know… mate type things,” Shawn said.

My eye ticked. “He’s not getting any ‘mate–type things‘ until we talk. I’d like to see him try to throw me down and- “Warriors,” an authoritative voice cut over our conversation. “We’ll be forming a spearhead team to investigate the border of the Shadowmoon Pack. They’ve been encroaching again, and we can’t have that.”

Spearhead.

Shawn and I looked up at the commander with matching looks of distress. No one had ever come back from the Shadowmoon border. No one. Let alone that “spearhead team” is another name for death.

We were about to lose a lot of friends. I could feel it.

“When I call your name, please come forward,” the commander said, looking down at a list in his hands.

Indeed, the commander did drone through several friends of ours, and Shawn and I ended up holding hands for comfort, both knowing we’d never see them again.

… Shawn

Norman…”

My heart seized in my chest. Death was the traitors‘ descendants fate, though I knew that, and for a long time, I had craved that.

“He wouldn’t

Shawn gave me a sad look and gently extricated his hand from mine. “Oh, Kora. Of course, he would.”

That was too cruel. Shadowmoon pack, it was not where Shawn’s life should end. It should have been…

“… and Kora Monroe.”

My head snapped to stare at the commander, as did everyone else’s, until they turned to look at me.

Yes.

It should have been someone like me.

“Shit,” Shawn said, his eyes wide,

I swallowed and bowed my head, my heart now aching for another reason. Well, more like tearing itself to shreds. Hale had changed his mind and was getting rid of me this way. There was no other explanation.

“That SON OF A B*TCH,” Shawn hissed. “That cowardly, MOTHERF*CK-

I placed a hand over Shawn’s mouth before anyone else could hear. Going out to the Shadowmoon border on a spearhead team was likely going to get him killed. But continuing to spout such things about Hale was going to get him executed. At least the former still held a spark of hope.

“Norman, Monroe, did I stutter?” the commander asked.

I noted that the other spearhead team members had gone to collect their gear.

With a heavy sigh, I straightened my shoulders. “No, sir!”

“Good. Now get going,” the commander said, stabbing a finger in the direction of the dorms.

My gear wasn’t there anymore, but I walked with Shawn just the same.

“We’re going to kick some Shadowmoon ats,” Shawn told me fiercely. “Then I’m bringing you back here, and I’m challenging Hale.”

I stared at him. “Shawn, you’ve got to be out of your mind. You can’t challenge Hale, He’s an Alpha. He’s got more strength in his pinky finger than you have in your entire b*dy, just by genetics alone. AND he’s had special instruction in battle- “Instruction I’ve noticed HE never has to use,” Shawn seethed. “No, I’m going to do it. You just wait.”

I sighed. There was no point in arguing when he had that look on his face. Besides, both of us knew in our bones we weren‘ coming back.

Shawn gathered his gear then followed me into the castle, which was taboo for him. But at this point, neither of us really cared. We were going to be sent to our deaths, anyway. What more could they do?

Giselle was waiting by my childhood bedroom, grinning from ear to ear. “Have a safe trip,” she said snidely.

“Go f*ck yourself,” Shawn growled.

I ignored her and put a hand on Shawn’s arm. “She’s not worth the trouble. Come on.”

Shawn looked around my room as I packed, doubtless noting how it hadn’t changed since we were children.

Giselle stood in the doorway while I packed, looking a bit sour after Shawn’s comment, but clearly not wanting to miss out on my death march.

I figured she and Hale deserved each other at this point. Sending me off to die was a cowardly move. I’d at least credited Hale with the guts to face me beforehand. But no, he’d put my name on a list and slunk off to a diplomatic meeting so he wouldn’t have to deal with me at all.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Strawn snapped when I finished packing and we were walking out.

Giselle just smiled. “Not at the moment. This is priceless.” She patted Shawn on the arm. “At least you two lovebirds get to die together.”

Shawn’s hand flew out, and I just barely managed to catch his wrist before he slapped Giselle across the face.

“No,” I said firmly. “Shawn, don’t.”

Giselle wasn’t hurt but cowered just the same. “If you weren’t going to get killed anyway, I’d have you executed for that!” she all but shrieked, her voice shaking with fear.

Shawn growled and leaned in close to her. “It would be worth it.”

I used a painful grip on Shawn’s wrist to drag him away. He might be stronger than me, but there was a reason I was the best warrior in the Fullbright Pack

“Ow, ow, Kora, ow” Shawn complained, rubbing his wrist when I finally let him go. We were well outside the castle by then. Giselle, having somehow grown a sense of self–preservation, did not follow us out. Though, Eknew she was probably watching smugly from a window somewhere.

“So, now that we’re going to die,” Shawn said, “I suppose we should give them something to talk about. Want me to k*ss you in front of the Moon Goddess and everyone?”

“No, but thanks,” I replied. “It’s a nice thought, but petty. I’m not stooping to his level.”

Shawn inclined his head. “Fair enough.”

Then a thought occurred to me and I smiled slightly.

“Oh, no. She’s gone ‘round the bend,” Shawn said, giving my shoulder a shake. “What are you smiling at? We’re going off to get killed, remember?”

We’re going off to the Shadowmoon border, I responded eagerly.

“Yeah. Where we’re going to die,” Shawn reminded me.

may see my lather and get my