Safety

AURELIA

The king crouched down, pulling a knife from his belt. It was so close to her skin that she could feel the cold metal, even though it didn’t touch her. Instead, he cut a piece from the bottom of her skirt.

“Look at me,” he ordered, his voice rough. She did as he said, her eyes meeting his. “You’re going to do everything Laurent tells you. You’ll leave the castle while I handle the attack. In a few days, I’ll send for you. If I hear you haven’t been behaving…”

He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear as he finished his threat. “...we’ll continue our little game. But it won’t be as gentle as before. You won’t be moaning.” He pulled back, his gaze hard. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, your grace,” she replied, her mind spinning from his words.

She knew he meant every word. His threats weren’t empty. They never were.

She followed Laurent, watching as the king disappeared into the fight. She didn’t understand why he was so worried about a single attack from a rogue warrior wolf. But the king and his advisors knew the truth. It wasn’t the attack that worried them. It was the fact that a warrior wolf had gone wild.

Fae magic was the cause.

And for what? A plan the king couldn’t see? He was running out of time to figure it out.

Only dark fae magic could reach from their kingdom into the werewolf one. And those spells required dark sacrifices and a lot of energy.

Why this spell? What was its purpose?

The fae were smart. They knew this attack would be nothing to the king. It was like swatting a fly. There had to be more. Was he already playing into their hands? How?

Across the border, Cathan had cast another spell. This one was to move the young fae wolf from the heart of the kingdom to a more discreet location, closer to the border.

All that sacrifice, just to get the king’s mate across the border.

The council had forced him to cast the spell. The wolf was too dangerous.

Letting any of their kind cross the border was like inviting their enemy into their camp. Cathan wouldn’t be blamed when everything went to hell.

But the spell was cast. They’d have to wait for the full moon in three days to consult the crystals.

They wouldn’t know if the young wolf had moved unless she crossed the border.

Meanwhile, Aurelia was rushed into a carriage, out of sight, with Laurent as her personal bodyguard. She could feel his annoyance.

He wanted to be in the fight, not babysitting a wolf he didn’t even like.

“Sit back and shut up,” he snapped as the carriage started moving.

He sat across from her, his expression blank.

The tension was thick, almost suffocating. Aurelia felt like she could hardly breathe. Every so often, he’d growl, probably communicating with the others through the mind-link.

“Where are we going?” she asked, her voice shaky.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” he growled.

“We’re far from the castle,” she pointed out.

“That’s not why I told you to shut up. I’m above you. You do as I say. Or do you want me to tell the king you didn’t?” he snarled, a cruel smirk on his face.

“You leave me no choice,” she said, grabbing his wrist. She spoke in a monotone, “~No way~ will you disobey ~me.~ You’ll tell the king I’ve been perfect the whole time we’re together.”

She used her gifts, even though they were eating away at her patience and conscience. She was being pushed to practice her compulsion skills more and more. It was both thrilling and terrifying.

“Where are we going?” she asked again.

“To the king’s cabin, my queen. It’s on the outskirts of the kingdom, where no one would think to look for you,” he answered, his voice obedient.

She enjoyed seeing him so pathetic. Laurent acted tough around everyone else, but he was a groveling mess around the king.

With the king, he was like a scared little boy, always worried about making a mistake in front of the man he worshipped. But the king was just a man.

Or at least, that’s what Aurelia told herself.

But she couldn’t enjoy Laurent’s fear for long. Usually, she was the one being scolded.

“Why would anyone look for me? Why is this attack so important? Isn’t it just a rabid warrior wolf?” she asked, knowing he’d give her the answers if he knew them.

She was cheating, but she needed to know.

“You’re the future queen. You’re an easy target for anyone planning a coup. If they took you, they could control the king.”

She nodded, taking in his words. “As for the attack, wolves don’t go rabid without a little magic.”

“Magic?” she gasped, her interest piqued.

“I don’t know much about it, my queen. The king keeps those kinds of things to himself,” Laurent explained.

There was only one kind of magic that could do this.

She’d overheard a conversation in the king’s war room. It had to be the work of the fae. The king’s enemies. Every time she heard about them, she wanted to know more.

The journey didn’t take long. Soon, they were pulling up to the back entrance of a house. It was more like a small castle than a cabin, surrounded by woods with no other houses in sight.

Aurelia explored the house, finding a kitchen that was as big as her childhood home. It was empty.

In the castle, she was never alone. But she always felt lonely.

“Only a handful of us know about this place. The king, me, Henri, and Vidarr,” Laurent shared.

“I’ll show you to the king’s room. Feel free to use anything in the house, my queen. Three more guards will be here tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Laurent.” He bowed and left, leaving Aurelia alone in the king’s quarters, which were much like his own at the castle.

Was this what adventure felt like? Was this her destiny?

~He~ was supposed to be.

Her mate. The Alpha King.

But she wanted more. With the Alpha King as her mate, she felt trapped, and adventure seemed out of reach. Unless... she could escape now, in the next few days.

The king wasn’t here to stop her, and she could use compulsion on anyone who tried to catch her.

~The boundary by the stream…~

She remembered the words from a few days ago. Maybe this was her chance to find out who had tried to enchant her and why they wanted her to go to the border. Did they know who she was?

***

Back at the castle, Alastair had dealt with the warrior wolf quickly and brutally, even though he knew the wolf had been enchanted. No wolf could survive after challenging the king.

It was necessary.

As he washed the blood from his hands, he felt no remorse. He bathed in the hot water, his mind focused on one thing... one person.

His mate. His intriguing mate. Her mysterious ways, her attempts to, maybe, control him. As much as it infuriated him, it also amused him.

He hadn’t been interested in anything for years, having seen it all. But he had never encountered anyone like her. Maybe that should have scared him, should have made him feel threatened.

Maybe it did at first. But as he got to know her, even though they barely spoke, he saw what others couldn’t.

This wasn’t just the mate bond. They both had the ability to see past each other’s exterior.

They both had the ability to see past skin and bone and flesh and caution to see what was truly underneath.

And they both used that ability carefully.

Aurelia couldn’t escape her fate if she didn’t understand her mate. Alastair couldn’t control her as he wanted if he didn’t understand his mate.

They had different goals, different futures in mind, but their fate was already decided, a destiny that not even the gods could change now, let alone the two of them.

The high priests saw more clearly each day, a new piece of the story revealing itself.

And they knew that the balance could be shifting, the scales could be tipping, and the moment they knew, they would choose their loyalty.

Aurelia would be queen. That was certain. Loyalty would be given to this young wolf; a visit would be arranged.

But they couldn’t risk the king’s suspicion by showing up unannounced to meet his mate. The king was volatile.

The slightest hint of paranoia could cost them their lives. They would wait for the right moment.

For now, Aurelia was safe, away from danger, away from attack, and away from her mate. But she wouldn’t rest. She would run.

A life with a cruel mate wasn’t her destiny. She wouldn’t accept it, even if the gods had decreed it. She would run as far as she could from him, across the border to discover what lay beyond.

And to find out what had called her there and why she felt a constant pull to return to that stream.

So, she packed a bag and slipped away into the dark night, hoping to find the destiny she longed for.