After a year of captivity, she’d escaped from her mountain prison and jumped off a cliff to her death.
King Renair shriveled into a husk of a man. Tales said he lie awake at night, screaming with nightmares and calling for his omega to return. Others said that he eventually walked off the same cliff as her, crying out her name as he flew off into the dark of night.
She’d never suffer in my hands. I’d always ensure that she was happy, no matter what I had to do. Out here in the wilderness though, she was still in danger and that required us to protect her, even from herself.
I shivered, flicking my eyes to Raven.
My brother and I belonged to the Thalos pack, one of the five pillars of the Central Gathering, a unification of the strongest packs that laid claim over the vastness of the land of Ubren, of what Raven and Alix called the wilds. The Central Gathering had laid down a set of laws that were non-negotiable over the people living here. One of those rules was that an alpha couldn’t be killed once an omega was pair bonded to him because it would destroy her and vice versa. Out of the two of us, Wolfe was more highly ranked in the Thalos pack. We worked as scouts that guarded the edges of our territory, killing those we found that broke Central Gathering decrees and attacked our own. We protected our people. He was older than me by two years and that held seniority in my pack, but he’d always treated me as an equal.
I respected him immensely and I knew he could handle anything.
I glanced at Alix.
My brother and I had never intended to kill him. He should count himself lucky that it was us who had found them, and not another more savage pack that ignored the decrees of the Central Gathering. Now that the three of us were bonded to Raven, we had to work together to protect our mate.
Alix glared in my direction, not trusting me in the slightest. His dark blue eyes looked me up and down, his gaze judgmental and entirely disapproving. Raven saw his expression and moved closer to my side, saying silently that I was now a part of the deal with her too.
He scoffed and looked up at Wolfe instead, who met him with an equally intense and challenging look.
“I’d like a bath,” Raven finally answered quietly. Silently, I wound my arms around her and lifted her from the ground, moving to exit the den that smelled deliciously of our coupling.
“I’m coming with you,” Alix retorted, suspicious of me.
“No. I think you and me should talk,” Wolfe replied, catching his forearm in his wrist.
“It’s fine, Alix. I won’t be long,” Raven replied, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead. Alix stilled, watching the two of us before he eventually relaxed a bit, before he returned his glare to Wolfe.
I hoped city boy was ready for him, because my brother and I would do anything to keep our mate safe now that we’d found her.