I spent the entire afternoon walking around Killian’s property, discreetly trying to find a way out, but there are cameras everywhere. The wall is too high to jump over, and if you did manage to get to the top, some lasers would set off an alarm. I wouldn’t get too far.
There’s a bench in the garden surrounded by butterfly bushes, so I walk over to it and sit down. It’s times like these where I wish I were something other than a shifter. If I was fae, I could transport myself with my magic and be somewhere else.
Closing my eyes, I tilt my head back and breathe in the crisp, cool air. It’s summer, but it doesn’t get hot in northeastern Canada as it does in the states.
“Good evening.”
My eyes snap open, and I gasp. “What the …” I hadn’t heard a single footstep draw near. It confirms my suspicion that Tia has her magic concealing everything. There’s no telling how many people are on the grounds watching me.
The man is a shifter and dressed in a suit with an earpiece latched to his ear. He reminds me of someone you’d see in a mafia movie. Then again, that’s how it is with some alphas. You have packs who live in the mountains so they can run free, and you have some who are right in the big cities, using their shifter strength to take charge. It’s been way too long since I’ve been able to shift. I don’t see how the big city shifters can deal with the trash and nasty smells of city life.
The man in the suit holds up his hands. “Didn’t mean to scare you, Ms. Storm. My name’s Marcus. Mr. Vilkas is waiting for you on the terrace where dinner will be served shortly.”
I get to my feet. “Thanks.” The terrace is on the other side of the house.
Marcus flourishes a hand in the direction I need to go. “If you go that way and turn to the right, you’ll see the terrace.”
“Okay. I’ll go right now.” He nods once and walks in the opposite direction.
“Very fancy,” Tate grumbles. “Vilkas has way too much fucking money.”
I start down the path. “That’s because he and his family used the women in their pack as cash cows. It benefited them all, I guess. Maybe that’s why some of the men in Laila’s old pack never came back after Killian visited them. They went off to fight for a mate and didn’t survive.”
“That’s probably true.”
Turning the corner, I see the terrace up ahead with a table set for dinner. Killian stands when he sees me and smiles.
“Here we go,” I say to Tate. “Hopefully, he’ll tell me more. What he said to you was vague. You fight tomorrow at noon, but against who? What does it entail? This is what I need to know.”
“I’m right there with you.”
As I draw closer, Killian pulls out my seat for me. “How was your afternoon?”
“Quiet,” I say, sitting down. My stomach growls because I can smell the food underneath the covered dish. Then again, I don’t think I’ve eaten in two days. “I did a lot of walking.”
He sits across from me, and my stomach growls again. “I think you’re hungry.”
I scoff. “I wonder why? Someone kept me asleep for two days.” My first instinct is to refuse to eat.
Tate huffs in my mind. “You need to keep up your strength, Faith. Just eat the damn food. This isn’t a time to be stubborn.”
“Fine.” I take off the top of the covered dish. Underneath is a rare steak, baked potato, and asparagus. Grabbing my fork and knife, I dig in, which makes Killian smile even more.
“Have you thought about anything?” he asks.
I stab my fork into the steak. “Oh, you mean about how tomorrow there’s going to be God knows how many wolves here fighting to be my mate?”
With a heavy sigh, he glances down at his plate. “Yes, that.”
“You know, I’m not one to judge, but if that’s what the women in your pack wanted, then so be it. I’m happy they got their mates in the end, but you overstepped when you took me. I never would’ve agreed to find my mate like this.”
He lifts his gaze to mine. “And I told you earlier that you can dictate the outcome of this. Not all of the wolves fighting for you are douchebags, Faith. If the ones that make it through to the final rounds are not to your liking, we’ll figure out a way to get them out.”
“Isn’t that cheating?” I say.
He shakes his head. “Not if it’s fair. It just so happens that I got in touch with your friend, Grayson, today.”
“And?”
Killian shrugs. “And he’ll be here tomorrow with your brother and your protector, Micah.”
Eyes wide, I gasp, pretending to be shocked. “What does this mean?”
Killian cuts a bite of his steak and uses his teeth to slide the meat off his fork into his mouth slowly. “It means,” he says, chewing his steak and swallowing it, “that you’re going to have your family here with you tomorrow. I figured you could be with me when we meet them at the gate in the morning. They can stay as long as you want.”
This is where I want to test the boundaries. “Does that mean they can stay here in this house? Like they don’t have to leave when they get here tomorrow?”
Killian nods. “Of course.”
My heart about jumps out of my chest. “All three of them?”
His eyes flash, and he narrows them. “Not Grayson. He’s competing for you. I’ll have a war on my hands if the others found out. Your brother and Micah are more than welcome to stay in the rooms across the hall from you, but Grayson has to go back to Baker’s Ridge and wait it out like the others.”
“Take it, Faith,” Tate yells in my mind. “As long as they’re with you, I know you’ll be protected.”
“Tia can still use her magic on them,” I counter.
“Doesn’t matter. They want to be there.”
I stare at Killian, wondering what reason he could have for allowing them to stay close to me. “Thank you,” I say, gauging his reaction. Is he genuine? Or does he have an evil plan cooking up in his mind? Knowing who he is, I can only think the latter.
He smiles. “You’re welcome. Your family and friends are welcome here. I don’t want to keep them from you. That’s why I’m giving this back.” He slides my phone over to me. “Feel free to call them whenever you like.”
Taking my phone, I look it over. “What’s the catch? Did you bug it so you can listen in?”
He holds a hand over his heart and laughs. “You wound me, Faith. I’m trying to earn your trust, and you’re not giving me a chance.”
“It’s going to take a lot more than this to earn my trust,” I say, staring at him blandly.
“Then tell me what I can do.”
I sit back in my chair. “Be honest with me. If you’re competing to be my mate, I deserve nothing but that.”
“I agree. I’ll do anything. I’m trying to show you I’m not as bad as you think by letting your brother and Micah stay here. With both of them together, they’re a lot stronger than me.”
I snort. “But you have Tia who can knock them out with a flick of her wrist. If you want me to trust you, the way to do that is to make amends with my family and me. You took me away from them. Right now, they’re pretty angry.”
“Okay,” he murmurs, regarding me earnestly. “I won’t use magic on them. Does that make you happy?”
“Yes. And you can’t use it on me either.”
He nods in agreement. Do I believe him? No.
“What else?” he asks.
Focusing on my plate, I cut up my steak. “Tell me about the fights. I want to know everything from the beginning to the end. How many men are competing? Are they fighting to the death? Will they be in wolf form or human? How are you going to keep order with so many shifters here?”
Killian chuckles. “Slow down. That’s a ton of questions. I see you’ve been giving this a lot of thought.”
“Just a little,” I snap back sarcastically.
“I’m hoping one day you’ll be able to talk to me without all the hostility.”
This makes me laugh and not in a humorous way. “Seriously? You took away my choices, Killian. How can I not be angry over that? I’ve been in hiding my entire life. All I want is to travel the world and experience new things. I want to find my mate the natural way, to have someone love me because of who I am and not what I can make them. The wolves you have fighting for me just want my royal blood, that’s it. They don’t know me.”
He sighs. “That’s why I’m giving you the chance to know them.”
I’m about to eat some of my food and freeze. “What do you mean?”
“That’s what I’d like to fucking know,” Tate grumbles in my mind.
Killian holds up a hand. “I’ll get to that. Let me start from the beginning and answer all your questions.” He takes a bite of his food and leans back in his chair. “Forty-eight men are competing, all alphas of their packs and from all over the world. There will be twenty-four fights tomorrow, twelve early afternoon, and twelve tomorrow night.”
That’s a lot of fights and a lot of bloodshed. “What is my role during all of this? Do I have to watch them all?”
Killian shakes his head. “No, but I figured you’d want to see the men and what they’re like. You know what you’re looking for. As far as fighting to the death, that depends on the wolf. If they back down, they lose and go home, and their opponent advances.”
“Are you getting all of this, Tate?”
“Yeah. I’ve seen some of the wolves. Something tells me they’ll all be fighting to the death.”
The thought sickens me to the core; so many senseless deaths and for what? My stomach churns, and I push my food away. “Why does that bother you?” Killian asks, genuinely confused. “It’s their choice. I’m not forcing any of them to do what they’re doing.”
I shrug. “Honestly, it’s sad. All of those wolves have mates out there somewhere.” He looks away, and I study him, wondering what’s going through his head. “Just like you,” I finish.
His eyes blaze when he focuses back on me. “I’ve waited a long time to find my mate, Faith.” He takes a deep breath and averts his gaze again. I can feel the rage building inside of him, and my wolf is screaming for me to run. The darkness surrounding him sends warning signs all through my body, but it disappears just as quickly as it started. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tia by the window. Her eyes meet mine, and she stares at me for a second before walking away. With the way she looked at me, it wasn’t malicious. It’s almost as if she’s trying to help me, not him.
“What the hell is going on?” Tate demands.
“I think Tia’s using magic on Killian. I’m starting to wonder what’s really going on in his head. Whatever it is, I don’t like it.”
“Tread carefully, Faith. Don’t provoke him.”
It takes a few minutes for my heart to stop pounding. Killian focuses back on his food as if he didn’t just about lose his shit.
“How old are you?” I ask, softening my voice. Once we get into adulthood, we look the same for hundreds of years. The only way I’ve been able to tell the difference is in mannerisms. Killian seems to be a lot older than the thirty-year-old-looking man in front of me.
Killian smiles and lifts those bright green eyes to mine. It’s almost as if he’s a different person. “A little over a hundred. Why do you ask?”
I shrug. “Just curious. You speak like you’re older.”
He chuckles. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Even though I’m not hungry anymore, I slide my plate back in front of me and eat a few bites of my steak. “So, finish telling me about the fights,” I say. “Will the men be in human or wolf form?”
Killian finishes up his food and sits back. “Both. Fighter’s choice. Once the first twenty-four fights are done, the next day there will be twelve to narrow it down even more. After that, we’ll have the main events, consisting of three fights for two nights, resulting in six winners overall. The prize for these winners is alone time with you.”
“What!” Tate shouts in my mind. “Fuck no.”
The blood boils in my veins, and I can feel the heat rushing through my body. My wolf wants to tear out of my body and rip everything apart. “What kind of alone time are we talking about here? I don’t mind going for a stroll or talking, but if these wolves have something else in mind, I’ll rip them apart starting with their balls.”
Killian’s eyes flash to his wolf’s. “I’ll kill them myself if they try something like that.” He takes a deep breath, and his eyes go back to normal. “You’ll be safe, Faith. I promise. And with your last question about keeping order, I got it covered. Tia will be on standby in case things get out of hand, and you will have your brother and protector by your side.”
I want them here with me, but I’m so afraid it’ll be a trap. Killian’s unhinged and barely hanging on without Tia’s magic, so there’s no telling what he’ll do. I pick up my phone and scroll through all of my recent calls. There’s a bunch of them from my sister.
Killian slides his chair back and stands. “I’ll give you some privacy to call your family and friends. You should probably let them know you’re okay.”
Am I okay? Far from it.
“Thanks,” I say, scrolling to Bailey’s name. “My sister has got to be worried sick.”
Killian disappears inside, and I press the call button. Bailey answers on the first ring. “Faith, is that you?”
It feels good to hear her voice. “Yes, it’s me. I’m okay.”
She bursts out crying. “Oh, thank God. What’s going on? Are you free?”
“No, not free. Far from it. Let’s just say I’m neck-deep in some serious shit right now.”
“What are you going to do?”
I try to think of ways to escape, but nothing comes to mind. The only way to fight Tia’s magic is with magic, and I don’t have any of it. “I don’t know,” I murmur, closing my eyes against the burn. “I honestly don’t know.”