Channon bristled beside her. “If Rayna says we will keep your priestess safe, then your priestess will be kept safe.”
Pheros walked away, his back to the others. “No one is questioning your ability. I recognize that finding this girl is of vital importance to learning the remaining Councilors are planning, but Soulous is not as safe as you might believe.”
“The Soulousians are our allies,” Rayna said.
“Yes, but following the Maenoren occupation, the people of Soulous became cloistered, secretive, and wary of outsiders. An understandable reaction to almost fifty years of enslavement and tyranny.”
“The Maenoren occupation was ended decades ago, by Fenearens and Alvornians,” Rayna reminded him. “They have no need to fear us.”
“They may not need to, but they do nonetheless. They are inherently a peaceful people more at home in fields of barley than fields of battle, but that does not mean they will help you.”
“General.” Marielana approached him slowly, as if he might bolt. “Please, Channon and Rayna will protect me in your stead. Winiam and Lurenia need to return to Sinthahelm, where it's safe. I will see you soon.”
Rayna shared a baffled glance with Channon. Something about the tender way the Priestess said Winiam and Lurenia's names, surprised her. Why did the Priestess think reminding Pheros of them would sway his mind?
He sighed. “As you say, Priestess.” He turned around to face them. “Alphena Silver, I will take my people home.”
Silver bowed her head.
After Pheros left, Silver took Rayna's hand. “Promise me your first priority will be to return safely, and soon. I will need to leave for Anhorde in only a few days.”
“I will.”
Her aunt pulled her into an embrace.
Though Rayna was taller than Silver, she felt like a pup again. She thought of Silver's strong arms wrapped around her the night her mother had died. Despite all the pain in that memory, Rayna smiled.
As they pulled apart, Silver turned to Channon. “Keep my niece safe, Channon Lyallt. That's an order.”
“I understand, Alphena.”
“Well then,” Marielana clasped her hands together. “Shall we pack?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Katrine followed Silver into the Alphena's den. Katrine was not sure why Silver had invited her. Was she about to be chastised? Ordered to leave Kado alone? Katrine's mind churned with excuses and reasons why she should be allowed to continue trying to reach Kado.
“Sit.” Silver gestured to a stool.
Katrine obeyed. She twiddled her thumbs as Silver busied herself with a tea kettle. “Alphena, what Kado said about me telling him to stop hiding, I didn't mean for—”
“Tea?”
“I—what?”
Silver produced a pair of cups. “I have sassafras or chamomile.”
“I'm all right.”
Silver smiled as she sat across from Katrine. “You're not in trouble.”
“Oh.” Katrine cleared her throat.
“In fact, I want to ask a favor.” She poured herself a cup of tea. “From what happened today, it's clear that Kado will be attracting a lot of attention from the pack. I'm ordering everyone to keep their distance and give Kado space to adjust to his new life here. That is, I'm ordering everyone but you.”
If Silver knew how close Kado had come to attacking Katrine that morning, she may have felt differently.
Katrine was not about to enlighten her of that fact. Kado needed space to heal, but he also needed a friend. “I can keep an eye on him, Alphena.”
Silver sipped her tea. “I knew I could count on you. I remember when you first arrived here. You were a hero then, and you're a hero now.”
Katrine flushed. “I don't know about that. But I know what it's like to lose an old life and be thrown into a new one. I can help Kado feel at home here, I know it.”
Despite her confident words, Katrine questioned if anyone would be able to reach across the wall Kado had built around himself. But he was lost, alone, and afraid and Katrine knew what that felt like.
She would not abandon him.
Rayna’s fingers traced the hilt of Coer’s knife. She still thought of it as Coer’s, though it had been in her possession longer than she’d known the Maenoren man.
“You should take that.” Mina nodded toward the knife. “You never know when you might need a blade.”
Rayna removed the weapon from its holder and hitched it to her belt. “I doubt I’ll have need of it in Soulous, but you’re right.”
Mina handed her a pack.
Rayna filled it with everything she would need for the journey: An extra set of clothes, a sleeping sack, a bone needle and sinew thread. Given all her recent travels, Rayna had the list memorized.
Mina added a roll of bandages. “Listen, I'm glad you and Channon talked, but are you sure he's the right person to accompany you on this journey?”
Rayna laughed as she sat down to organize her things. “I wish you could come too, Mina, but Silver is going to need all the support she can find when she announces we are at war again tonight.”
“It's not just that.” Mina frowned. “Roxen is worried about Channon, and I am, too.”
Rayna swallowed hard. Though she had told Mina she and Channon had cleared the air, she had not shared most of what Channon had told her about his personal battle. It was not her secret to tell. “He'll be all right,” she said simply.
Before Mina could argue, the man in question knocked on the den's frame.
“Come in,” Rayna called, with a significant, quieting look at Mina.
Channon entered, carrying his own bag. “Mina,” he acknowledged her with a nod.
Mina smiled and looked away, obviously concerned he had overheard her warning.
Channon knelt by Rayna. Her palm slid over Channon's wrist as he placed a full water skin in the bag. His skin felt warm despite the chill in the morning air.
His gaze tracked their contact. “Are you ready to go?”
Mina cleared her throat. “I suppose that's my cue. I'll tell the others after you're gone. Though I might have to break a leg or two to keep Kellan from traipsing after you.” The Kyrean winced in Rayna's peripheral vision. She clearly had not meant to bring Kellan up in Channon's presence.
Kellan. Besides their brief conversation that morning, Rayna had barely seen him since the rescue. She had not had the chance to tell him how sorry she was about Lonian, or how happy she was he was safe. Perhaps there was time to for one last goodbye.
But when Rayna saw the hard line of Channon's lips and the strain in his jaw muscles, she decided to let the matter pass. She would see Kellan when she returned. “Thank you, Mina. We’ll be back soon, I promise.”
Mina embraced her. “I’ll hold the fort until you do.”
Once Mina had left, Channon pulled Rayna closer to him. “Before we leave, there's something I need to do.”
His fingers tangled in her hair. He pressed his lips to hers gently, at first.
But when Rayna’s surprised exhale gave way to the crash of pleasure roiling within her, she gripped the back of his neck, willing him to deepen the kiss.
He happily obliged.
Rayna could feel his smile against her own as their scents mingled together as one.
Channon dragged himself away. “We'd better go. The Priestess will be looking for us.” His voice came out in ragged bursts.
She nuzzled his neck, and they left together to find Marielana.
Mina made the short walk to Kellan's den. She had not seen him since she'd told him about Seperun's news, and Rayna's decision to leave for Soulous. Somehow, Mina was certain his absence during the day was not a good sign. She knocked on the antler frame.
“Come in!” Kellan's slurred voice confirmed her suspicions.
“Ah, it's you.” He looked up from tying his bootlaces. A satchel lay beside him, half-packed with his clothes.
“Going somewhere?”
He too
k a hearty swig from his wineskin. “As a matter of fact, I am. Want to come with?” He offered her a drink.
She pushed aside the wine. “If you're thinking of going after Rayna—”
His raucous laughter drowned her words. “Oh no, she made it perfectly clear when she left with him, without so much as a goodbye, that I'm not wanted.”
Mina rolled her eyes. “Is that what this is about? You're jealous she took Channon and not you?”
“I am not jealous,” he seethed. “I'm tired—tired of trying to get Rayna Hex Breaker,” he scoffed, “to listen to reason for once in her heroic life.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kellan stepped toward her. “Sorry. I forgot I was talking to Rayna's number one defender.”
Mina did not back off, despite his intimidating advance. Kellan was close to a head taller than she was, and the look in his wild gray eyes reminded her of a dog gone rabid.
“Speak your mind, Kemar.”
“Oh, Rayna,” he said, mimicking Mina's higher voice. “I'll drop everything to help you! Go climb the magic mountain!”
“I didn't drop everything,” Mina protested. “I decided to not let my past define my future. I believe in Rayna's mission. I still do.”
“Face down the ice wolves!” Kellan continued in his high, mocking voice. “You can do it! Do whatever it takes to save your demon lover!”
“Demon? You're not making any sense.”
Kellan turned his back to her. “So Rayna didn't tell you?” He snorted. “Some best friends you are. I did promise to keep Channon's little secret, but seeing as she's not here to protest, why shouldn't I tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Despite her irritation with Kellan and his drunken rambling, Mina wanted to know what he was implying.
“Terayan good as told me Channon wasn't Channon anymore. I tried to warn Rayna that the Sionic Hex may have changed him into something dangerous—or demonic—but look at how well she listened to my warning.”
“Terayan,” said Mina firmly, “is a liar.”
Kellan seemed to have forgotten Channon was Mina's friend, too. She refused to entertain the Sylrian's jealousy-fueled paranoia. Channon was struggling with making the right choices, but that did not make him evil.
It made him human.
“Aye.” Kellan sat down on his pallet. “But sometimes a truth you know your enemy can't accept is more powerful than a lie.”
“Do you really think Channon is a demon?” Mina shook her head. This was not the time for her friends and allies to be divided.
“I don't know,” Kellan admitted. “All I know is, I don't trust him, and it terrifies me that Rayna does.”
“Kellan.” Mina sat crossed-legged beside him. “Rayna knows Channon is different. I've spoken to her about him. She will be careful. You might not trust him, but can you at least try trusting her?”
He took a long drink. “Why should I?”
“Because.” Mina grabbed the wineskin and finished it off. “You love her.”
Kellan stared at the ground. “If that's true, it doesn't matter. She loves him.”
Mina took his hand. “It matters. Even if it can't lead to something more, love always matters.” Roxen's hazel eyes and kind laughter filled her mind. She did not know if she spoke to Kellan, or herself.
He covered her hand with his own tattooed one. When Mina thought he had calmed enough for her to broach the next subject—asking him to help support Silver when she announced the declaration of war that evening—he slid his palm upward to her cheek.
“What are you doing?” Mina demanded.
He pushed a curl behind her ear. “Don't pretend it hasn't been a while for you, too.”
She jumped to her feet. “Are you propositioning me?”
He stood, closing the distance between them in the space of a heartbeat. “Neither of us can have who we really want.” He grabbed her waist, pulling her close. His breath reeked of alcohol.
She looked away, disgusted. “You're drunk.”
“So? Why not make do with what we have?” His lips grazed her ear. “I'll let you call me Roxen.”
Mina slapped Kellan as hard as she could. Fury and hurt warred for first position in her raging mind.
He staggered back. Blood leaked from his split lip. “Don't act like you're better than me, Mina!” He shouted. “At least I'm not pretending to be something I'm not.”
“Shut up! You're acting like a fool, Kellan.” She turned to go.
“What's your plan, love? Stay here forever? Pretend you're one of the Pack? Raise little wolflings with Roxen?” He laughed. “You're a tavern wench, Mina, not a Fenearen.”
Mina closed her eyes. She willed herself to calm down before she threw a dagger at Kellan's chest.
“I'm done with your self-pity,” she said. “We are at war. Your people need you.”
“My people,” Kellan sneered. “What? All ten of them? They're better off without me.”
“If you say so.” With that, Mina left him alone.
Kellan may have been too selfish to support their friends, but she was not.
Silver took a deep breath.
The Fenearens and Sylrian refugees had crowded the densite's center in response to her howl.
Kado stood with his arms crossed at the crowd's edge.
Katrine watched him from a respectful distance, eyeing anyone who came too close.
Hundreds of faces both human and wolf stared up at Silver expectantly.
Roxen stood on her right side.
A few leagues away at the True Wolf dens, Gar was making the same announcement to the Trues.
Despite Roxen's reassuring presence, Silver felt alone and vulnerable as she faced her people. The war with Maenor had ended a little less than four months previously, and already she was about to announce another.
Guilt wormed its way through her belly, threatening to devour her minimal confidence. She wished more than anything that Bayne was still ruling beside her. But he, like so many others, had not survived the last war. It was up to her to bring their people through this one.
She focused her gaze on friendly faces—like Mina and Jaline. “Packmates, I know you can sense something is wrong, so I will come out and say it. Earlier today, I received a message from Regent Seperun of Maenor. Councilor Terayan of the Kyrean Republic has declared war on all four nations of the Peninsula.”
Silver expected an immediate response—shouts of disbelief and blame. Instead, a heaviness fell over the assembly. Whispers and whimpers passed between humans and wolves as the reality of her words sank in.
“But,” a young woman called Kiera called out to her, “we have the white wolf! Surely he will protect us.”
Derisive laughter echoed her words. Tayo, one of the young men Silver had chastised for outing Kado's secret, pushed his way through the crowd. “He may have the white coat, but that boy is no hero. We're on our own.”
Even from a distance, Silver saw Kado flinch.
Katrine said something to him, but Silver could not hear the words.
“Kado Aronak is a member of our pack,” said Silver with a nod toward him. “And he will do his part—as we all will.”
“And what part is that?” A man who had lost an arm in the battle with Rhael shouted. “To die? Because in case you haven't noticed, more than a few of us already have.”
Silver swallowed the hurt and anger his words ignited within her. “In case you have forgotten,” she replied in a measured tone, “I lost my mate to our last war. I know well the pain of which you speak, but there is no other option left to us, but to prepare for the fight of our lives.”
Someone in the crowd scoffed. “With Maenor as our allies?”
“Yes.” Roxen stood beside Silver. “I know it's still hard for many of us to accept, but we need to stand together as four nations if we have any chance of surviving the Kyreans. Seperun has called a War Council, and I intend to represent us there.”
“Roxen speaks true,
” Silver continued. “Just as our ancestors stood together during the Kyrean Invasion, we must unite to protect our homeland.”
“Listen to your Alphena!”
To Silver's surprise, a new voice entered the fray.
Kellan Kemar pushed his way to the front of the crowd. “Take a look around this crowd. You can count what's left of the Sylrian people in a matter of moments. This is what the Kyrean Republic—what Councilor Terayan does! He destroys entire cultures in the name of absolute control and domination. If you unite the four nations, you all have a chance my people never had. Don't waste it.”
Mina gently punched Kellan's arm. “I thought you were leaving?”
He frowned. “Turned out I needed a good friend to slap some sense into me. Mina, I'm—”
Mina took Kellan's hand. “Here! Here!” she shouted.
Kellan opened a flood gate. People lined up to voice their support: other Sylrians, Jaline, and Fenearens of all ages.
Silver listened to their resolute voices, letting their trust fortify and fuel her.
“I am in awe,” she said, “of our people's strength. I know we are frightened.” She cast her gaze across the crowd. “But we are together. We are a pack. Whether by birth or by circumstance, we are all Fenearen. I swear to you, I will fight for this nation until my last breath.”
Silver could not say who started it, but all at once, a howl erupted. It grew to ear-rending volume as each and every person added their own voice.
Silver joined in last of all. As she closed her eyes and sang, the chilling chorus electrified her veins.
Despite the uncertainty of what came next, in that moment, as her blood danced with an ancient, indomitable rhythm, Silver believed she could lead her people to victory.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The nearest border with Soulous was fifteen leagues northwest of the Southern Densite. Rayna and Channon allowed Marielana to set the pace atop her white mare. By sunset, they'd reached the Madabem, the oldest white oak in the country.
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