Page 46 of Wolf’s Fated Bride

“What if that’s a lie? What if we were taught that so we would hate him?”

“He has his own angle. Everyone does. What else did he say during breakfast?”

“He asked… Well, when I say asked, I mean that loosely, but he asked for me to come with you to the Fireborn territory.”

Maren’s blue eyes widen, brighten even. “What a great idea.” Then her shoulders deflate. “Grand dream, more like it. I can only imagine how that went over with our parents.” She sits back on her heels, expecting to hear what our parents said, no doubt hoping they miraculously changed their minds.

“Mother took off her earrings and rings, thinking she’d have to shift and fight the Alpha.”

Maren topples into the nest and laughs. She pats the place next to her, and I lie down. We stare at the ceiling.

Usually, only one female is allowed in the nest because the male will seek only one scent, and the second one might confuse or irritate him during mating, but Maren’s male is human, and humans’ noses aren’t as sensitive as ours.

“I wish you could come,” Maren says.

“I asked them to let me go for a week.”

“I wish you and I were never apart.” She holds my hand.

“We won’t be.” But we will. I can’t follow her into Fireborn territory. My parents would never agree, and that could spark another conflict and become a breach of the already fragile peace treaty.

She whacks my shoulder. “Stop telling me lies.”

“No way. They make you less sad about our separation.”

“I don’t want to talk about us separating at all. Since I’m nesting, I’ll pretend I’m in heat for the next three days.”

“Ash said you’re leaving today after lunch.”

Maren sits up, her hair flying about her, then settling in an unruly mess over her face. She blows on it to see between the strands. “He said what?”

She heard me. I nod. “That’s what he said.”

“But I’ve nested. He’s expected to visit during fire moon. That’s what the humans want. They want to be sure the treaty is consummated before the marriage takes place.”

“Did Sven say that?”

“Yeah. Why do you think he’s so desperate to prevent it?”

I sit up with her. “You knew he would try to kill the Fireborn Alpha.”

A slight nod.

I grab her shoulders and shake her. “Are you crazy?”

“He was going to do it with or without my help. So I helped.”

I press a hand over her mouth. “Shhh. Don’t let the walls hear you. Moon’s holy pussy, Maren, what were you thinking?” I remove my hand.

“You can’t curse like a sailor.”

“I can. I’m not a princess.”

“Fuck being a princess,” she says, and we giggle. “All that ever got me was subservience to laws I don’t agree with.”

“Neither does Ash. Maybe you guys are fated, like Bjorn and Freya.”

Ah, how I love that werewolf story. It’s one I read in the books the Regulators sent for safekeeping in the underground human libraries. It’s a fictional story, a forbidden romance because it explicitly describes the time Bjorn serviced Freya until their fated bond snapped into place.