Page 50 of Wolf’s Fated Bride

“Haha,” he says drily. “Make fun of the human.”

“You’re a good sport, Sven.”

He stares into the distance. “Thank you for being kind to me and Maren.”

“I’ve my reasons. It’s not all out of the goodness of my heart.”

“I have reasons too. And I have to tell you that I have a feeling you’re in trouble.”

“I always am.”

“The Council gave me orders.” Sven doesn’t meet my eyes. “I shouldn’t be telling you this.”

“But you will because if you prove loyal to me, you will live. If you’re one of mine, I’ll protect you.”

“Before you arrived, they ordered the Stormcrest Alpha to keep you in the Stormcrest pack for as long as possible. They really want this treaty.”

“Or they want me out of my territory, among the enemies, vulnerable inside a nest with an omega I have to take care of.”

“They want it now more than ever. It must have something to do with what they saw during the purge.”

If I’m away from Stormcrest, they’re free to roam and examine everything and everyone, including Runa. But she doesn’t know anything. It’s not like a person would deliberately walk into an inferno. The Council will find nothing, but that won’t deter them. They’ll investigate the possibility of fire resistance like they investigate longevity. They’ll think Runa is the key to immunity from my fire. If they can do what she does, they’ll have unlocked immunity over an element they can’t control. Make no mistake, humans want control of all four elements.

Earth is theirs. They’ve allied with water. If they figure out how to protect themselves from fire, they’ve removed the threat. Only Blade will be left.

“On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you think they want me to stay?”

“Eleven. They’re sending military units with Wardens.”

Wardens are military personnel trained in werewolf capture. “That is an escalation.”

“Military units always are. Whatever happened during the purge is serious, Ash.”

“Or they’re overreacting, and there’s a perfectly natural explanation they can find somewhere in the books they stole from us.”

“There isn’t. I read the books.”

“There were thousands of them.”

“Respectfully, I read them all.”

Blade joins us and hops in place to stay warm. “We’re all set. Where’s Maren?”

I clap my friend on the shoulder. “Not coming.”

“Shit. How come?” Blade asks.

I give him a moment to think.

“No, no. Don’t tell me we’re staying,” he whines. “My buttocks are frozen.”

“Here’s the plan, Sven. The humans have no clue you’re on our side now, which makes you a traitor. You must take care of yourself and never end up away from my pack again. I’ll protect you. If you snitch for me, I’ll protect you. But you have to tell me everything.”

“You didn’t protect Peter,” Sven says.

“Peter trusted you.”

I know that Sven killed Peter to take his place so he could travel with Maren to join my pack. He’s a fool in love, but a fool on my side of the fence, because that’s the only way their relationship can survive.