Chapter 26

Raven & Neil

Raven

Sunlight streamed through the open window, casting golden light across the stone walls. I cracked my eyes open and rolled over, my body sore from last night’s… activities. My muscles still protested from carrying the pilot’s body through the forest, although it was nothing compared to the ache in my chest.

Still, burying him had given me some semblance of peace of mind. At least he wasn’t strung up on display anymore.

As I sat up, I was surprised to find that it was much later than my usual wakeup time. Normally, Neil would have dragged me out of bed for training well before the sun rose. But he hadn’t come. Had he decided to let me sleep?

I stretched, groaning at the ache in my body, and finally forced myself out of bed. As I splashed some cold water on my face, my stomach growled loudly.

By the time I left my room dressed in leather pants and a flowing tunic—I couldn’t manage anything complicated with my hair due to my sore arms, so it was loose down my back—the dining hall was pretty much empty. Ember sat alone at one of the long tables, her gaze snapping up to meet mine the moment I entered.

“Where were you this morning?” she snarled as I approached.

“Neil let me sleep in.” I paused, then added vaguely, “We were out late last night.”

“Together?” Her eyes narrowed, and her posture stiffened. “What were you doing with him?”

Her tone caused my eyebrows to hike upward. I knew I could probably tell her about the burial, but it still felt too raw and personal to talk about right now. “What does it matter to you?”

The words barely left my lips before Ember shot to her feet, her chair scraping loudly against the stone floor. Her face flushed a deep crimson, her eyes flashing dangerously. I thought she was going to yell at me, maybe even slap me. But she didn’t say another word—just stormed out of the dining hall.

I stared after her, a spoonful of porridge halfway to my mouth. What the hell was that about?

“Don’t mind her,” came a familiar voice from behind me. I turned to see Castor approaching. He sat down across from me, his hulking body making the chair look comically small. “She is always grumpy in the mornings.”

I snorted. “Yeah. I noticed.”

Castor watched me for a moment as I ate. “Want to work on your riding today?” he asked. “Since you missed training this morning?”

The offer was a welcome one. I never thought I’d say this, but I kind of liked being around the horses. And besides, I didn’t feel like sitting around in my room all day, not with the image of the pilot’s body still on my mind.

After I finished eating, we made our way to the stables and saddled up a couple of horses. I picked a gentle-looking roan named Penny, who snorted happily against my shoulder as I scratched her fuzzy dark ears.

“Why does Ember hate me so much?” I finally asked, my voice quieter than I wanted it to be. “I’ve tried to be nice to her.”

Castor glanced at me with surprise. “She doesn’t hate you.” He scratched his head. “At least, not entirely.”

I raised an eyebrow, watching as he secured the saddle on his horse’s back. He’d picked his usual horse, a large one named Brutus with brown and white spots. “Then what’s her problem?” I asked. “She’s always so… prickly.”

He sighed, leading the horse out of the stable. I followed. “She’s… well, she’s always had feelings for Neil.”

My chest tightened. “Oh.”

Castor nodded as he walked over to me and helped me mount—I was still clumsy, and nearly fell off the other side of the horse as I went up. My face reddened, but neither Penny nor the guard seemed to mind.

“She’s been one of his guards for years,” Castor explained. “But she’s from a lower-class family—her father was a blacksmith. She knows she could never actually be with Neil, but…”

He trailed off, shrugging, as if to say there wasn’t much that could be done about it.

I frowned. The idea that someone could be barred from love because of their social standing was insane to me. Back home, romance was rarely restricted by anything other than mutual feelings. Sure, maybe high profile celebrities were unlikely to date commoners, but still.

“That must be hard for her,” I said softly, my fingers tangling in the horse’s dark mane.

“It is.” Castor’s voice was unusually quiet as he mounted beside me. “But she knows her place. And besides, she deserves better than being someone’s mistress. Neil is engaged, after all. Any relationship they could have would never be more than that.”

I knew that Castor didn’t mean anything by it, but the words stung in a way that I didn’t want to admit. My mind flickered back to the night I had found Neil with another woman, the flippant way he’d talked about his relationship with Serena—or with any woman, for that matter.

Myself included.

Over the days, I had kept telling myself that I didn’t give a shit, that I’d never want to be with him anyway. And part of that was true, to an extent. Whatever jealousy I felt was certainly just due to the hormones brought on by our mate bond.

But still… I couldn’t help but feel a sense of camaraderie with Ember at that moment. Maybe we weren’t completely different.

We rode in silence for a while, the rhythmic sound of hooves clip-clopping against the dirt path echoing through the air. The breeze coming up off the ocean felt nice against my face, soothing my frayed nerves.

But there was another question on my mind. I hesitated, biting my lip before asking, “Speaking of his engagement… What really happened to Serena? The real one?”

Castor’s expression darkened, the easy smile slipping from his face. “Neil didn’t tell you?”

I shook my head.

“We think her caravan may have been attacked by rogues.”

The word sent a shiver down my spine. “It sounds like rogues are a problem around here,” I muttered.

“Usually they aren’t,” Castor sighed. “Normally, they are loners—no pack bond, no loyalty, hardly a threat on their own. But lately, they have been banding together for some reason. We’re not sure why.”

A shiver ran through me at that. Back home, rogues rarely organized, and if they did, it was easily snuffed out due to lack of discipline. But if they were attacking entire caravans of people here, especially nobles, then that was a chilling thought indeed.

…

Neil

My wolf stirred restlessly. “You’re thinking about her again.”

“Shut up,” I growled under my breath, turning away from the window. “I am not thinking about her.”

My wolf just chuckled in response; we both knew that I was a bloody liar.

Last night had… impacted me. Raven had screamed and retched and cried when she saw that pilot’s body, and yet she had carried it through the forest, performed funeral rites, and buried it. Her resilience had surprised me yet again.

But it was just surprise; nothing more.

At least, that was what I kept telling myself.

Gritting my teeth, I made my way out of the castle and into the warm sunlight. My brothers were blissfully nowhere to be found today, and no one had mentioned the missing body. If they questioned me, then I could easily play dumb, blame it on animals or even rogues; not that it made me any less nervous.

I shouldn’t have let her bury the pilot, really. It was safer to leave him there, as selfish as that sounds.

But when I had seen the look in her eyes, heard the pleading in her voice, I could not resist. I had to help her.

I… wanted to help her.

As I crossed the courtyard, I spotted her in the distance, entering the stables with a roan horse in tow. Instinctively, I moved toward her, opening my mouth to call out to her, although I didn’t know why.

But then Castor rounded the building. He said something that made her throw her head back and laugh, and my mouth snapped shut.

“Jealous?” my wolf taunted.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped internally. They were just out for a ride; Goddess knew the woman needed some training, because she rode like a toddler.

But when I saw them come out of the stable and head in the direction of the hot springs together, something sharp and unfamiliar twisted inside of me.

Without thinking, I stormed across the courtyard. I spotted Ember sitting on the steps, whittling something with a small knife. She glanced up as I approached.

“Come with me,” I ordered.