Chapter 55
Ember
I wake before sunrise, though my body aches in protest. My ribs aren’t broken, just bruised and the wound on my side is shallow, but every movement reminds me of last night’s failure. I sit up slowly, easing the blanket away and testing my balance before rising to change the bandage.
The air is cold. I shiver as I pour water onto the cut against my ribs. The bruises are worse than the cut. I press gently around the edge of the wound and grit my teeth.
It could have been worse. I keep telling myself that.
Still, I should have seen the rogue coming sooner. I should have reacted faster. There had been something wrong with the way everything blurred and the way my thoughts scattered.
I wasn’t tired, not enough for that. My training hadn’t failed me, something else had gone wrong. My eyes drift toward the table.
The charm lies where I left it last night. Nara says nothing. She hasn’t said much since last night.
You felt it too, I think.
I don’t ask her to speak. I don’t need her to say what I already know. The haze wasn’t normal. The way I moved, how disconnected I felt from my own limbs wasn’t just nerves or fatigue.
Something had interfered, and the charm was around my neck the entire time.
Prince Kaine had asked if I was alright when we returned to camp. I’d nodded, said I was fine, and he hadn’t pushed, but I hadn’t told him everything. He didn’t know about the way my thoughts slowed or how my body refused to follow orders.
I hadn’t told him about the moment I looked at the rogue and couldn’t remember how to fight. I had stood there like I was underwater, sluggish and numb.
I pause after dressing. My hands hover for a second over the charm. I don’t pick it up, just look at it.
The memory of Bianca’s face when she handed it to me flickers across my mind. She had seemed gentle, concerned. Maybe she was just pretending to be. I can’t tell anymore.
Had she planned this? No. Maybe. I don’t know.
“She gave it to you when you were vulnerable,” Nara finally says, her voice low and harsh, “That should have told you something.
I breathe out, slow and unsteady. Outside, the camp is quiet. A few guards stir near the fire, stretching and starting the day.
I spot one of the other guards struggling to organize packs and head over to help. Sorting gear is better than sitting still, and much better than thinking.
We work in silence. I pass him coiled rope, tighten the strap on one of the packs, and recheck the medical pouch.
The guard looks grateful for the help, but doesn’t say much. I prefer it that way. He asks if I’m alright, just once, and I nod.
Still, even with my hands full, the feeling of wrongness won’t leave me. It clings to the back of my mind. I feel eyes on me.
When I glance around camp, no one’s watching. No one acts strange. But the tight feeling in my chest won’t budge.
I should have tell Prince Kaine about the charm. Really, I should have thrown it away the second it Nara expressed her concern. I told myself that Bianca was trying to help.
I should have known better. Blood or not, she has never cared for me.
I return to my tent once I’ve helped sort the gear. The day hasn’t even begun in full, but I’m already exhausted.
That night the Captain stands at the edge of camp, hidden in the shadows of forest. He doesn’t move, doesn’t blink. His gaze is fixed on a single tent. Embers.
She’s alive, wounded but alive.
He had hoped the rogue would finish the job. It would appeared to an unfortunate loss, but everyone knew how dangerous it was becoming outside the palace. Ember knew what she was risking when she had joined the guard, after all.
The amulet Bianca had obtained was meant to help things along. Still, the girl survived.
His fingers flex at his side. The knife on his belt is already in place.
He doesn’t need to prepare, he’s ready. Just one quick motion and it would be done. It would only take a few seconds.
He waits until the rest of camp falls silent, the fire is put out and, the most guards retire to their respective tents.
He carefully sneaks past the guard left to keep watch, and for the first time, he finds himself grateful for Ember’s gender. She sleeps alone.
He slips between the tents, steps light, practiced. He doesn’t make a sound as he nears Ember’s space. If she’s asleep, it will be over quickly.
He reaches for the tent flap without hesitation, He’s done worse before.
It would be blamed on the rogue. He disappeared after the attack and no one would think it too strange if he snuck back to finish the job. Rogue wolves are unpredictable, it would look like he was trying to send a message.
The captain smiles as he prepares to strike, thinking that his problems are soon to be over.
Kaine
I haven’t slept. Instead, I’ve been awake for hours, pacing and trying not to think too hard about last night.
I keep seeing the moment Ember lost her footing, how off balance she had seemed. It didn’t make sense.
Something about the Captain’s voice when he suggested she lead that scouting party had stayed with me. At the time, it had seemed logical, but his tone had been wrong, so I followed.
Now his voice won’t leave my mind. The rogue had appeared exactly where he sent her. It was too convenient, too fast.
I exit my tent to continue pacing outside. I need the fresh air. I’m halfway through camp when I hear movement near her tent.
I follow sound and find the Captain is already there, one hand on his knife, the other ready to pull open flap to Ember’s tent.
Pure hatred courses through my body at the disgusting scene before me and I allow Rafe to take control. I feel power surge beneath my skin. A shudder courses through me as I consider the horrors I am about to inflict upon the pathetic creature standing before me.
I am going to enjoy this. My teeth begin to lengthen and my claws extend. I smile.
Suddenly, I hear a voice from the tent. Ember. “Kaine?” Not Prince Kaine. Kaine.
Fuck. Her voice is all it takes for me to return to my senses. Ember is tough, but I can’t imagine what she’d think to find the captain’s guts spilled in front of her tent.
I let the power still surging within me fill my voice. “Stop,” I growl, fighting to maintain my tentative control.
He freezes. His eyes go wide as he turns, but it’s too late. My Alpha command hits him hard.
The force of it slams into his body and drops him to his knees. His knife clatters to the dirt beside him.
Other guards are already stirring. I raise my voice just enough. “Restrain him. He’s under arrest.”
The nearest guards move fast. They don’t question me. The Captain doesn’t resist. He can’t.
He’s still staring at me like he can’t believe it. He mutters something under his breath as they haul him up. I hear only one word clearly.
“Bianca.”
I don’t react outwardly, but the name twists deep in my chest. What had he meant?
Later, I sit by what remains of the fire thinking about, what I really know about my fiancé.
I remember a moment, days ago, just outside the training grounds. The Captain had been speaking to Bianca. He’d looked frustrated. She’d touched his arm as she turned to leave.
It hadn’t seemed important then. Now, I’m not so sure. I lean forward, elbows on knees, eyes still fixed on the dying embers.
