Chapter 12

Fiona had always loved Kane.

It had been a love at first sight situation for her. Even when it was obvious that he was oblivious to her feelings for him, she had never deterred at showing him how much she cared. She was always there when he needed someone, and though he was naturally reserved, she tried her best to get him to open up to her.

And maybe it worked. Right? He opened up to her sometimes, give her a little glimpse into his closed-up world, and made her feel like as though she understood him. He might have thought her nothing but a friend, but to Fiona, Kane was everything a person could be to another.

Following their arrival at the Blue Hound kingdom, she had begun to notice he became somewhat distant. She tried not to think too much into it. After all, she knew the circumstances surrounding his birth and the reason he was who he was — so she figured he needed time to himself. Eric’s tedious tales must have driven him into isolation.

But then she’d begun to notice the copious amount of time Kane had been spending on his sketchbook. She knew better than anyone that he rarely drew except whatever image in his mind mattered to him. He’d never drawn her before and she liked to think she meant something to him. Which was why she had been dumbstruck after taking a peek into his sketchbook to see him sketching a pair of female eyes.

It certainly wasn’t her, she knew that for sure. So, who?

As Fiona stared at the naked moving bodies of Kane and a young woman she did not recognize, her heart shattering into a million tiny pieces, the answer to her question stared back at her.

After he’d snuck off into the night, she’d lain awake, counting from one to fifty before following him. She’d lost him for a few minutes, had instead decided to walk around the forest search of him with her weapons, just in case she came across any wolves.

After an hour, she’d found the cave, with Kane in the arms of a woman.

Kane had fallen in love with someone who wasn’t her. Although he had never showed her any kind of affection that was not platonic, she had thought —hoped— that one day he would finally see the light and realize that she was the only one who could truly love him as he deserved.

But it wasn’t happening like she’d thought. Instead, the sound of Kane’s deep moans mixed with the woman’s high-pitched whimpers filled her senses. He settled between the woman’s pale legs, every movement of his waist as sharp as the sting of a whiplash against Fiona’s skin. Tears bubbling in her throat, she slapped a hand over her trembling lips and backed away as quietly as she came.

When she was at a faraway distance, she let the tears flow freely. Who was the woman Kane had been sleeping with? This was a werewolf kingdom. There were no humans around save for them, so where had she come from?

Was she a werewolf? Fiona paused. That was impossible. It couldn’t be.

Kane would not do that. Not to them. Not to her and definitely not to Eric. That would make him a betrayer and it was the one thing Kane was not.

But how could she explain the unknown woman? Fiona did not know what they had talked about before she arrived, only knew what she’d seen with her eyes which was Kane and the woman naked and kissing. Anger flowed through her as she walked back to their camp. How could he? How could he have thrown away the very value of the wolf hunters by falling for their enemy? A wolf?

He should’ve known better.

Fiona wiped under her eyes. Fire burned in the distance and she knew the camp was still alive with activity. Her mind was made up; she would make Kane regret his betrayal even if it was the last thing she did.

Eric was the first person she saw when she entered the abandoned fortress where they camped. He took one look at her face and was instantly at his feet. “What is it?”

The rest of the crew drew alert, moving closer to them. She supposed she should stop and think very carefully about what she was about to do, but anger had eaten deep into her soul. All she wanted was to make them both pay.

“Kane is with a wolf as we speak,” she said. Whispers rose in the air around her but she kept her gaze solely on Eric. She wanted him to feel the anger she felt, the pain that was coursing through her veins.

“Explain,” Eric’s deep voice growled, his features hardened, his eyes glaring at her.

“I just saw him sleeping with a wolf.”

Somebody whistled. “That’s bullshit,” Philip spoke up, his voice a mixture of anger and disbelief. “Kane would never do that. Save for Eric, he’s killed more wolves than the rest of us.”

“I know what I saw,” Fiona said sharply, turning her gaze to him. “And they looked real comfortable exchanging body fluids.”

The murmurs got louder. Fiona felt she needed to say more, to do more.

“If you all think I’m lying, then look around you,” she yelled. “Where is he? Why isn’t he standing here defending himself? Why has he been sneaking out every night to God knows where only to return in the early hours of the morning? Ask yourselves!”

“She’s right,” someone from the crowd said.

“I’ve seen him sneaking back once,” another said.

Eric was quiet. Fiona waited for him to speak, waited for the storm she knew was brewing inside him. If there was one thing Eric did not compromise on, it was loyalty.

“This is good.”

Fiona’s brows rose to her hairline at his words. “Good, you say?” she asked. “What’s good about it?”

Then a corner of his lips curved upwards as he met her gaze. “If what you say is true, then we can use it to our advantage. It means Kane is in good spirits with a wolf. We could use him to find the wolf from the prophesy.”

Fiona stared at him. Was that all he cared about? A stupid prophecy that might not even be true? What about Kane’s betrayal? “And after that? What will you do to him?”

Eric smile widened into a wicked grin that sent chills down her spine. “Then he’s of no use to me. He dies.”

Her blood ran cold. Die? No, no, no. That was the last thing she wanted. Death was too extreme. Shit. She didn’t want him to die. Maybe ostracizing him or something.

It occurred to her that she might have made a terrible mistake and by doing so, had put Kane’s life in danger. Eric was a madman who had no morals when it came to getting what he wanted.

What had she done?