60. Ary

“Do we have a problem, Corbin?” I grunt, shrugging the heavy black shirt over my head. “Because when Cass defeats Elle, I’ve suggested you should be her Beta. I’ve heard nothing but excellent things about you?”

He shook his head and gestured to the right of the fire. Dozens of men in sleeping bags, blankets, and even straw piled high. They’re living rough.

“Excellent? Look at this place. We’re on the run. We are all waiting for Cassie. We believe she’s going to come through, take her throne. I’ve got a few men itching to defect for a shot at trying to find the gold she’s stashed on the coast though.”

“How many?”

“At least a dozen. Silver brands aren’t a personality trait, but you tell someone they’re scum long enough they’ll start acting like it.”

Corbin and Raphael would find lots in common. Both are so steady and serious. No interest in gossip. I noticed Corbin’s aged, brittle chainmail over his grey long-sleeved top, his boots in need of repair. Maybe Volare can help with some things.

“What else do you know about the silver branding? Anything at all? Volare has always considered brands insignificant, but now I’m finding out Kallio was correct.”

“Just that after Elder Brent took charge decades ago, it all turned against silver-brands. I don’t know why. My fathers generation, we were just lazy, then stupid. Eventually dangerous. They’ve been recorded for generations, though. It was something each family line did, and then it got more official.”

The fire danced between us as Corbin clenched his hands together. If this had been Cesar, Brent, or Elle, I’d consider it a dance, trying to work out the truth. But Corbin was so flatly specific.

No games, no illusions. Just his grey eyes shining through the darkness, contrasting with the orange flame in a way that unnervingly reminded of the clashing visions my wolf had just shared.

“Elders recording everyone?”

Corbin nodded. His jaw was clamped shut, his short brown hair constantly being rubbed by his free hand. My wolf suggests I’m making him remember some unpleasant times. “As soon as Elle took over, with Cassandra being silver-branded like us, it only confirmed what every village had been whispering anyway. That we weren't good enough.”

“You’ve already proven that wrong,” I offer. Corbin didn’t answer, only raised his eyebrows and looked around at the rows of sleeping, bedraggled men.

“Look…what Cass thought she heard, saw, at the cliffs. It wasn’t real. She’s in Volare waiting for me now. Elle played a sick trick on us both.”

Corbin didn’t answer. I guess he’s waiting for instructions from his Luna. If any of my men were in the same position, I suppose I’d want them to act the same. “She’s my mate.”

“I guessed that one on my own,” he replies sarcastically.

“But she doesn’t want to be Luna of Volare, even though that would be so much easier. She wants Kallio. Her birthright. To put everything right for all of you.”

That did it. Corbin’s grey eyes lit up. “Well all she has to do is ask us. Apart from the dozen itching to leave, I have another eighty ready to serve.”

“That’s impressive. When I get back we’ll try and get some fresh armour and weapons over to you?”

“Here!” Robyn whispered merrily, tiptoeing whilst offering me beer, throwing branches on the fire. “How is Cassie? He never said anything-” gesturing at her brother. “He said she wanted to be on her own. But I never wanted her to leave, I wish I’d told her everything. I should have tracked her with you,” facing her brother with those wide searching blue eyes again. “Then Dominic running to the Kallio guards! It all happened so quickly!”

“Robyn, Cass ran away because of me, not you,” I confirm.

“You?”

Nodding grimly, the sting of guilt in my gut is fresh and sharp. But Corbin kept her secret. Another reason to approve of him. If I use my Alpha head anyway. Rolling up the sleeves of the heavy black shirt, I sigh into the fire.

“When Dominic fled to the Kallio guards, it was a huge slap in the face for all of us,” Corbin adds. “We’ve just been used, keeping him safe until he could serve Elle.”

“Fuckbag, I hope they chopped his head off,” Robyn hissed and I immediately understood her and Cassandra being fast friends, concealing a smile.

From her quiet, timid start Cass had described her confidence growing every day. Now reunited with her family, she was bright and engaging.

“We all make mistakes, believe me. Trust…trust is tricky,” I add taking a sip of the cold beer.

In my heart, I battle a growing worry. Maybe Cass would be fine if she rejected me? Perhaps, like Dominic, I am surplus to my mates requirements now she has loyal servants like Corbin to fight in her name. Are my wolf and I only a hindrance to victory?

Except Cass loves me. So I need to get a fucking grip and get back. I just need to feel her in my arms again. Drown in coconut.

“Dominic is dead. But can we keep that quiet for now?” I add with a whisper. I don’t know and almost don’t want to ask what plans Cass has for that head.

“Of course, where is Marcus, is he back in Volare?”

“He is. In fact the reason I came over the river here was to ask Robyn, if you would come back to Volare with me?”

“How? The bridge is up!”

“We’ll swim. Shifted, it’s doable. I’ve done it twice now. Cass and has done it too.”

Robyn didn’t wait a second. She put down her beer and turned to her brother. “I’ve got to go! You know how worried I’ve been about her. It’s not like we’ll lose each other again. Marcus too…I mean…I'm so sorry I jumped you Ayr. You don't even smell similar!” beginning to blush, Corbin wraps a huge arm around her. Pulling her along the wooden log until she is nestled in the crook of his arm.

“You know you can do whatever you choose, Robby. Like you say, we won’t lose each other now. Never again. Stop worrying," planting a kiss on the top of her copper hair. As she beamed into his armoured chest, I got his hard grey stare of warning.

Plan agreed, we didn't waste another minute.

Robyn trekked us west, back to the river. With limited supplies and no weapons, we hiked around the outskirts for a full day. My wolf had wandered much further than I ever realised.

Robyn soon told me everything about her life in Pemberton. Her violent ex, the bars just for the silver-marked. How the gossip rags were starting to suggest Elle had thrown me out for violence towards her.

After just a day of travelling together, Robyn already feels like my own little sister. Meaning, she badgered me into revealing more than I ever intended.

About how Cass and I found our bond, the shoreline. At every snippet of information she would coo. Then, dozens of questions about Marcus and Volare followed.

Considering they know they're not mates, they seem pretty set on esch other. Marcus must have some hidden depths besides the sex he normally brags so constantly about.

How much of our Volare life would change if Marcus left? He would inevitably be based in Kallio, alongside his girl and her brother.

For Corbin and Robyn are Cass’s allies, not mine. It was a selfish response, but I'm already having to accept my mate not wanting to reside with me.

Dawn marked a week since I left. It’s not good. We’re taking too long.

As the sun rose, I stretched and growled myself out of exhaustion only to find Robyn already awake, staring ahead.

“I was thinking Alpha…”

“You know you can call me Ayr, we’ve been over this?” I reply, rubbing my eyes.

Tomorrow, I wake up with Cass. Maybe I'll tickle her awake and risk another maiming. Or throw a bucket of water and watch her go ape about it, only to subdue with her with furious kisses until she laughs into my chest.

“Anyway, I think…We’re leaving all these clothes at the river's edge anyway? We can cut hours off if we just go for it now. I think I’d like to shift. It’s been years since I last did it.”

“Let’s do it. One second-” before handing her the rest of the food. “Hunting is a bit foul. We might as well start with full stomachs.”