A deal with the enemy

Elora

I was already mated to one man I wasn’t supposed to: Kael Stormrider, the man who loved my sister. Now, I was mated to my pack’s worst enemy as well?!

Why didn’t I remain without a mate? I was better off locked up in my room in the pack house than in enemy territory.

My eyes didn’t leave his amber ones as I stared intently at them. Sierra stirred softly within me. He was right when he said that she had been injured severely. As she awakened slowly, I began to feel the pull again.

The scent of the silver haired man wafted through my nostrils; wet earth and rain…olive oil?

The hairs at the back of my neck tingled under his gaze. It was the same feeling I had with Kael last night, and when his gaze softened, I could tell his wolf had recognized me.

‘Mate.’ Sierra purred.

“Yes, another one.” I replied to her.

I needed to speak to him. To tell him it was all a mistake and I needed to return home as a soon as possible. I wasn’t sure how many days had passed, but I had a wedding to prepare for.

I gestured for writing materials with my left hand, and he tore his gaze away from me. I watched him stand to his full height. He was taller than any man I had ever seen. He walked to the table at the distal end of the room, picked up a scroll and a quill with his left hand, then a jar of ink with his right.

The wet shirt traced the muscles of his back so perfectly, I found myself swallowing hard.

“It is rude to stare, you know.” He said, turning to me.

My eyes widened.

Surely he didn’t…

“I could feel your eyes on my back.” He placed the writing materials beside me.

“Go ahead.”

I took hold of them and began to write. It was terribly embarrassing.

I ALREADY HAVE A MATE. ONE WHOM I AM SET TO MARRY. I AM VERY SORRY, BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE A MISTAKE SOMEWHERE.

He frowned as he read through the lines.

“Really?” He raised his right brow.

“And I’m the mistake?”

I said nothing.

He sucked in a deep breath.

“This man you’re mated to. Who is he?”

My right hand trembled as I wrote. If he found out I was mated to his arch nemesis, would he kill me? Would he use me as a pawn to lure Kael here? Would he be irritated and let me go?

I’ll never know unless I told him the truth.

KAEL STORMRIDER. ALPHA OF STORMRIDER PACK. MY NAME IS ELORA VALEWIND. DAUGHTER OF GENERAL VAREK VALEWIND, BETA OF STORMRIDER PACK.

Anger burned in his bright amber eyes like the sun, threatening to burn everything it set its sight on, including me. His fists rolled into tight balls beside him, and my heart skipped a beat.

What was he going to do to me now that he knew who I was? The North and South had been sworn enemies for several decades. My bond with Kael was to bring an end to the war. But what about my bond with him? Ryker?

The look of anger in his eyes vanished as soon as it came, and it was replaced with an unreadable stare.

“That’s fine. He does sound like a very powerful man,” he moved to sit beside me. I shifted backwards, pressing my back against the headboard.

“He’ll come looking for you in no time.”

I tilted my head to the left to take a good look at him. Did he really think Kael would storm enemy territory for me? Maybe for Selene, but definitely not for me.

WHAT IF HE DOESN’T?

I wrote.

His lips thinned into a pitiful smile as he leaned back, resting the weight of his body on his hands that were pressed against the soft mattress.

“Do not be naive, princess. Of course he wouldn’t. The men who did what they did to you weren’t scavengers of any sort. They were trained assassins, hired rogues.” He stopped speaking and tilted his neck to look at me.

“They were hired to kill you, princess. One would wonder why they had to drag you all the way here to do that. Someone in your pack doesn’t want you there. Who knows?” He leaned into me, and I flinched.

“It might even be your mate.”

I shot him a glare and grabbed the quill from the ink jar. With a frown on my face, I scribbled words on the scroll.

HOW DARE YOU ASSUME SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

He stifled a laugh.

“Last time I heard of the scrawny prince of the north, he was to be married to a certain warrior by the name of Selene. Golden blonde hair and round tits.” His gaze fell to my breasts.

“You do not have blonde hair, and might just be the skinniest female I’ve ever set my eyes on.”

My scowl deepened, and it seemed to amuse him.

“Worse still, you’re a mute. Fix the puzzle together, princess.”

No way. I shook my head vehemently.

He was insinuating Selene and Kael ordered those men to kill me. That it was a plot by the palace to get rid of me so Selene and Kael could marry. I couldn’t believe that. I refused to.

Ryker scoffed and rose to his feet.

“Regardless of whether it’s true or not, you cannot sit by and wait to find out. You might be a mute, but you’re also a silver wolf.”

I…I am?

Wait. I am!

“I am a silver wolf, and I know the power that it holds. If you let me, I can give you the training you deserve. You could have died out there, princess. Silver wolves are never taken out that easily. We might be sworn enemies, but you’re my mate, and I can’t bear to have a powerless one. When we’re done with our training, you can decide if you want to leave or stay.”

I was his enemy, yet he wanted to train me? What if this was a trap? He could be trying to make me comfortable so I don’t try to escape while planning to keep me here and turn me into some war tool.

I DO NOT WANT POWER. I wrote.

I JUST WANT TO BE SEEN AS MORE THAN A MUTE WOLF.

When he read this, a smirk slowly stole its way to the right side of his face. Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground by squatting beside me. I watched him in silence as he placed both hands on top of each other on the bed and rested his chin on them. His bright eyes bore into mine. It took me everything not to look away.

“I wouldn’t just see you, princess. I plan to make you into a woman no one else would be bold enough to mess with.”

Something in my belly fluttered at his words. No man had ever spoken to me like that, or looked at me for as long as he did. He made me feel…heard.

Surely, I could do something with that. If I returned to Kael now, I would just be the woman he was forced to marry. I’ll be of no use to him. If I wanted to prove myself to the Stormrider pack and to Kael, I had to become stronger.

FINE. BUT ONLY FOR THREE MONTHS. AFTER THAT, YOU HAVE TO PROMISE TO LET ME GO.

He nodded.

“You have my word, princess.”

Princess.

The word left his lips with a gentleness that had heat burning in my chest. Was this the force of the mate bond as well?

“Ryker, is everything alright?”

I looked in the direction of the woman’s voice.

Curvy, tall, and with short hair whose color I couldn’t make out in the dark. She stood at the door while it rained, and when her eyes settled on mine, they narrowed into a frown.

“Kiara,” he called, rising to his feet and turning to look at her. Her frown dissolved into a smile immediately.

“She’s awake. I thought to have a word with her.” Ryker continued.

“We should let her rest then.” But the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, and when she ushered Ryker out of the room, I couldn’t help but feel like something wasn’t right.

I was in more trouble than I thought.