For such a small town, Beta Kendra Sullivan found the Alpha’s palace a little too ostentatious for her liking. Almost everywhere they passed, if it wasn’t adorned in gold, then it was diamond or some other flamboyant, rich metal.
When the nice, kind old man, Saul, informed her that they were going to have to be granted a meeting with the Alpha first before anything else, Kendra knew that they were going to be attacked with the tedious procedures of bureaucracy and protocol.
Seeing the male and female wolves in the little town, going about their activities had stirred a feeling that Kendra identified very well.
She missed her pack.
A part of her wondered if Killian felt the same.
If she as Beta was feeling this nostalgic, she could only imagine how he as Alpha was feeling.
She thought about her new found female friends… young Elinor, Rhea, Miguel and Dante, wondered how they were faring in an entirely new pack that probably had a completely different way of doing things. Kendra even missed Tyrone Riverdale— shocking, but absolutely true, which was saying a whole lot… even though she’d rather die than admit this to his cocky, handsome face had he been in her presence.
She only hoped that the pack was settling in just well, that the members of the Riverdale Pack weren’t making thing hard for them.
“Are you alright?” Kendra felt the gentle nudge way before the words even registered in her brain. She turned to face the old wolf. “We’ve been seated here for quite a long time, why, what’s going on?” At that point, she found that her patience was wearing quite thin.
“That’s just how things are over here, Kendra… you either get lucky when you want to see the Alpha, or you don’t. Tell you what, let’s give it a few more minutes and then ask again to see what is going on, alright?”
Kendra begrudgingly nodded her understanding— mostly out of respect for the kind old man who had taken her in than anything else. She knew that the reason for their being delayed probably had a lot to do with her unkempt appearance, but the past day hadn’t exactly been a very easy one, had it? They probably thought she was insane or something, and the fact that her companion was an old man was definitely not helping their case either.
If she had done things her way, she would have been in Killian’s arms by now, but she could be cool and calm, couldn’t she?
It was just a few minutes away anyway.
And so with that steely resolve set in place, Kendra’s mind floated back to thoughts of her mate.
Killian.
What was she going to do when she saw him?
What was she going to say?
They hadn’t exactly parted ways on amicable terms, you know? And now that the novelty and excitement of seeing him again had worn of a bit, she had time to think some more about the whole thing.
Was he going to be excited to see her?
She had wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him senseless— that had been the initial plan, remember?
But would that work? Would he be open to it?
She had no idea, and she wasn’t exactly sure she wanted to do that anymore.
She also found that deep down, she was still quite angry at him too. That anger that had been her heart since they started the whole darned quest hadn’t exactly worn off.
And also, why hadn’t he come to look for her?
Almost five days. She had looked forward to him storming Alaric’s camp, looking like some dashing savior prepared to save his damsel in distress.
It wasn’t as though she was one exactly, but she would have allowed it had it come to that!
Instead, he was here cooped up in Dnakle, doing gods know what over here. What exactly was so important that he hadn’t come to look for her in all of the five days that they had been separated?
Guilt consumed Kendra as these thoughts rapidly flitted through her mind. She was the one who had caused this. The one who had made things a whole mess— a lot more complicated.
If she had just accepted their fate as mates, none of this would have happened. So why was she trying to fault him over something that she had been fully responsible for?
Shaking the thoughts aside, the female Beta took in a deep breath and turned to the old man, “Saul, we still haven’t heard anything. You said to give it a few more minutes. Well, I’m done waiting.” With those words she stood up, heading outside past the entourage of guards that had told them to wait in the lobby like grand room in the first place. She ignored the shouts of ‘wait’ and all the other commotion behind her as the kind old man tried divert their attention away from her by pretending to be ill.
As she sashayed towards the grand entrance to the Alpha’s throne room, with a handful of the guards still trailing after her, a thought struck her.
Knowing Killian, the certainty of him being in that throne room was going to be very little, if not almost nonexistent. He hated such extravagant displays of wealth and power with a passion.
Going into the throne room was going to be a waste of time.
That much was clear to the she wolf.
Plus, she wasn’t exactly sure that she wouldn’t be thrown out of the palace especially with the stunt she had just pulled, and so she rounded a corner, anxious to evade the wolves after her. She wasn’t even sure it was going to work, but she was desperate, and so grabbing one of the large drapes covering the tall windows, she went behind it and sucked in her breath, praying to whoever cared to listen that she wouldn’t be caught.
It amused Kendra greatly just how far she had come, how low she had fallen, to be spending nights in dungeons, and daytimes hiding behind large curtains.
She closed her eyes when she heard them approach, trying to make herself feel small as they passed by, shouting ‘where did she go?’ ‘Pray she isn’t in the throne room, else the Alpha would deal with us!’
She heard them pass by, and the breath she had held for so long escaped her lips finally. Her current location was not exactly ideal, and besides, she also needed to find the route to their sparring grounds, where she was absolutely positive that her mate would be.
And so the she-wolf in ruined clothes dashed out of her hiding spot and headed back towards where she had come from. She had noticed a doorway earlier on somewhere, but in her haste, she hadn’t exactly thought things through, nevertheless, she was willing to bet her last dime that it led to the courtyard at least.
It turned out that she was right, or that good luck was finally shining on her again— she didn’t exactly know which one it was, and she didn’t exactly care.
But even if she did, she didn’t really have time to process it much, for she caught sight of the sparring grounds, her heart jumping in excitement at the discovery.
She suddenly felt nervous.
All of her initial thoughts and uncertainties came rushing back once again with each step she took.
Her heart soared to in her chest when she saw him, bare chested, his back towards her as he sparred with a figure she couldn’t exactly identify. His hair had grown longer, and he had become more buff too.
She couldn’t believe that it was just five days that had passed.
He seemed so much in his element being out here, and he looked younger— freer too.
Kendra was sure it had something to with his reduced responsibilities.
Her legs carried her forward even before she noticed it, her wolf howling, pacing in excitement inside her at the thought of finally being back with her mate once more.
But then she stopped in her tracks.
It wasn’t a man he was jousting with? It was a woman. A very beautiful woman. They were not only fighting, but they seemed to be having a very interesting conversation too from the way Killian threw his head back and laughed.
He fucking laughed.
So this was the reason why he hadn’t come to search for her. This was why he had been cooped up in the little town. This woman.
Kendra felt nothing but hot searing rage, but then she checked herself. It wasn’t exactly her rage… wasn’t exactly her anger, seeing as most of it was her wolf’s anger manifesting at another she-wolf being so close to her mate. Nevertheless, Kendra felt hurt— she felt betrayed.
Sparring was their thing, and he was doing it.
With her.
“There she is! Grab her before she escapes!” Kendra faintly heard, but she made no effort to move, still stuck in her tracks as the guards closed in on her, each grabbing her by the arm. The commotion caused the two lovebirds to pull away from each other, and when Killian’s gaze caught hers, his jaw dropped open and his eyes grew wide in disbelief.