Chapter 6 Mate

The first light of dawn painted the camp in gray and gold. Mist clung low to the ground, curling around the hooves of restless horses and the paws of massive wolves shifting impatiently. "Mount up," Darius commanded, his voice cutting through the haze. Soldiers obeyed without question, saddling their beasts, loading provisions. Two of them came for me, guiding me toward a horse. My stomach knotted. I didn't belong here. I didn't belong anywhere. "Careful," one of them muttered under his breath, lifting me onto the saddle as if I were made of brittle glass. Not kindness, just caution.

The caravan moved out in silence at first. I still didn't understand why wolf used horses to travel. If I could change, I would run free tin the forest to any place I wanted to be in. The forest swallowed us whole, the trees felt a bit cold. I clutched the reins until my knuckles whitened, the rhythmic thud of hooves and paws pounding the earth a steady drumbeat in my ears. Hours passed. The sun climbed higher. The mist burned away. My body ached from the unfamiliar ride, but it was nothing compared to the gnawing unease twisting in my gut. Two soldiers riding just ahead of me began to whisper, their voices carrying on the wind. "Do you think the others will scent her too?" one asked. "They'll scent her the moment we cross the border," the other replied. "No one hides from them." My pulse quickened. Them? Darius's voice cut sharp across the line. "Silence! You speak too much." The men stiffened, spines snapping straight, silence falling like a hammer. But I had heard enough. The road narrowed as we began to climb. The air grew heavier, thicker, charged with something I couldn't name. They weren't ordinary wolves. They couldn't be. I looked up at Darius's back. It was huge, his shoulders broad. I have my suspicions about who he really was. Every pup in my pack had grown up hearing the stories, whispers traded under blankets, meant to scare us into obedience. Tales of the lycan brothers. Three sons of darkness, cursed by their blood, each more dangerous than the last. Wolves bigger than nightmares. Stronger than armies. Crueler than kings. I had always thought they were just stories. But as the gate loomed into view, carved from black stone and iron, towering high enough to scrape the sky, I knew. The scent rolling off the land ahead was no myth. It was real. It was them. "Steady," one soldier muttered, his hand tightening on the reins of his horse as the gates began to creak open. The other spat into the dirt. "Every damn year we come here, and every year I swear the air itself tries to choke me." "Show respect Nathan. This is my Brother's land," Darius snapped, his voice flat but dangerous. The men bowed their heads, chastised, but I saw their knuckles white, their shoulders rigid. We passed beneath the gates, shadows swallowing us whole. The air inside was different, thicker, heavier, alive. Every breath seared my lungs. My wolf whimpered deep in my chest, and for the first time in my life, I felt her press against me, desperate to run, to flee, to hide. I swallowed hard, gripping the saddle tighter. We rode for another thirty minutes or more until a huge house, no castle came into view. It was dark and no sign of color, even the sun didn't dare to extends its grace towards it. We came to a halt, and one of the soldiers came up to my side and lifted off the horse and saído the ground. "Rain" Darius voice drifted to me, I looked up. "Come." Unwillingly my feet moved towards him. "Do not leave my side." He commanded. I nodded, somehow feeling grateful that he was with me. The doors opened with a deep groan, as though even the wood resisted granting entry. A man stepped forward. Not a wolf, not like the others, but something else or close enough to wear the shape convincingly. His black tunic was simple yet fine, trimmed with silver thread. His eyes, however, betrayed him. They gleamed faintly, like coals banked beneath ash. He bowed low, voice smooth and measured. "Alpha Darius. Welcome home." Darius's jaw ticked. "This is not home Luca," he said flatly. "It is my brother's hall. Do not mistake the difference." The servant dipped his head again. "As you say, my lord. Still, you and your company are expected. Quarters have been prepared for your men in the west wing. For you..." His gaze flicked to me, a single sharp glance that made my stomach clench. "...... your private chambers have been readied in the eastern halls. I didn't know you were coming with I guest but I can get them to prepare a room for her immediately" My throat went dry. Darius's arm brushed against mine as he shifted closer, deliberate. "She does not leave my side," he said, his voice carrying that same command he used with his soldiers. "Of course." The servant straightened, his hands folded neatly before him. "The Summit begins at moonrise tomorrow as your other brother is yet to arrive tonight. Until then, you are free to rest, refresh yourselves, and... recover from your journey." Darius studied him for a long moment, as if weighing every word, every twitch of muscle. Finally, he gave a curt nod. "Lead the way." The servant turned, motioning us inside. The air was colder past the threshold. My boots echoed against the stone floors as we walked, the sound swallowed quickly by the sheer size of the place. The corridors stretched wide and high, although the house looked very modern they still preferred to adorn the hallway with torches that burned in iron sconces, casting wavering shadows across the walls. Darius's men followed behind us. The servant's voice cut into my thoughts. "The High Lord will arrive shortly with your other brother. He bade me extend his welcome, Alpha. He has prepared a feast in your honor tonight." Darius gave a grunt that might have been acknowledgment-annoyance. "My brother loves his feasts. He always did." "Yes," the servant said carefully. "And he is eager to see you again. It has been too long since the blood of your house has gathered under one roof." We turned down another hall. The servant gestured toward a set of carved doors. "These are your quarters. Your men will be shown to theirs." He looked at me again then, openly this time, his expression unreadable. For a moment, I thought he might speak directly to me. But then Darius's hand brushed against my arm, a subtle warning, and the servant lowered his gaze. "If there is anything you require, call for me," he said smoothly. Darius's eyes narrowed. "Do not presume to speak to her again without my leave." The servant bowed deeply, retreating a step. "As you command, Alpha." And with that, he turned and slipped away down the hall, his footsteps vanishing into the silence of the keep. Darius pushed open the heavy doors, his palm pressed firm against my back as he guided me inside. The chamber was vast, the ceiling lost in shadow. A fire crackled low in a black stone hearth, its warmth barely touching the chill that seeped from the walls. A long table stood to one side, laden with fruit, bread, and meats that filled the air with rich, heady scents. I hovered just inside the doorway, torn between awe and dread. Darius's hand lingered against me as the door shut behind us with a resonant thud. "You'll stay here with," he said. His voice was quieter now, but no less commanding. "Where I can see you. My brothers can be very........unpredictable."This