wake us nightly with their demands and entertain us with their mischief of a day. Were I to glance down at my boots, I would find a few teeth marks there.
“I am. And I have.”
“Good,” he says. “I am glad. You were always going to make a better king than me.”
“Aye, well,” I say. “We can also agree on that.”
I mean it in a light-hearted teasing way, but my brother does not smile.
“They are never going to let me leave,” he says. “I am less than a slave to them. They allow me out of a day that I can labor for them. It is honest work, and I find pleasure and freedom in the simple tasks. But of a night, I return here where I remember what I am. I try not to think about tomorrow and the noose Eric plans to stretch my neck with. But the day will come.”
“Don’t,” I say, feeling a lump settle in my throat and heaviness behind my eyes.
“You need to accept it, Gage.”
“I can’t.”
“I am serious. I looked fucking guilty when they came upon us. They have no reason to believe I am innocent and every reason to find me at fault.”
“You didn’t fucking do it,” I say, anger surging for every word from his lips convinces me more deeply that he does not belong here, rotting in a shack.
“Promise me you won’t go to war with them, Gage. Promise me this one fucking thing! I can’t have innocent people hurt over me. If you go to war, the people here may be injured. I can’t live with that. I’ve done enough wrong in my life. Maybe this is my dues.”
“No,” I say. “I can’t fucking promise you that. Don’t ask me to.”
“Don’t throw away what you have achieved over this. You have a mate now. I know you have two shifter babies with your mate and her bonded second. It is all the lasses of the clan talk about. Don’t you dare endanger that.”
He is right, and I fucking hate that he is right. Knowing this does not make the conflict go away nor lessen the pain within my chest.
We all take different paths through life. Danon’s path has been harder than most. He deserves a better end than to hang from a rope.
“I believe in you, Danon. And I believe the Goddess has once more found her way to our clan. Have faith in the Mother of All Things. You have suffered long enough.”
The door bangs and rattles as the guard enters. “It is time,” he says. “Eric will speak to you now.”
I clasp arms with Danon. “Don’t lose hope,” I say.
“I won’t,” he says. “Give Eric the bastard my regards. He has not visited me in a while, and I’m starting to think he doesn’t care.”
I huff out a laugh. For the first time since I entered the shack, I sense my brother is still here. With a look that I pray will not be the last, I leave Danon.
As I step outside, a pretty lass arrives with a cloth-covered tray.
“What’s that for, Ellen?” the guard asks.
“You know what,” she says, smacking his hand when he tries to peek.
“Fucking prisoner eats better than me,” he grouches. “Go on then, lass. He’s not tried to strangle you yet, so I don’t think he’ll try now. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve taken the Lyon King to speak with Eric.”
As I turn away, a smirk spreads across my lips.
I look toward the heavens. I have a feeling the Goddess has some plans in play.
I am both heartened and sad after visiting with Danon. I sense that he is close to losing hope despite him saying he would not.
He is different.
Some of the changes are for the better, and some are not.
But when I enter the hall of my home, I find a cheery setting that lifts my spirits. Brandon, Jessa, and the pups.
Pups… because they spend more time in wolf form than they do as babies, only changing back when they are hungry or tired. Mostly hungry, since sometimes they remain in wolf form to sleep. A small fur-lined basket is placed to one side of the hearth, and they tend to go there when they are ready to rest or change.
With the onset of winter, it is cold once the sun sets. The fire has been lit, and the pups are playing rough and tumble on the floor. The cat sits to one side, overseeing their antics with a