Heir To The Iron Crown: Dyrith

5 - Fimmti

I smiled at him.

"Are you going to take me away?" I asked him.

He nodded his head.

"We have agreed to let you come with me if you'd like, at least for the time being till things are settled with the Palace. We will go to Fathilagt, my pack in Iceland," Valente said.

I raised an eyebrow at this.

"I know where Fathilagt is," I said, rolling my eyes.

His smile turned into a smirk.

"Shh, the walls hear everything," he said in my mind.

I had a vague memory of being told something similar. But I pushed the thought aside.

He continued talking.

"Do you now? It's not a pack on the map, so to say. I'm surprised you've heard of us," he said, sounding interested.

I slowly began to realize what he was doing. We were meant to be complete strangers, so we had to play the part even in seclusion.

"Why can't we talk through our link?" I asked him.

"If someone actually was listening in on us, would you want them to think we sat and stared at each other the whole time?" he asked.

I gave him a sheepish smile for asking that question.

"I mean, I wouldn't mind staring at you either," I said through our link, earning a wide smile from him in response.

His short-trimmed beard suited him so well, and his eyes were just as stormy as ever. But even with his handsome masculine features, and the maturity that now showed on his face, his expression remained soft, content.

"Are you okay with that?" Valente asked me, pulling me out of a daze.

"I'm sorry what?" I asked back.

"Are you okay with coming to Fathilagt with me? You can stay here too but, I can guarantee that you'll be safer in Fathilagt," he said, the tiniest twinkle in his eye.

Would I be okay with going back home?

"What's it like? Fathilagt?" I asked him, my eyes welling up at the thought of going back to the place I grew up in, the place that would surely bring back countless memories of Gramma.

"Well, we aren't a big pack. And we were attacked a few years ago, so we're, in more ways than one, still recovering," he said, taking my hand in his and kissing it gently, before continuing.

"But we were stronger this time around, when they attacked again. You see we were going to fight Sgriosaire, to avenge those we lost during their first attack. But we had a rat, a traitor. They sold us out and we were caught by surprise," he said.

"Who won the battle?" I asked him, realizing I had no idea what happened of the pack that I had left.

"I'd like to think we did. We dealt a lot more damage on them than they did on us, and we were able to drive them out before they could find what they came looking for," he said. "But that night, I felt like I'd lost. I lost my beautiful mate, the man I called my best friend, and some of my most talented warriors."

His grip on my hand had tightened, so I circled my fingers around his in a small gesture of comfort.

"I'm sorry," I said to him.

He looked down at our hands, smiling slightly.

"It's better now," he whispered.

I returned his smile, placing my hand on top of his.

"I went through something similar," I told him. "Coping wasn't easy. How'd you manage all these years?"

"I'd distracted myself with my duties as Alpha, and with training too. Besides that, I'd traveled a lot, in hopes to gather some more information," he said.

"And even after all this time, you haven't been able to find the missing piece?" I asked him.

Valente sighed.

"Even the Elders in the Palace are going off of such a vague description, it's near impossible to point any fingers at one person. It's so hard for me at this point to say anything for sure, but I've gotten some leads on who they're looking for," he said.

"Where does the lead point to?" I asked him.

"Somewhere very far from where we're going," he said as he gave me a knowing smile.

"And what have you discussed with the other Alphas? As the urgent plan of action?"

"Well, since using your Liet band is now out of the question, we'll go with the original plan, with our own warriors," he said.

"So you're willing to work with an enemy pack to find this person?" I asked him, a little skeptical.

"If that's what it takes, I have to do it Rayne," Valente said. "I don't know how successful we'll be, even together, but three packs against a Liet band in the search is my best bet."

My thigh had started throbbing again, and I tried my best to maintain myself in front of him.

"You ask way too many questions Rayne," Valente said, shaking his head as he chuckled. "I'm sure your mate must have a hard time answering all of them."

I looked at him intently.

"Would you mind answering one more?" I asked him.

He looked at me for a second, trying to figure out if I was serious.

When he realized that I was, his smug look turned amused.

"Not at all," he said, pulling his chair a little closer to my side of the bed.

"Will you go too? For the search?" I asked him.

His smile grew a little wider. He placed his hand lightly over the sheet on my thigh where it hurt, and I instantly felt the healing process pick up pace.

"Of course not," he replied.
"I'm going to stick with you."