Chapter 6: Sunset Decisions
1254 Words
Sunset painted the pack house gold.
Destiny hated how beautiful everything looked when her life was falling apart.
From the second-floor chamber window, she watched servants light lanterns along the stone paths while warriors doubled the evening patrol. Royal guards stood at every entrance like statues carved from threat.
Below, wolves moved quickly.
Quietly.
The entire territory felt as if it were holding its breath.
Behind her, dresses had been laid across the bed.
Three of them.
Cream silk.
Deep blue velvet.
Black fitted satin.
No one had ever offered Destiny choices in fabric before.
She stared at them as if they belonged to someone else.
A knock sounded.
Before she could answer, Selene Vale entered.
Of course she did.
She wore pale silver now, her hair perfect, her smile sharper than any blade Destiny had seen in the kitchens.
“I assumed you’d choose badly,” Selene said, glancing at the dresses. “I wanted to help.”
Destiny remained near the window.
“No one invited you.”
Selene’s brows rose.
“The servant has grown teeth.”
“The noble keeps mistaking doors for permission.”
For one delicious second, Selene looked startled.
Then amused.
“Careful. Confidence can look ridiculous on people unused to it.”
Destiny said nothing.
Selene moved slowly through the room, fingertips brushing furniture that was not hers.
“You think today changes anything?” she asked lightly. “A king notices a curiosity, that is all.”
“Then why are you here?”
The question landed clean.
Selene’s smile thinned.
“Because men like Adrian are distracted by novelty. Men like kings collect unusual things. But in the end, they return to women who belong beside them.”
Destiny’s chest tightened at Adrian’s name but she kept her face still.
“You came all this way to reassure yourself?”
Selene’s eyes flashed.
“You should stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because palaces eat girls like you alive.”
Destiny met her gaze.
“Then perhaps I’ll finally stop being hungry.”
Selene stepped closer.
“You think I’m your enemy.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.” Selene’s voice lowered. “I’m the warning.”
She turned and left without another word.
The room felt colder after she was gone.
---
Old Nora arrived minutes later carrying boots.
“I passed Selene in the hall,” she said. “The air around her smelled expensive and miserable.”
Destiny almost smiled.
Then the smile faded.
“What if she’s right?”
“About which poisonous part?”
“That I don’t belong anywhere he would take me.”
Nora set the boots down hard.
“Listen carefully. Belonging is often just a story told by people already seated.”
Destiny looked at her.
“You do not need their invitation.”
Emotion rose so suddenly Destiny had to look away.
Nora softened.
“Do you want to go?”
Destiny swallowed.
“I want… more than this.”
“Then wear the blue dress. It makes revenge look elegant.”
---
The blue velvet fit as if tailored for her.
Simple. Long sleeves. Fitted waist. No jewels.
Yet when Destiny looked in the mirror, she barely recognized herself.
Not because she looked noble.
Because she looked possible.
A knock sounded.
This time it was a royal attendant.
“His Majesty awaits.”
Her pulse began to hammer.
Nora kissed her forehead.
“Walk like the floor owes you money.”
---
The main courtyard blazed with torchlight.
Pack members lined the edges pretending not to stare.
Royal carriages stood ready beside mounted guards. Black horses pawed the ground impatiently.
At the center of it all stood Kael Draven.
He turned as Destiny descended the steps.
The courtyard went quiet enough to hear fabric move.
His silver eyes traveled over her once.
Not hungrily.
Not dismissively.
Carefully.
Something in his expression darkened.
Approval, perhaps.
Danger, certainly.
“You chose blue,” he said.
“It was recommended.”
“Smart advisor.”
“She terrifies many.”
“She may stay.”
Destiny blinked.
“What?”
Kael gestured slightly.
Old Nora, who had followed halfway into the courtyard, froze mid-step.
“If you wish it,” he said. “The old woman comes with us.”
Nora burst into tears so aggressively she insulted three royal guards while wiping them.
Destiny stared at Kael.
“You’d do that?”
“You value her.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“No,” he agreed. “It was the smaller one.”
Before she could answer, Adrian’s voice cut across the courtyard.
“This is absurd.”
He strode forward in dark formalwear, fury barely leashed.
Pack Alpha Rowan followed behind him looking ten years older.
“Adrian,” Rowan warned.
“No.” Adrian stopped several paces from Kael. “I’ve been silent all day. I’m done.”
Kael’s expression did not change.
“How brave for sunset.”
Several guards hid smirks.
Adrian ignored them.
“She is from my pack.”
Destiny felt ice move through her veins.
Your pack.
Not she is a person.
Kael tilted his head.
“You rejected her.”
“That does not mean she belongs to you.”
Destiny spoke before thinking.
“I don’t belong to either of you.”
The courtyard stilled.
Both men looked at her.
Good, she thought wildly. Let them.
Adrian’s expression shifted.
“Destiny—”
“No.”
Her voice shook once, then steadied.
“You do not get to humiliate me in front of everyone and speak as if I am property the next day.”
Color rose in several faces nearby.
She turned to Kael.
“And you do not get to decide my future because you arrived dramatically.”
A guard choked on a laugh and pretended it was coughing.
Kael’s mouth moved very slightly.
Again, not a smile.
Interesting.
Destiny drew breath.
“I am leaving,” she said clearly. “But not because either of you claim me.”
She looked around the pack grounds that had starved her, used her, erased her.
“I’m leaving because I deserve to.”
Silence.
Then Old Nora clapped once.
Loudly.
“About time.”
A few servants hid grins.
Adrian looked as if she’d struck him.
Kael looked… pleased.
Which was irritating.
He stepped aside and gestured toward the carriage.
“After you.”
No command.
No pressure.
Choice.
Destiny’s chest tightened unexpectedly.
She walked past Adrian without another glance.
This time when he reached for her—
He stopped himself.
Too late to learn restraint.
She entered the carriage first.
Nora scrambled in after muttering triumphantly.
Kael paused before boarding and addressed Pack Alpha Rowan.
“She departs under royal protection.”
His gaze shifted to Adrian.
“Interfere, and you’ll learn how little mercy I practice.”
Then he entered the carriage.
The doors shut.
Wheels rolled.
As Crescent Moon Pack receded into darkness, Destiny watched the gates where she had spent her whole life.
She expected relief.
Instead she cried quietly for everything that had been stolen there.
Kael said nothing.
Only offered a clean handkerchief across the seat.
She took it.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
After a moment, she asked the question burning inside her.
“Where are we going?”
Silver eyes met hers in the lantern light.
“Home,” he said.
And somehow that frightened her more than anything yet.
- Writer
