A Misadventure

Chapter 2 A Mother's Mask

Fiona's cool hands moved over my arms and stomach. “My poor child. Did that monster hurt you? Did he touch you?”

Kael's warning stayed with me. For the first time, I watched where Fiona looked. She ignored the bruises beneath the cuffs and the split in my lip. Her hands went straight to my stomach, and her gaze followed, checking the place where a wolf's spirit was said to rest.

Her fingertips pressed there, searching for damage.

I shook my head. “No. He didn't.”

“Thank the Moon Goddess.” Fiona pressed both hands to her chest, then inspected the closed cuffs and the clean altar. A muscle moved in her jaw.

Whatever she had expected to find was missing.

Kael had interrupted her.

The great doors opened again. My fiancé, Derrick, stood in the dawn light with guards behind him. Broad-shouldered and handsome, the future Alpha carried himself as if every room would wait for him to speak.

He saw me exposed on the altar and stepped forward with his fists clenched. For one second, I recognized the man who had promised to protect his mate.

“Derrick.” Fiona spoke his name softly.

He stopped.

His gaze moved from the broken door to the disturbed altar, then to my bare legs. His clenched fists loosened. He straightened his shoulders and glanced toward the guards.

“What is that stench?” The incense still burned beside him, but his eyes followed the strange Alpha scent on my skin.

He turned to a guard. “Find the trespasser. Now.” Then he walked away without looking at me again. I had planned a home and children around our bond. One turn of his shoulders dismissed all of it.

Fiona patted my arm. “Derrick is in shock. We will settle this.” She faced the guards. “Go with him. Search the entire territory. I will release Elara and take her to her chambers.”

They obeyed. Once the doors shut, Fiona took a key from a hidden pocket. “You must be exhausted after such an ordeal.”

She bent over the ankle locks with her back to the altar. A boot scraped the stone behind her.

Kael stepped out of the shadows.

He reached me before Fiona looked up and drew a dark, narrow dagger. Ignoring the keyhole, he worked its point into the seam of the ancient wrist cuff. The hidden mechanism gave a small *click*.

My right hand came free.

He opened the other cuff just as quickly. His fingers touched my wrist only long enough to steady the lock. Another *click*.

Kael pressed the dagger into my palm. Its handle was warm from his grip.

“The incense is Wolfsbane Heart mixed with silver dust,” he said near my ear. “First it dulls your heat. Keep breathing it, and it will burn out your womb. By the time anyone notices, you'll be barren.”

My freed hand closed around the dagger.

Fiona kept humming as she worked at my ankles.

Kael held my gaze. “Whoever wants you destroyed will try again.”

Fiona began to turn. Kael was already behind the altar. She noticed my open wrist cuff and gasped.

“Oh! I must have opened that one without noticing.” Her laugh came out too quickly.

The dagger weighed down the fold of my tunic. I looked at the empty shadow where Kael had stood, then at Fiona working through the locks with her hidden key. Those same hands had lit the poison.