“Sara, you don’t know them,” the man named John groaned. “He’s a Midnight Pack heir.” He pointed to Rage’s forehead.

And at the same time, Rage responded in my head, ‘You don’t know if that’s a ploy—’

“I can see that, darling,” Sara said. “But they’re running away from where the king’s men are, not toward it.”

I grinned up at Rage. ‘See? She’s cool. Let’s try and roll with it. We both need food and more sleep. It seems like they’re familiar with the area. Maybe they can help us.’

Rage furrowed his brow. ‘He’s a Daybreak Clan heir… I’ve heard about him: Mallory’s uncle.’

Evil Barbie should spend time in those outer rings of death, but maybe her uncle wasn’t all bad. Before I could respond to Rage, Sara spoke again.

“Girls,” Sara said, snapping her fingers at the other three wolves. “Get back to the house and make it presentable. Hopefully, we’ll return with our guests promptly. Lizbeth, make sure to warm something for them to eat.”

Relief washed through me at her words. “Thank you. We’d be so grateful.”

She nodded. “I smell blood. Is one of you injured?”

Pointing out my alpha-male companion’s weak spot wouldn’t be smart, so I hesitated, forcing my gaze to the ground instead of my mate. I wasn’t sure how injured Rage was after my little blood healing magic either. Maybe he was fine.

“I’m only asking because I have a healing salve at home. Come on,” she said with a wave. “I’ll give it to you, and you two can decide if either needs it.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

Sara turned to go, and I pivoted, only to see Rage and John having an epic staredown. Even better … Rage kept his arm tucked tightly into his side as if that would mask his wound.

I threaded my arm through Rage’s and looked up as Sara elbowed John in the ribs. I had to admit, I liked her.

Rage grumbled, but he took my lead and started to walk … until John ushered us to go ahead of him.

“I’ll be two seconds behind you,” John said. He held up an oil-mister can like the kind Lona used to spray pans before she cooked. “I’m just going to spray this scent-masker where you’ve been standing to cover up the smell of your blood. The last thing we need is to have the alpha king’s guards tracking you and for your trail to lead them to us.”

Okay, this clearly wasn’t the guy’s first rodeo. He was smart. While Sara had better manners than John, he wasn’t all bad.

I craned my neck to look over my shoulder, watching as John sprayed the mister over the leaf litter. I took a deep breath in through my nose and inhaled … nothing. As in absolutely nada. Well, that explained why we didn’t scent them coming until they were right on top of us.

“What is that?” I asked.

John said nothing as he sprayed, and when he finished, he merely waved for us to move.

I caught Rage’s narrowed eyes, but then my attention went to his brow, beaded with sweat. Yikes, we’d better hurry to their home and get that salve. Maybe my blood healing mojo didn’t heal him after all. After turning back toward Sara, who would hopefully be more open with information, we began our trek through the woods. “Is that spray why we didn’t smell you?”

She nodded. “It’s a magic odor-eliminator, specific for shifters.”

“We used to get it from Dark Row,” John said from behind us. He dropped his voice and grumbled, “Not sure what we’re going to do now that the entire place has burned to the ground.”

There was no accusation in his voice, but still, I felt guilty. Not that we’d burned it down, but it was pretty suspect that just before Rage and I went into the Realm of the Dead, we’d heard the howl of the king’s wolves. Now, the place was a pile of ashes. Hopefully, Justice and Noble got out and to safety in time. I was counting on Rage letting me know if he felt anything through his pack bond—like if they were in mortal danger or had perished.

We continued several paces in silence, and I noticed how Sara scanned the woods ahead of her. One glance over my shoulder confirmed that John’s gaze also skimmed the trees from behind us.

“So you live off Alpha Island?” I asked, probing in the politest way I knew to discover if they were outcasted rogues.

She laughed. “Yes. My mate and I were banished about twenty years back. When I found out I was pregnant with our twins, Sadie and Audrey, I was thrilled. But a few months later, Declan became alpha king.” She said his name with venom. “And the laws changed.”

I nodded, sympathetic to her hatred of that man. “I’m from Crescent Clan.”

Brushing my hair away from my forehead, I showed her my clan mark, and her expression softened. Everyone knew the story of Crescent’s banishment to the mortal world. Everyone.

Sara glanced back at John, her eyebrows raised. “See, she’s one of us.”

John glared, pointing at Rage. “He’s not.”

I gritted my teeth and ignored John. Still, I was curious. “Why were you banished? What law changed to make you targets?”

Sara smiled, but it was a sad sort of smile, the kind that didn’t reach her eyes. Pulling back her thick bangs, she showed me her clan mark. One I knew well because my bestie wore the same. “I’m from Harvest. He’s Daybreak.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. Wow, so she, being from Harvest Clan, had gotten pregnant with a Daybreak heir’s children? Yeah, that was so not allowed today. But it used to be when Rage’s dad was king? Interesting … I never knew that.

Her hand lingered on her forehead, and I noticed for the first time, there were marks on her ring finger.

Mother of all mages.

There on her ring finger … she bore the white marks of … I pivoted and looked at John’s hand.

Mate marks.

I was 84.2% sure I saw that right, so I shook my head and looked again. Still there. “You guys are fated mates?”

She nodded, and I held up my hand, which won me her grin—a real one.

“Just like you.” She beamed.

Rage and John looked at each other’s fated mate marks, and both of their stern expressions softened, but neither said a word. Looked like the two brutes had found something in common.

“But … did you say the law changed?” I asked, reviewing the rest of what she’d revealed. “As in, it used to be okay to mate with someone outside your pack?” I wanted to clarify that point because if Rage’s dad used to allow inter-pack mating, he was my new hero.

“That was before Declan became king,” John growled as he stepped up next to Sara. “Only a coward makes a decision that would go against fate.”

“Declan changed the law about fated-mates?” I asked, looking to Rage for confirmation. “He can do that?”

Rage’s pulse feathered in his neck, and he clenched his teeth. “My father, who was king before Declan, honored the fated-mate process, no matter who fate brought together.”

“Yes, and with the High Mage Council’s blessing, Declan destroyed the law honoring it.”

Whoa. I had a hard time believing Gramps would be okay with that. Maybe it was a majority rules kinda thing. Maybe Grandpa and I needed to chat more. A lot more.