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She’d embarrassed him by pointing out how flawed Cenrik was, and how he’d had to threaten people to get him mated.
Two guards lifted her up by her upper arms and set her on her feet, then escorted her and her parents to the royal prison, which was a half mile from the king’s grand home. She lifted her head and didn’t cry, not when they searched her for weapons, not when they pushed her into a small cell, and not when the door clanged shut loudly, locking her inside for the foreseeable future.
It wasn’t until her parents were in their own separate cells and she could hear her mom crying, that she let herself go into the tears that had threatened since Cenrik hit that poor bird.
She should’ve left when Serena did. If her parents didn’t have unmated daughters in the commune for the king to force into mating with Cenrik, then they wouldn’t have been exiled. Serena had accused Alanah of staying out of loyalty to their parents and not looking out for herself, and maybe she had. Family was important to her. She didn’t have anyone else, after all.
And now she had nothing.
She was all alone in the cell, facing an uncertain future and a trial that would see her facing years of imprisonment and the restriction of her power. She could even lose her wings, and that would be a bleak future.
After wrangling herself free from the heavy dress, she sat on the wood cot that was covered with a thin mattress, wearing only a pair of white satin shorts and a matching tank, put her head in her hands, and wept.
Chapter Three
Ronan had a mating dream for the first time four nights later. They’d stopped earlier that day a few hours from Belle Terra, planning to check in with Alpha Black and his NWFA the following day. As they’d traveled, they’d watched videos of the fights online. The weekly fights featured a round-robin style tournament, with winners of fights going against each other until one male was crowned the ultimate winner and received whatever the night’s pot was. The stadium was often filled, the crowd shouting for more.
He and Sylas had been trained to fight as youngsters, learning from their father and uncle, who’d since gone on to the great beyond with their mates, after their home had been destroyed during an earthquake. Ronan and his siblings had been away when it happened and came back home to the devastation and loss of the only family they had.
No more big meals cooked by their mom and aunt, no more roughhousing with their dad and uncle.
Ronan had felt paralyzed by the sudden promotion to leader of the family, taking responsibility for his younger siblings and their future. They’d purchased the RV so they could travel within their home state as much as possible, and took whatever jobs they could find, often seasonal work with construction outfits or short-term work with security companies. Because they never planned to stay long anywhere in particular, always wanting to move on so he could start to have mating dreams, they never settled anywhere permanently. They’d find an RV park and hook up to the utilities and then find work nearby.
When he woke that morning, his body hummed with desire for the female from his dream. The dream was foggy around the edges, filled with darkness that reminded him of being deep in a forest. He saw a female sitting, her knees drawn to her chest, her head on her knees, and what looked like gossamer wings sheltering her.
With her head down, he couldn’t see her face, but he knew he was having mating dreams and she was his truemate.
He just couldn’t tell where she was.
The strangest thing of all? There was a little bluebird with a broken wing hopping near his female.
Opening his eyes, he tried to recall everything he could from the dream.
His body tingled, his skin felt electrified.
Finally, after years of wondering when it would happen, he’d dreamed of his truemate.
What worried him the most, though, was that she appeared to be sad. Her posture wasn’t one of happiness and contentment, but one of loneliness and despair.
And what was up with that bird?
He sat up awkwardly, trying not to hit his head on the ceiling, and eased down to the floor. Sylas snored lightly on the bottom bunk.
Ronan made his way into the kitchen. Taryn’s door was still shut, so she hadn’t gotten up yet. He made coffee and took it outside, inhaling the cool morning air. The sun was just now starting to rise, the sky going from midnight blue to amber by slow degrees.
Holy shit, he’d dreamed about his truemate.
That meant they were getting closer.
For the first time, he had hope.
* * *
He and Sylas unhooked the RV from the truck to set it up in the campground space they’d rented for the week. Once they were settled, they’d head to NWFA headquarters to meet with Alpha Black.
“I’m starving,” Taryn said, shading her eyes from the morning sun and staring up at him.
“We can eat after we meet with the alpha,” Ronan said. “I want to get there as soon as possible.”
