Col set his lips in a firm line, and squared his shoulders to ready himself. Here it came. Tybalt would tell him at last how Col had become a liability, how Col was now a danger to theWar-Packthat theVixarhad been painstaking attempting to knit together since they had awakened.
“I am ready to abide by your decision,Vixar.” He braced himself for the words.
Tybalt raised an eyebrow. “As you should be, when I make it.”
Col settled in his seat and exhaled with relief, feeling the solidity of the wood of the table under his forearms, and the firmness of the bench underneath his large body.
The handsomeVixarlooked at him from across the table, steepling his hands under his chin as he chose his words carefully. Passersby kept looking at Tybalt, trying to guess which celebrity he was, or hoping that he was a performer. Col knew that all fiveBredhrendrew attention, but theirVixarwas perhaps the least welcoming of it, especially when they came with obvious, inviting looks from wenches.
“I mean no offense,Vixar.” Col said.
“I know,” Tybalt replied. “Last night, was there a resolution?”
Resolution. There was, but only in one respect. In that he now had even more of a hunger for her. He shook his head.
“Only in the sense that I —my wolf brought me to her domicile. It sought her in a way that I could not deny. And then, I lay with her until it was time to return.” He felt regret that these words were so inadequate for what had transpired. That he wished not to have to lay bare at all what had happened betwixt them. But he knew it affected theWar-Pack.
“I see.” Tybalt’s handsome features sharpened. “Have you confirmation that she could be yourDestine?”
“Vixar!” The exclamation burst out of Col before he regained his composure. Which was perhaps another sign that Tybalt could be right.
“The agitation that you feel, and to a lesser extent is afflicting the other three, has only started since encountering Katie Cooper.” Tybalt noted.Lily,Col thought silently to himself. She had asked him to call herLily. To Tybalt, Col dipped his head in acknowledgment and theVixarcontinued. “And this agitation will continue to escalate, further diminishing our ability to coalesce as a functioningWar-Pack, unless there is some resolution.”
“My lord?” It was now Col’s turn to raise his eyebrows.
“Not much is known about howDestinesand mate-bonding take form, or what is required, in this time and place that we now find ourselves in.” Tybalt said gently. “Indeed, not much is known beyond the basics even from our own time, that is, beyond what little is known toWaryeors.”
Col nodded. AWaryeorleft such matters to the Mages, the grown females, and the healers. And the closest they had to any of that was Merek, with his healing skills. Simon, the nearest they had to a Mage, knew even less than theBredhrendid, and as for females…verily, that was cause for the haunted look in theirVixar’seyes, was it not?
“And unfortunately, the only Mage that could tell us more and give us sage counsel is currently lost to us.”
Col gave a start. He had been so wrapped up in his own deficiencies that he had allowed out of mind the fact that there were two moreBredhrenout there, who had not awakened with them.
TheMage-Waryeor. The one who had been trained as a priest, and understood the mysteries ofDestinesandmate-bonding. Without him, they were thrust even deeper into the unknown of this new world, and how the mysteries of their biologies functioned within it.
“So we have to proceed as best we can, with the information that we have.” Tybalt lowered his hands, placing them flat on the surface of the table.
“Yes,Vixar.”
“It would seem from your behavior of late, your wolf’s compulsion, and the agitation of the other three, that mayhap Katie Cooper is aDestine.”
Col’s jaw dropped.
The sounds of the crowds around him faded into dull roar. Surely he did not hear—?
“If it is your fate to have found yourDestinein this lifetime, then the Goddess of Abundance and Prosperity surely looks upon you with favor. And I would wish that happiness upon you, mineBrodher.”
Tybalt’s voice was kind, but his eyes were filled with sadness. No doubt he was thinking of the joy that was too fleeting, and now lost to him forever. And yet despite his pain, he only wished happiness for hisBrodher.
It filled Col with shame, driving out the desire and yearning at the mention of Katie Cooper.
Tybalt’s next words were as they should be from a wise leader.
“But for the stability of thisWar-Pack, whether it is to you or another, Katie Cooper must be mate-bonded.”
“Another?” Col’s voice was thick.
“The very presence of an unmatedDestinewill continue to wreak havoc upon us. And there is too great a danger that she may be used by our enemies against us, whence they arise and learn of her existence. If not you, it must be to one who is affected by her, which leaves Aylwyn, Barric or Merek.”
