Page 28 of Revealing Fate

Penn scratched the giant canine behind a triangular ear. “He’s Kal’s more than anyone’s. Here, put out your hand. He guards the house, but he won’t bite. You’re an invited guest.”

Felíne tentatively lowered her hatchet and extended her hand, palm up. The wolf stalked forward and sniffed her. Felíne barely breathed. After a tense moment, he touched his nose to her fingertips. She released a shaky breath. The wolf’s attention returned to Penn and the contents of his pack.

Penn hoisted it out of reach. “See,” he said. “He knows you’re a friend.”

“Kal didn’t tell me he adopted a…pet.”

Penn chuckled. “I think the wolf adopted him, to be fair. He roams the wood, but for whatever reason, he’s taken it upon himself to protect Kal’s house like it’s his own den. He doesn’t seem to have a pack.”

They reached the house. “What’s his name?”

Penn marched up the steps, narrow shoulders bobbing toward his ears. “Doesn’t have one.”

“Do you think he’s hungry?” Felíne inquired, glancing back at the nameless wolf. “Should we find him something to eat?”

“Kal says not to feed him,” Penn called from inside. “Says it’ll make him lazy and encourage him to stay.”

The wolf watched her for a beat before padding around the cabin and out of sight.

Felíne closed the front door behind her and perched on one of the stools near the kitchen counter. She watched as Penn unloaded his pack. He’d brought enough food to feed an army, plus fresh, fragrant soaps, a wide-toothed comb, several lengths of colorful ribbon, an assortment of cosmetics, and three new outfits—one a lovely yellow dress stitched with small indigo flowers in the skirt.

Felíne raised a quizzical brow at Penn’s haul. “Kal asked you to bring me all this?”

Pink crept into the boy’s cheeks. “Well, he told me you’d need ladies’ things. I have four older sisters.” He shrugged. “If you don’t like the dress, I can⁠—”

Felíne took the garment from him, offering a reassuring smile. “It’s perfect, Penn. Thank you.”

He ducked his blond head and mumbled, “It’s nothing.”

While Penn stocked the cold cellar with perishables, Felíne organized Kal’s barren pantry with the bread, crackers, rice, and a bag of salted meat, all of which had been emptied onto the counter.

The quiet pushed her into the depths of her thoughts, a place she’d become loath to visit, but needed to all the same. Kal was gone. And when he returned in the next day or two, he wouldn’t be alone. Rask would be with him.

Felíne’s skin prickled with cold sweat at the prospect of that confrontation. The more she pondered her options, the more she realized she didn’t have any.

Just one.

Finally, Penn poked his head through the cellar’s opening, pulling his lanky form over the top rung of the ladder. Felíne asked with forced nonchalance, “How long have you lived here, Penn?”

“In Meress? My whole life.”

Felíne stacked a jar of dark burgundy jam to the right of the bread bag. “So, you know it well.”

Penn settled at the counter. “Oh, yeah. It’s grown a lot in the past ten years. We’re constantly taking people in. I helped build many of the newer homes on the north side.”

It was said with no small amount of pride. “I don’t know if Kal showed me the north side of town,” Felíne admitted, “but the homes are beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like them.”

Penn’s smile was unreserved. “My dad’s one of the master builders. His team has constructed most of what you’d see in the city.”

“This house, too?”

“Nah,” Penn said. “Kal built this house himself. He consulted my dad on some of the particulars, but the work was his own. Took him ages.”

Why was she not surprised?

“Is that what you plan to do? Become a master builder like your father?”

Penn ducked his head. “He wants me to. But I want to be a warrior. Like Kal. I want to fight to free the people.”