Chapter Four

Shock flares on Camden’s features at my rant, followed by a blazing anger. Before I can blink, he has me in the firm, unbreakable cage of his arms. They wrap around my waist with a steel grip, and the warmth of his skin against mine draws a gasp from my lips.

Glaring at me, he addresses his Beta. “Wyatt, go check on your mate.”

I try to jerk out of his grasp as Wyatt steps around us, opens the door to Leisel’s bedroom, and steps in.

“Don’t touch her!” I shout at him. “She’s protected by human laws! She’s nine years underage!”

My words are cut off when Camden fists one hand in my hair, turns me to face him, and practically crashes his lips down on mine. Trying to push against him is perfectly futile, and after a moment, my body inadvertently relaxes in his grip. A strange tingle travels through my chest, and after a moment I realize that the sensation is the mythical bond that connects all mates flaring to life. The tingle turns into a heat that bathes my body, traveling through me and focusing on my extremities, making me sag against Camden as pleasure fires up every nerve-ending within me. Although I know in my right mind that I despise Camden on principle, I can’t seem to communicate the fact to my body, which is completely pliable within his arms. My lips part at the firm probing of his tongue, and I’m helpless against him as he indulges in a thorough taste of my mouth.

I don’t know how long it is until Camden finally pulls back, but at the same time, Leisel’s shrill words cut through the air. “Don’t touch me!”

I renew my struggles against Camden, struggling against the bond between us, which I can somehow feel is attempting to keep me relaxed. A faux sensation of warmth travels through me, trying to lull me into a state of calm compliance. I fight against it with everything in me, refusing to submit. “I declared duelum,” I remind Camden, my voice rising in pitch as fear turns the blood in my veins to ice. “You can’t touch me until I win or lose the duel.”

Duelum carries with it a list of regulations; right now, they’re all I have to protect me and my sister.

He lets out a frustrated breath, untangling his hand from my hair and instead using it to hold me snugly against him. “It figures that I’d get paired with someone as stubborn as I am.” Giving his head a shake, he goes on. “You will be in the town square tomorrow at six a.m. for the duel. Afterwards, once you’ve lost, you and your sister will accompany me back to Kinrith. Am I clear?”

Grimly, I respond, “I have no intention of losing, but even if I do, you can’t take Leisel. She’s too young.”

He scoffs. “You intend to leave her here alone? I see no parents in this home, and I’d guess she can’t be older than ten. Who will take care of her?”

The acute pang of pain that sends through my chest is enough to nearly double me over. If I lose the fight, the fact of the matter is that I will have to separate from Leisel. Although it’ll feel like a knife to my heart, she’d be safer here under the care of Mariketa than amongst shifters. A mate being underage may mean nothing to shifters, but I will not allow Leisel to be ravaged by their depraved ways. It’s also why I need to get to Leisel now.

Wyatt emerges from Leisel’s room with a look of absolute shock on his features. I notice that his neck and cheek are bleeding from what appear to be shallow bite marks made by a small animal and that almost makes me smile.

Chip’s as fierce a protector as I am. Any time Leisel clearly dislikes someone—which is a rarity—her trusty chipmunk will attack full force, switching from a subdued pet to a rabid creature in the span of a second. It’d appear that Wyatt got an unpleasant lesson in keeping his hands away from where they’re not wanted. The idea that he might’ve touched her chills my very bones though. Did he attempt to kiss her like Camden kissed me?

Camden releases me so abruptly that I stumble back. “Two pack members will be guarding this house,” he tells me. “Don’t try to run. They will escort you to the town square in the morning. I suggest you mentally prepare for your upcoming move, and prepare your sister, as well.”

With those words, he grabs Wyatt by the arm, drags him out of the house, and slams the door behind them. I rush forward to bolt and lock it before sprinting to Leisel’s room.

She throws herself at me as soon as I cross the threshold, hugging me as if I’m a lifeline. Her tears soak the material of my shirt, and her quiet sobs send pain radiating through my chest.

I gather her into my arms, barely noticing that Chip leaps onto my shoulder to avoid being crushed, and silently carry her to bed.

Taking a seat on the mattress and setting her down on my lap, I stroke my hands through her hair in what I hope is a calming gesture, even though I’m still beyond wound up from Camden’s forced kiss, my upcoming duel, and the fact that my life just got upended.

“Shh, sweet girl,” I soothe.

Leisel’s likely terrified after having shifters in the house—one of which apparently attempted to touch her. I can only pray that it wasn’t as inappropriate as Camden was with me.

I’m on the verge of bursting into tears—which would be the first time I’ve cried since my mother’s death—but manage to hold back. I quietly rock her back and forth until her sobs turn into occasional hiccups, and she settles down slightly.

“Don’t leave me,” she begs, pulling back and staring at me with watery golden eyes. Evidently, she heard Camden’s threats. I wish I’d made use of the knife still resting in my back pocket, after all.

“I’m not going anywhere, Leisel,” I quietly vow. I will win the duel tomorrow because there is no other option. Leaving Leisel would tear me in two, even if I knew she was in good hands.

She doesn’t look entirely convinced, and I suspect she’s a hairbreadth away from bursting back into tears. I look over her face and body, gratified that no bruises are forming on her flesh, making it clear that Wyatt never got around to putting his hands on her. Shifters are famous for forgetting their own strength and oftentimes injure humans with a mere touch.

“How about a warm glass of milk with honey?” I ask her, pushing a few wet strands of strawberry blonde hair off her face and tucking them behind her cheek. That’s a comfort drink of sorts for her and never fails to calm her.

Sniffling, she nods, and gingerly climbs off my lap. Chip leaps off of his perch from my shoulder onto hers, curling against the side of her neck. I think the little guy senses her need for comfort as much as I do.

“What happened while I was gone, sweet girl?” I ask her, leading her into the kitchen and watching as she sulks onto one of the chairs at the dining table, eyes following me as I fire up the stove, pour some milk and honey into a saucepan, and leave it to warm.

“He tried to hug me,” she murmurs.

My eyes flutter closed briefly with relief. Although I don’t want mutts anywhere near Leisel, it’s preferable that Wyatt merely tried to hug her to a number of more inappropriate things he could’ve attempted.

I give her a conspiratorial smile, wanting to lighten her mood. “And I’m sure Chip kicked his butt for the effort, didn’t he?”

Wanly, a half-smile flits across her lips. It’s quickly replaced by a frown. “Promise me you won’t leave,” she whispers.

Holding her gaze, I say solemnly, “I’ll never leave you, my love. Ever. Sisters stick together and protect each other, yes?”

She watches me, gauging my sincerity for a moment before nodding. “Yes.”

I blink several times, pushing aside the swell of emotion that rises at the prospect of separating from Leisel. We haven’t been apart for more than a few hours from the moment she was born. Turning back to the saucepan and grabbing a spoon to stir the milk and honey together, I try to gather my thoughts. Unfortunately, all that results in is a fast-forward reel of memories with my little sister.

I didn’t have time to grieve my mother’s death because I had a wailing infant to look after. An infant that I had no idea how to care for. I remember walking from the birthing establishment in town into Aesara’s market with a tiny Leisel bundled in a blanket in my arms and tears streaming down my cheeks and asking Mariketa—who I already knew well—what to do. Horrified at my predicament, Mariketa ushered me to my cabin with Parker, bringing an excess of supplies needed to care for an infant left over from the birth of their son.

For several days, Mariketa lived here with me, teaching me how to care for Leisel. Parker would drop by with Wesley periodically. After three days, although I was still bursting into tears randomly, sick with grief, I had a good idea of how to look after a baby. Mariketa gave me a woven basket that doubled as a portable cradle. So, while struggling to keep the farm running—still working the land, hunting, and caring for the horses—Leisel would always be within arm’s reach.

She was a relatively subdued and quiet baby but was incredibly attuned to my emotions even then. When I was sad, she started crying. When I was having better days, she’d be smiling. She grew so quickly, and before I knew it, she was a toddler—still glued to my side at all times, running around me while I worked.

The first time I left her alone in the house for a few hours was when she was five. I knew she didn’t enjoy hunts—it’d make her sad to see any sort of life taken—so I’d snuck out early in the morning to get my business done. When I came back she was sitting on my bed, clutching my pillow, and sobbing. When I’d asked her what was wrong she said she thought I’d left her. My heart broke in two, and I made a point to tell her any time I planned to leave her for even an hour or so from then on.

Beyond being my last living relative, Leisel was…everything to me. She still is and always will be.

Which is why I have to win the duel tomorrow. I can’t leave her. I would never put her in the precarious position of living amongst shifters—but I also refuse to separate from her.

I turn off the stove, pour her milk into a mug, and set it in front of her before taking a seat across the table from her. “Drink up, sweet girl,” I tell her. “Tomorrow I’ll put an end to this craziness. Neither of us is going anywhere, and we won’t be mates to anyone, you hear me?”

She gives me a single nod. “I hear you.”