Knotting His Rejected Breeder

Dane barely slept that night.

The sealed invitation from Silvercrest remained on the table beside his bed, and although he had stopped reading it hours ago, his eyes kept returning to it whenever he opened them.

He had already made up his mind about the royal gathering. He would go because refusing an invitation from the Silvercrest royal family would create unnecessary problems for Bloodmoon, but that did not mean he had to enjoy any part of it.

By the time the sky began to brighten, Dane was dressed and sitting near the window with his arms folded across his chest.

A knock sounded on the door before Ramon entered.

His father took one look at him and sighed. "You haven’t slept."

"I did."

Ramon looked at the untouched bed. "For a few minutes."

"That counts."

"It doesn’t."

Dane picked up the invitation from the table and turned it between his fingers. "I agreed to attend. I never agreed to become someone’s husband."

Ramon pulled out the chair opposite him. "Nobody said you were being forced to marry the princess."

"Then why does this feel like I’m being sent there for that exact reason?"

"Because that’s part of the reason you’re going."

Dane looked at him.

Ramon rested his elbows on his knees. "But you aren’t the only person being asked to make a choice. The princess is going to meet several candidates. She has the right to refuse any of them."

Dane didn’t answer immediately.

He had spent so much time thinking about what the royal family wanted from him that he hadn’t stopped to consider the woman herself. The princess was probably being told to meet a room full of men she had never seen before, listen to their families praise them, and eventually choose one of them to become her husband.

He didn’t know her, but suddenly he found himself wondering whether she wanted any of this.

"Does she even want to get married?" he asked.

Ramon gave him a small smile. "I suppose you’ll have to ask her."

Before Dane could answer, the door opened.

Hannah stood there with a grin on her face. "So it’s true. You’re going to Silvercrest to be judged by a princess."

Dane stared at her. "Apparently."

"What if she doesn’t like you?"

"Then I’ll finally have something in common with her."

Henrik, who had been standing behind Hannah, laughed.

Dane looked at him. "You find this funny?"

"A little."

"Enjoy it while you can."

Hannah walked into the room. "I think this is good for you. You’ve spent your whole life making everyone else nervous. It’ll be interesting to see someone do it to you."

"I doubt she’ll be able to."

"That sounds like confidence."

"It isn’t."

"Then what is it?"

"Experience."

Hannah rolled her eyes while Henrik laughed again.

Ramon stood and interrupted them before the conversation could turn into another argument. "We leave in an hour. Dane, there are a few things you need to know before we get there."

Dane nodded.

"The gathering will last several days. There will be formal dinners, meetings with the royal family, and private conversations between the princess and the candidates. Several powerful Alphas are attending with their sons, so don’t expect this to be a simple introduction."

Dane frowned. "How many?"

"Enough."

"That tells me nothing."

"Because the exact number doesn’t matter. What matters is that every family attending will be watching the others."

Dane sighed. "Wonderful."

Ramon ignored his sarcasm. "The princess will eventually choose one man, but if she decides none of you are suitable, she can refuse all of you."

Dane nodded slowly.

"That part I can live with."

Hannah smiled. "You sound relieved."

"I am."

"What if she chooses you?"

Dane looked at her. "She won’t."

"You don’t even know her."

"Exactly."

Hannah opened her mouth to respond, but Henrik suddenly became serious.

"Dane, we need to talk about the market."

The change in his brother’s voice made Dane straighten. "What happened?"

"What should we do about the archer from the market?"

Silvercrest was powerful, and there were plenty of people who would benefit from creating tension between the two territories. The fact that a stranger had disappeared in the direction of their delegation didn’t mean the royal family was involved, but it was enough to make Dane cautious.

"Don’t accuse anyone," he said.

Henrik nodded.

"Don’t tell the warriors."

"I understand."

"And don’t let the elders hear about it until we have something more than tracks."

Henrik looked at him for a moment before nodding again.

"You’re taking this seriously."

"Someone fired an arrow at a crowded market and disappeared without being caught. Of course I’m taking it seriously."

Henrik’s expression softened slightly. "What about the girl?"

Dane knew exactly who he meant.

"The farmer’s daughter?"

"Yes."

Dane looked toward the window.

He remembered the way she had stood there holding that strange wooden wolf, and how quickly her expression had changed when she noticed the arrow. She had looked frightened, but there had also been confusion in her eyes, as if she didn’t understand why someone would target her.

"I don’t know," Dane said.

Henrik waited.

Dane finally added, "Find out if anyone has been asking questions about her."

"Quietly?"

"Very quietly."

An hour later, the Bloodmoon convoy left for Silvercrest.

Dane rode near the front with Henrik while Ramon traveled with the elders. Hannah, Helena, Sonia, Blane, and Ivy followed in the wagons with several warriors.

For the first few hours, the journey was uneventful.

Hannah eventually grew tired of the silence and rode closer to Dane.

"So," she said, "have you decided what you’re going to say when you meet the princess?"

"No."

"You should at least have something prepared."

"Why?"

"Because she might ask you a question."

"I know how to answer questions."

"Not when you’re annoyed."

Dane looked at her. "I’m always annoyed."

"That is exactly my point."

Henrik laughed beside them.

Dane ignored both of them and continued watching the road. The conversation eventually died down, but his thoughts did not.

He kept returning to the market and the strange man who had disappeared before anyone could catch him. He also found himself thinking about the farmer’s daughter more than he wanted to admit.

It wasn’t attraction.

At least, that wasn’t what he felt. He was simply curious.

Why had someone been watching her?

Why had the arrow been aimed in her direction?

And why had the stranger vanished immediately after?

There were too many unanswered questions and Dane hated unanswered questions.

*******

By the time Destiny’s family left the market, the sun was already beginning to disappear behind the trees.

Their wagon moved along the road toward home while the three of them remained unusually quiet.

Destiny sat in the back, holding onto the side of the wagon as it bounced over the uneven road. The wooden wolf was hidden beneath her clothes, pressed against her stomach.

She had not told her parents what had happened.

She hadn’t told them about the voice she had heard near the stone, and she certainly hadn’t mentioned the black feather.

She had expected her father to ask about the market, but he barely spoke.

Instead, he kept checking the road behind them.

Her mother noticed Destiny watching him and turned around.

"What is it?"

Destiny quickly looked away. "Nothing."

Her mother studied her face for a moment before turning back around.

Destiny lowered her eyes.

She had never lied to her mother before, not about something important. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to tell them what she knew because something about their behavior had changed.

They were frightened.

She could see it now.

A few minutes later, Destiny noticed a rider behind them.

He was far enough away that she couldn’t see his face clearly, but she could tell he was following the same road.

She watched him carefully.

When her father slowed the wagon to avoid a deep hole in the road, the rider slowed too.

When the wagon picked up speed again, the rider followed.

Destiny’s fingers tightened around the edge of the wagon.

"Father."

He glanced back. "What?"

"There is someone behind us."

Her father looked over his shoulder. The rider was gone.

Destiny stared at the empty road. "He was there."

"I don’t see anyone."

"He was following us."

Her father looked at her through the corner of his eye. "Maybe you’re tired."

Destiny frowned. "I’m not imagining things."

Her father didn’t respond, Instead, he urged the horses forward. They reached a small roadside inn after dark and stopped for the night.

Destiny ate little during dinner. Her father barely touched his food either, and her mother kept glancing between them as if she could feel the tension without understanding where it came from.

Destiny went to bed early, but she couldn’t sleep.

She kept thinking about the rider. She kept thinking about the stone.

Most of all, she kept thinking about the way her father had looked at her when she mentioned the man following them.

Eventually, she heard voices outside her room.

Her father’s voice came first.

"Someone found her."

Destiny sat up.

Her mother’s voice followed. "You don’t know that."

"The stone reacted."

Destiny’s heart began beating faster.

She slowly climbed out of bed and moved toward the door.

Her father continued speaking.

"If they know where she is, we can’t stay here."

Destiny stopped.

The stone.

They knew about it.

She pressed her hand over her mouth.

Her parents had known something about the stone all along.

She stepped closer to the door, desperate to hear more.

Then the floor creaked beneath her foot.

The voices stopped.

Destiny froze.

A moment later, her father’s footsteps approached.

The door opened.

He stared at her.

Destiny tried to keep her face calm.

"I was going to get some water."

Her father’s eyes remained fixed on her.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then he said quietly, "Go back to bed."

Destiny nodded.

She turned around and walked back into her room, but she could feel his eyes on her until the door closed.

She locked it.

Then she stood there for a moment, trying to understand what she had just heard.

Someone had found her.

Her parents knew about the stone.

And whatever they were afraid of had followed them from the market.

Destiny went to her bed and lifted the mattress. The cracked stone was gone and she stared at the empty space.

Destiny went to her bed and lifted the mattress.

The cracked stone was gone.

She froze.

She searched beneath the mattress, then under the bed and inside her bag. She checked every place she could think of.

Nothing.

The stone was gone.

Someone had been inside her room.

Her breathing quickened. Then footsteps stopped outside her door.

Someone whispered her name.

"Destiny."

Her father’s voice.

She turned toward the door.

Before she could answer, another voice came from outside the window.

A voice she had heard once before.

"Run."

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