Chapter 25

In the days following his decision to take Netya from her village, Khelt had feared he’d made a grave mistake.

Caspian’s counsel left him feeling a blind fool, as it so often did, and the two days he had spent anxiously patrolling the edge of the Sun People’s territory for any sign of pursuit had left him ragged and exhausted. Only after fearing he might collapse from exertion had he returned to his pack.

Taking such matters upon himself and driving his body to the brink of endurance always had a way of calming the alpha. He often thought that, should he one day die in battle, he would gladly accept such a fate if only he could meet it knowing he had fought until his last shred of energy left him.

It was in the moments of doubt that he felt truly uncomfortable. Doubt was not prey that could be hunted down and trapped, nor a foe that could be slain through speed and strength. It threatened everything he had to be to his pack.

He was their leader, their guide,