My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 493

Vidar

I walked through the silence that parted before us, my boots crunching snow. "Who found her?" I asked.

"My handmaiden," the Luna replied, her voice steady. "Mina."

I nodded. "Why was your handmaiden at Kael's door this morning?"

The Luna matched my pace, keeping her eyes ahead. "I sent her. For Kael. When word came that you were at the gate."

I glanced at her, quick as a heartbeat. Then, quietly, I said, "So you wanted him beside you when you met me."

"Yes," she said. I said nothing more to that.

Around us, silence fell. A dozen people paused their work to witness the Alpha of Ashfell crossing the yard beside Ironmaw's Luna and chief. The clang of a forge hammer set aside rang through the air. A woman snatched a child back by the arm.

The only other sounds were the mountain's: wind, snow falling, the distant roar of the river.

I looked at the dark windows, the cold chimney. The guards stepped aside, and the Luna opened the door.

I ducked inside, head and shoulders hunched. The door thudded shut.

"Where are Kael's people?" I asked, looking around.

"Nobody was here when the girl was found," Vane said. "Not a servant in the place." He paused. "I don't know where they went."

The girl had lived here. There should be a cook, at least. Someone.

I breathed in. The house reeked of Kael. An old, sharp, bitter smell I knew better than anything in the world. Underneath it, something else. Faint. Stale. Not Kael. I could not place it. I stopped. My fingers twitched, yearning to shift.

"Alpha?" Gunnar whispered at my shoulder.

I said nothing, and walked on.

The door was oak, thick and rough. I pushed it open. Vane was halfway through the doorway. He stopped, and looked back at me over his shoulder.

I walked past him into the kitchen. The Luna stayed in the doorway, and Gunnar stayed at the door. The floor was stone, the walls were stone, the hearth was cold. There was a heavy table, and the remains of a chair, smashed into pieces. There was a platter on the floor, salt pork, eggs, bread. The table had been laid for two.

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