The days in the small village were peaceful. She learned that the village was that of the Sapphire Lake Pack, named for the lake ear the village that was as blue and as clear as a finely mined sapphire. It was a remote village.
The nearest town was a few miles away and it was at least a week's ride from the Imperial City, but it was beautiful, nestled in the shadow of two great mountains and settled at the bottom of the valley.
It was nothing like the Emerald Twilight Pack's town, and Laurel was grateful for it.
Like most packs on the border, most of the young men had joined the war efforts. The women took care of the children and the transportation of food and supplies.
After checking and rechecking her message, Laurel delivered her letter to the village postman.
He looked troubled as he looked down at the letter.
"Is everything okay?"
"Of course," he said and placed the letter in his bag.
"I just... haven't heard from that rascal in a while.'
Laurel's jaw trembled at the jolt of terror, but he smiled and waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm sure he's fine. Probably just busy giving those fanged bastards hell! You'll see. The war will be over soon with King Adolph the Invincible leading them!"
King Adolph the Invincible... Laurel nodded and averted her gaze. She remembered that name.
She'd married Basil so quickly that the king had not been able to come back for the ceremony. Basil had been so upset about his father's absence that he had not even spent the night with her to consummate their marriage.
The war had seemed to escalate after that, so Laura had never met her father-in-law. She left the postman in much worse spirits than she had come, tracing through her memories of the palace and trying to push them away.
She was Laurel Miller now, a seventeen-year-old woman living alone while waiting for her father to return from the front lines, not Laura Hamiltion, former luna and abandoned marked mate of a prince.
The Imperial City was so many miles away. Basil and any concerns of the court were a lifetime ago. She needed to focus on her present. She hadn't run into her mate in the Sapphire Lake Pack, but maybe he was on the battlefield with her father, fighting for their safety.
She wondered if he was handsome and brave, rushing into battle with the strength of a great warrior.
Maybe he was a general of some sort? An archer? Maybe he was a scout or a spy. Her face warmed as her imagination ran wild and she picked up her pace whistling into the wind.
Who is that? Alice asked. She looked up as she approached her home and stopped. A tall, lanky man stood in front of her front door, holding the extra rabbit she had hunted the day before.
She had planned to give it to Amanda as a gift. What right did he have to take her things and who was he?
He looked up, seeing her, and lifted the rabbit as he glared at her.
His tone was harsh and angry.
"Who gave you this?"
He hissed, marching towards her. Laurel stumbled back, frightened as he approached her in such a state.
She turned, wanting to escape, but he caught her by her arm. She cried out as he jerked closer and shoved the rabbit in her face.
"You can't hunt. Someone must have given it to you. How dare you cheat on me with another man!"
Cheat on him? She wasn't courting anyone. Surely, Jack would have mentioned a suitor by name if there was one, but there wasn't a single mention of one in any of the letters she'd found. Her heart raced, but she lifted her chin, defiantly.
If Laurel had been courting such a man, it was for the best that she cut it off now, anyway.
He's not our mate, Alice huffed.
"What are you talking about?"
She pulled free of his grasp, "Who are you?"
He sneered at her, "I'm Lucas, your future husband." Lucas, Alice growled in contempt.
Laurel's lips curled in disgust and she sneered at him. This was the coward her father wrote about.
Fury filled her.
"I would never marry you."
Lucas barked a laugh, "Don't be so silly. I'm the best option of the pack! I don't care that you're not my mate."
His words struck her in her chest, and for a moment, she saw Basil and Delia, dressed in fine clothing and sneering at her. Her stomach roiled.
He smirked, "You're pretty enough. When I become alpha, you'll be my luna."
Her nausea heaved and she fought it back with her anger. Who the hell did he think he was? Who the hell had Basil thought he was?
Prince or not, he was an arrogant, stupid man. Lucas was nowhere near as attractive, influential, or important.
She bared her teeth, "No one wants to be your damn luna!"
Lucas licked his lips, his eyes turned heated as he dragged his gaze over her body, sending a fresh wave of nausea through her.
"It's not something you really have to worry about. You could never really be my luna. You can't even hunt yet!" He laughed.
"I don't need that... you're more suited to be the cute kitten warming my bed, anyway."
Alice roared as Laurel screamed, grabbing the nearest object and throwing it at him. The barrel burst apart against his chest and soaking him in water. He covered his face with a cry.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Laurel screeched at him. Her anger felt so much bigger than it ever had been before, a blazing inferno in place of the small flickers she had felt as Laura.
Laura had needed to watch her manners, to control her emotions and behave accordingly, but Laura was dead.
Laurel Miller, the daughter of Jack Miller of the Sapphire Lake Pack was just a seventeen-year-old young woman. She could be rude.
She could be loud. She could curse and fight and defend herself however she wanted to. She didn't have to marry a prince or a coward who thought himself important.
She didn't have to take his abuse or put up with a damn thing.
Laurel was every bit as free as Laura had always wished.