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I’m still watching him when the princes come outside. They glide like panthers in precise, fluid movements. Prince Drogo steps in front of me, momentarily breaking me from the spell I’m under, leaving me staring at his back.
“Stay here,” Prince Arlys growls in my ear, and my body responds in a way it probably shouldn’t.
Then, the three of them approach the circle of wolves and the men, heads held high, like the princes they are. The wolves in turn calm, if only by a little bit. Their snarling and growling quiets, but their fur is still raised, and their bodies still poised for attack. Then the circle of wolves opens, allowing the princes through.
Prince Drogo walks right up to the largest of the men and punches him square in the face. The man stumbles back, but doesn’t fall. I expect him to be angry, but instead a dangerous smile plays across his lips as blood leaks from his nose, and I get the feeling this is all a game for him. But why?
“Prince Darkheart, why are you on our land?” Prince Drogo asks, his voice filled with rage.
Tension crackles through the air as the three princes stare down the other men. They don’t need to say a word to make it clear that these people are their enemies, and that they’re in danger right now. I just hope this courtyard doesn’t explode into a fight, because I honestly don’t know who will win.
Prince Darkheart, apparently, reaches up and touches his nose, wiping the blood away, and grins at Prince Drogo without uttering a word. Instead, he gives a little shake of his light brown hair, getting the wind to ruffle it in a strangely appealing way. It’s like he radiates… sex. That’s it. There’s just something about him.
“You must have a death wish coming here,” Prince Drogo growls.
Prince Darkheart is still unaffected, and I can tell it’s driving Prince Drogo crazy. He’s used to getting a reaction from people. I think the most disrespectful thing this man could do is to stay silent.
“What do you want, Garrick?” Prince Drogo yells so loudly that the whole pack seems to hold its breath.
The man’s grin changes to a wickedly dark one. “Let’s cut the shit, Drogo. All three of you know why I’m here.”
I watch as Prince Drogo’s eyes turn yellow, and Prince Arlys and Prince Rinan place hands on his shoulders. It’s not enough. I can tell. Every muscle in Prince Drogo’s body is poised for a fight.
Prince Arlys speaks, his words measured. “These are our lands. You’re not welcome here, and you know it.”
“Except…” the man named Prince Darkheart begins, and his voice is low and dripping with honey.
A shiver rolls through my body. His gaze meets mine, and his smile brightens again. I sense the princes looking in my direction, and I force my gaze to break with Garrick’s. The looks on their faces… they’re not happy.
Prince Arlys tries again. “Do you want something other than to be ripped to shreds?” His words are measured, controlled, but filled with a warning.
Prince Darkheart throws back his head and laughs, but it’s not a merry sound. I’d never before thought a laugh could be threatening, but his is. Those hazel eyes of his find Prince Arlys, and his mouth sets into a thin line. “Your pack made an alliance with the witches.” Prince Darkheart’s face is a mask of defiance and determination, and his eyes are sharp and calculating.
With a true predator’s gaze, he tilts his head to the side. HIs lips curl into a sly grin that reveals a flash of his teeth. Prince Rinan and Prince Arlys growl in response and move closer, as if they can’t wait for the battle to begin.
But before they can do anything, the giant of a man speaks again. “You intend to cross over onto my lands.”
His lands?
“We don’t–” Prince Rinan begins.
“You do,” the giant man says. “Now don’t pull down your skirts and tell me you’re a woman, because I’ve seen those hairy balls for myself.”
Prince Drogo lunges forward, but the other two keep him back.
The tension is so sharp you could cut it with a knife, and I can sense that Prince Arlys knows it. That he knows the only way this will end is for it to all come to blows. It’s obvious he doesn’t want that, but what can he do?
Finally, Prince Arlys sighs, his hands curled into fists. “Let’s go inside and talk. Keep the rest of your bears outside.”
Bears? Understanding washes over me as everything clicks into place; these men are bear shifters. Enemies of the wolves. We need to get onto their land to discover the source of the Illness, and they must have found that out.
I thought it’d be easy to sneak into their lands, fix the Illness, and get back to wolf territory. I guess I was wrong.
NINETEEN
Tara
Our group, along with a handful of guards, had ended up in a large study I’d never been to in the shifter castle. Based on the decorations and arrangement of the room being so like the king’s bedroom, I suspect this to be King Talon’s study. Is this where they normally speak to the bears when they visit? Or do they usually not visit?
