Page 59 of Her Silent Knight

“She’s just jealous. I’ll try my best to keep that one away from your mate,” Silvia told him. “Take her inside while this vamp stays and tells me about your task gone wrong. Or should I say right? Since it led to you finding your mate.”

“I am thankful for her. However, The Deciders will be sending someone soon to check on me if I don’t contact them. My comm device was destroyed. I haven’t been able to check-in. It seems trouble may be coming our way. And the village is the first line of defense.”

“We can handle our own.”

“You shouldn’t have to. This is my battle.”

“My guys and I can hang around and help out,” Rhen offered.

With vampires, nothing was ever free.

“At what price?” Kaede asked.

Rhen smirked. “Just a little dragon blood.”

“No,” Silvia said before Kaede could agree. “Kaede’s an alpha. His blood is worth more than all of our lives put together.”

“No, it’s not...” Kaede started.

“Trust me...” Silvia gave him a pointed look. “It is. Especially now that you’re mated and you’ve broken the curse. You’ll see after you’ve claimed your mate. A mated alpha is worth his weight in gold.”

Odd. Kaede heard his father say that once.

“Take your woman inside. The vampire and I will have a chat. We’ll work something out.”

“Don’t let him con you, Sil.”

“You can’t con a con.”

Nodding, Kaede looked to Rhen. “Keep your bandits in check.”

“I always do. I sent a scout back to see if the shredders followed us. They’re migrating near Sinclair’s burned down house. He’s nearby keeping watch. Those bastards keep staring in this direction. I believe they’ll be heading this way soon.”

Kaede sighed. Shredders. The Deciders. No one would be getting any sleep tonight.

“I’ll send some men out to help guard. If you and Sil come to an arrangement that I find suitable, I’ll loan you and your men some weapons.”

“Don’t expect me to call you boss or whatever your team calls you.”

“They call him leader,” Sil told Rhen.

“Yeah, well, he’s dragon to me. That’s it. Take her inside, dragon.”

His mate chose that moment to stir. He should take her inside so others wouldn’t see just how violent she could be. With one last glare at Rhen, he walked down the path that led to the gates of the compound.

The sheet wrapped around him began to slip. Stopping, he tried to pull it up while holding his mate. Snickers from above drew his attention to the guard towers on either side of the gate. He looked up to find Cooper and Takeo staring down at him. Cooper was the one laughing from the left tower.

“Kaede, you lost your clothes. What happened, bro?”

The kid was a nineteen-year-old wolf who was born in the Frostlands. Nineteen was his true age and he’d yet to reach his primage. Life in the Frostlands was all he knew. Yet, the slang was something he’d learned from newcomers.

Cooper’s use of the word bro irritated the hell out of Takeo, another wolf shifter who’d been here for over four hundred years. Takeo had never told him his age. But he didn’t look a day over thirty.

Kaede suspected the Japanese male was more than five hundred and thirty. Takeo would neither confirm or deny that. Even though Cooper was staring down at him grinning, Takeo was frowning.

“Kaede,” Takeo said in that monotone voice of his. “Why are you wearing a sheet and carrying a woman who only has on a T-shirt?”

“Don’t look at her,” Kaede growled.