Aliana
Zira pressed against me, and I couldn’t fault her for the visceral reaction.
I was breathless myself after such a fierce display of hand-to-hand combat.
The way Sorin’s muscles had flexed, the speed he’d moved—it reminded me of the morning he caught our scent.
He’d become a blur, shifting mid-air to claim us.
My life had never allowed the luxury of time for trivial matters like attraction. But looking into Malakh’s red, glowing eyes, I wanted to throw caution to the wind and give in to Zira’s nature.
Sorin was the only wolf to claim those eyes. Red was nature’s warning. Even Zira had reacted to it—by trying to shift and kill him. I’d panicked at feeling her bloodlust without fully understanding it.
Zira snorted.
The crowd was dispersing.
Malakh hadn’t moved. He slow-blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Heat pooled low.
Zira shifted restlessly.
Sorin’s words came back to me. My wolf deserved her happiness, and a clean slate with Malakh. For her sake, I could try to manage my temperament.
Not too much, she murmured. I like how he reacts when you toy with him.
Yeah, I did too.
? ? ?
“Oh,” I gasped at the dress Ember produced.
She tugged the sleeve free to reveal the sparkling gold trim at the hem of the ivory dress. A traditional mating ceremony dress. One my mother would have adored.
My eyes went to the veil. The material was so delicate that the matching gold trim seemed impossible for such delicate fabric to hold.
“You’ve not seen the best of it,” Ember said, and the sheer excitement in her voice set off butterflies in my belly.
She lifted the lid of the box and drew out a crown.
“This will raise your veil. And hopefully add a few inches to your height.”
My eyes flicked to hers and I giggled.
“We can’t all be leggy blondes like you.”
She grinned as she handed me the crown.
I raised it and it caught the light, scattering it. It would sit like a sunrise glowing over me. The stitching and beadwork on everything were astounding.
“The Alpha King chose it all, you know,” Ember said, spreading the skirt of the dress across the base of the bed.
“He did? I thought it might have been you,” I mused, setting the crown on the bed.
She tilted her head to one side.
“You don’t get it. No one has ever seen the Alpha King in this state. He’s been losing his mind. You don’t even want to know about the recent security meetings. He hasn’t responded well to certain of his closest officers teasing him.”
I gawked at her. Here I’d been, scheming against him from the bedroom, and others were doing a fine job all on their own.
“No,” I whispered. “And he didn’t maim or kill anyone?”
“May the Moon Goddess smite me if I lie,” she said, raising a hand. “Although he did throw a glass at Talon’s head.”
I chuckled, wishing I could have seen it—the calm, composed Alpha King losing it in front of his men.
“He’s invited you to lunch in his office. Apparently there’s paperwork to be signed ahead of tomorrow’s ceremony.”
“I may have some clauses of my own before I hand myself over to him,” I muttered.
Her eyes widened at that. Then she smiled, warm and slow.
“You’ll be a wise Queen,” she said, leaning over to pat my hand.
There was pride in her voice, in the gesture. Female camaraderie was not something I was accustomed to—but given Ember’s own tragic history, it was logical that she wouldn’t be cruel like my family.
I laid my other hand over hers.
“Thank you,” I said, glad my voice didn’t tremble.
It didn’t stop the blur in my vision.
? ? ?
Ember opened the office door for me. I stepped inside, and just before she closed it, I heard her whisper.
“Good luck. But I don’t think you’ll need it.”
Her words gave me conviction. I was doing the right thing—setting expectations rather than leaving my fate in the hands of one man and his wolf.
He wasn’t behind his desk. I glanced across the room and found him draped along the dark leather couch. The table before him was crowded with serving dishes of every size, and instead of foil, there were porcelain lids. Very fancy indeed.
My mouth watered at the scent of meat and seafood.
“Maybe one day you’ll look at me like that instead of the food,” Sorin said as he rose to receive me.
I almost felt sorry for him, Zira sniggered while I tried to keep a straight face.
He closed the gap between us and lifted my hand. My eyes tracked the smaller tattoos across his knuckles—the dripping crescent moon, the red stars leading up his arm. That’s where the half-wraith-half-wolf rested. An elegant image of death and destruction.
He’d terrified me when I first laid eyes on him. The formidable Alpha King setting foot in my father’s home. Now he held my hand as if I were delicate, prized beyond measure. He guided me to the couch, settling my hand on his leg before he began uncovering the dishes.
“What are you buttering me up for?”
Salmon bites. Sliced tender fillet steak, blood and all. Whole chicken thighs doused in onion gravy. A selection of vegetables smothered with butter and herbs.
“Can’t I arrange a feast for the mate of my life?”
My eyes narrowed.
“Fine,” he said, lifting a plate. “I need you well fed for tomorrow.”
I frowned until the penny dropped.
Newly bonded mates could vanish for days at a time.
“Open wide,” he said with a wicked glint in his eyes. “You’ll need all your strength.”
In a daze, I opened my mouth—because fine food shouldn’t go to waste.
My focus remained on the man who loved to feed me by hand—a stark contrast to the people in my past. Each had their reasons, but only one of them led me to Zira.