Chapter 30
Feray
I listen to the conversation the guys are having with David, and it makes my blood boil. Every word they exchange fuels my anger. Easton notices the rage building inside me, and in an instant, he presses his lips to mine. I'm caught off guard and just stare at him for a moment, shocked.
"If I had known earlier kissing you would stop the rage in its tracks, I would have done it sooner," he smirks before moving back to the extra bags in the room. He pulls out a simple, flowing blouse and a long skirt for me to wear in David's presence.
"You are never so impulsive. It caught me off guard." I take the clothing from him and get changed, removing the bone bracers one at a time and then fastening them over the sleeves of the blouse. The neckline allows the bone collar to be seen easily.
Easton steps in front of me and adjusts my blouse and then the collar.
He slips his fingers under the collar and gives it a gentle tug toward him.
A gasp escapes my lips before I smile. "I can be a lot of things, my flame," he murmurs.
His free hand cups my face, and his thumb runs over my bottom lip.
"My most important task is to love you with all that I am for however much time we get in this lifetime and then into the next.
There is no me without you." He releases the collar and rests my hand over his heart, laying his hand over mine.
"My heart is yours eternally. I will always find you, my flame.
" He leans forward and kisses me again. It's so unlike Easton to be so forward, and I find I like this new version of him.
Gently, I kiss him back, then motion toward the doors. "We should join the others." Looping my arm through his, we head back toward the living room. The dead calm of Torben's deep voice screams with tension.
My eternal, we are keeping it so he only knows of Easton. He also believes him to be a wolf. How absurd. Diaval's voice carries a tone I despise, but in David's presence, it makes sense.
"Forgive my departure. I needed to get changed into something more appropriate."
Easton moves smoothly, pulling out a chair for me. I sit, scanning David. He is visibly uneasy, fidgeting with his cufflinks or tie whenever someone looks at him. He can't maintain eye contact for long. Definitely not a beta. Maybe a gamma or less.
"It's no trouble at all, Your Highness." He lowers his head quickly. "I was telling your advisors and guardians that the Alpha can't be trusted."
A short, barking laugh escapes my lips as Torben offers me a glass of juice. "I'm well aware. Dunnum is short an Alpha already." Easton taps my shoulder, handing me the Alpha's signet ring, which I promptly drop on the table.
David's eyes flare wide, glancing from the ring to me. "You defeated him?"
"Yes, in front of his entire pack. Or should I say my father's pack?" I lean back, studying him.
I press a small amount of Diaval's intimidation upon him, and his eyes widen in fear.
Acrid sweat beads on his temples. "I also just defeated eight of your wolves in single combat.
" Slowly, I flip my hand over, shifting my nails to claws, and look them over, almost bored.
The detached persona that Diaval and Easton have been teaching me works great with David.
The more aloof I am, the more panicked he becomes.
As much as I want to stay the happy-go-lucky woman I have always been, it would be perceived as weak.
I would be constantly fighting for my life, and I just can't do that to my mates.
I'd rather channel Diaval's or Easton's inner asshole now than be constantly forced to kill later. It always brings me back to the question of what would Fi do? The answer is always to protect the family and destroy anything in my way.
"Your Highness, if I offended you, I beg for your forgiveness." David lowers his head and extends his hands, palms up, in supplication.
"I forgive you." There's nothing to forgive, but I won't tell him that. "When do we meet the Alpha?" I sit up and lean forward, guided gently from behind by Easton's nudge.
"If it would please you and your mate, I can arrange it for tomorrow night. Give you time to rest and settle in before the meeting?" A forced smile graces his lips, and I know there's something else he's not saying.
Something dangerous.
"That sounds divine." My eyes move to Khal, and I raise the corner of my mouth in a half-smile. "Mind escorting our guest out? I would like to rest after my battle."
I turn back to face a stunned David. "It was a pleasure meeting you. Let us know as soon as possible about the meeting." He stands abruptly, making the chair scrape across the floor like nails on a chalkboard.
My eyes remain locked on him until he passes through the front door.
The moment it closes, the mask falls.
I stand and start pacing.
"Little wolf, you only pace when your mind connects some dots," Torben says, stepping into my line of sight.
"Okay, hear me out." I sit on the arm of the loveseat. "He can't sense the bond, or he's pretending he can't."
Diaval gets ready to speak, and I raise my hand, stopping him. "If he's pretending he can't sense it, he may be secretly hoping I kill the Alpha. If he honestly can't, then that's a him problem, not an us problem."
"With two mythics in the bond, it may be impossible to sense who you are mated to. Especially how secretive both mine and Easton's species are," Diaval mentions as he unties his tie. His words echo in my mind. Could it be that my wolf is protecting the bonds by hiding them?
I stand up abruptly and start pacing around the table.
"If we take into account how secretive your species are and the knowledge of what happened to the extra mates in the past..." I stop and lock eyes with Torben, then shift my gaze to Khal before looking between Easton and Diaval. "Not much is known about what winter wolves were really able to do."
Easton steps into my path, his eyes burning with intensity.
"I believe you're onto something." He slips off his suit jacket.
"Your species isn't classified as mythic.
You're a creature of legend." He turns his piercing gaze on Diaval.
"Do you think her wolf is protecting the bond with you three because of what we know about the past? "
"It's possible," Diaval replies thoughtfully.
"Winter wolves can slow their heartbeats down to the point they appear dead.
So it wouldn't shock me if her wolf is protecting the bonds by masking them.
" He looks at me, his dragon eyes narrowing.
"I feel our bond, but it's not surface-level to sense it.
Sneaky little wolf. It's a brilliant idea. "
I furrow my brows. "So my wolf making it look like you're not my mate is a good thing?"
"Look at the big picture, Precious," Khal says softly. "They won't try to kill what they don't sense. And since your wolf is making Easton seem to be a wolf as well, they aren't threatened."
"Well, there is the matter of I am the last phoenix, and no one besides a select few knows I'm alive." Easton drops his bombshell, and I choke on air as I turn to face him.
The room spins. I grasp the back of a chair for support. "The last one?" Torben helps me into the chair, and I stare up at Easton. He nods sadly and looks away.
"Even if we have kids, they may not be a phoenix.
Their kids will definitely not be phoenixes.
" He shrugs, a gesture so small yet filled with a universe of sorrow.
I can feel the pain radiating from Easton.
Standing, I close the distance between us and hug him tightly. We're both the last of our kind.
After our time in this world is done, legends will be written about what we were. I feel his warmth wrap around me, as if his wings are holding me close. Sighing softly, I kiss the underside of his jaw and close my eyes, trying to quell the emotional storm in my chest.
"On the bright side, the babies will be beautiful because of Feray," Khal chimes in, managing to get Easton to chuckle.
"Prettier than your emo ass," Easton retorts, pressing a kiss to my temple.
"So since Feray is masking our bonds and only showing Easton's, what do we do?" Torben asks.
"David has exposed his hand, revealing that only Easton is recognized as my mate.
He called the rest of us advisors, so we act the part.
" Diaval shrugs. "You two act like bodyguards.
I'll handle the advisor role. They might be concerned about you having the child of fire with you, but other than that, it shouldn't draw too much attention. "
"What if they ask if I had other mates?"
"I'll say I killed them on his order," Khal says, pointing at Diaval.
"As much as it disgusts me, he's onto something," Easton says, pulling us to sit on the couch with me in his lap.
"Tomorrow is a new day." I thread my fingers through Easton's hair. "Let's have dinner, then I propose we figure out what room we're all sleeping in tonight."
I look around slowly, and that's when I feel it. A prickle at the back of my neck. A wrongness in the air. My wolf rises to the surface, and a deep growl escapes my lips as I scan the room. "I have a feeling someone is going to die tonight."
The words leave my mouth before I can stop them, cold and certain.
"What do you mean, little wolf?" Torben takes a knee in front of me, his eyes searching mine.
"It was too easy to get here. Something isn't right." My gaze finds Khal, and I raise a brow. "David's scent changed when he mentioned tomorrow night. Not just fear—anticipation. He's expecting something to happen before we meet the Alpha."
"I don't like that look, Precious." Khal's eyes dart from person to person.
"You need to pretend to be me tonight. I'll dress you in my clothes and cover you in my scent." Silence.
Diaval's eyes narrow. Easton's arms tighten around me.
"You're going to use Khal as bait," Torben says slowly.
"Yes." I look at each of them, feeling the weight of what I'm about to do.
"And when the assassin comes for what they think is me sleeping in that bed, I'm going to be waiting in the shadows.
" My claws extend without conscious thought.
"I'm going to kill my assassin." The words hang in the air like a death sentence—but not mine.
A determined silence settles over the room. Easton's fingers trace soothing patterns on my back, but I feel the tension coiled in his muscles, ready to snap. Somewhere out there, someone is planning to murder me in my sleep.
They think I'm weak. They think I'm vulnerable. They think one night is all they need.
They're wrong.
Tonight, the hunter becomes the hunted.
And tomorrow, the Alpha will learn that his assassin failed.
Right before I rip out his throat.