Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
One moment, Torin stood in front of me, and the next, he had his hand around Greyson’s neck, dragging him out of the bushes.
“Greyson, what are you doing here?” I hurried to the men.
Greyson coughed, prying at Torin’s iron-clad hand.
“Torin, release him. He can’t talk.”
Torin smirked, tilting his head to the side. “And that’s what we want. If I kill him, he won’t talk.”
Greyson’s emerald eyes grew wide. I laughed, knowing too well that Torin was playing. Torin loosened his grip on his throat, and Greyson took a deep breath.
“Look,” Greyson said. “You seem nice, but I don’t know you, so I followed Queen Breanna to make sure she’s okay.”
Torin narrowed his eyes, but his lips curved up. “Well, I won’t hurt her.”
“I just had to check for myself,” Greyson said, swatting Torin’s hand away. Torin let him. “You may not want to hurt her, but that other man…I’m not so sure about.”
Torin’s body tensed. “Who is that other man?”
The fairy man rubbed his neck. “The King.”
Dragging my hands over my face, I sighed.
Torin went very, very still, his gaze on Greyson, but he didn’t appear to see him as if Torin were in a trance.
Once he snapped out of it, he crossed his arms and planted his legs wide on the damp ground. “Why would her mate want to hurt her?”
“I don’t know if he wants to, since I don’t have any evidence, but whenever Queen Breanna is not looking at him, Hayden is looking at her.” He paused. “With so much obsession and desperation that it scares me. His gaze is that of a man who would stop at nothing to possess the Queen.”
I swallowed hard.
Torin put his stoic mask back on. “So why would you care so much about your Queen?”
“Because she’s promised to take me with her to the fairy realm,” Greyson said nonchalantly.
I let out a heavy sigh. “That’s enough.”
“But—”
“Greyson!”
“Okay, but I heard you say Hayden may be a fairy like me. I was so happy to hear that, but then I remembered how much I dislike the guy,” he said. “He just doesn’t feel right.”
With every word he said, Greyson fueled the fire in Torin’s eyes.
“Well, Greyson was just leaving,” I said and gave him a sharp look.
“Thank you for looking out for Breanna,” Torin said, and I gaped at him.
Was he serious?
Greyson gave Torin a genuine smile. “I knew you’d be a decent person. By the way, where’s Lucy, my other favorite vampire?” he said, his smile widening.
“Greyson.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going.” He turned around and disappeared into the distance toward the laughter and chatter of the kingdom.
I held my breath and watched Torin carefully. He didn’t ask me how I would enter the fairy realm. Strange.
“Why did the fairy King send an assassin after you?” he asked.
“Beats me. The only other thing I know from the witch coven is that the fairy King supposedly has Willa imprisoned.”
“Witch coven?” Torin asked, running his hand through his hair. “There’s a lot to catch up on.”
I stepped over to him. “You will do nothing, Torin. You’re not my mate any longer. Nothing about me is of your concern.”
I had to find a way to cut my ties, whatever they were, with Torin.
“The fairy King will send more people sooner or later,” he said.
By the Gods, I hadn’t thought about that, since we had only recently returned from the vampire castle. We’d just finished fighting a war. Were we about to begin another one?
“And I’ll be ready for him. You have nothing to do with this, Torin. You’re free now.”
Torin scoffed with familiar audacity. He stepped toward me, leaning into my ear. “See you soon, my little witch wolf,” he said, causing me to gasp. “Don’t walk on the same path you came from.”
He chuckled and walked away, disappearing behind the tree, and an unsettling feeling formed in my stomach. Torin seemed unusually calm, or had breaking free from his sire's grip changed him somehow?
And he’d made up a new pet name for me.
I slapped my cheeks with my palms, and they heated even more. I better return to the kingdom celebration before Hayden got wind of my rendezvous with Torin.
His proximity had messed with the functions of my brain. His last words didn’t sound like a warning, and he’d laughed, so against my better judgment, I took the same path back. The alternative route to the manor took longer.
After a moment, I figured out why exactly Torin had told me not to take this path—because he knew I wouldn’t listen to him.
Pleasure moans and grunts echoed from the side. Scanning my surroundings, I couldn’t see anyone…unless they were on the ground. I stepped off the dirt path and peered behind the brush.
A vampire male I recognized as one of Lucy’s men sat on the ground while a young werewolf woman I knew from working at the orphanage straddled him. Although her skirt covered his lap, by the slight rocking of her hips, I knew they were connected.
The vampire buried his head in her neck, drinking her blood. I put my hand over my mouth and inhaled deeply. The woman…didn’t seem in danger.
I let out a heavy sigh, dropping my hand to the side. I took a step back to return to the path.
Suddenly, the vampire pulled his head away from the she-wolf. Blood dripped from his mouth, but he retracted his fangs.
“Queen Breanna,” the man called and licked his lips.
The young woman remained as she was, only whipping her head towards me.
I was sure my face was the color of his lips. I walked past the brush but kept my distance. I clasped my hands since I didn’t know what to do with them.
“I’m sorry to intrude, but I was just checking on the she-wolf,” I said, averting my gaze to the tree behind the man.
“My Queen, I’m okay.” She smiled. “He didn’t compel me, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, mortified. “Carry on.”
More blood rushed to my head, and I mumbled more apologies.
The vampire let out a small laugh and turned his gaze to the woman on his lap as if nothing had happened.
I walked back to the path and nearly face-planted, but I also smiled at the trap Torin had led me to. He must have seen them earlier or at least heard them.
From now on, things would change in the human realm for the better. The species would interbreed as long as there was peace.
After descending the path, I reached the backyard of the royal manor, where almost everyone had gathered.
A tipsy werewolf arm-wrestled a hunter at a long wooden table.
The human pouted. The other man used his supernatural abilities to win and denied it.
The two men toasted with their beer cans and went for another round of wrestling.
After spotting a blue and white cooler set on the ground, I dashed toward it. Once I opened it, I grabbed two beers, cracked one open, and drank as much as possible.
“Slow down, Bree.” Tammy materialized before me and pulled me by my wrist to a nearby table.
I settled on a foldable, wobbly chair. “I’m not even drunk yet.”
“Seeing how you’re hugging that other can, what’s gotten into you?”
I gulped the rest of the first can. “Will you sleep in my room tonight?”
Tammy occupied one of the largest guest rooms with Adrian, and her boyfriend wouldn’t be thrilled to sleep alone, but at this moment, I couldn’t stop myself from selfishly wanting Tammy to keep me company.
Hayden's expectations for tonight made me wary, and an icy dread slithered into my chest, coiling tighter with every passing moment.