Chapter 16 #2
Some of the males watching with interest from the fringes of the green moved closer and I charted the positions of each of them with my senses, building a mental map of where everyone was on instinct as my hackles rose and my wolf side snarled within me, feeling threatened by their actions.
I was safe. Kaeleron, and Morden, wouldn’t allow anything to happen to me and these wolves had no reason to attack me.
I was just feeling jittery being around so many of my kind again when another pack had my family.
It was hard to trust any wolf these days.
“Saphira Harper.” I clung to my confidence as he gave me a slow once over.
“Alex’s kid… all grown up and as pretty as her mother.
Don’t think we’ve ever met. Name’s Beau.
” His gaze slowly shifted to Kaeleron as he came to stand on the other side of me to Morden, the two males flanking me and making it clear that if anyone so much as thought about attacking me, they would have to fight them both. “And who would this be?”
Although I had the feeling Kaeleron positioning himself at my side wasn’t entirely to do with protecting me as he stared the Ryland alpha down.
“Kaeleron the Wrathful. But you may call me King Kaeleron of the Shadow Court.” No trace of emotion or warmth touched those words as Kaeleron’s dark power swirled around me, stirring the shadows that bled from his shoulders.
This was really not going to go well.
“Strange company you’re keeping, Saphira.” Beau’s sharp green gaze shifted back to me. “The wolf I get, but the fae… too many of their kind around here these days.”
Beside me, Kaeleron tensed.
“You’ve seen fae around here? Fae like him?” I glanced at Kael.
Beau nodded and took the steps down to the green, and casually leaned against the thick post at the bottom of the right banister. He folded his arms across his chest, making his muscles flex and strain against his shirt, and crossed his legs at his ankles as he regarded Kaeleron and then me.
“Saw one quite the opposite to him too. Blond guy. Wasn’t alone. Was looking for the Hunt Pack and made the mistake of coming here.” Beau stared Kaeleron down.
Kaeleron didn’t notice. He was too busy glaring at the grass, shadows pooling and writhing around his boots, and I didn’t need to ask him what was wrong to know that whoever had come here mistaking it for the Hunt Pack had been seelie, and that this wasn’t good news at all.
“What did they want with the Hunt Pack?” I managed to keep the tremble of nerves from my voice as my mind dreamed up reasons the seelie might be looking for Lucas, and far too many of them centred around me.
“Something about a purchase… buying something.”
The hair on my nape rose and I felt sure that something was me.
I looked at Kaeleron again as he stiffened beside me, the waves of his power growing more intense.
A chill skittered down my spine and I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around myself to chase the icy touch of it away as it hit me.
“Do you think… do you think they know about us and they’re after me so they can use me as bait for you?”
Kaeleron was shaking his head before I even finished asking him that question.
“When I came for you, I saw one like this male described.”
Came for me.
Kaeleron said it like he had merely come to collect me rather than buy me, but I let it go, because I knew he had chosen those words to keep what had happened secret and also so I wouldn’t end up back in that night, thinking about what had happened and how we had come to be together.
I pushed thoughts of it from my mind, slamming the gates shut on them before they could take root, and focused on the task at hand instead.
Beau watched us closely—too closely—and my wolf side snarled softly at him as I faced forwards again, meeting his gaze.
“How long ago was this?” I held his gaze, silently demanding an answer. Bold of me to demand such a thing from an alpha, but I had to know.
Beau shrugged. “Months ago. The fae like him was more recent. Sent him to your pack, and pointed the other in the direction of the Hunts. Guessing it’s not a coincidence that two breeds of fae have been sniffing around your packs, given that you’re here knocking on my door.”
“The Hunt Pack is the reason I’m here. They’re holding my pack hostage and have threatened to kill them, and I need your help.
” I didn’t hide how desperately I needed that help as I took a step towards him.
“You know my pack. You’ve had dealings with my father.
We’ve helped you in the past. If you could just…
We just need a few of your warriors. Enough to help us win and free our pack. ”
Beau’s rough features slowly softened and he pushed to a stand before me, his gaze moving from me to the males who had gathered around the green.
And for a reckless moment, I dared to hope.
He cut it to ribbons with a sympathetic shake of his head. “I’m sorry. I wish I could help.”
“So help.” I risked another step closer to him, curling my hands into fists at my sides as anger flashed through my blood, as fear blended with it to make me impulsive and a little wild.
“It’s not that easy, kid.” He straightened to his full height, staring down at me, making me feel small and young, and stupid for coming here, expecting someone who had never met me to help me with this.
“We have our own problems to deal with right now. Some bear shifter pack is pushing into our territory from the west and I need my men there. We can’t afford to lose any more land when we have more pups on the way. ”
He jerked his head towards something to my left, and I looked there, at two heavily pregnant females who were standing on the deck of one of the cabins.
Disappointment churned my stomach and hollowed out my heart.
But I understood.
A wolf pack had to take care of its own people first. It had to tend to the needs of the pack before the needs of outsiders. My father would have reacted the same way, prioritising the need to protect our territory and our people.
I nodded stiffly and backed off a step.
“Look, kid.” He rubbed the back of his neck as his features pinched. “It’s not much, but you’re welcome to stay the night and eat with us, and tomorrow we’ll take you wherever you’re going.”
I wanted to throw his hospitality in his face.
The weight of Morden’s gaze landing on me had me reining in the dark urge to lash out at him, to throw what would have been an epic tantrum in this alpha’s eyes, just a kid acting out because she didn’t get what she wanted. I was better than that. Stronger.
The Ryland Pack couldn’t help us, but that didn’t mean it was over. I would pivot and find another way to save my family and my pack.
“Thank you.” I dipped my head, somehow keeping the bitterness from my voice.
We would make the most out of this situation.
We would get the rest we needed and restore the energy we lacked.
So we could face whatever came next.