Still on his feet, Lucas meets my gaze even though he must smell my anger and possibly his imminent death. I give him points for nerve if little else.He rakes his hand through his hair. “Aurora, you have to understand–”I dig the point of the dagger into his flesh. “I doubt the Alphas will.”He swallows, the motion of his Adam’s apple obvious in his skinny neck. “You could just let me disappear and not tell them.”I press hard enough to draw one crimson pearl of blood, accompanied by the smell of burning flesh and a sizzling sound as silver sears his skin. “HOW LONG? How long have you danced on my father’s strings?”“Please,” he begs.“Oh, now you want to beg after you nearly caused their deaths AND wound me up?”His eyes look like wounded prey. Miserable but still determined to cling to his dignity. “You would never have done it on your own. The massage cream proves it. So does your hesitation in slitting my throat.”Disgusted, I withdraw the dagger. “Then WHY did my father
Give up my mates?It has a cold, sad logic to it.But try telling that to them. I did, and I might as well be talking to their thrones.In the throne room, Jordan is still in full king mode, with Kent and Wiley backing him up. They’ve confined Lucas to his room because he’s agreed to cooperate with them as a double agent and trap my father.He still insists I should run like a coward. Not in my nature, but in this case, discretion may be the better part of valor.Again, try telling that to my mates.“No matter where you run, we’ll find you,” Jordan says, his fingers digging into my shoulders. “And where would you go?”“I have friends in other packs. Or I could cross the fence.”Wiley snorts. “Try to pass as a human in one of those small towns?”“That’s a possibility.”Maybe I could live in one of those hunting cabins humans have. They don’t notice each other sometimes, so I think I could keep a low profile.Wiley bares his teeth. “If you do, we’ll come after you and risk exp
Jordan leads me through Wiley’s and Kent’s bedrooms with his brothers beating us there to make sure everything is perfect. They probably slipped off to prepare the bedroom at some point during all of our plotting and scheming. That makes me lust after them even more.My heart is doing somersaults. I know I want this.With his arm around me, Jordan asserts, “You belong to us. By dawn tomorrow, you won't have any doubts left in that beautiful silver head of yours. Remember what we said we wanted to do to you–all of us together?”“Moon Goddess, yes, please.”Me reclining on Jordan like a queen on her throne while Kent and Wiley take turns driving me out of my mind with pleasure, while I take them in every possible way and Jordan finishes last and best. I’ll feel like Cleopatra at the height of her power and desirability. I think she just might have been a shifter too. My knees can’t hold me up, and Jordan scoops me into his arms, whispering in my ear, “It’s going to be so good. We
“You pick. I have no idea,” I say, gazing at a table full of themes for the ball. Wiley, Kent, Jordan, and Elayna are all gazing down at it like they’re studying Kent’s and my detailed plan to trap my father.After the last five days, I’m swimming in sweet love with my mates, plotting to foil an assassination by staging one, and party planning details. The party, as Elayna reminds us hourly, is as important as catching my father. After all, enough Alphas and important figures have RSVPed to make the upcoming ball even bigger than last year’s. Shifter feasts and balls are usually packed, but this one could break records. Alpha Arnold was one of the first to respond weeks ago. I both look forward to and dread seeing him on the night of the ball a week away.Wiley holds up an archery-themed pattern. “I like this one, and the green makes it pop. We are the Merry Men, after all.”Kent rubs his chin. “We did green and silver last year. Aurora?”“It’s certainly in my top five.” I hol
“I’d be honored to be your date,” Brynna says to Jordan, deliberately ignoring the deafening silence and the stony looks.This must be breaking every rule of royal protocol, and considering my assassination attempt, I’m hardly one to throw the first stone. But Jordan didn’t exactly give her any encouragement. Whatever Brynna’s faults, I thought she knew how to read the room. And the room is saying, “Go away.”She’s always been the sophisticated one, even as a fellow hunter. When we were growing up, she’d spend hours doing my makeup and hair and trying on clothes with me. My mother approved of that because it balanced out all the hours hunting in the woods with my father and coming back with mud in my fur. To my mother, you could still be a hunter and be feminine. Shifter women have balanced both for centuries. I was always hungry for a sister. As an only child, I craved that sibling experience. Derric was a wonderful friend and I had other girlfriends in the pack, but there are thi
I spend the rest of the day planning the ball with the kings and Elayna. After much deliberation, we all take a vote on the theme. We vote by secret ballot and Natasha and Stewart get a vote as well. Jordan and Elayna vote for the red with wolf pups.Kent, Wiley, and I vote for the yellow.Natasha votes for the autumn-patterned one.Stewart votes for the green with the hunter’s bow. Elayna doesn't seem crushed that yellow won. “It’s perfect,” she declares.Kent and Wiley hug her. “It’ll look spectacular,” Wiley says. “I love yellow, just like Dad did. Now, about the music–”“We decided to give your friend’s band another chance,” Kent says. “It turns out that the tavern brawl was blown out of proportion.”Wiley howls with glee. “Thank you!”I shake my head, smiling. Elayna looks less than convinced, but she doesn’t make an issue of it. If her sons are happy, she’s happy.Elayna is still looking over the menu. “Well, I just wanted to be sure. I wanted to have those little b
Peeping out into the ballroom, waiting to make our grand entrance, I see a sea of faces all talking, laughing, and bedazzling. Jordan adjusts my moonstone necklace, called the Tears of the Moon Goddess. Made of 24-karat gold, it has layers of moonstones linked together. The matching bracelets set the dress off strikingly, and he checks the clasps on them.“These are just breathtaking,” I say. “Thank you for this gift.”Jordan, radiant in blue and gold silk, kisses my shoulder. “Treasures for our treasure. Are you ready?”“Do I look ready?”“You look blindingly beautiful,” Kent says. He’s chosen to wear red velvet with gold trim. I spot Brynna in the crowd talking to one of the lords at court. “She looks fantastic,” I murmur, with a grumble in my voice.Sharp-eyed Wiley, in a yellow silk suit, follows my gaze. “So, what did she do to you?”I sigh. “Stole the boy I liked when she knew I liked him and never apologized. She could have had any boy in the pack, but she picked him.”
Halfway through the meal, Elayna gets up and strides to the lectern, then addresses the crowd, regal and poised. “It’s time, in this room full of friends and my dear late husband’s favorite color, to present the Morland Leavenworth Service Award. To give out the award, please welcome his sons and your Alpha Kings, Jordan, Kent, and Wiley.”The guests erupt in applause and cheers. Sneaking a glance at my father, I see something no daughter should have to see on her father’s face. Vicious hatred for my mates.I turn my attention back to the lectern where Jordan, Kent, and Wiley stand proudly in blue, red, and yellow. Jordan begins. “My father loved a good party. Nothing would have made him happier than to see this ballroom crammed with people. He loved to entertain. He was thrilled when his friends enjoyed themselves in his home. Although, as the night wore on, he often had his fill of socializing and would either take a walk in the galleries around the ballroom or in the garden. I