“You waited for us? Well, you do know how to make a girl feel special, Alpha.” Elodie sashayed into the room-without the cane she’d been using after her troll injury, I noticed-and blew kisses at Kane and Brielle.
Samuel walked behind her, enjoying the view of her swaying ass when he thought no one was looking, and Galyna walked behind him pushing a wheelchair. I averted my eyes, not wanting to see Lucien as he was wheeled into the room. Pale, but upright.
Clearly, sleep, an antidote for the wolfsbane poisoning, and Brielle’s omega powers had done him a world of good.
The ragged scar over his eye, though, that hadn’t improved at all. My chest went tight as I snuck a glance at him, quickly looking away before he could catch me.
He was pallid, still recovering from major injuries. But the fact that he was upright and alive? That meant we’d gotten him the wolfsbane antidote in time.
A part of me I didn’t want to examine too closely-that primal beast inside who had claimed him as hers, dammit-was relieved. A wolf mate without their wolf… Well, they couldn’t be a mate.
Granted, it had kept me awake last night that my own marks had appeared, but his torso remained completely bare. Or, at least it was while he was lying in the bed after his treatments.
What did that mean?
“So, most of you know already that we’ve got the first fragment of the omega stone, but we need four more to make it whole. King Cysernaphus ever so helpfully provided us a list of the species holding the other shards.” Kane paused, wearing a wry expression.
“The centaurs make sense. They’ve long been leaders among the supernatural for their wisdom. Their headquarters are in Greece-on a little island off the coast where they can run without fear of their true forms being spotted-so someone will need to travel there, most likely. It’s going to be delicate, extricating the piece without confirming Petr?’s condemning accusations to the council.”
“Councilman Fortier isn’t the leader of the centaurs. It can be done,” Reed said. I couldn’t help but notice the somber determination in the words and shudder.
“Let’s hope you’re right about that. The fae are also a sensible choice to hold an artifact of such power, but slightly less accessible. You can’t buy a plane ticket to the fae realm. It’s most likely being held by the queen herself, inside the Greater Fae Court.”
Shay cleared her throat. “Dirge and I have discussed that at length, and we would like to volunteer to retrieve that piece. As you know, there is so much I don’t know about my own past, and this seems like a good chance to learn a bit more about my heritage, while also securing the omega stone shard for our pack.”
Kane and Brielle exchanged a loaded look, and Brielle spoke up. “We appreciate you both so much. Do you want another pair to come with you?”
Dirge shook his head, shoulders stiff with tension. “Priestess Lisanne said the fewer who enter the realm, the less likelihood there is of one of us getting stuck beyond the veil. It’s best that it’s only Shay and me.”
“Then may the Goddess bless you on your journey.” Brielle’s bottom lip trembled as she hugged Shay, then Dirge in turn.
Sadness overwhelmed me as I watched them. Theirs was a friendship tested by fire, and it seemed the testing wasn’t done yet. But to my surprise, Fiona wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close so she could whisper in my ear.
“They’re going to be fine. Don’t be sad.”
I eyed my friend with curiosity. She was unassuming in so many ways, quietly brilliant, that it would be easy to underestimate her. But Fiona saw me when so many other people just glanced over me, like a ghost. It was uncanny at times the things she picked up on.
“So that’s one piece off the list. Thank you both.” Kane inclined his head formally to the pair of them and then continued, all business. “The last two pieces are a bit more… interesting. Goblins, while a very fecund species, aren’t very powerful individually. Their strength lies in community, ingenuity, and purity of heart. But they are listed as protecting the fourth piece. Frankly, with how widespread they are, I’m not certain where that piece will be located.”
“I’ve got some ideas. Councilman Lug was always friendly, and I’m certain he’d tell us the best place to start looking if we reached out discreetly.” Lucien’s voice was raspy and thin, but still sent a shudder of desire through me, as if he’d raked his fingers through my hair. When I realized I was bodily swaying toward the source, I snapped myself back against the wall, wincing slightly at the impact of my head against the stone.
A blush crept up my neck as he and Samuel both looked at me, clearly wondering why I’d just brained myself for no reason whatsoever. I kept my gaze glued to the floor and locked my muscles into place by sheer will, ignoring them both.
He didn’t want a mate? He didn’t have one. Easy-peasy.
Right?
Thankfully, the conversation moved on rapidly, and I didn’t have time to wallow in my embarrassment.
“Excellent, Lucien. Perhaps after a few more days of convalescing, you could reach out to him? And whenever you’re ready, I want a full report of your kidnapping. Why they took you, what they wanted, and then we can decide how we should strike back.”
“Consider it done, High Alpha. As for the report, there’s not much to tell. They wanted dirt on you, and to know who the omega is and how we were hiding her. It was Varga and his cousin.” Lucien shrugged, as if the entire ordeal could be summed up in so few sentences.
“Thank you.”
“Of course, Alpha.” Lucien’s response was gruff, as if he were unused to receiving praise.
There it was again, that traitorous desire to sway into him, into his voice. My wolf paced restlessly, not demanding escape, but annoyed that her mate was in the room and yet now wanted to recant his claiming of her.
Offended might have been a better word, and I latched on to that. I should be offended. He’d insulted me to my face and had rolled right in here without an apology or acknowledgment of what was going on between us. Somehow, being pissed at him made it easier to tamp down the inappropriate urges I was feeling toward a near stranger.
But was it reasonable to be pissed at a man who’d just been through as much as he had? For an alpha wolf to be in a wheelchair, surrounded by other alphas… That would rankle any of them. Yet here he was, trying to keep his chin up and a brave face on.
He’d been through hell, and if I couldn’t give him grace in this moment, the least I could give him was time. We hadn’t even had a real conversation. Didn’t we owe each other at least that much, a chance to get on the same page before lashing out at each other?
We absolutely did.
The realization settled both me and my wolf enough that I could focus on the planning going on around me.
“Phoenixes are nearly polar opposites of goblins. They’ve always been few in number, and at this moment, I don’t know of any currently alive. We’re going to have to reach out to other packs, and perhaps the other species we visit to see if any are willing to share the location of a living phoenix.”
“So we’re starting with the centaurs, then?” Leigh asked. You could tell from her posture she was anxious, the hand resting on her belly tense, even though she’d asked the question lightly.
Kane nodded. “That was my conclusion as well. The question remains, who is willing and able to go?”
Ah. That again. I looked sadly at Fiona. She’d been through so much since she joined our pack, but she was one of the few females who was actually able to go out safely with her mate.
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