“He really could’ve warned me about this,” the Primal said under his breath, but I still heard the faint, melodic rhythm that was both familiar and utterly foreign at the same time. He looked at us. “Hello.”
I blinked, then stiffened as I saw that Delano had crept forward, his head lowered, and tail tucked close to his body. Before I could say shit, the Primal god extended his hand toward the wolven. Delano cautiously lifted his head and sniffed the outstretched hand.
A heartbeat passed, and then Delano pressed his muzzle against the Primal’s hand.
“Well,” Emil drawled. “I guess he’s got the Delano stamp of approval.”
One side of the Primal’s lips curled up, and, sure as shit, a dimple appeared.
My gaze locked with Malik’s. There was no way he wasn’t thinking what I was.
This Primal was of our bloodline.
It made sense. Elementals were directly descended from gods. But a Primal god?
Delano backed off and returned to my side as I felt a pulse of awareness in my chest. My hands fisted.
The Primal’s stare lifted, a slight frown pulling at his brows as he swept his gaze over the hall. He’d felt Kieran, even though no one else seemed to have even heard his approach yet—not even Delano. I filed that piece of information away as the others finally picked up on Kieran’s arrival.
A second later, he burst into the shadowy hall, his chest rising and falling quickly.
My jaw clenched as I opened my senses, linking my mind to his.Did you forget what I said?
His pace didn’t change.I knowwhat you said.
And?
As he drew closer, I saw that the bruises were gone. Good for him.
This isn’t about us,came his response.
I shut myself off from him before he could say more. My nostrils flared as I inhaled deeply. He was right. This wasn’t about us.
Kieran’s steps slowed as he caught sight of our odd-as-shit group. “I felt…” He trailed off as his gaze darted back to the Primal. His brows snapped together, and his stare shot toward Malik. “What the…?”
“Join the club,” my brother remarked.
“Interesting,” the Primal murmured, eyeing Kieran.
Kieran returned the blatant stare with one of his own.
Emil cleared his throat. “So, are we just going to ignore the fact that he looks like he’s a long-lost Da’Neer?”
The Primal didn’t look all that surprised by the last name. His gaze flicked to Malik. “Reaver said you needed help.”
Snapping out of my stupor, my chest tightened. “Did he tell you why?”
He pulled his stare from Malik and focused on me. Maybe it was my imagination, but he seemed to do so reluctantly. “He said you may have an…issue with your Queen.”
Feeling my brother turn toward me, I nodded. “Yeah.” I glanced at Kieran as he inched closer. “We have anissue.”
The Primal’s gaze flicked to the door behind me and then swept over our group again. “You can stay,” he said to me, thenlooked Kieran over once more. “He can, too. The rest need to leave.”
Malik stiffened. “I don’t know you.Wedon’t know you. So how about—?”
“It’s okay,” I cut in. “Kieran and I can handle him.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Primal raise a brow.
