“Imeantreading my body language, but I’ll let you have an awkward moment of silence to think of an answer.”
Prince sighed and continued eating his pizza.
“Did Nadia go out to the club?” Kat set the box on the floor and kicked it out of the way.
He finished his slice in less than four bites and then stretched out his legs. “To meet with a client.”
“See, I’m not the only workaholic around here.” She licked a few crumbs off her lips. “Thanks for trying the pizza.”
He arched a brow and studied her for a moment. Even sitting, Prince was much taller than she was. “I didn’t perceive it as a gallant act, but you’re welcome.”
He’s so charming, she thought to herself. Kat leaned forward and began unlacing her boots. “It shows you trust me. Just a little bit.”
“Perhaps I was just being polite,” he offered.
She glared at him over her shoulder. “Packmasters don’t eat food offered from complete strangers just to be polite. Not someone as old as you, who’s probably seen firsthand how effective poisons are against an enemy. Ancients aren’t polite by nature.”
“You can sense I’m an ancient?”
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and she pulled off her boots. “You have that stiff look about you. Plus, I see a few wisdom hairs in there.”
“Wisdom hairs?”
Kat reached out and plucked one of the rogue silver hairs from his head. He winced and recoiled. She held it in front of his face and tickled his nose with it. “Don’t worry, it’ll grow back. You might even get three in its place.”
He snatched the hair from her fingertips and let it fall to the floor. “That’s an old wives’ tale.”
“Aha! So you’ve done it. I didn’t take you for a man who dyed his hair; you can always spot a dye job a mile away on a guy. I would have never guessed you were a plucker.”
He leaned on the armrest and faced her. “And what ofyourartificial color?”
Kat laughed and flipped her hair between her fingers. “This is the real McCoy. Did you think Nadia’s hair was naturally blond? She touches up the roots before they’re noticeable. She always wanted to be a princess, and I guess she looks like one now.”
“Youarefrom a royal bloodline,” Prince said firmly, clearly aware of her heritage.
The room was dark except for the light emanating from the curio, and it cast shadows along the contours of his face. He was easy on the eyes—a regal nose, slight widow’s peak, a strong jaw with dark whiskers just beneath the surface if you looked close enough. Features you wouldn’t see on a warrior so much as a king. Despite his age and a few silver hairs, he had a young look about him, seasoned somewhere in his late thirties.
Kat shrugged. “People don’t care about the royal bloodline now that we have Councils and the higher authority. Not all the Shifters today know about the old countries that didn’t enslave our kind. Most probably don’t have a clue that in some places, Shifters once held a lot of power and control, led by royal families. Even if it were common knowledge, I doubt most would care.”
“Yes,” he agreed, his gaze drifting toward a dark corner. “Years ago, when rumors of Shifter slavery began to surface, it planted a seed with some of the more power-hungry immortals. They coveted our wealth and dominion. Why allow us to flourish when most places were treating us no better than cattle? Our only true magic is shifting to animal form, so many subjugated our kind, forcing wolves to pull sleds, our horses to travel, and our panthers as recreational punishment. I left two places I called home when this insidious mentality began to spread like a plague.”
“Must have been a hard life for an alpha, always on the move and starting over.”
Boy, did Kat know all about that. She moved so much she practically lived out of a plastic bag more than a suitcase.
“I did what was required to survive. I thought Russia would hold; we had so many in positions of power there.” He rested his chin against his fist, swept up in the memories. “Your father was an intelligent man. While he made alliances with other Breeds, he also recruited Shifters into the territory to increase our numbers. We had a strong footing for many years. But times were changing; war was imminent even among the humans. Alex never spoke of me?”
Kat shook her head, remembering how reluctant her father was to discuss the details of his past. Only when he was full of spirits did he recount the glory days before it all went to hell. But when Kat would ask more questions, he’d switch to a lighter topic, saying his princess didn’t need to hear such stories of horror and bloodshed. Her father’s pain was buried deep, and as much as she’d wanted him to confide in her, it wasn’t worth taking the chance that those old memories resurfacing could destroy that man he’d become.
She curled her legs beneath her and turned on her right side to face him. Prince seemed like the kind of man she could talk to—someone who wouldn’t hold back, and she liked that about him. “Were you two close?”
“We were like brothers.” A rueful smile crossed his face, revealing the same anguished look she’d once seen from her father.
“And what happened that you haven’t seen him after all this time?”
A dark look dimmed the light in his eyes. “They imprisoned your father and banished me from my home. They threatened to execute him if I returned. I often wondered if it was an empty threat to keep me out—that perhaps they’d already murdered him long ago on that winter’s day.”
Kat lowered her gaze, saddened by the hard truth about her father’s past. “Why did they treat you differently and let you go?”
