“What aren’t you telling me, Azure?”She whipped around to face him.She held herself in a regal posture, her shoulders pulled back and her head high.Pure elegance, and yet she looked as fierce as a general on a battlefield.She was magnificent.“And an even better question is, why would you think you couldn’t trust me with the knowledge?”
He stood up and walked slowly down the stairs, taking in the view of his female, noticing her sharp cheeks, perfectly sculpted nose, and full lips.Her skin was pale and luminous, like expensive alabaster.It seemed to glow from within, flawless and smooth.
Zeena carried herself with a dancer’s poise and grace.Her long neck stretched proudly as her shoulders pulled back even further under his sharp scrutiny.Every movement flowed into the next with the precision of a well-honed weapon, betraying hidden strength and power coiled within her lithe frame.The blacks and deep greens of her dress made her fair skin and dark hair all the more striking.She cut an imposing, yet ethereal figure.
When he was standing in front of her, Zeena kept her neck guarded by turning her gaze up instead of tilting her head back.He smiled with approval at her self-preservation instincts.His mate was smart.He would never hurt her.But he was the bigger predator in the room, and her instincts would never let her forget it.
Azure cupped Zeena’s face in his hands.Her cool skin shifted, and white, iridescent scales replaced the human flesh.He ran his thumbs across her cheeks, and she hummed at his touch.Zeena always responded to him, even when she was angry.He inwardly chuckled, because he knew in a moment she’d catch herself and get even angrier over it.But he’d take advantage of her momentary distraction.Azure tightened his hold on her face and leaned down.His lips hovered over hers as he spoke.“I have alwaysss taken care of you and our kingdom, and I will continue to do ssso.You have alwaysss trusssted me to do jussst that, and you will continue to do ssso.Yesss?”
“But don’t you trust me?”she whispered, her voice soft and vulnerable.
“My love,” Azure purred.“Of courssse I do.But if you don’t have information that my enemiesss want, then you are not ussseful to them, which keepsss you sssafe.”He pressed his lips to hers, but she pulled back.
“So you’re keeping information from me to protect me?”
“Yesss.”It wasn’t a lie.Nor was it the whole truth.
He tried to kiss her again, but she turned her head.Zeena had never denied him.“Zeena?”Azure wrapped one arm around her and pulled her tight against him while still holding her face with one hand.“Look at me,” he demanded.Finally, she lifted her eyes.They glowed with her beast.Oh, his female was angry.“Why do you turn me away?”Azure held his mate’s gaze, and he focused all of his being on her.Her scent, the sound and tone of her voice, the movement of her body, and her taste in the air.
“Why is she off the market?”she asked again.
He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling because if he smiled, he was going to end up with two very long fangs buried in his neck, and not in the way he liked.Azure leaned down and buried his face in her neck and took a deep breath.When she’d asked the first time, he’d been too far away to smell it, but now her jealousy permeated the surrounding air.Underneath it, though, was an even better scent, and one that was rare for their females.First, to deal with the former.Zeena thought he wanted the little wolf.After all these centuries?He opened his mouth and let one of his fangs nick her flesh, and then he tasted the little drop of blood that beaded there.She gasped as the poison entered her body.To a human, it would have been deadly.But to his female, it was an aphrodisiac, which caused her to relax against him.
“Not fair,” she moaned.
“I never play fair when it comesss to you,” he told her as he scooped her up into his arms.“How could you think I’d ever want another, essspecially a mutt, when I have you?”He headed for a set of doors that would lead to a private hallway to their suite.As he entered their room, Azure carried Zeena over to the massive round bed surrounded by flowing fabric hanging from the ceiling.This was where they slept when in their human form.But along the walls there were huge trees with limbs that climbed the walls, and those served them better when they chose to rest in their beastwalker shape.
He laid her down and straddled her body, covering her with his larger frame.Resting his arms on either side of her head, he settled against her.Second, to deal with the latter scent.“Did you know you’re in heat?”He didn’t give her time to respond.True to his nature, he struck out, biting her neck.His mate arched into him, and moaned, but not from pain.
Azure would take time to reassure Zeena that he had no interest in the wolf, which he didn’t.He would take advantage of the opportunity to attempt to give his mate what they’d both longed for, for so long.It would serve as a good distraction while he continued to work on his experiments with the voodoo witch.Even with news that the Shaman Council had decided to do an official investigation into his kingdom—yes, he was well aware—things were still looking up.
* * *
The human, Antonio, fidgeted under Azure’s gaze as he poured himself a glass of brandy.The King had left his well-sated mate in their bed a couple of hours ago, and now it was back to business.Once Slick, Myron, and Antonio had dropped Katy Dire off, he’d told them to be on their way.But of course, as humans do, Antonio didn’t do as he was told.
“What can I do for you?”Azure gently swirled the brandy in the glass and then brought it to his face, taking in a deep breath of the rich aroma.Then he took a sip of the liquor as he continued to watch the male.
“I just… I, uh… That is…” Antonio stumbled along as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his rumpled slacks.His dress shirt was wrinkled, and he looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days.“I want to make sure Katy is all right.”
Azure set the glass down on his desk and walked around until he stood in front of it.Then he eased back until he sat on the polished surface.The ruler of the Kingdom of Venom allowed his glamour to slip enough that he knew the human would see his beast’s eyes and scales as he spoke.Antonio already knew what Azure was and was well aware of the presence of Damarians.But Azure knew that didn’t mean Antonio was comfortable around them.That fact was obvious in the way his gaze darted away as soon as he looked at the King.
“You’re concssserned about the woman you abducted for me?”Azure couldn’t help the humor lacing his tone.Humans were so mercurial in their loyalties.One minute they were your friend, but show them something shiny that meant more to them than your friendship, and they’d turn on you in an instant.Then some of them, like Antonio, it seemed, would haveanothercrisis of self and backtrack, as the human male was currently doing.
“I’ve known her a long time.”Antonio wiped the sweat from his brow.The smell of his fear was both exhilarating and disgusting to Azure.“I realize that because of what she is, it’s inevitable that she would have gotten mixed up in all of this?—”
Azure cut the human off with a sharp cluck of his tongue and shook his head at him.“Antonio, Antonio, Antonio.That issss your way of absolving yourself of the responsibility of your part in her abduction and giving yourself the easssy way out.”Azure clasped his hands and rested them in front of him as he tilted his head, giving himself a different angled view of the human.“Don’t you think?”
Antonio sidestepped and then seemed to catch the movement for what it was—a form of retreat.Not a smart thing to do if you didn’t want to be chased by a predator.“I just… It’s that?—”
Azure spoke in a smooth tone.“Antonio, how did you become aware of our existence?”The King’s inquiry wasn’t due to ignorance; he already knew the tale.However, humans often required a reminder of their journey to truly grasp their current plight.This was particularly true when they attempted to evade accountability for their actions.Azure wouldn’t let Antonio weasel out of responsibility for Katy’s abduction.Was it out of concern for Katy?Certainly not.Was it out of a sense of justice for Antonio?Ha!No, it was because people like Antonio, who would so easily throw others to the wolves, so to speak, truly deserve their fate.
“I didn’t know—” Antonio started.
Azure shook his head, and the human snapped his mouth closed.“How did you come to know of us?”
“I thought you wanted dancers for your clubs?”he barked, suddenly finding a backbone from somewhere deep inside.Azure was slightly impressed… slightly.
The King’s lips tilted into a half-hearted smile, and he gave an indifferent shrug of his broad shoulders.“And so I did.”
