Lucas shifts uncomfortably in his chair, and it’s such a rare and unexpected reaction that I’m instantly suspicious.
I look around the table and take note of the fact that Gretchin, Violet, and Gracelin all seem just as uncomfortable. What do they know, and why are they reluctant to talk about it?
“Where is Queen Colbie? Liam is missing as well.” Dad’s eyes narrow. “What’s going on?” he asks, and Mia clears her throat.
“Let’s wait for the queen to arrive. She went to get changed for her shift training this afternoon.” Her chin juts out stubbornly, and I smother a smirk. I know that look, and nothing else will be discussed until the queen reaches the dining room. Even my father, the powerful shifter general, knows when to back down, so he drops his head in a short nod of acquiescence.
“Where is Liam?” Layla asks, feigning casualness, but her body is tense.
“I sent him to get changed. He shredded his clothes during a shift and was only wearing a pair of shorts. I didn’t think it was appropriate for him to come to lunch half naked,” my dad explains gruffly. He’s annoyed about not being in the know.
“Shredded his clothes?” Evie latches onto this information like a hawk, and Brodie chuckles. “He picked up every scrap of material, didn’t he? I don’t like it when you boys leave your bits lying around the grounds.”
“Oh, I can assure you, Mother, none of us want to leave our bits lying around the grounds either,” Gryff remarks dryly, and the rest of us chuckle, his comment loosening the tension at the table. My gaze goes to the man sitting next to Gryff. I can tell they are holding hands under the table, but Gem’s eyes are slightly glazed, like he’s lost in thought. My whole body tenses like we’re on the edge of a cliff, and one wrong movement could send us tumbling down.
The doors to the dining room open with a bang, and Liam, fully dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with no shoes, strides through, followed by a frazzled queen. She’s dressed in a tight pair of capris and a loose tank top, perfect for the light self-defense moves we are going to put her through today. I can’t help but notice how well the material hugs her delicious figure, molding to the curves of her hips and breasts as well as accentuating the mound between her legs, which my dragon wants to lick.
My cock hardens with a rush of blood, and I shift uncomfortably when the scent of arousal hits my nostrils. Everyone must smell it at the same time, because their attention instantly turns to the two new arrivals, and now that I look a little closer, both of them appear disheveled. Liam’s hair is in disarray, like he or someone else has been running their hands through it, and Colbie’s cheeks are flushed pink, like she’s been exerting herself.
“What the fuck did you do?” my father roars, jumping to his feet, his glare turning lethal as he looks at my bond mate, instantly suspecting the two of them have been up to no good.
Fuck, Liam has done it now. There is no helping him, because the general’s ferocious wrath is focused on him. Liam stops in his tracks and looks at my dad with a flash of hurt before he continues walking, but Lucas gets to his feet and holds up a hand to stop the smoke puffing dragon at the same time as his wife puts a hand on his arm.
“Sit down, Bry, and hold your temper. Goddess, you’re worse than a dragon with a thorn in its claw,” my mother scolds him. My father struggles to gain control of his urge to shift and eat Liam as a snack. I jerk in surprise as Colbie reaches for Liam and whispers something in his ear that’s too quiet for any of the shifters at the table to hear. Then, to my surprise, he leans in and presses a kiss to her forehead before joining us at the table while the new queen remains standing.
“What the fuck?” Brodie mutters next to me.
Gryff’s eyes widen with shock, but Gem nods like he’s finally worked something out inside his mind. My heart races as I smell Colbie and Liam’s combined scent. Whatever they were doing, they were close enough to each other for their scents to mingle, but why were they that close together? Liam’s bear is getting out of control, but he knows Colbie isn’t the one for us. I feel my anger rise, and smoke drifts from my nose. He’s such a manwhore, and I know his bear has been unruly, but putting his hands on the queen is going too far. She is off-limits.
Colbie takes a deep breath, her chest rising and falling with the action, and approaches her spot but stays standing. She laces her hands together nervously as all of us at the table focus our attention on her, but she ignores everyone else and instead addresses my team.
“Ah, so, um… Fuck, this is hard. Oh shit! Should I be saying fuck as a queen? That’s probably not allowed, is it?” she rambles adorably, and some of my anger drifts away.
Gracelin giggles and gives her an encouraging nod. “You can say whatever you want, Colbie, you’re the queen. Go on, tell them what they need to know.”
Gracelin’s words have the desired effect, and Colbie nods decisively, straightening her spine and looking at the five of us, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Could the five of you please remove your shirts and show me your chests please?”
Liam doesn’t even flinch and quickly does as she asks. I think, like me, the other guys are stunned into inaction.
“You want us to remove our shirts?” I ask, trying to wrap my head around her request.
“Your queen gave you an order, boys, so I suggest you comply,” Lucas growls at the four of us, and I slowly get to my feet and pull my shirt off, bewildered by the strange request. Gryff, Brodie, and Gem do the same thing. I toss my shirt onto the table in front of me and raise an eyebrow at our queen.
“Darling, if you wanted to get us naked, you only had to ask, but really, do you think the dinner table is the right place for this?” Gem smirks at the queen, his eyes sparkling.
She rolls her eyes and gestures at our naked chests. “If you would indulge me for a moment, please look at your bond mark. Is it different than it was when you woke up this morning?”
My frown deepens, and I exchange a look with Gryffin. Is the queen losing her mind? My eyes drift lower to his chest and widen in shock. The mark that is, or was, the exact match of mine has changed. It now has eight branches instead of six. I gasp and look down at my own, running a finger over the mark that has sat over my heart for ten years now.
“Holy fuck, ithaschanged. Did the magic do this?” I ask as the other three mutter something along the same lines as me, but Liam is not surprised. I narrow my eyes on him suspiciously. “What did you do?”
He throws his hands up in disgust. “Why does everyone automatically assume I did something?” he mutters, sounding pissed.
“We think the goddess made some changes when that wave of magic hit us today. Like we told you, there are now eight crowns in the throne room…” Lucas trails off as if he’s expecting us to react, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.
“Eight crowns and eight branches,” Gem murmurs, his eyes going wide as his attention locks on the queen, and she nods her head.
