Ursula snorted. “No, I think that’s your word. Regardless, this is what I do, and I’m damned good at it.”
Zul nodded. “Yes, she is.”
“I know. Her competence impressed me at the embassy gala where we met.”
Ursula chuckled. “I thought it was my singing.”
“That, too.” Bran traced the back of a knuckle down her cheek. “And your beauty and your fierce defense of your friend.”
“I was the whole package, huh?”
Zul looked confused.
“Everything and more,” Bran said. “I have not regretted claiming you, and I never will.”
“No matter how much blame you catch forallowingme too much freedom?”
“Everything Gil, Zul, and I do is in the best interests of you and Crow. We want nothing more than your happiness.”
Ursula smiled and threw herself at her mate. Bran rocked when she collided with him, but did not move. She wrapped her arms around his brawny body and hugged him tightly. Bran closed his arms around her, careful not to squeeze her too snugly.
Zul set a ruddy hand on her hip and gave her a light squeeze. “You are precious to each of us. We would die before allowing any harm to come to you.”
Face pressed against Bran’s chest, she said, “I was beginning to worry that I was in trouble. That the mayor had convinced you I’d brought shame upon you.”
Bran stroked a hand down her long white hair. “You caught my emotion,elska’adir? Fear not. I am never angry with you.”
He met Zul’s eyes over her head.
She was worried, Zul said, mind to mind.
Bran cast him a knowing look.As much as our lovely mate wishes to be independent, she needs us. She needs our support and approval.
It must be difficult for her to reconcile both her need for independence and her need for us, Zul replied.
She struggles with it, Bran acknowledged.We try to ease that struggle. Part of that means reminding her of her importance to us: she is more than a breeder for the next generation.
She is precious to us, necessary for our very souls.
Indeed.
Chapter 23
Suffering from a last-minute attack of anxiety, Ursula whispered before mounting the stage, “I don’t see a microphone. How are they going to hear me?”
Gil turned her around to face him and straightened the tiara which had been knocked slightly askew. The headdress radiated spokes fanned from an intricately designed base like filigreed rays of a bejeweled sun. “The amplifiers will work. They will carry your voice to every corner of the village.”
“I don’t see any amplifiers.”
“I installed them myself,elska’adir.”
Ursula’s eyes widened. She hadn’t realized the Second of the Fangrys Triad was so handy.You’ve been keeping secrets, you silver-horned devil.
He grinned at her and whispered, “We all have our little secrets. Now—how do you say it—go pull their socks down.”
“Knocktheir socksoff,” she corrected with a smile before taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Do I look all right?”
“You are beautiful,” Gil reassured her. “The most beautiful female I have ever seen.”
