“Strong?” Toya lifted her brow.
“Fit?” Wendy offered.
“Muscled.” Brandon finished. “It’s weird. But not in a bad way.” He waved his hands as he watched everyone’s face darken.
I laughed. “Our bodies are our weapons and we have to keep our weapons honed so that we can protect our packs, our friends,” I let tears spring to my eyes as I met his and allowed one slip down my cheek as I finished my thought. “Our families.”
He winced as I said it. The stark reminder that he had something to do with the supposed death of my father’s pack. And I could see he wanted to feel guilty. There was a tiny glint of it in his eyes, but behind the guilt was something far more menacing.
Pride.
He opened his mouth to say something, but then all of our phones dinged at the same time. We all pulled them out and clicked the link that was being broadcast from the Royal House. Show time.
Rowan stood there in all his glory, and I had to look away. He was perfection. His tousled hair was still pulled away in a topknot. There was a new slash that cut down his face, which meant the attack he just fought in was bad. For it to not fully heal before he came up to do an announcement meant it was deep, or it was tainted with wolfsbane. “Good morning everyone. Now I know what you are wondering. Why am I holding a press conference this early that is being pushed out to everyone?” There were a few laughs from the press there. This was going to be seen on every wolf broadcast around the world.
He continued, but I put my phone down and looked over at the girls to find Brandon staring at me. His eyes had flashed to the dark black of his wolf and there was a possessive look in his eyes. But as soon as I put my phone down, he caught my eye, shook himself and he was back to normal. “You okay?” I played dumb, pretending I didn’t just catch him freaking out at me watching the king.
He choked a little and then cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
I stood, still hearing Rowan’s dark, delicious voice, and I turned to the banner, pointing at it. “Wanna get it up now?”
Brandon had to force himself to look away from me, which wasn’t a good sign. He got up the ladder and started to tape up his banner as I fed it to him, but I turned my thoughts inward. I searched for whatever could cause this and after a few moments; I found it.
Deep in my clearing, my candle, the only thing keeping Brandon from knowing I was his mate, was flickering. It had burned down to nothing and was about to go out. I nearly screamed in frustration. Enough is enough.
I closed my eyes and pictured a full candle, focusing on keeping the flame strong. And I opened my eyes. The candle before was gone, leaving the one I changed it with in its place.
But I had made a decision. Whatever was going on with my wolves? It ended today.
Once the banner was up, I sat back down to find Rowan was just getting to the point. I watched Brandon out of the corner of my eye, but he seemed like he settled down, thankfully.
“What are you saying, my king?” One of the reporters was frustrated at his long-winded explanation. You could see it in her face. The girls giggled.
“What?” I turned to them and Micca leaned over.
“The reporter knows what the announcement is, but she can’t say anything until Rowan says the words. She is frustrated.”
I turned back to my phone. “Who is she?”
“I can’t remember her name, but she is always at these press conferences. Look.” Micca nodded towards her phone. “Every time she is on the screen, her face is full of need. She has wanted the king since he first came into power and she was new on the circuit.”
“Ew.” He was a child.
“Yupp.” Micca popped the ending p of the word. “My mom said this woman has made it her mission to get the king to react to her, but he never does.”
Rowan glowered at the reporter, but then smiled. “I guess what I am trying to say is that the council thinks the time has come for me to start the process of selecting a mate.” The room erupted. Rowan raised his hands, shouting. “Calm down. Let me explain.” But even that wasn’t enough to curb the hungry wolves at his feet. “Enough.” Even through the screen, I could feel his power. Which was insane. “Now let me explain what this means.” The room grew quiet and people who had surged to their feet settled back into their chairs. “We have an application form that anyone can fill out. I will say that while I won’t specifically say males can’t fill out the form, I am a straight male, so take that as you will.” He smiled and my heart stuttered. “Once you fill out the form, you can send it to the official council emails. Those of you lucky enough to have my email can also send it there and I will print it out myself.”
“What is the process?” Someone shouted out.
“What is the age limit?” Another shouted.
“There is no age limit. Any and every single wolf can apply. We will keep applications open for two days, so make sure you complete it right away. The form went up last night and you can send it in as fast as you can fill it in. But please only one. Once we have closed the application process, the council and I will go through all of them. We will select the most promisingwolves, and then I will reach out to the specific wolf and make an appointment.”
One of the councilmen came to the stage and smiled. His face was full of triumph and I wanted to smack it off his face. “What the King means is he will make a date with the top wolves.” Rowan glared at the man until he backed off the stage.
“No. I meant an appointment. I want to get the feel of the wolf before I agree to go out on a date with them. But once that happens. I will date the wolves and weed them down until I have selected the top contenders.”
“What happens then?” The first reporter was nearly salivating at just the thought of having a date.
