“You’re welcome, King Blaze,” Neil said.
I snapped back to Neil, who was obviously pleased with himself. My anger overrode my logic and I barked, “Why did you do this?”
Neil spared me a cold glance. “You should watch your mouth in front of the king.”
For a moment I felt afraid that Blaze would admonish me--or worse, hurt me somehow--but he just swept his tail across the throne.
“No, wolf,” Blaze said. “Matheson is allowed to speak here. In a way, he is the most important member of this pride now.”
That shocked Neil, but the other gryphons in the hall seemed to agree, which shocked me, too.
The most important member?I thought in disbelief.Just because I can bear children?
I recalled what Noro had told me when we first met, when he had come to warn us--that female gryphons were all alphas, and could not be bred, and without any male omega gryphons, continuing their species was impossible. That knowledge put the king’s words into perspective.
I wasn’t a shackled prisoner here, like I thought I would be--I was genuinely an honored and respected individual, despite the reason for my abduction.
Likewise, the gryphons weren’t as cruel or bloodthirsty as I imagined. Not to me, at least.
My brain hurt from thinking about it. I tried to clear my head, hoping that Blaze wasn’t messing with my thoughts again. I reminded myself that I couldn’t trust my emotions, not in front of him. Not when I didn’t know what he was capable of.
With Neil selling me out and the king of gryphons treating me like an object--a revered one, but an object nonetheless--I felt painfully alone. Since I’d met my mates, I’d never experienced such soul-crushing loneliness. I wished more than anything that they could’ve been here with me right now.
I needed to hear Ramsay’s voice. I needed Eric’s strong arms holding me. I needed Colton’s gentle hand pressed to mine.
But I wasn’t getting any of that. And I didn’t know when, or if, I would ever get it again.
“Matheson will receive the honor of residing in my guest room, which will be converted into his own personal room,” King Blaze went on, as Neil listened with a slightly scorned expression. “He shall be escorted there now. I expect everyone in the pride to cater to his whims. If he needs anything, he will receive it. Make sure the rest of the pride knows this. Am I understood?”
An agreement went up.
Blaze sat back comfortably in his throne. “Good. Take him there now.”
A pale, haughty-looking gryphon on his side spoke up. “The schedules, sir?”
“Yes,” Blaze said, then turned to me. “Matheson. Tell me how a wolf’s cycle operates.”
“Cycle?” I asked.
“How long do you carry to term?”
I paled. “Nine months, like a human.”
Blaze seemed pleased by this. “Good. Shorter than a gryphon’s, then. Then we can make good progress.”
I really didn’t like the way this conversation was going.
“Then the schedules will be arranged on a basis of nine months, plus a month-long rest period,” Blaze said. “I will be the first, followed by you, Draq.”
The pale gryphon’s feathers fluffed up in what I assumed was satisfaction.
“The best of the guards will have their turn, of course,” Blaze went on. “It would be a great blessing for multiple babies…”
My stomach flipped as reality hit me again. It didn’t matter how well they were treating me. Theydidintend to use me as a breeder for the rest of my life, just like Noro said. Fear turned my muscles weak.
“Let’s not waste any time,” Blaze said, standing from his throne and prowling down from the raised platform. “Matheson will have a day to settle, then I will be the first to breed him.”
My eyes widened. “Wait!”
