Noro stood in front of me, protecting me. “I have no words for you.”
“No? Then maybe you’ll have words forme.”
Blaze’s booming voice sent a cold chill down my spine and I struggled not to cry out in fear. Noro’s hands gripped my shoulders, but it wasn’t enough to ward off my terror.
Blaze strode down the hall, his wings spread and his head high. Every other gryphon parted to make room for him. Neil perked up at the sight of him and ran over, eager to reap the spoils he’d be given.
“King Blaze,” Neil said hurriedly. “I finally caught Noro and the omega in the act. He practically admitted to having sex with Matheson behind your back.”
Blaze didn’t reply, but his fury was clear. He stared at Noro with thinly veiled hatred in his eyes.
And then he turned his dagger-like gaze on me.
I almost froze. He tried to pin me to the spot with his eyes, just like he had before in his bedroom, but this time I knew better. I forced myself to refuse his spell. I wouldn’t be taken advantage of again.
But I didn’t know how much that was going to help me now.
“Noro,” Blaze barked out. “Tell me the truth.”
The hall was dead silent as Blaze and Noro stared at each other. Slowly, Noro took his gryphon shape once more. I didn’t know if it was to help protect me better, or intimidate Blaze, but either way I appreciated his display of power.
“Who do you believe?” Noro asked. “Your magic Keeper, or this rogue wolf?”
He was still hiding behind his lie, and his faith in the pride to protect him. But was it going to fall apart?
“Bring me the omega,” Blaze commanded.
Torin marched over to nudge me forward to him, but then gasped and pulled back like he’d been burned. His wide eyes saw my swollen belly for the first time. “What?”
“What’s the matter?” Blaze growled.
“The omega, he’s…”
Frustrated and impatient, Blaze stormed closer to us. He shouldered Noro out of the way, then raked his eyes over my body. Realization dawned on him when he saw my large form. His expression went cloudy and unreadable.
I was frozen to the spot with fear.
“Stay away from him,” Noro growled, deathly quiet and serious.
Then Blaze’s expression changed. His mask snapped and he snapped, “Get out of my way, Noro. I am your king and you will respect me!”
Noro’s hackles shot up. “I amyourmagic Keeper, and I--”
Blaze snarled, filling the hall with the horrible sound of a lion’s roar and an eagle’s cry. He unfurled his claws and raked Noro across the face.
I gasped. “Noro!”
“Seize him,” Blaze demanded. “I don’t want him in my way anymore. Take him to the cell.”
Torin and the other guards looked shocked. They looked between Noro and Blaze, the former’s cheek dripping blood now, and didn’t know what to do. Their king and their magic Keeper, the two most respected alphas in the pride, now at odds.
But suspicion won over in the end. Torin shouldered Noro away from me. I cried out and reached for him. “No!”
Blaze bared his teeth in Noro’s face. His voice had a note of madness in it. “I don’t know what you did to him to make him--likethis, but you’ll pay for your insolence one way or another.”
“I’ve done nothing wrong,” Noro muttered, glaring at Blaze through the blood trickling down his face. “And if you lay one hand on Matheson, you won’t live to regret it.”
Blaze reared up to claw him again but Torin pushed Noro aside.
