“Uh-huh.” Wilder grins with spinach on his teeth. “And I don’t get a chub on my chopper.”
“You keep your eyes on her and your hands off,” I bark at Wilder, then glance at Axel. He thinks I’m following orders when it’s my heart. “There’s some shady shit going on in those mountains, and it puts another target on Alena because she wants to save every woman, when she’s already at risk because she’sours.”
Mine.
She’s mine.
“She’s a princess, the daughter of a king.” Axel blinks slowly at Wilder. “I don’t have to tell you what that means to us.”
That’s it.
Gasket popped.
Fuse blown.
I’m sick of this shit.
“No, but you have to tell me!” I explode at Axel. “Why do you care so much about Alena?”
Calmly, Axel replies, stepping to me, “Because we worship our queens. We kill for them. Die for them. They give us a family worth fighting for and keep us bonded. And Alena’s our first princess. We pledge the same protection to her. You’re too young to remember what we went through, why we honor our rituals, and who wereallyare.”
He might as well have punched me.
It’s my wound, whipping my head to the side.
Is it love or ludicrousness that I wish I shared my brothers’ memories and pain? That I wish I wore the same scars and woke from the same nightmares? That my head knows the risk we’re in, but my heart should be abused just like theirs?
I’m Ruslan’s son in name only.
Sire used to pick me up when I cried, while Axel took the beating from our father that my mom tried to get for Sire doing it. That’s the story Jace told me. Grant said Axel even slept in front of my crib. He’d take our father’s wrath to protect me from it.
Axel does everything to protect everyone.
I’m just so fucking in love and tired of lying. I want to be free. Free to love Alena.
“Hey.” Sire gets between us, his hands bracketing our shoulders. “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
“Amen,” Wilder crows. “Fuck, we ain’t even brothers. We’re cousins, and, yeah, we’ll beat the shit out of each other, but there’s love. There’s honor in blood.”
“There’s honor inwomen.” Remi shocks us, speaking up. “It’s why we protect them.”
“Alena isourprincess.” Axel ignores them. He’s focused on me. “We’ll do anything to protect her.”
“But she’smyresponsibility,” I fume, locked on his glacial eyes. “My friend. My purpose.My queen.I’ve sacrificed my future to protect her, so don’t come at me like I’m not her king.”
“We’ll each claim our queen,” Sire soothes. “We’ll marry them, initiate them, form our bonds with them, have our kids with them—Ahem.” He chokes. I raise a brow before he continues. “But Alena is different. She’s not blood, but she’s our princess. She’s not a queen, but she’s an adult. She belongs on a throne, but she’ll never be initiated, and?—”
“And she needs to know who she is,” I interrupt. “Trust me. It fucking sucks beingtoldwho you are, instead of being who youwantto be.”
Axel’s face falls, his icy eyes melting. He reaches around, grabbing my neck, pulling my forehead to his. “I’m sorry, man. Sorry, we were born into this shit, and I’m sorry forbeing a tough dick, trying to protect you from it. I wish there were another way.”
I grab him back, remembering everything he’s done for us—every day of my life.
Axel’s our King, the designated heir, because as a child, Sire didn’t want it. So now, Axel’s the first in line for our father’s bullet. Still, we protect our queens. Whether they’re our wife or not. Whether we’ve claimed them or we’re waiting for them.
“I know.” I squeeze his inked neck. “I’m thankful you’re my brother. Your heart’s in the right place.” I grin. “Just aim your ego in a different direction because I may be the baby, but I’m the biggest. You don’t want to rouse this little lion.”
He smirks.
