“Welcome, Lady Chrysanthe and Lady Demetria,” I greeted. “Please come in.”
Lady Chrysanthe glided inside without hesitation, but Lady Demetria was a few moments delayed, which is how the Paragon almost ran her down.
“They’re here already, aren’t they?” the Paragon panted as he stood in the door.
“Killian and Hazel?” I guessed—the Paragon was famously attached to the pair. “Yes. They went out back to the shooting range.”
“I knew it! I knew they’d come early!” He twisted around to scowl behind him and shouted to his traveling companions. “This is all your fault, Bellus!”
Sulking, the Paragon stepped through the door, making way for the head wizard in the Midwest, Elite Bellus.
Well dressed in a navy-blue pinstripe suit with a crisp handkerchief poking out of his pocket, Elite Bellus gave off a professorly aura, but I was pretty sure he had the twisty sort of mind that could keep up with a fae—though he was far more kind.
“Queen Leila, what a pleasure it is to meet you.” Elite Bellus offered me a slight bow, then extended his hand. His smile was pleasant and obviously well used, and his silvery hair was slicked back while his goatee was meticulously trimmed.
I shook his hand. “The pleasure is all mine. I was quite excited when you sent in your RSVP. Hazel has told me a lot about you.”
I only invited Elite Bellus because Hazel was his protegee and she asked me to, but I was glad to have him here.
Behind me, Lady Demetria made a strangled noise.
Ahhh, yes. Shocked at the quality of my guests, hmm?
Before Skye could close the door, four more guests filled the doorway. I curiously studied them—three of them were werewolves based on the gold and brilliant-blue eyes they sported—before making the decision to call for backup. “Chase?”
My director of security was at my side in an instant. “Queen Leila, allow me to present Pre-Dominant Harka, her mate Beta Colton, my alpha and the leader of the Northern Lakes Pack Alpha Greyson, and my packmate, Phillipa.”
“Welcome, I’m glad you could make it.” I tried to give them my warmest smile to make up for the noises Lady Demetria made—which had me wondering if I needed to call for a healing potion because she sounded like she was having a heart attack.
“Thank you for the invitation!” Pre-Dominant Harka stuck her hand out, then shook mine with a firm but relaxed grip. “It was pretty cheeky of me to call andaskfor an invitation.”
“Nonsense,” Elite Bellus laughed. “With Killian and me attending, you’d be left out otherwise—and this promises to be a fun party!”
Pre-Dominant Harka didn’t move her painfully bright blue eyes from me, so I offered her my own reassurances. “The Elite is right,” I said. “I am glad you requested an invitation—it would have been rude of me to leave you out of it.”
It was a bit of a lie—that was the plus of being only half fae, none of the restrictions applied to me—but one that didn’t make my conscience prickle.
It never would have occurred to me to invite the Pre-Dominant—the most powerful werewolf in the Midwest.
Right now, the Night Court wasn’t powerful enough to be noteworthy to her—or to the Elite—and she had absolutely no reason to be hereexceptthat they were probably curious about Killian and Hazel choosing to attend.
I could have saved them the trouble and just told them I’m pretty close to Hazel, but since I’m half fae they probably wouldn’t have trusted me anyway.
Regardless, I was glad they could make it for the sake of Alpha Greyson and Phillipa, whom Ihadspecifically invited. Since Alpha Greyson led the pack Chase belonged to, I wanted to invite him and a few other werewolves from their pack as a gesture to show how much I valued Chase.
I eagerly turned to the pair, curious to see what kind of packmates Chase had.
“And thank you for accepting the invitation as well, Alpha Greyson and packmate Phillipa,” I said.
“Everyone calls me Pip—and I’m a human and not an actual packmate.” Phillipa—or Pip as she said—fidgeted in her shoes in a way that told me she didn’t often wear heels. “But thanks for the invite, anyway! Hi, Chase!” Her grin was bright and affectionate, but I didn’t miss the way she yanked her hand from Alpha Greyson.
The Alpha—he looked shockingly young, maybe just a few years older than I was—dutifully bowed to me. “Thank you for the invitation, Queen Leila of the Night Court.”
“Thank you for coming all this way,” I said. “It must have been quite the drive. Chase can show you two around.”
Chase frowned at me, as if I had personally insulted his mother. “I’m on duty.”
“It’s fine, you can go. I’m sure they’re very eager to catch up with you.”
