Taya rolls her eyes, but her grin tells me she still finds him amusing.
Yeah. At least once.They’re so funny together. Couple goals.
She hands him water as he lays on the ground. “Don’t drink it all.”
“Don’t worry, if we run out, I’ve got something else to quench your thirst.” He winks at her.
Taya kicks him with her foot playfully.
He snickers and moves out of the way. “Oh, Oh! Don’t make me laugh. It hurts!”
“He went pretty hard out there on you, didn’t he?”
“Always. But not as hard as he’ll be with Caleb.”
All three of us peer over to find Caleb taking a kick to the gut, knocking the wind out of him.
In unison, Taya and I say, “Ooh.”
That hurt me from over here.
“I want you to learn from your father’s mistakes,” King Dax says. He punches Caleb in the gut, the same spot he kicked. “It’s important that I remind you what it feels like to get your ass handed to you, so that you don’t let it happen again.”
Caleb grunts from the blow. And my wolf and I have to stop ourselves from stepping in.
“My father only wanted to keep the peace,” Caleb says through breaths.
“Your father,” he says, “was neglectful of his people. It was his responsibility to prepare everyone with the tools to defend and protect themselves while there’s agoddamnwarhappening outside these walls.”
At the insult to his father, Caleb growls and charges.
But His Majesty is ready for him. They lock up together, growling in each other’s face as the king’s eyes glow maroon into Caleb’s gold.
“My father ensured I was prepared to protect my people.” Caleb shoves the king with all his might, and he stumbles back, recovering quickly.
The king picks Caleb up by his throat and carries him backward until he slams him into a tree.
I shoot up from my seat, and my hand flies to cover my mouth as I gasp. I take a step forward, ready to help.
His Majesty turns his head slightly at my movement.
My wolf stops me.Wait. Don’t. We can’t challenge the king.
We can’t just do nothing. He’s hurting Caleb!
If you step in now, it’ll be seen as a challenge to his position, and we’ll be forced to fight him,she says.
I don’t care. He needs me.
She shakes her head.You’d be emasculating him.
What?I scoff.Don’t be ridiculous. Caleb’s not like that.
Eyes shut tight, Caleb strains in His Majesty’s grasp.
I take another step forward. This time, King Dax peers over his shoulder completely to look back at me. He growls in warning.
I’m not afraid. I take another step, and his eyes glow a deep, threatening maroon.
