But the mating haze has to take a backseat, because we still have a war to fight. And currently, the war council is happening inside my head, and it is a complete clusterfuck.
The males are pacing the outer rim of the cavern, arguing. Just blasting each other with mental static.
“Lucek’s tracks lead toward the Silent Valley,” Kelvan projects, limping to one side of the wall before turning to limp to the other side, pacing like he’s in a cage. “No one hunts there. The dust offers no return.”
“He goes to the hard beast that fell from the sky,” Rith responds, his rage like an undercurrent beneath his thoughts. “He has taken Ah-lex back to its belly.”
“To take its weapons. Or to find more like her,” a warrior I don’t recognize projects, radiating a red, howling fury that makes my temples throb. “We strike now. We tear out his throat before they cross the boundary markers.”
“Half the hunters are bleeding,” Tharn counters sharply. “If we charge the valley, the cavern remains unguarded. Our wounded will be slaughtered and the females will be left vulnerable.”
“Lucek will not kill the healer,” Sarven projects. “He took her alive for a reason. He...wants something. She will not die this dark.”
They stop waiting for each other to finish and suddenly I’m getting flashes of canyon ambushes, unguarded caverns, and dark blood exploding directly across the back of my eyelids.
A throb starts behind my eyes, pulsing in time with every image they throw across the cavern. The pressure at the base of my skull tightens into a vice.
I press the heels of my hands hard against my temples, squeezing my eyes shut. I just want it quiet. Just for a second.
Can you please stop shouting? You are giving me a terrible headache.
It slips out before I can stop it. I only realize Iprojectedthe thought to every single being in the mindspace when the roar of the clan just...cuts off.
Every single bloodthirsty alien warrior freezes perfectly still at the exact same moment. The silence is so sudden it leaves my ears ringing. Several warriors turn to stare at me.
Even the women realize something just happened. They all go quiet too, looking around before they notice the towering warriors are all staring silently at me.
Tharn, who had been projecting the loudest, slowly inclines his head to me.
“We will guard the silence,” he projects, stripping the aggression out of his thoughts.
Rok steps back from the center of the circle, yielding the floor.
Kol doesn’t project. He is standing near the fire, perfectly still. But the glow beneath his skin flares, and a wave of pure, raw arousal hits the mindspace between us so hard I actually stagger.
His chest expands. Across the flickering fire, his eyes lock onto mine.
“She commands my hunters.”
The thought slides through the mindspace, dragging a rough, terrifying heat directly against my senses.
I choke back the sudden pool of heat between my thighs, my face burning. I drop my hands from my temples, suddenly very aware that I just scolded an entire cavern of towering giants. “I just mean... Kelvan is right. Lucek took Alex alive because he wants something. We need actual information before we charge blindly into the desert.”
No one argues, but I feel them slowly return to their discussion, only much lower now.
A scorching wall of heat stops inches from my back.
Kol doesn’t project a word. He just slides his palm over the curve of my neck, his thick fingers curling over my escalating pulse as he turns me around.
“You commanded the war council.”
I swallow against the dryness in my throat. “They were giving me a headache.”
His claws flex against the back of my neck, the sharp points pressing just enough to send a spike of heat straight to my core.A deep, rumbling purr starts up in his chest, vibrating so hard I can feel it in my teeth.
He steps closer, blocking my view of the rest of the cavern, and presses his forehead directly against mine. His broad chest heaves against my front, the continuous, jagged rumble of his purr vibrating straight through my skull. When I look up, his golden eyes are dilated so wide that the amber is almost swallowed by black.
I try to hold on to my exasperation, but the scent of his skin coats my airways, and the physical drag of his body against mine overrides my logical brain.
