‘It’s the middle of the night, right?’I was trying to get my bearings on how long we’d been knocked out, but it was still pitch dark out.
‘Selkies are nocturnal and need very little sleep.’
Wow. It turned out my father did not prepare me for life in the magic lands because I knew nothing.
As we cleared the alley, I glanced back and noticed several more paths, all of which led to a giant castle—like spokes on a wheel, and the stone structure atop the hill was the center. The women wore silks in bright, cheery colors, but their expressions darkened as we passed, and their nostrils flared. Were selkies’ sense of smell as strong as ours? Could they smell that we were wolf shifters? Or did word travel that fast, what with their hive mind?
I was just about to ask Rage where they swam, knowing they were water shifters and would need access to water, when we passed a deep, wide lake fed by a freshwater stream that led all the way to the ocean. It was dark but still well-lit by torches. Half-naked female selkie shifters glared up at me as they undressed to get into the water.
The entire walk from the cliff face to here must’ve been about twenty minutes, and that stream looked pretty deep. I wondered if they just plopped into the lake and swam downstream before they were spit out into the ocean.
One of the women shifted, and I watched as sleek gray skin crawled up her body like her legs were being zipped together, and then it climbed farther up her torso until she was gone and only a large seal remained. Silently, she slid into the water.
I stared, jaw unhinged.
“You have a lovely city.” Rage nodded first at the water hole and then the large castle. Clearly, he was better at diplomacy than I.
The man holding his tied hands scoffed. “Not bad for a displaced people.”
Ouch. That was a burn on Rage’s uncle though, not him.
I had yet to ask about Rage’s political beliefs, but he’d better not agree with his uncle turning Shifter Island into Alpha Island and stealing magic from the entire shifter race.
Before I knew it, we’d reached the castle entrance and crossed into an open-gated garden terrace with multiple women and children playing on a lush, manicured lawn.
Damn. These people lookedhappy. A few of the kids held wooden swords, sparring with each other as lantern light danced across their smiling faces. The clack-clack-clack of the faux weapons made me smile.
‘Stop it. Act neutral,’Rage scolded me playfully.
I raised one eyebrow.‘But these kids are adorable.’
Rage nodded slightly, but his expression grew somber.‘And their father is the king, who will behead us both if I can’t talk us out of this.’
My eyes widened, and I glanced back at thedozensof children.‘All of them? Heirs?’
‘The king has a harem of thirty wives.’
I gasped, choked on my spit, and then coughed to cover it. The selkie in front of me looked over his shoulder with a sneer and then shook his head before leading us up the steps to a grand, open room.
‘Rumor is,’Rage clarified,‘the selkie king marries any female who becomes a widow so she doesn’t have to fend for food or shelter. He adopts the children.’
And just like that, I was conflicted. The mean a-hole who sent guards to Shifter Island to kill students and teachers also took pity on widows? Talk about a gray area. I wasn’t sure whether I liked him or hated him.
We stepped into a great room. The stone was polished onyx with dark green and blue carpets lying over the shiny black expanse. Bright silk pillows in various shapes and sizes were scattered over the carpets, some clustered in bunches and others solo. My gaze traveled up the aisle and…
Holy crap.
There, sitting on an honest-to-mage throne, was a giant of a man, but he wasn’t what stopped me in my tracks. I stood, gaping, slack-jawed, and shocked at the women at his feet, lying prostrate on the floor and …what thehell?Were theyprayingto him? Like he was a god? Maybe if he married me and took in all my children after my husband died, I’d worship him too. Who knows?
“What is this?” His deep voice rumbled across the space, and my attention snapped upward. The women on the floor stood, kissing him on the cheek, and then they left the room.
He was better looking than I expected. Long black hair feathered around his chiseled shoulders, slick with water, and his strong jaw and sharp nose were appealing.
“Sir…” The army fatigue dude stepped forward with Rage. “Chinook ran an unsanctioned mission and brought in—”
“I brought you the son of the alpha king, My Liege,” the asshat who’d kidnapped us said and dropped to one knee. Melody did the same, followed by the army dude.
“Indeed?” the king asked. “I thought you were instructed to keep watch over the wolves at Dark Row, Chinook?”
