Chinook paled and bobbed his head. “But when we smelled them, I led a contingency of warriors there, and we followed the alpha heir back to Shifter Island where we captured them … for you, My King.”
The king pursed his lips, and his gaze went glassy and unfocused for several seconds before he straightened with a grin.
“Steele,” King Ozark said, giving the army fatigue dude his attention. “Who was in charge of the contingency of warriors left at Dark Row?”
Army fatigue dude, aka Steele, stood, and his gaze darted from the king to my least favorite selkie. “Chinook.”
The king nodded and then rotated his head slightly. “Melody?”
The female selkie raised her head. “Yes, My Liege?”
“Stand up,” he said, waving his hand at her to rise.
She froze, unmoving.
“Standup.”
She jumped to her feet, her eyes wide.
“Now, you were with Chinook, weren’t you?”
‘What the hell is he doing?’ I asked Rage, glancing at him out of the corner of my eyes.
Rage shrugged. ‘No idea. It’s either a demonstration for us or because of us.”
I wanted to ask what that meant, but my attention jumped back to the female selkie as she bobbed her head.
“Can you confirm that he gave the order to follow the wolves?” the king asked.
Melody’s gaze bounced from the king to Chinook and back before she said, “Yes.”
King Ozark stroked his chin. “So the reward for bringing me these two wolves should rest solely on the shoulders of the selkie who risked so much to accomplish this daring feat, should it not?”
Chinook raised his chin and grinned.
“Melody?” The king’s prompting was accompanied by a stern look at the female. “Does anyone else deserve credit for his daring decision?”
“No, Your Majesty. Chinook made the decision. The rest of us were just following his orders.”
Holy frickin’ mage. I glared at the selkie, fuming as I spoke to Rage. ‘If Chinook gets props for—'
‘Wait,’ Rage said to silence me.
“Steele,” King Ozark said, rising from his throne. “Your blade.”
‘Is he going to get a knighthood?’ I snarled. Why did the dirtbags always get ahead?
Steele drew his sword and handed it to the king.
The king took the blade and then stepped in front of Chinook—who was no longer grinning. In fact … was he shaking?
“There’s a reason I give orders.Alwaysa reason. And your disregard cost us two selkie warriors—”
“But I brought you the alpha king’s heir.” Chinook raised his head and gritted his jaw in anger. “His first heir!”
King Ozark swung, and the blade sang as it sliced through the air—
My eyes bugged as the weapon disappeared into one side of Chinook’s neck and out the other side. Something warm sprayed my legs, and I blinked. No way …no way!
