‘I don’t know what you have heard of us?—’
“Nothing. You don’t exist anywhere in the textbooks,” Zeke informs Devinyx.
‘That simplifies things.’Axton rolls his eyes, changing back to his animal form, and starts grooming himself. In his animal form, his ears shine brighter, and I notice the tip of his tail glows as it sways back and forth beside me.
A low rumble penetrates through me, and I stare at Knox as he grips his bowl so hard it snaps in his hands.
‘My queen. My apologies, but you might be without an heir soon if your son does not respect our boundaries.’Slayer’s words are almost incomprehensible from how he’s growling through the pure anger rolling off of him.
‘Tell me what’s going on, now!’I demand, gripping Knox's wrist tight.
‘He’s hitting on you and trying to lure you away with his pheromones,’Slayer says simply.
‘Huh?’
‘His ears and tail are lit, that’s his magic working, and you can’t smell it because you’re not a shifter. He’s blatantly hittingon you, not just in front of me but all of us, and I’m barely hanging on from shifting and ripping him apart.’
‘Oh, that’s all?’I ask and huff, almost laughing. Sheesh. Men. I swear I could have handled this ages ago.
I turn to look at Axton with an open smile, which makes him stop grooming himself and look up with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
‘Yes?’
I gather up some magic and swiftly push my shield toward Axton, sending him flying a few feet away.
A few netherwraiths jump up in unison in defense, but Devinyx starts laughing, and they ease back into place.
“Oh snap!” Zeke pipes up. “Someone pissed off our woman. Bad move.”
“Indeed,” JP agrees.
Axton limps back to the fire and shakes his fur out, glaring back at me, but his ears and tail aren’t glowing anymore.
“If I had known what you were doing from the beginning, I would have castrated you myself, so be glad I only knocked some sense into you. But this is a warning. Don’t try to fuck with someone who’s already happily mated.”
I don’t need to look to know the laughter I hear is coming from my mates around the fire, but pride finally comes down Knox’s link instead of anger.
Who knew violence was better than therapy?
Looking back at the Queen, apparently, I smile and try to get this night back on track.
“Sorry about that. You were saying.” I smile awkwardly.
‘No need, Golden One. I find you entertaining.’Devinyx nods.‘But to start, we were once used as assassins and guards. Once we were no longer useful, we were hunted to make sure the dead shared no secrets, and now we live for ourselves. Simple.’
“Oh my honeybees. Who would hunt you to make sure you kept their secrets?” Moni asks, looking slightly magenta.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the answer since we are in the Fae Realm, but apparently, Moni hasn’t had enough coffee today.
“Who do you think?” Ryker gives Moni a blatant look, and when she still comes up blank, he rolls his eyes while Chester whispers into her ear.
“Oh!” Her bark turns glitter bomb. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
‘We are slowly rebuilding our population and gathering our scattered families, but it takes time since we are still hunted,’Devinyx admits.
‘So are all of you related?’Knots asks, before wiping his mouth and putting down his empty bowl.
Levi grabs it and quickly magics it clean.Seriously… talk about a convenient skill to have in a pinch. I want that power.
