She cuts off her face collapsing with horror. Then instead of waiting for me to answer, she says. “Oh God…what were you planning to do? To me? To all of us?”
I stare back at her, both my face and my side of the mate bond a deliberate blank. Even I am not callous enough to answer that question.
We stare at each other. For several moments there is nothing to be heard save the sound of her fathers beating their fists against the door.
But then another voice yells. “Hold on, hold on, stop yelling and knocking. Do you hear that? How quiet it’s gone in there?”
“Fuck, he’s escaping. Nago…this is Rafes. Have you been able to extract the override codes for the kingdom house from Ola’s biofiles? We need them stat!”
The two new voices belong to Clyde, the former North Dakota beta I god spoke, and Rafes, the President of the North American Wolves.
Three months ago, I was planning to have Clyde drive to the cabin and shoot himself point-blank in front of Ola. The idea had been to teach my she-wolf a lesson she would never forget. A lesson about what would happen should she cross me or make another attempt to escape.
And make no mistake she has crossed me.
She not only escaped but she had also attempted to keep me, the King of Drakkon, as her prisoner.
She refused to bring me my hatchling.
And worst of all, she made me say please.
Yes, she is most definitely deserving a punishment. Even better her fathers and uncle are right outside the door. I would bet the polar bear tooth I keep in my study that her mother is also somewhere in this house.
While the pretender who set upon me before I could properly execute my original plan to tame Ola is nowhere to be found.
This is my moment. Honor for my father…an ultimate lesson for my she-wolf….everything I’ve worked for…
I could have it all, right now with just a few thoughts.
I cut my eyes toward the door they won’t stop pounding on, then back to Ola. “How tiring it must be for those doomed dogs to care so much for someone who now belongs to me.”
Fear, beautiful and bright flares across Ola’s side of our mate bond. And satisfaction licks through my flame with the knowledge that she has finally gotten it. She should be frightened. Very frightened.
For I am the King of Drakkon, and she is—
“I’m your queen!”
The sudden rush of Ola’s voice into my head jolts me from my triumphant thoughts.
And when my gaze resets on her, she no longer looks scared. Only furious.
“Other You told me I was now the Queen of Drakkon. He said he wanted to present me to his dragons, even if they didn’t like me. He said that he wanted us to be a family. You, me, and the baby. He said he wanted to marry me in front of his dragons and my wolves. He promised me he’d make all our wishes come true, and I promised him I was going to make us work, no matter what the obstacle.”
Ola looks at the door, then looks back at me. “I always keep my promises. But I won’t be able to do that if you kill everyone on the other side of that door. If you go through with this ultimate revenge plan of yours, you’ll not only be murdering everyone I love but any chance we have at that awesome future Other You envisioned. So what’s it going to be, Triple D? Your revenge or your queen? Are we doing this happily ever after thing or what?”
Chapter Ten
FJ
The instinct to fight thrummed through FJ’s body, and he opened and closed his hand for want of a sword. But a door stood between him and his enemy. And as for his sword, it had been stolen. By his own daughter. With the same deft skills FJ had thought upon with such pride as he’d rushed over here from their second kingdom house in the land of Michigan.
“Ola has always been our fighter,” he’d told his brother and their mate over their triple bond. “If anyone could figure out how to escape the serpent’s clutches, it would have been her.”
To think he’d been so proud of her as they strode into the North Dakota kingdom house.
Only to find her with that serpent spawn’s baby in her arms.
And now they stood outside an impenetrable door. Unable to get to the daughter they loved on the other side.
FJ’s wolf twisted uselessly about. Wanting to shift. Wanting to tear out that serpent’s throat for what he’d done to their beloved daughter. But the door was impenetrable, even in his stronger form. And he needed to keep his human reasoning about him until it was time to shift to fight the serpent. So FJ’s human was forced to settle for pounding even louder and roaring at Ola to let them in.