“I know why you didn’t shift,” he said, watching me with the intent gaze of a wolf assessing his surroundings. “On the bridge.”
“Oh yeah?”
He stared for a moment, and this time I half thought I should put my ass over the side. He made my bowels a bit watery. Quite the weakness! I would never survive a romance with one of these bastards.
“You knew you would fall in line with the pack,” he said, one hand on the banister, probably really annoyed he needed to hang on, since the alpha dragon did not.
He waited for a moment, but I didn’t comment. I knew he didn’t expect a response.
“Even though it would’ve granted you safe passage,” he said, “you stayed in human form so that you could stay true to the…Finley.”
“She’s a dragon,” I spat out. “Wait until she shifts. You’ll see.”
He jerked his head downward, his version of a nod. “I commend that. It took courage, doing what you did. It shows loyalty. She has a good wolf in you. A real good wolf.”
I couldn’t help beaming with pride. That was an incredible accolade coming from an alpha like him.
“How’d they get you?” I asked.
Normal people would’ve blown out a breath and looked out at the sea. Or inhaled. Or done something other than stare a hole into my head. But as alpha of what was probably a very large pack, he was not normal people.
“They got one of our younger wolves. He was running in the water past curfew. He didn’t know the repercussions of being on the beach that late. His mother had two younger children to look after, and the father was absent. She had gone home to feed the younger ones, telling the young man what time to come home. When he didn’t show up, she asked a neighbor to watch the kids so she could go look. I went instead.”
The muscle in his jaw jumped, and this time he did look out at the ocean.
“They were loading him into a net when I got there.” He shook his head. “It was a fool’s mission, I knew that. But I couldn’t bear the thought of doing nothing. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing his mother’s expression when I delivered the news that he had been taken. So I tried to get to him.”
“And were taken as a result.”
“Yes.”
“And he…”
“Didn’t make the trip. They piled a couple of other captives on top of him. I was on the bottom of the shuffle as well, but…”
“You’re built like a brick wall, yeah.” I stared out at the lightening sky. “You had curfews?”
“We were having a lot of disappearances down by the water. We hunted the area a few times, but the water washed away most of the scents. We weren’t entirely sure what was causing it, so I’d enforced a curfew.”
“I guess you figured it out.”
“Yes,” he growled. “I will need power in order to claim vengeance, however. The demon king is wealthy and influential. My king and queen might hesitate in declaring war.”
“Well, there is one future king and queen who will not hesitate. Not for a moment. They’ll overturn the goddess’s own bed to bring him down.”
Weston turned and leaned against the railing, an alpha in repose, a very rare occurrence. “That is what I’m banking on. I will back her with everything I have to see that it is done.”
TWENTY-SIX
FINLEY
Two days of travel later, we docked in the Flamma Kingdom, and I clutched Calia with sudden terror. If she left and didn’t return, my path to Nyfain would be cut off. If something happened to her, I wouldn’t have a way to get back to him, not if the demon king closed those portals.
“I will be back, I promise,” she said, hugging me. “I will be back, and I’ll have warriors with me. We will cleave our way to your prince if we have to, okay? You have my word.”
Still, my heart was in my stomach as I watched her walk up the docks, in search of travel arrangements that would take her and her sister to their home in the Narva Kingdom.
Weston left next, taking all the wolves but Hadriel. He’d hired a boat that didn’t need demon magic and would make sure anyone who lived elsewhere would get home. The goodbye he offered us was similar to Calia’s. He’d amass more strength and meet us back here.
“They mean it,” Hadriel said, rubbing my back. “They’re going to come back. This is the right way.”
It didn’t feel like the right way. As we traveled into the mountains, moving toward the dragon villages and farther and farther away from Nyfain, it felt like I was betraying him. He needed me. The kingdom needed me. And while I did see the wisdom in collecting a host of allies before we took on Dolion, the doing of it was slicing into my heart. If not for Hannon and the other members of our group who were making the same sacrifice, I couldn’t have managed.