I was a strong and independent woman, but even I knew when I didn’t stand a chance of defending myself. And this was one of those times. Because the men standing just feet from us held a sinister air to them that had my muscles tightening and this weird clench in my belly.
The male who stood in front of the other four was massive, and although all these men had to be around the same size in height—at least six and a half feet tall—and all of them were equally stacked in muscle, there was something… not right about that one.
The man said nothing as he stared at me—much to Cian’s disapproval, if the growling from my mate was anything to go by.
“Donna fooking look at her.” Cian reached behind himself and wrapped his hand around my waist, pulling me even closer to the hardness of his back.
The man with the dark hair started laughing low, his lips splitting into a shit-eating grin. “Wolf,” he said in greeting, his voice a husky tenor. “If I wanted to get your female, nothing and no one could stop me.”
The air in the room changed, becoming frigid as Cian and Odhran both leaned their upper bodies forward, taking a very clear fighting stance.
Adryan held his hands up, palms outward in a submissive gesture, yet I could see this man had never been that in his life. Not to mention his grin was sardonic and totally arrogant.
Cian was still tense and kept his hand wrapped around my waist, and I did the same with my palm in the center of his back. He looked behind his shoulder and down at me, and I could see the tightness around his eyes softening. My heart did a little gallop in my chest. And I realized that in barely twenty-four hours I’d gone from fear of the unknown and an unbelievable world, to me understanding that truth was definitely stranger than fiction.
And it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Are you not going to introduce me to your mate?” Adryan asked with that cockiness I was starting to realize was just him.
I expected Cian to lunge and just snap, but I was surprised how he thrust his shoulders back and tipped his chin up. From my vantage point, I could see the expression on his profile looked like one of pure… pride.
“I could,” he said with menace in his voice that was undeniable. “But I donna particularly want ye or any of the other fookers ye brought anywhere near my female.”
My eyebrows lifted to my hairline, and this flare of indignation filtered through me. Although I trusted Cian to protect me, this caveman mentality that he didn’t even want to introduce me to another person of the opposite sex grated on my nerves. But before I could say anything, Adryan was chuckling again.
“Do my boys intimidate you?” Adryan flashed his very white and very straight teeth.
Cian snorted. “Hardly. But apparently ye needed an entire fooking army backing ye up tae come speak with us.”
A thick silence stretched out before Adryan said, “James, Mateo.” Two of the men behind him stepped forward. “Go ahead to the Meadow House. Make sure everything is set up, and I’ll be there shortly.”
The two men nodded silently in agreement, and then they were gone.
“Maybe we should talk privately about this?” Adryan arched a brow and pointedly looked in my direction.
And just like that, my irritation over the whole “me caveman, you my woman” attitude Cian had exhibited faded. He knew and acknowledged that I deserved to be a part of this too.
Adryan shrugged. “Fine by me. I think females should know who’s trying to fuck with them. There isn’t anything worse than an overprotective male who doesn’t see his mate can handle herself.”
Cian made a deep grunt. “We’ll see if that’s still how ye think when ye find yer mate.”
I swore I saw a flick of something conflicted and hard pass over Adryan’s face at those words, but it was gone so fast I wondered if I imagined it.
“Fucking watch it, Cian.”
If someone could be strangled from tension, I imagined in this moment it would have happened.
Adryan exhaled as if annoyed. “I think what we’re dealing with is the Assembly.”
I stepped to the side so I could see better, much to Cian’s disapproval, given his scowl in my direction. But he didn’t say anything or try to stop me. “I heard one of the attackers say that term.” All eyes were on me, and I felt on display as I swallowed my nerves and pulled my shoulders back, trying to act like I wasn’t in a roomful of creatures that I’d once thought were only fairy tales.
Adryan gave a sharp nod, his eyes becoming clearer after I spoke, the low-level rage coming from him, I knew, just the tip of what made him as unhinged as I assumed.