She moaned slightly, the taste nothing like
what she expected.
“See,” Brandon exclaimed proudly.
She opened the eyes she hadn’t realised she’d closed, to find them both staring at her with satisfaction written on their smug faces.
“What’s so special about it though?” she asked between bites. No way was she leaving this behind.
“It’s a local cheese, hand smoked. And the bread was made in the kitchen here.”
“You must have a wizard in there,” she joked.
“No, a rat shifter.”
Unexpected, but she could live with it.
“So your sister said it was her ball...” she trailed off, hoping Brandon would get the hint and fill her in as to why the redhead had thought that. Cyprus just smiled knowingly.
“Not hers per say. She means the Council’s.”
“The Shifter Council?” Now that had her interest. If Brandon and Cyprus’ sister was on the Council, it would mean she was a shifter. Meaning the twins were first. She found herself suddenly very curious about who was who.
“Yes. Don’t you know where you are?” Brandon asked. He handed her another plate, this one had a few chocolates on. She put one into her mouth and almost moaned again. What was it with the food here? It was so much better than just about anything they had at fae parties. Or the rest of the time for that matter.
“Sort of...”
“They throw one of these every year,” Brandon supplied once he realised she wasn’t going to say anymore. “There’s no real point to them, just a chance for a lot of shifters to come together. This is actually the first time Ari’s let us come. Personally, I think it’s because she’s convinced her mate will keep an eye on us. But he seems a little preoccupied.”
Brandon pointed over to the side where two large men appeared to be having an arm wrestle, the empty glasses by their sides revealing there was more than a little alcohol involved.
“That’s his cousin-in-law. He was meant to be the panther alpha, but when his parents died, he ran away to the woods. He lives there now with Bjorn’s cousin.”
“And that’s allowed?” Aledwen asked, her eyes widening. The thought of not accepting her responsibilities had never really been an option for her.
“Of course. Everyone has free will. Though it helped that his brother was willing to take on the role.” Brandon turned back to her and smiled. “You’re really not a shifter, are you?”
“Well, no. I’m-”
“With me,” Drey half-growled.
“That’s okay,” Brandon replied. “We were only talking.”
“Don’t get cocky just because you’re a Reed.” Drey’s hands balled into fists, and Aledwen soon gave into the urge to place one of hers over it and try and offer him comfort.
To her surprise, Brandon laughed heartily.
“The name Reed would hardly protect me. My sister would throw me under the bus the moment I did something wrong. She may love her family, but she’s not worked her entire life to get justice only to throw it away for us.”
Aledwen looked at him in wonder, unsure whether that was something to be proud of, or something that just kind of made her a little bit sad. From the expression on Brandon’s face, she decided that pride was the way to go. He was clearly impressed by his sister’s passion and drive. She could get on board with that. Those were the same qualities she wanted to be known for when she became Queen.
Something told her she was going to get on very well with the twins’ older sister. Which was definitely an odd thought. She’d probably never see the woman again after their brief interaction earlier. She couldn’t sneak to the human realm regularly and stay undetected, as much as she’d love to be able to.
Drey said nothing, but he still glared at the other man.
“Stop it,” she hissed at him.
“I can’t,” he replied through gritted teeth. Weirdly enough, she actually believed him. But that just made the whole situation all the more bizarre.