I jerked away from her. “What do you think you can do? Will your command arcana work on a fae queen? Can you command her to leave me alone?”
Ness hesitated. She wasn’t sure. We’d been fighting stronger and stronger beings lately. Ness’s commands would work for a while, but they weren’t permanent. If she gave Beryl a command, then Beryl would shake it off and come after everyone.
A sigh ripped out of me. I was exhausted.
“I’m going to go upstairs and take a nap,” I said, turning away from my friends.
There were rooms for other Pack members to use. I was still Pack…right? I paused at the stairs and looked back as if for confirmation, but the two of them were having a silent conversation.
Rhoan
I keptmy feet planted on the ground with the bike between my legs. The princess had entered a house about fifty feet down the road. I lingered to make sure that she was okay. At first, I’d been on guard because she’d gone into the local Pack Alpha’s house.
Then I remembered that Cerri had been raised in the Pack. This had to be a safe place for her. The Pack Alpha would have a protected home. I could feel the wards around it trying to feel me out, even from this distance.
Whatever witch they’d paid had done a good job, but I questioned the evil prickle of her power. There was a hunger in it that threatened to feed on my fae magic. The Pack Alpha needed to have a conversation with his witch.
I leaned forward and folded my arms on the handlebars. The leaves of the surrounding trees rustled and whispered warning. Someone had joined me, but I had no need to fear him. His aura wasn’t familiar, at least not personally. However, everyone in Lakesedge knew about the thunderous new Pack Alpha.
Ryder stepped up beside me like he’d appeared through the in-between. I knew better. This man didn’t have fae blood, or even a fae blessing—not anymore. He’d bowed to Beryl for a short while if only to gain her assistance while overturning the previous Pack Alpha. According to my sources, it didn’t take long for Ryder and his mate to push back against Beryl’s contract.
“Can I ask why you’re staking out my home?” Ryder asked, his voice dripping with potential hostility.
He wasn’t going to strike. Not yet. The man had questions, and I’d been on my best behavior so far. He had reason to give me the benefit of the doubt.
“My princess is in your house. Consider me an added layer of protection.”
Ryder’s lips twisted in thought. A low growl rumbled in his chest like thunder. There was a massive dragon tucked away in that man, but I also had my own beast. I didn’t want to let it out. In fact, that was the last thing I wanted. If Ryder pushed, I would hold my ground, though.
I wasn’t going to leave Cerridwen’s side anymore. She needed someone to keep watch over her if Beryl had hired assassins on Delphine’s level. That elf was dangerous, and I couldn’t trust just anyone to keep her away from my princess.
Not even Cerridwen’s friends.
I’d seen the scars on Cerri’s skin. Her friends hadn’t prevented those. How was I to believe that they could keep her safe from a well-trained elven assassin? The answer was that I couldn’t.
Not that I would tell Ryder that to his face. I’d let him believe that I was here because of my vow, not because of a massive lack of trust.
Ryder sighed and rocked back on his heels. “You can’t make any of those women do anything. In fact, if you tell them to do something, they will go out of their way to do the opposite. Be careful with what you ask of her.”
“A duty is a duty,” I growled between clenched teeth.
Ryder spread his hands wide in a shrug. “The only one of those women with a sense ofdutyis mine. The rest look fate in the eye and give it the middle finger. Yours isn’t going to be any different.”
Yours?
Ryder spoke of his mate the same way he spoke of my relationship with Cerridwen. I gave him an odd sidelong glance like that might shake him out of his tragic misconception. Cerridwen was beautiful and sweet and a quick thinker in times of stress, but…I couldn’t love her the way that Ryder loved his mate.
It wasn’t allowed.
So, I ignored Ryder’s implications. If I gave no voice to his misbegotten ideas, then they didn’t exist.
“Cerridwen will learn. There are still people depending on her. I don’t think she knows that.”
Ryder ran a hand along his beard. “Ness answered the call to save her Pack because she lived among them. She saw how she and the others were being treated. Her resolve came from everything she experienced alongside them. What makes you think that Cerridwen will answer similarly? She lived with Ness. Her life has been one battle after another up until now.”
I knew that. Cerridwen had explained this to me when we were drinking. I looked this man up and down. Anger flared hot inside me when I realized that he’d killed the man that’d laid hands on my princess. Because of Ryder, I couldn’t get vengeance for Cerridwen.
Sure, she’d gotten vengeance once. Alvin Combs, the former leader of the Lakesedge Pack, was dead and gone. Ryder had made sure of that. However…I couldn’t help but feel a need to wrap my hands around Alvin’s throat and watch the light leave his eyes.