Chapter 9

Nine

~ Princess Blake ~

Far from the theater, we find an abandoned building to set up camp for a few hours. I”m guessing it was once someone’s house, but there”s no roof, only four stony walls and two massive holes where doors used to be.

Dropping the leather bundle onto the ground, I unfasten the ties and sift through the contents. There’s a single weapons belt that I strap around my hips, then I slide a sword and two daggers into the sheaths already feeling more like myself. Sitting amidst the waterskins and multiple parcels of food, is a small black-leather pouch, and I open it to find four bright orange pills.

“What are the chances they’re actually poison?” Shade asks from my shoulder.

Her comment makes me think of the traitorous demon, Trey, but these pills are distinctly different, the color matching the pills I’ve taken when I have visited Perstalia in the past.

“Let’s find out,” I reply and pop one into my mouth, chasing it down with water from one of the waterskins. She stares at me like she’s waiting for me to explode, but seconds pass, and I grin at her. Breaking one of the pills into quarters, I hold out a piece on the flat palm of my hand. She pecks at the pill, her throat bobbing as she swallows it.

Turning, I hold the pouch out to Nate and Prince Callan. “Unless you want to start hallucinating, take one of these each.” Prince Callan grabs the pouch first and eyes the pills dubiously before tossing one into his mouth. Nate takes the other one, and I grab a set of clothing that was included with the provisions and throw it his way. He plucks it out of the air and pulls on the t-shirt that’s sizes too small, and pants that only just fit over his insanely sculpted ass. I’m not sure if Dad put them in there intended for me, but Nate grins, posing in the clothing that shows the bottom of his defined abs.

“What do you think?” he asks me, mischief sparking in his eyes.

Prince Callan looks at Nate like he thinks the shifter is an embarrassment, but he doesn’t comment.

I smother a smile. “It’s an…improvement.”

Abruptly, Nate moves beside me, crouching to pluck a bottle of wine from the provisions and popping the cork as he stands again. “Oh, yes!” His throat bobs as he takes a swig, then he pulls the bottle away from his mouth and lets out a satisfied sigh. “Now I understand why you were so determined to get this.”

“And the medicine had nothing to do with it?” Shade says sarcastically as she watches him.

He smacks his lips together, his eyes fluttering closed. “Mmm, I can even detect notes of wood smoke. I’ll have to tell Dad he has good taste when we’re back in Seral.”

I almost choke on my own spit. Dad? Standing, I face Nate who opens his eyes and gives me a playful smile. “We can’t even be sure we’re mates yet,” I say as the thought of him calling King Dalton Dad makes me queasy.

Still grinning, he takes a large step forward until he’s only inches from me. Crap, he smells good. His scent is addictive, the hints of the forest making my chest loosen and my body warm at his close proximity. The urge to unashamedly breathe him in makes me swallow, but I don’t move as he lowers his lips close to mine. “Then, my queen, let’s find out, shall we?” he purrs, and a low rumble sounds in his chest, the possessive noise making my breath hitch. He waits there like he’s expecting me to move the rest of the way and claim the kiss, and my body responds like he”s everything I’ve ever needed. His lips are a hairsbreadth away, and my mouth waters at the idea of tasting him. At the need to claim him and confirm that he’s mine.

But my muscles lock up as I refuse to let myself move toward him. They say when you find your fated mate you know instantly. That Lady Fate will be there, pulling you together, and winding the threads tighter between you, but…my fear of hurting my mate is still there cutting through my impulse to claim him, and there’s more to this shifter than meets the eye. This male has secrets, and I need to find out what they are.

My tongue feels like lead as I say, “The bond won’t seal into place unless we’re all present. We should find my other mates first.”

“Girl, I’m not even his mate, and even I want him,” Shade’s voice sounds breathy in my mind. I’d actually forgotten she was still on my shoulder.

Nate frowns. “How can you be sure the prince and I aren’t it? I won’t speak for Callan, but I’m not exactly…weak, so you might only have two mates. We should test the theory.”

“He has a point,” Shade chirps, sounding way too eager.

“Pervert,” I mumble at her.

She only laughs in my mind.

I think about telling Nate that I can somehow tell that I have more mates, but instead, I turn my head to where Prince Callan is leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. The archangel will shut this down. “And what do you think?” I ask, sounding bored. “Should we find out?”

Prince Callan’s lips start to curve as his eyes heat, but then he stops himself, his brows forming a hard line. “No.”

Hearing that one word stings just as badly as the first time he’d rejected me. I force a smile to my face and turn my attention to Nate. “There you go.”

Nate’s mouth opens and closes. “So we can agree that he sucks, but that doesn’t mean we’re not your only mates.” He fixes a glare on Prince Callan. “If we bond, it might get us out of Perstalia faster.”

There’s something in the look they share that makes me feel like I’m missing something, but Prince Callan flicks his hard gaze to me. “Is that true?”

I shrug. “Probably not. My guess is that the king is planning to check in on us in a few days or a week. Who knows with him.”

Prince Callan nods once and pushes off from the wall. “I’m going to keep a perimeter watch. We don’t want any unmedicated alphas sneaking up on us…unexpectedly.” He stares at Nate as he says it and disappears through one of the doorways.

I clench my jaw, cold rushing through me as he leaves. Thank you, Lady Fate, I think sarcastically. Why did I have to get a dud mate?

Determined to distract myself, I snatch up one of the parcels of dried bread and move to a wall, sliding down until my ass hits the stone floor. Shade flies to the ground and hops over to the provisions in the leather satchel. Amongst the parcels of food are scattered seeds, and she pecks at them hungrily.

“Your Dad is going soft in his old age if he’s also leaving food for me,” she says happily.

“He only put them in there, because he knows I would make his life miserable when I return to Seral if he didn’t,”I point out.

“Then you’ve trained him well,” she chuckles.

Nate stands there for a moment, and then he moves to the opposite wall, sitting down to face me. The bread is tasteless in my mouth, even though I know Dad packed the good stuff. I know it’s not going to quell the hunger that swirls in my stomach.

“And I always thought the archangel prince was just a prick to me,” Nate mutters, staring at the doorway where Prince Callan disappeared and taking another drink of wine.

“So what’s his deal?” he asks.

At first, I think he’s still referring to Prince Callan, but then I notice his predatory gaze is fixed on Shade. She ruffles her feathers, and his slitted eyes remain locked on her.

“Uh, Blake. Can you please tell your new kitty that I’m not on the menu,” Shade says, a wobble in her voice.

With my free hand, I have one of my daggers out in an instant. Flicking my wrist, I send it flying across the room. As expected, Nate grabs the dagger out of the air, just as the second dagger I throw lodges between the stones near his head.

The red in Nate’s eyes deepens, and he gives me a feral grin.

I smile sweetly back at him. “Shade is a she and if you so much as touch a feather on her back, I’ll let her peck your eyes out.” I stare at him for a moment longer, then go back to eating my bread, because I need something in my mouth to distract me from the delicious-smelling shifter sitting across from me.

There’s movement through the doorway on my right, and I glimpse Prince Callan’s dark smirk before he disappears again. I’m glad he was eavesdropping, because that’s a warning I needed the prince to hear as well.

Nate puts down his bottle and smiles. “Don’t worry, gorgeous. I wouldn’t dream of eatin’ your friend,” he says, and this time his predatory gaze isn’t on Shade, but on me.

“Fuck it, tell him I am on the menu. He can have me,” Shade comments.

I squirm in my leathers, feeling the heat from his gaze.I’m tempted to just give in, but the moment I think about climbing onto Nate’s lap, I picture the demon I’d killed. I remember the way his face became pale, his eyes bulging as he gasped for air. I’ve killed my fair share of demons, but they always deserved it. But that night was different. It can’t happen to my mates…can it? I’m still lost in thought when Prince Callan calls out, “We’ve got company.”

Nate and I are both up in a heartbeat. Nate pulls over the leather flap, covering the provisions as I stalk outside to find Prince Callan standing with his sword out, watching four alphas who are striding down the narrow street toward us. From their stature and their leather clothing, I’m guessing they’re shifters, and they’re all swaying a little on their feet. One of them has blood on his brow, and another is limping, his ankle twisted at an odd angle.

At the sight of me, they grin broadly.

Nate steps up on my other side. “Well, they look…”

“Like shit,” Prince Callan finishes.

“Do you know them?” I ask Nate.

He shakes his head. “Can’t say I do. But I’m guessin’ by their sluggish movements they’re starting to feel the effects of this place.” He sniffs the air. “Looks like we have a couple wolf shifters, some kind of reptilian shifter, and…” he sniffs again, “a bear shifter.”

“Okay, well some can be affected by this place faster than others,” I say. “Though, no one knows why.”

As the alphas get closer, I assess each of them. Despite looking a little rough, they’re all reasonably attractive, but it’s hard to tell whether I have a connection with any of them.

“Demon princess,” the male on the far right says when they all stop a couple paces away from us. “We’ve finally found you.”

Unlike the other three shifters beside him, this guy is unusually hairy with thick bulging muscles, and I assume he’s the bear shifter. His brown gaze roves over me appreciatively, and both Prince Callan and Nate tense at my sides.

“I’m glad to see you’re faring well so far,” I say, though it’s clear they didn’t find any of the king’s provisions.

“As well as can be expected in this place,” the shifter replies gruffly, a hint of irritation in his voice.

I don’t blame him for being annoyed. I’d be salty, too, if I were them.

“Cut the niceties,” Prince Callan drawls like the shifters are wasting our time. “You’re here because you want to know if you’re her mate. Let’s get this over with so you can be on your way.”

The shifters all glare at Prince Callan, and I do the same. He doesn’t even blink when I look his way.

The bear shifter clears his throat, and I pivot back in his direction.

“Princess, let us be your kings and we will treasure you forever,” the shifter says.

“Well, that’s romantic,” Shade comments, and I have to agree.

I circle around the alphas, then step close to the bear shifter who grins as I move toward him. He lifts his hand as if he intends to slide it behind my back, but I shake my head, a sympathetic smile on my face.

His jaw ticks, his grin falling, and a frown takes over his face. “What? You can’t know already; we haven’t even touched.”

But unfortunately for him, I do know. I’m still standing a foot away from him, and he doesn’t smell right. The scent of bleach and soap wafts from him, and it’s taking all my effort to stop from wrinkling my nose. The long-haired alphas beside him don’t smell any better, and instinctually, I just want to move away from all of them.

“We don’t need to touch,” I reply. “You’re not my kings.”

One of the other alphas protests, and he reaches out, grabbing my hand as I pass. Nothing sparks through me at the physical contact. No desire, only annoyance that the alpha has grabbed me when it’s obvious I don’t want him to.

I feel Prince Callan and Nate shift behind me like they’re preparing to attack, but while I might need them to seal the bond, I don’t need them for this. I stay still, staring down the alpha with a glare that would make the clan leaders in Seral wilt like dying roses before me. “Remove. Your. Hand.” I warn him only once, and luckily for him he listens, reeling back like I’ve stung him.

“I don’t get it,”I say to Shade. “I thought this would be easier. They must know I’m not their mate, so why do they act like I’m the one rejecting them?”

“The throne of Seral is on the line, and Lady Fate isn’t here. You are,” Shade replies.

I take note of the alphas’ dilated pupils as I take a step back. “You need to get your hands on some of the provisions King Dalton has left around the city. You’ll have to fight for them, but that’s where you’ll find the medication you need, and supplies to keep yourselves comfortable for the remaining nights you’re here.”

“Supplies?” The bear shifter questions, his gaze hovering on Nate in his small clothes. “I gather you’ve already found some.”

Unease goes through me. “We don’t have any more medicine,” I say before he gets ideas. “You’ll need to obtain more provisions to source your own.” I turn to Nate. “Grab them a waterskin and a few parcels of food.”

Nate hesitates before disappearing into the building and returning with the supplies. He tosses them to the shifters.

The bear shifter grabs the waterskin and brings it to his mouth, drinking greedily.

“Make it last,” I warn him.

He swallows down another mouthful and pulls the waterskin away from his lips, turning his attention to the open doorway behind us. “How do we know you’re not lyin’ about the medicine? You could have more back there that you’re reservin’ for your mates as you find them. We’re here because of you. The least you could do is share.”

My lips flatten. “We have shared. We don’t have more medicine, and you’re just going to have to trust us on this.”

“Trust isn’t a word that’s used between the different realms,” he growls and stares at Nate like he’s a traitor. “Or even by some of those within them.”

Nate doesn’t appear the least bit concerned by his comment and only grins back. “You should listen to her. There’s no point you dyin’ for nothing.”

The bear shifter bares his teeth, and a gust of wind rushes around the shifters, pulling at their clothes and teasing their hair. “I suggest you leave,” Prince Callan says, and there’s a dangerous glint in his eyes. “While you still can.”

The bear shifter eyes the doorway behind me again, then his hate-filled gaze lands on me. I tense as I mentally prepare myself for a fight. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to kill any alphas while in Perstalia, but I get the feeling these shifters aren’t going to let this go. My fingers twitch, but I hold still, waiting for the shifters to make the first move.

“Don’t do it, buddy,” Shade warns as the bear shifter’s nostrils flare.

Just as I think they’re about to strike, the bear shifter breaks the silence, turning to the alphas beside him. “Let’s go,” he growls, speaking the words slowly like he’s struggling to spit them out.

The other three look just as ready for violence as he is, but when the bear shifter says it again, this time snapping at them, they finally turn and start walking away.

I let out a long breath. Truthfully, I feel a little sorry for the shifters. They thought they were attending a ball, not spending days stumbling around the ruins of Perstalia while their minds betray them. I’m pretty sure Dad is going to make some enemies by performing this little stunt, but then again, Perstalia is neutral ground. I’m guessing the king will argue that their kin could have rescued them at any time. Never mind the fact that no one else knows they’re here.

Sighing, I wait until the alphas are out of sight before heading back into the building.

“If the alphas don’t get the medicine they need, it’s going to get crazy out here soon, whether you find your mates or not,” Shade says.

My expression is grim as I wrap up the provisions, tightening the leather ties. In a smooth motion, I heft the pack onto my shoulder just as Nate appears through the doorway. “Allow me,” he purrs, holding out his hand and giving me a charming smile that makes my stomach flutter.

I keep a firm hold of the pack. “Yeah, no thanks.”

Shade perches on my shoulder. “Good call not giving it to the thief.”

“What? You don’t trust me?” Nate says, pretending that he’s offended.

I raise a brow at him. “Would you?”

His grin grows wide. “Fair point, my queen.”

“I don’t trust those other alphas either,” I say, striding through the doorway and onto the street. “We’ll find somewhere else to set up camp for a while.