Chapter 42

Oz

"Iknow I screwed up."

"Is that what you dragged me out here for? An apology?"

As I stood before King Dion, a sense of unease gnawed at me, twisting my gut into knots. In my mind, all I saw was Stella as she"d stepped out of the train and the king had gotten his first look at her. She"d been battered and bruised, all marks that announced my failures over the past few days. I"d been responsible for her condition, for the dirt on her perfect skin and the rags covering her body.

Had I really thought myself worthy of such a prize?

The weight of my failures hung heavy on my shoulders, a burden I couldn"t shake no matter how hard I tried. How could I have allowed her to come to harm, to face danger after danger? She deserved so much better than this, so much more than what I had been able to give her.

In that last battle, I"d been outmatched, outnumbered, and on the verge of defeat when Dion had intervened, saving us both from certain death. Without his interference, I would have been nothing more than a casualty of war. I pulled my shoulders back and waited for the killing strike.

I knew he sensed what was between me and Stella. If he hadn"t paid heed to the way she"d leaned against me, the way she"d defended me, cupped my cheek and kissed it, I knew he"d heard the warning growl I couldn"t hold in when he"d touched her.

He"d seen it. The grin on his face told me he found it amusing. A lowly foot soldier with blood on his hands in love with a goddess, his future queen.

I"d promised Stella that my life was hers. She'd needed to get off this planet, needed to get to the safety of Panthera. If my life was what my king would demand as the price, then I"d pay it. Anything to keep her safe.

There was a thundering blow to my back. Yet somehow I was still standing upright. Dion"s massive paw squeezed my shoulder. His grin was wide and predatory, like he was eying a juicy steak.

"Mission accomplished."

I blinked. And blinked again. "Mission?"

"I mean, granted, I didn"t think it would take you as long as you did to retrieve her and bring her here. But what an adventure: pirates, a flying horse. Had I seen the flying horse before I sent you, I would"ve gone with you."

"You saw that?"

"I saw everything… eventually. That portal opening was like an adrenaline shot; it boosted my powers. The things I"ve seen."

Dion grinned broadly as he looked off into the distance, his canines glinting in the sunlight. His tongue snuck out and licked at the upper canine like he could taste the blood that I had spilled all in an effort to protect his mate.

"Pirates? How fun was that fight? And a kelpie. I would"ve loved to take a bite out of her. Do you think she does it in the water?"

And here we were, back to the king"s favorite topic: fucking. Only Dion would take a moment to think about sex positions during a fight for his life.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you pissed because I cut in on your fun with the pirate ship? You"re good, my friend, but even you have to admit you were outnumbered there. You would"ve lost her in that battle."

"Yet you saw all the other times we were in danger, and you didn"t decide to intervene then?"

Dion shrugged. "You had it under control. Besides, I had things to attend to."

His gaze trailed off again. This time, instead of looking off into the distance, his obsidian eyes landed on two fairies walking by, swishing their hips and brushing their hair away from their lifted breasts.

"But the kelpie, I wish I"d been there for that. I"ve always wanted to bang one. Was she slimy to the touch?"

I stared.

"Scaly?"

I gaped.

"Tell me about it later. I have a little more business to attend to first."

Dion gave me his back as though he didn"t think I"d already pulled out a dagger and stabbed him with it. He said he saw everything, yet he still trusted me? Hadn"t he seen that I"d betrayed him?

Then I realized that he was going in the direction of the fairies. He"d just met the woman he was fated for, and he was off to roll around with some leggy fae. When Stella found out, if she found out, she would be devastated. Dion would be nothing but Ken 2.0.

From the moment I"d laid eyes on her, I saw no one else. Just the thought of touching another female made my stomach turn. Made my panther growl in protest. But there was my king, my best friend, being led by his dick. He would never change.

"You need a healing bath, my friend." Dion had his arms around the fairies, pulling them into his sides as he sniffed at their hair, which likely smelled of flowers and morning dew. Nothing like the warm vanilla scent of my Stella.

My Stella.

"Like I was saying, my business here isn"t done yet. The portal opening threw a wrench in the talks. I have to stay a while longer. I need you to take Stella back to Panthera."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Who else? Take her home. Get her settled. She"s not safe here now that people here know who and what she is."

"Dion—"

"I know, I know, with you gone I"ll be short-staffed, but I"ll focus better with her in the palace. I think you will, too."

He winked at me. I watched his hands fall from the fairies" shoulders and go lower. They both gasped, their hips rocking forward. I was certain their asses were being pinched. With two handfuls of ass, Dion turned his willing bunch toward the back of the house.

"Dion?"

"Yeah?"

"What I wanted to say was… What I wanted to say is thank you for everything that you"ve ever done for me."

"You"re my best friend." He shrugged off my words, not giving them another thought as he gave the fairies a shove forward, still using their asses as handles. Before he disappeared around the corner, he gave me another wink. And then he was off to get off.

I almost cracked a smile at his antics. But I couldn"t. Not when I was about to steal his bride away. Because that"s what I had to do to protect her heart.

I was going to take Stella to Panthera. But not to the palace. She said she"d live in a shack with me. That"s what she would get as I took her into the outlands, where no one would find us.

I would miss my best friend. But I could not live without my mate. And I could not let him break her heart.