Trying to clear my head of violent bloodlust thoughts, I looked over Maya’s feminine frame as she watched both men with disinterest. I shook my head as my lust reared up again, her mere presence causing me to be hard. What I didn’t fully understand? It was reasonable how the woman could be sexy in a lacy, barely-there dress, or hell, even a uniform. But a heavy, complicated, medieval-like dress that was made to be elaborate and uncomfortable? It was fucking ridiculous.
Yet, without a doubt, Maya looked beautiful and sexy in it.
The light colors contrasted her skin, and the waist tightened to show off her slim waist and emphasized the way her breasts pressed against the square neckline of the dress, nearly spilling out. I had to swallow and look away, wondering how easy it would be to snap the lace on the front of the dress and rip it down the center so I could bite, kiss, and tease her soft skin and perfect pink nipples.
Fuck. That sounded so much fucking better than whatever bullshit was waiting for us in the Dreki realm.
“The wolf shouldn’t be going,” Edmund ground out, expressing one of many biases he had, no doubt. I also felt like they were trying to put us off going, mostly because they were worried of what we would tell the crown when we got there. Honestly, I don’t think we had planned on talking shit about any of them, considering we had more pressing matters, but the more they annoyed us, the more appealing the concept sounded. Someone should warn them of that.
Croy let out a laugh, wrapping an arm around Maya’s waist and kissing her cheek as she smiled up at him. I couldn’t help but laugh myself, because trying to convince Croy to not go somewhere would be an absolute failure each and every time. The man had been waiting for his mate for over two hundred years. I couldn’t imagine how frustrating that had been, considering I had found Maya so much earlier in my life.
“You are wasting our time,” Henry reminded them. “Let’s open the portal and get this shit done with, or else the crown really will be hearing about the shit you always pull.” I couldn’t help but agree with him whole-heartedly, and the fear that went over Larry’s face had me feeling nearly exhilarated with excitement. I didn’t like any of them, but Larry struck a particular nerve with me.
I didn’t have a super strong reason for it, except that he was a piece of shit.
With a grunt, Edmund motioned for Larry to join him on the outside of the room, the latter looking like he was damn near pouting. I sighed, wishing that Maya was in my arms as we waited with a small level of patience while their magic filled the large room.
The council building wasn’t officially used very often unless Dreki realm representatives were coming to visit, we were holding events or ceremonies, or more importantly, meeting with other shifter groups on a large level. However, it was fairly modern and new, only established when Marco suggested that the rundown mansion they’d been using wasn’t suitable for everything they did, and not just because it looked creepy as fuck. No, the actual power of opening the portal had been causing it to break down far faster than they probably realized. Which was why this room, void of windows and filled with stone walls, ceilings, and floors, was used purely for that purpose, the portal set to open in the center of the room where we stood.
I hadn’t experienced a portal opening in some time, but more so, I hadn’t traveled through one in even longer. I wasn’t nervous about it, but I was a bit concerned regarding Maya and Croy because if someone wasn’t used to portaling to a different realm, it could easily cause them to feel sick. Looking over Maya, my brow dipped as I wondered if that was something Marco had considered. I had to assume that because, as a phoenix and from the Dreki realm, she would be okay, but not knowing for sure still gave me a level of anxiety. Then again, most things about Maya that were unknowns had me overthinking and feeling worried. It wasn’t in my nature to be like that, but since the first day I met her, I’d felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness when it came to my mate.
“I’m going to grab the extra book from my locker, just in case,” Anani explained lazily, letting out a yawn that usually followed him throughout most of the morning. Neither of us were morning people, and why humans insisted on having their school days start so early was beyond me. The academies in the Dreki realm, even the most militant ones, at least allowed for the day to start fully before demanding our attention.
“Okay.” I nodded and walked into the main foyer as he went over to the long hallway of lockers nearby. I almost decided to take a seat along one of the main stone benches that were inside of the atrium, but then something caught my eye.
Well, not just my eye, but my entire being. It was a rather visceral reaction, the sweet smell of rose and ash pushing through the space as my eyes locked on a small frame that bounced off Lorn, not having seen him, before recoiling. Fuck. My dragon let out a low dangerous snarl in my chest, causing some of the shifters around me to flinch as I walked forward, not caring what Lorn was saying but knowing that it was no doubt no good. It didn’t help that it was very obvious that he had purposefully put himself in her pathway or the fact that she had clearly hurt herself hitting into him.
All of it made me angry. Irrationally so, despite having no goddamn reason for it.
Lorn was a stupid motherfucker, but more than that, he was violent. He was a piece of shit, hot-headed, and I absolutely was going to lose my shit if he touched the small woman in front of him. The small, delicate creature who I had yet to even look at fully, yet everything about her was causing my body to harden with tension and lust. It was pretty rare for me to have any type of reaction to a woman, if we were being honest, let alone one this strong. But my blood suddenly felt like it was on fire, and I could feel everything inside of me coiling up dangerously, as if we were about to fight. Which, depending on how well Lorn took directions, was entirely possible.
His words as I approached had a low growl breaking from my throat. “Don’t worry babe, you can make it up to me.”
Immediately my voice broke into a snarl over whatever she was going to say. “Or you can fuck off, Lorn.”
Any sense of my relaxed nature was gone as the small pixie-like woman in front of me jumped slightly, her pulse picking up as she seemed to step nearer to me instinctively, making my dragon let out a low rumble of approval.
“This your girl or something?” Lorn sneered, offering a snicker as if this was goddamn amusing. She wasn’t my girl yet, but she one hundred percent was going to be. My hand grazed her lower back, preparing to pull her towards me or behind me in case Lorn pushed being a problem. My gaze snapped down to look into a pair of perfectly golden brown eyes that were filled with surprise and heat.
“Yep,” I answered easily, not bothering to look back at the man. My dragon roared in recognition inside of my head as I tried to not get too distracted by the strong wave of desire and connection I felt between us. I didn’t trust Lorn enough to stop paying attention to him completely, though.
Anani appeared next to me, a sound breaking from the woman’s throat in surprise as she looked between us. I could feel something shifting under her skin, but I couldn’t tell you what type of shifter she was, just that the magic she seemed to surround herself with was intoxicating. I found myself both wanting to hide this woman from everyone and openly claim her against one of the many locker hallway walls. Her lips parted and eyes dilated slightly as a panicked and confused expression crossed her face, desire making me want to scoop her up to take her away from all of this.