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“I threw her against the wall again.” I admitted and Rhyalla spewed her sip of Cachaça across the table. Koda threw his head back and laughed so hard the tree house shook. Rhyalla made a face as she wiped the back of her hand across her nose, which was dripping with the liquid. I raised an eyebrow at her. Her nose was probably on fire.
“Why!?” She asked, as she got up, grabbing a tea towel to clean up the mess she had made.
“She turned her back on me, and when I warned her not to, she pushed me away and tried to leave.”
Rhyalla met my eyes and pursed her lips. “I see.” She said, understanding immediately. “Did you explain to her why she shouldn’t try to run from you?”
“Kind of. I told her I would hunt her down if she did it again. She… seemed to understand.”
Koda clapped me on the back so hard I almost smacked my face off the table. What had I been thinking sitting next to him? I shot him a glare and slid down a seat, putting space between us.
“Who is this spitfire who’s spritely enough to try to run from a panther shifter?” He bellowed, throwing back nearly a fifth of Cachaça like it was water.
“Kasha. She’s a daemon from The Court of Pride and we think she’s Rycon’s -” Rhyalla stopped talking abruptly as Kasha emerged from her room. She stepped into the kitchen dressed in a pair of black drawstring pants paired with a large matching sweater. Her blue hair hung to her shoulders and her large brandy eyes took Koda in cautiously.
“You must be the sprite that tried to give our little cub here the slip.” Koda winked at her, giving her one of his biggest, friendliest smiles. I rolled my eyes at Koda as I shot to Kasha’s side, taking her hand. She looked down at our entwined fingers with a frown, but to my surprise, she didn’t try to pull away.
Good girl.
I led her to the table and settled her into a chair across from Koda, sitting down next to her.
“I’m not a little cub anymore, Koda.” I said, though there was no bite to my tone.
“Nonsense. You’ll always be a little cub to me, Rycon.” Koda said, chuckling.
“Sorry… who are you?” Kasha asked, cocking her head to the side, and Koda beamed at her, standing up and holding a massive hand out for her to shake. I expected her to shy away and cower before his towering form, but she just leaned slightly closer to me, grit her teeth, and reached forward to take his outstretched hand. I felt a swell of pride rush through me at the effort she was already making to push past the terror I could smell rolling off of her.
“Koda Strongclaw, Ursus Rex of the Canadian Clans of Ursidae. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Kasha glanced at me, then back up at Koda, and I forced myself not to tear her hand away from him. I had asked her to come meet him, and I knew Koda had no interest in her. He was mated to Wiyahna, who was his Ursus Regina, and they were just as in love as my parents had been before they died. None of this mattered, of course, where my instincts were concerned. I still wanted to rip his arm out of his socket for simply touching her, but somehow, I was able to resist the urge and remained seated.
Almost as if I were being rewarded for my restraint, their handshake came to an end, and Kasha slid her chair a half an inch closer to mine. My heart suddenly sped up and I wondered if that had been intentional.
Did she mean to move her chair closer to me? Had it been an accident? Maybe when she sat back the chair just happened to move in my direction… She wouldn’t want to be closer to me, not after what I had just done... Would she?
Rhyalla was watching me and her lip curled up in amusement. She could probably hear how hard my heart was beating and smell the excitement rolling off of me. I shot her a look, but her smirk just grew wider.
“I’m Kasha,” my little blue haired mate responded, reclaiming my focus. “Spymaster for The Court of Pride.”
“What an honor to meet the infamous Kasha.” Koda said warmly, and Kasha cocked her head to the side in confusion.
“You’ve heard of me?” She asked, her expression souring, no doubt assuming he had heard of her service as the Queen’s chameleon.
“Of course. Prince Amon and his team are legendary. You and Dossidian are the stars of many fireside stories in Ursidae.” Koda informed her, and her expression went from sour, to excited, and my body suddenly felt warm all over. I hadn’t seen her eyes light up like that since before she had been taken.
“Really?” She asked, leaning forward, unable to keep the curiosity out of her tone. Koda chuckled kindly.
“Really. You will have to come visit and listen for yourself. Ursidae has some of the best storytellers in the land.”
Then, she smiled, and I think my fucking heart stopped.
It wasn’t one of her small, sad smiles that she tossed out as if she felt it was an obligatory response to an attempt at a joke.
It was her real smile. The one that she had plastered on countless times while teasing me in The Court of Pride’s library. Where we had spent hours searching together for information on the damned Flute and key.
It was the smile she had worn when I had danced with her by the pyre the night before I had solidified my claim as Rhoan.
It was the smile she had given me, when I had beaten K’yen, and unlocked the magick that held The Flute captive, proving that I was a true Rhoan, one that was brutal but fair.
It was a smile I had been so afraid I would never see on her face again.
When she turned to look at me, with her excitement plain as day and her eyes filled with life; I knew I would rip the sun out of the fucking sky for her, if it meant she might smile at me like that one more time.
