“Only the best for our prince,” the other said with a smirk.
We walked out the back doors, and the sounds of the house faded. Immediately, I smelled wolves. House Bartlett had just over forty consorts, and they were spread out on the wide lawn with their mages. None were shifted yet, and my eyes roved over the pairings.
Rhys was fluttering around Nia, fixing her hair and adjusting the fall of her shirt. She tolerated their attention with a patient expression but nudged them when we came out the door.
Theo was off to the side, leaning heavily on a cane, his mage whispering in his ear. “I’ll speak to Prince Bartlett. We can get you out of this.”
Isaac and Jay approached first.
“He’s already shifted.” Isaac stared at the heavy leather collar in Cade’s hands. “He’s going uncollared?”
“I haven’t had time to perfect the magic on his collar. I have no desire to strangle him while he’s hunting.” Cade drew the leather strap tight between his hands, then let it go.
With every eye on him, he lifted his hand and rested it between my shoulder blades. I felt the pressure settle into my bones. My mate—no, Cade was my employer. I had to remember that. Why did I keep forgetting when I hadneverforgotten with Declan?
Cade, my employer, needed me to be strong. He needed me to be an alpha.
A familiar scent came out the door behind us, and I turned my head just far enough to see Jesaiah and Leon.
The older werewolf stared at me, his eyes sharpening and shifting. He pulled back his lips, but before he could do anything, Leon’s hand tightened on his shoulder, and he looked down at the ground.
I turned away, dismissive.
“Do you have a tracker on Jay?” Cade asked.
Isaac nodded. “We’ll know where they are at all times.”
Jay was staring at me, eyes wide. He swallowed. “I don’t know if I can keep up with him.”
I growled low, the rumble vibrating through my chest. Cade’s hand tightened in my fur, but I didn’t smell fear.
Jay’s eyes dropped. “I don’t know if I can.”
I walked forward, then opened my mouth, just wide enough to grip his hand. Gently, the way I might take the scruff of the cub’s fur between my teeth, I bit down. Not hard enough to break the skin, nothing more than a warning. I had already told him. He was a wolf. He was a member of the pack we couldn’t admit to being.
He trembled, and I released his hand. He was still staring down at the ground, but he nodded when I looked up at him.
With one last glance at Cade, I moved through the pack of wolves, collecting them behind me. At the edge of the forest, Sonja and Tyson were locked in an embrace, both of her hands pressed to his cheeks, his arms wrapped around her waist.
Ignoring them, I lifted my head and howled. The sound echoed, loud and encompassing, calling every wolf in the vicinity to me.
Bones cracked, skin split, and screams of pain turned into harsh, ragged growls.
The shifted wolves approached me, shaking off the vestiges of their humanity as they yipped and snapped, the hierarchy falling into place quickly. I recognized Jay immediately. He was smaller than the rest, more coyote than wolf. Theo was in the back, magic bracing one of his hind legs, glowing in the dark like a bioluminescent bone.
Coral trotted up next to me. I recognized her by scent alone. Nia was already at my shoulder. Her black fur was as dark as the deepest forest shadow.
When I lifted my chin, howling again, the sound splitting the night, one voice after another joined me.
This was pack. This was how we were supposed to live.
Tyson moved forward, trotting into the woods, and I growled, warning him off.
He paused, eyes narrowed, teeth bared. As I stepped forward, he pulled his shoulders back, lifting his chin. Then Nia was between us, bumping him off-balance, and Coral followed her, nipping at Tyson’s shoulder.
Backing off, he bowed his head, although I could see it wasn’t a surrender so much as picking his battles.
I moved into the woods, a slow trot at first that became a run as my body readjusted to wolf form. Nia was beside me, and I could feel the rest of the House Bartlett wolves, their feet silent, the only sound the occasional swish of leaves.
