“And?”
I sighed and waited for him to reach me before lifting my fingers and tracing them over his jaw. “We have the rest of our lives. Caelan is a problem, and he's sent that problem to our doorstep. Let's deal with this, and then you can chase me around.”
His eyes took on an even deeper glow. “Chasing? We haven't done that yet.”
“You're awfully big,” I whispered. “Bet you can't catch me.”
Rowan's answering grin sent a thrill down my spine. “You forget, little Chimera, I am not just a bear.”
“Hmm. I guess we'll find out soon.”
Rowan growled and reached for me but missed when I danced out of his arms. “Come on. Let's see what this kid wants.”
His sigh was put upon, but he followed me toward the area of the main Keep. We didn't speak as we walked, both of us knowing our days of leisurely peace were over.
At least for a little while.
Chapter
Four
Ihated being right.
While the representative Caelan sent wasn't a child in the strictest definition of the word, he wasn't an adult either.
A shifter of about sixteen stood at the edge of the wards, his hands shoved in his pockets and a wary expression on his face. Several feet back, a female shifter waited, worry etched into the tightness of her jaw.
His mother most likely.
Caelan was a dick.
Rowan stepped up to the edge and stared at the teenager, his eyes flicking once to the woman before coming back to rest on him. “Name?”
“Je-Jensen,” the boy stuttered.
“Is that your mother?” Rowan jerked his head in the woman's direction.
“Y-yes.”
“She stays outside the wards.”
The woman stepped forward, her hand outstretched for her son. Rowan jerked his gaze to her and slowly shook his head. Empathy stretched through my heart. The woman was one of Caelan's people, but she was a mother first, and she had beensent to what her Lord considered enemy territory. She had no idea how this Lord would treat her son once he came onto Keep lands.
Even though I knew Rowan would open a vein before he harmed a child, this woman didn't know him. She only knew the lands she lived on were in stasis, and her Lord was trapped, a trap set by the woman who now stood beside the enemy Lord.
Her hand trembled, but she dropped it, clenching her fists tightly against her thighs.
Jensen turned to look at his mother.
She forced a smile and nodded, dread glimmering in moist eyes. “Go ahead. Your Lord asks this of you.”
She looked away and met and held Rowan's gaze. Most Lords would consider eye contact an insult, but Rowan wasn't like other Lords. He inclined his head in acknowledgment to her worry and her son's bravery. Rowan wasn't a full shifter and would never be like the others. What he saw was a mother who loved her child and was forced to send her son into a potentially dangerous situation.
Rowan could have allowed the mother in, but word would get back to Caelan, and he would find a way to use Rowan's empathy against us. He wouldn't promise this woman anything, but he would ensure the child's safety.
I held my hand up and opened a small slice of the wards. “Enter,” I said quietly.
Jensen looked at me for the first time, fear and awe written all over his face. From the slight widening of his eyes, I knew he recognized me. I was the woman responsible for their Lord's plight.
