“Too slo—fuck!”
I snickered as Bastian dropped Vail’s knife and gripped the one buried in his thigh, courtesy of Samara. He hissed as the dagger ripped from his flesh and flew back obediently to Samara’s palm. Vail recalled his dagger as well.
Apparently, Samara had shared her blood magic tricks with him.
“Don’t fuck with my mates, Bastian.” Samara pointed her dagger still coated with Bastian’s blood at him. “Also, Kieran is complaining that you haven’t responded to his messages . . . and that you stole his favorite vest.”
“It looks better on me.” Bastian rolled his eyes and clamped a hand over his thigh to slow the bleeding. Velesians healed the fastest out of all the Moon Blessed. In a couple of minutes, a minor wound like that would be completely healed. “And I’ll get back to him this week.”
“See that you do.” Samara licked the blood off the knife before tucking it back into the sheath under her sleeve. Moroi never wasted blood. She was used to my restlessness and I was used to her viewing any drop of blood as a meal. Vail’s silver eyes practically glowed as Samara strode over to him before standing on her tippy-toes to kiss his cheek. He bent down a bit to make her life easier and then spun her around so her back was to his chest.
It was still strange for me to see them like this. Vail had hated Samara for so long, even tried to kill her a couple of times, but there was no denying the love between them now.
A small ache formed inside my chest. I ignored it. Maybe I didn’t have exactly what Samara had, but I was still part of a pack.
“Let’s get this over with.” I sighed and headed towards the mirror.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Samara helpfully called out.
“Happy to kill anyone if you need it,” Vail offered. “Alpha pack included.”
“Thanks!” I waved happily over my shoulder, mostly because I knew it would annoy Bastian, which it clearly did because the asshole shoved me face-first through the mirror.
Chapter Two
Rynn
My face collided with something hard and unforgiving on the other side. I bounced back, only for Bastian to catch me as he stepped out of the mirror.
“You are the clumsiest wolf I’ve ever met.” He chuckled, his hands still on my shoulders.
“Stop shoving me into things.” I elbowed him in the gut and he grunted, dropping his hands and stepping back slightly. I tilted my head so I could actually look at the owner of the chest that masqueraded as a stone wall. “And you are seriously too tall, Cade.”
The six-and-a-half-foot-tall ursanthrope smiled at me. “Have you considered growing more?”
I snorted, wincing slightly because my nose still smarted from where I’d smacked it into his chest. Cade was the only person I’d ever met who made Vail look small. Not only was he ridiculously tall, but he had a heavy, muscular build, even for a bear shifter.
“I was just about to come get you,” Cade said. “The Dragomir pack arrived early, and I don’t want to keep them waiting.
Tension flickered in his light brown eyes as he looked over my head, some wordless exchange occurring between him and Bastian. They did that frequently. The two of them had been friends long before they’d formed the Alpha pack.
At that moment, I realized I was sandwiched between them. Neither were touching me, but Velesians tended to run hot, so I could feel their body heat radiating out and caressing my skin.
I was both blessed and cursed with an overactive imagination. Before a stream of dirty thoughts could flood my mind, I quickly stepped to the side so I could see both of them. Neither of them were interested in me in that way, and I didn’t want to make things awkward.
Bastian gave me an amused look before glancing at Cade. “Where’s the pup?”
Only Bastian would call Ryker, who was twenty-three years old and considered one of the strongest and most vicious fighters in Lunaria, a pup.
It probably annoyed Ryker to no end, which meant it made me happy.
“He’s with the Dragomirs,” Cade strode out of the room and waited for us to do the same before locking the door.
With the mirror secured, we headed for the stairs that lead to the main part of the abandoned Fae castle that made up the bulk of the Alpha stronghold. There were several outer buildings with courtyards scattered between them and the thick perimeter wall.
It wasn’t the prettiest of the old Fae castles, but I was getting used to calling it home.
“Sure that was a good idea?” Bastian followed quickly after Cade. “We’ll be lucky if they’re not in an all-out brawl when we get back.”
