“Guys,” I said, embarrassed. They were being really loud, and people were starting to stare. Theo had clenched teeth, and his entire form bristled. He was going to transform any second.
I went to interfere, but Emma held me back. She shook her head, mouthing,Theo needs to get angry.
Is that why Alexei was holding back? To push these three past the breaking point? That seemed dangerous.
But I’d trust Alexei. As a griffin, he knew what emotions were the right ones to have at any given moment, and maybe things needed to blow up before they’d get better.
Igor rolled his eyes. “You know what? You’re too clingy, Odette. I can’t be with a girl who has all theseneeds.”
“Screw you!” Odette cried. “I’m tired of you! We’re breaking up for good!”
Igor pushed Odette. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough that she tripped and fell backward. She landed right in a mud puddle, splashing dirt all over her beautiful dress.
Everyone gasped. Everyone but Theo, that is, because he had lost his mind. Theo erupted into his alicorn form and put his horn down. He pounded his hoof against the stone before he charged.
Igor saw him coming. He changed into an alicorn, and his horn hit Theo’s as the two collided. People scattered out of the way as squeals and brays erupted from the two stallions. Theo reared on his back legs, and Igor copied him. Their hooves lashed out violently as their heads sparred, horns clashing like two swords on the battlefield.
Theo took his hoof and smashed it against Igor’s nose. Igor fell back, surprised, and squealed as Theo dug his horn into Igor’s shoulder, drawing blood. Theo didn’t hold back with the first blow— he turned around and kicked Igor with his back legs, knocking him down and digging his horn into the alicorn’s sides again and again.
Igor scrambled to get back up, and gave a cry of pain as Theo’s teeth dug into his withers. His hooves slipped on the cobblestone, and blood dripped down his flank as Igor tried to get away. Theo didn’t let him up, only struck out with his horn violently. Odette sat in the mud puddle with an open mouth, watching the two alicorns duel in disbelief.
“He’s gonna kill him,” Emma gasped, grabbing me as Theo continued his relentless assault.
I knew Theo would. If one thing was for certain, you didn’t threaten a shifter’s mate. It was the easiest way to get yourself killed, and Igor had majorly crossed that line.
I felt a soothing, calm emotion lull over me, and I knew Alexei was working his magic. The empathy magic washed over Theo, and he held back, if just for a moment, though I could see him actively fighting against Alexei’s powers.
Igor took his chance and ran. People cheered and clapped as Igor darted off, thrilled to see such a good fight between shifters— there were always a few duringHeimskanun.Theo stood, sides shuddering as he watched Igor gallop down the street. Once Igor had vanished into the crowd, Theo changed back into a man and turned to Odette immediately.
“My dress!” Odette was sobbing buckets. She was so unhappy the pretty dress she’d worked on for weeks was ruined. Theo reached out to lift her out of the mud puddle, and cradled her in his arms, dirt staining his vest.
“We’ll get you a new one. Come on.” Theo carried Odette off. They were gone in half the time it’d taken Igor to turn tail.
Delmare looked amused, if not slightly worried. “Should we follow them?”
Kiara shook her head. “I think we should give those two a little private time. That was pretty intense.”
“She just broke up with the guy she thought was the love of her life,” Emma pointed out.
“Eh, she’s with Theo. She’ll be back to herself in a jiffy. I say we drink to the fact that the bastard is gone for good,” Stefan suggested. “Who wants ale?”
Alcohol sounded like a pretty damn good idea, so we made our way to one of the ale booths. As Stefan bought us a round, I noticed Arthur, Vara, Ozzie and Jasper at a table nearby… along with that rogue Finlay. Ugh. Why didhehave to be here?
He wasted no time in sauntering up to our table. Emma unlooped herself from my arm as he came near, and he bent down. “About time I saw you, lass.”
“I was just about to start looking for you,” Emma said, and Finlay kissed her. The demon cackled in glee— my mouth soured, and my wolf went nuts. I suppressed the instinctual urge to pounce on Finlay and rip his throat out, and decided to excuse myself from the situation before I started a fight of my own, and lost, on account of how weak I was.
“I’m going to take a walk,” I grumbled as I got up from the table. Emma frowned, but at least she didn’t say anything.
That kiss had gotten me fired up enough I could get around the festival on my own. I shuffled around on pure testosterone as I did whatever I could to get myself as far away from Finlay as possible.
Curly-haired Scottish bastard.
The leshane was having a great old time, poking at old wounds. He brought up the sight of Emma kissing Finlay again and again within my thoughts, and the rage that welled nearly choked me. I took a seat on a bench near a wine tasting and tried to breathe, so I didn’t go right back to the ale booth and punch Finlay in the nose.
“Didyou hearabout Emmaline Sosna?”
“What is it? Is there another rumor in the papers again?”
