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Alophi, more than the others, resented interference of any kind with his warriors, but was much less strict than Valgus with the overall running of pack community life.
Opening the door, he let them in, standing aside as each moved into his living room. He rarely had Guardsmen of any kind in his home, vampire or shifter, because of his preference for solitude, but he’d made the space large enough to accommodate the occasional visit.
Even so, four bulked up shifters took up a lot of room.
“What’s going on?” He glanced from one to the other.
Ephyx scowled all over again and a slight show of fur appeared at his jaw line, then disappeared, a sign of distress. “We each have sensitives in our ranks that can catch battle vibrations from hundreds of miles away. Something’s going on, Regis Seth, and we thought we should bring this to you.” The use of the recently acquired title surprised Seth, except that of all the species, shifters honored rank and pack order obsessively.
“You mean, all of you heard from your sensitives?”
The men nodded.
The mastyr part of him, the vibration that looked to Walvashorr interests, pulsed within him. He could feel it now as well, that something was on the wind.
He was about to call Lorelei to the living room, when the shifters almost as one turned in the direction of the doorway so he knew she’d already determined she was needed.
What happened next, however, stunned him, as each man sniffed the air then drifted to a position that placed Seth between Lorelei and the rest of them. The air became charged with a vibration that felt like respect, or maybe deference.
Lorelei’s voice was in his head. They smell that you’ve marked me.
He stared at her for a long moment.
He’d marked her. That’s what he’d done when he’d bit the back of her neck hard, then pierced her vein, all while making love to her. But hearing her say it within his mind, made it real and at the same time extraordinary.
He had mixed feelings, though. As private as he was, he didn’t like the idea of the shifters knowing he’d just had sex with Lorelei. He didn’t want her viewed in a light that might make her the brunt of typical male jokes. At the same time, knowing the shifter community as he did, marking was a critical factor in keeping unwanted male attention away from a woman, especially when a man had made his choice.
His chest puffed out a little as he moved toward her.
She met his gaze with that familiar expression of appreciation for him that he’d come to recognize. As she glanced at the shifters, she pathed, What a fine array of maleness.
He knew her by now and he glared playfully in return. You’re going to start with me? Here? In this room?
Anytime, Mastyr.
She got to him, to his sense of humor, his heart, and his groin all at the same time. Who was this woman who didn’t see him as an unconquerable mountain like most women did, but as her equal? And maybe she was his equal because he felt the latent power of her. She had abilities beyond what even he could comprehend, no doubt the same reason that had caused Margetta to target Walvashorr right now.
A new vibration took hold of Lorelei, but one that had nothing to do with sex or her role as prime female. Instead, he felt the dominant fae part of her spark to life as her eyes widened.
She gripped his arm. “This hasn’t happened before. Seth, I think I’m having a fae vision and it’s because of your alphas.”
He slid his arm around her waist. “I’ve got you.”
A trance slid over her and the shifters tensed up, almost as much as Seth did. Lorelei didn’t blink for the longest time, but she trembled, then essentially passed out.
He caught her in his arms, scowling down at her. So much had happened over the past few hours that his head spun. What the hell was going on in his life and in his realm?
She finally gasped a long, deep breath and her eyes fluttered open. “Put me on my feet and get a map of the Shauck Mountains now.”
She’d all but fainted, yet when she came to, her first words constituted a command. But it was there again, her latent power vibrating in the background and he intended to do as she wished.
He eased her onto her feet, steadying her. “There’s one in my library ready to go. I always keep it out.”
Waving everyone to the south section of his home, he took Lorelei’s hand.
His home had two rooms at the south end, one of them his bedroom. The other was his library with a plate glass window that overlooked the eastern portion of the gorge and the opposing tree-lined ridge.
A large table in front of the book-lined, south wall held a map of Walvashorr. Four pewter wolves, a gift from his housekeeper, kept the map pinned in place. He drew Lorelei to the other side, and once more supported her with an arm around her waist. The alphas took up places on the opposite side of the table well away from her.
