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His mother laughed delightedly. “That means the match is very strong. He won’t be able to resist you. ”
“But-but I thought…”
“Shhh…” his mother cautioned him. “Say nothing. Let me handle everything. ”
The queen sprang to her feet, and turned her steely gaze on the Lycans grouped together around their alpha. He had already recovered and was pushing them all away, protesting that he was fine. He pulled away from the one standing closest to him and brushed past Queen Ashlan to where Merrial was helping Kai get to his feet.
He fixed Kai with a burning glare that swept over him from his head to his feet. “What-what in all the worlds are you?” he asked softly.
Chapter Two
A stunned silence fell over the assembled council members. Queen Ashlan gasped, glancing over at the council as i
f to gauge their reaction to his softly murmured words. From the moment he’d touched her, he’d known she belonged to him. Against all odds, he had found his true mate—in a female. But how could it be possible? He’d never before been attracted to a female—he found them pretty and even charming, but no female had ever stirred him sexually. His previous sexual partners had all been male, and indeed, even Ivan’s curse had foretold that all the alpha descendants would prefer other men. His own father and his uncles had to use surrogate females for their offspring.
This beauty before him had almost made him lose all control, and he hated that feeling. It was a weakness that he couldn’t allow in himself. The moment he touched Kai, such strong surges of possessiveness swept over him that he could barely stop himself from wrapping his arms around her. The word mine seared through his brain and he felt his incisors drop from his gums, and his claws tingled in his fingertips.
When he’d fallen back into Blayde’s arms, he heard Blayde whisper, “Oh gods. ” Blayde had been the first of the alphas to find his mate, and Lucas knew he well remembered what that looked and felt like. Blayde would have recognized the overpowering instinct to rut with a mate, and his fingers had tightened on Lucas’s biceps. “Hold on,” he’d said, leaning down and putting his mouth against Lucas’s ear. “You’ll hurt her if you approach her like this. ”
Lucas nodded, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it. “I know,” he growled. Finally forcing his incisors up, he took a deep breath and looked back over at the princess. He saw the beautiful, tempting Kai clutch her chest. He instantly regretted the harshness of his words if they brought such pain to those already sad brown eyes. “I-I mean, I’m sorry, Princess, if I startled you. ” He managed a very creditable bow. “Your great beauty distracted me. ”
Kai inclined her head, dropping her eyelids over those incredible eyes, and her mother, the queen, seemed to heave a sigh of relief. Perhaps his strange reaction had made the queen think he was rejecting Kai. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now that he’d seen Kai, touched her, he could never be parted from her, no matter what. He would fight any man or woman in this assembly who tried to take Kai from him. He no longer had any fears about being able to get it up for her, either—he was hard and aching for her even now.
The queen rushed over to him and took his arm, drawing him back toward the council table. “Why don’t you sit down, Alpha Lucas, and have refreshment? Kai, darling, come and sit next to your future husband. ”
Kai came forward slowly, as Lucas carefully watched every step she took, clenching his fists to keep from going to her. When she reached them, he couldn’t stop himself from taking her arm possessively. Another jolt ran through him when he touched her, not nearly so strong this time, but strong enough to make him hiss in a breath. He gave a little cough to try hiding it, and pulled her close by his side. Only when he had her close to him like this did his wolf subside a little, calming back down because its mate was close and under his control. They followed the queen back to the long table where the council members were seated, but instead of joining them at the far end of the table, he sat down among his family members, with Kai at his side. Only then did he begin to feel more comfortable.
For his mate’s part, she was wide-eyed and looked a bit frightened—not surprising, considering she was surrounded by the six huge Lycan alphas. She was tall herself, like all the Scythians, but she lacked the bulk of the Lycans. She was far more delicate, though from what he could see of it through the robes she wore, her body was beautiful. Lucas looked around at his brother and cousins and saw them giving Kai surreptitious looks of admiration and even lust. So they felt it too, though the expressions of wanting on the faces of his unmated cousins caused him to feel even more aggressive. He stretched an arm around the back of Kai’s chair and gave each of them a menacing look. Konnor laughed and shoved an elbow into Kyle’s side. Kyle had the good grace to look guilty and stare down at his plate.
Servants brought out food that Lucas was unfamiliar with, but he sampled each of the dishes they held out to him. “I do hope you enjoy the wild gallion, Alpha. Our hunters are quite skilled. Kai herself killed this one in preparation for this feast. ”
“Is that so, Kai?” he asked her quietly. “Do you enjoy hunting then?”
“Yes,” Kai answered softly. Her voice had an odd pitch—not unpleasing, but husky and soft.
When she didn’t elaborate, he tried again. “Crossbow? Or do you use other weapons?”
“We use bows, your majesty. ”
Nikolai laughed shortly. “We don’t use the fancy titles on Lycanus, Princess Kai. Just call him Lucas. ”
Kai flushed and nodded. Lucas found her icy cold hand under the table and squeezed her fingers. She looked up at him in surprise and gave him the first genuine smile he’d seen from her. It was breathtaking. The smile twisted up her bow-shaped lips and lit up her golden brown eyes. The half-hard erection that remained from their first encounter became rigid again.
Lucas hardly knew what he was eating, but it all tasted delicious, and he wondered if Kai would like the Lycan food as much. Things would be so different for her on Lycanus 3. He spent a great deal of time at the mines, overseeing the operation, and he wondered what she might do to fill her days. Now that he knew she liked hunting, he could arrange an occasional excursion for her to the mountains, not far from Balenescu City. The forests there were teeming with game. He thought he might put up some targets on his property too, so she could practice with her bow. His mind was so filled with possibilities, Larssen had to say his name twice to get his attention.
“Lucas. Did you hear me? The queen said there’ll be dancing after supper. What are you going to do?” It had long been a running joke how badly Lucas danced. A large man, he still managed to move gracefully, except when it came to dancing. On the dance floor, he definitely had two left feet.
“Don’t worry about me, Larssen. I’ll sit here and talk to my fiancée. ”
“And miss out on a chance to hold Kai in your arms?” Larssen shook his head. “Lucas is getting old—definitely getting old. ”
“I’ll show you who’s old, boy…” Lucas said leaning over in front of Kai to snarl playfully at his cousin. When he did, Kai’s strong scent assailed his nostrils. There was something—not quite right about it. Underneath the oils and perfumes he could detect Kai’s own delicious, clean odor, but it didn’t strike him as female. He leaned back and gazed thoughtfully at Kai again. Her hands were small, even delicate compared to Lucas’s own, but her jawline was firm and strong. Despite the beauty of her lips and eyes, she had an androgynous vibe that disturbed Lucas.
He wondered fleetingly if that could be the answer to this mystery of why he was so attracted to a female. Some planets he’d been to in his travels had three sexes, male, female and intersex, who were some combination of male and female. He dismissed the idea almost at once, though. He’d never heard of it on Scythia before, and their laws and customs were known to be conservative and very narrow-minded. Certainly word would have gotten back to the Alliance if one of the royal daughters had been intersex. The queen might have even asked for Alliance protection for her child. No, that couldn’t be it, yet there was something different about his mate, and he was determined to find out what it was.
It would make absolutely no difference in the possessiveness he felt for Kai. He would be leaving here with her, no matter what. But Lucas hated a mystery, and vowed to get to the bottom of this one.
The queen stood up to announce the musicians and Lucas applauded politely along with everyone else. He was surprised to feel Kai’s soft breath along his cheek. Leaning close to him, she whispered. “I really don’t mind about the dancing. I don’t like it much either. ” Her delectable scent wafted over Lucas again, making him feel a little light-headed.
