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Those kids, Meridia knew, were the only reason Zee had held on.
“So you’ve adopted her into your family then?”
“We don’t have packs like you Therians.” Meridia smirked. “We care for and treasure people regardless of whether they swear fealty to the Atargarian, unless they give us cause to do otherwise.”
A taut silence stretched on, shattered like glass when Nikolai all but growled, “Be that as it may, Zee is a Therian wolf who has been away from her pack, her family, her people for too long. Unless she’s given you her loyalty, that means she’s my responsibility and there is no disputing that.”
“Hmm.” Tapping her lips again, Meridia nodded slowly. “Well, you could be partially right. She has been far from her people for too long. But Zee has no pack, Prime. She’s an outcast.” She made the words a purr. “I wonder why that is.”
He flinched.
“As the Appalachian Prime, I would have to agree a lone Therian wolf without pack or home would probably fall under your aegis. Yet, you still haven’t said—”
“Please, for fuck’s sake,” he snarled, the sound clawing free from his throat like an echo of the claws she knew he wanted to use—on her.
Meridia smiled inwardly, delighted. So... it wasn’t just Zee who’s still trapped.
“Of course, Prime Whelan,” she said, outwardly somber. She even dropped her eyes in a brief gesture of acquiescence. He wasn’t fooled. She saw the suspicion in his gaze, running neck and neck with anger. “There are just a few stipulations. I’m sure you understand.”
“Name them.”
“You have only Twenty-four hours to enter my territory—and exit. No more.”
“Agreed.” His face had gone impassive once more, but the derision in his tone made it clear he didn’t intend to be there more an hour, tops.
Wait until you start trying to drive through my crowded city, sugar.
“You can’t shift while in my territory. It will freak people out. They’re not used to seeing wolves out on the cape. So be polite and respect that.”
“Fine.”
“You’re being so cooperative. I do appreciate it, Prime.” She gave him a coy smile and leaned closer.
He didn’t look at all intrigued, and that pleased Meridia even more. “The next stipulation?”
“You can’t force Zee to do anything she doesn’t want to do.”
“She needs pack, home.” He ground his teeth together. “If need be, I’ll take her to Greylock—”
“The fuck you will,” Meridia said, fury slicing through her façade and shredding her control. Her rage echoed in the cutting brilliance of the siren’s song that hummed in her blood... and now her voice. The full power of it, not just a hint.
The connection between them, electronic and computerized, filtered out some of her voice’s power but it still hit Niko with enough force to make him stagger for a brief moment, then sway for another before he threw off the shock.
His teeth had lengthened when he looked back at her.
She didn’t draw back.
“Zee would rather die than return to Mount Greylock. Unless you give me your word as Prime that you will not take her there, then consider this an absolute, hell-fucking no to your request. If you do attempt to enter my lands without my permission, it will be seen as an act of aggression against one of mine. She is under my protection, Whelan. Remember that.”
Nikolai’s features smoothed, returned to normal. Even the anger she’d seen in his eyes was gone, sucked back inside him in a way that might have disturbed Meridia if she hadn’t been riding the razor’s edge of her own fury. She was braced for questions. But there were none.
“You have my word as Prime I won’t take her to or near Greylock—not unless she asks it of me.”
“She’d slit her wrists first.” Meridia curled her lip. “If you think she’d ever ask it, then you know nothing about Zennia Day—you likely never did. You will not force her to go anywhere or do anything—agreed?”
“Agreed. Anything else?”
“Yes.” Showing him the razor edge of her own fury, she said, “If Zee agrees to go anywhere with you, then my people have open access to her, wherever she is within your territory—whenever we wish to see her. Even if it’s five decades from now.”
The thick sweep of Nikolai’s lashes swept down, concealing the vivid, rich cobalt of his eyes. “Why?”
“Because... if she needs an out, my people will provide it. I don’t trust any of yours to leave her be.”
Lids lifting, Nikolai stared at her with power pulsing in those startling eyes.
“You think I cannot keep a woman safe in my territory?”
“I’m thinking you never considered her safety or well-being after you threw her aside when she was eighteen years old and told her to never return to Appalachia. Why the fuck should I trust any of you to look after the safety of my friend now?”
