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Calys no longer wanted to see him. Alejandro’s fingers tightened around his mug at the thought. Just thinking about it made him want to smash something, but it was the memory of her trying so hard to look at him without crying that made him want to kill. Goddammit, he hadn’t wanted to hurt her like that. She kept saying she was a warrior. If she really was one, shouldn’t she have been the first to realize that love was just bullshit spelled with four letters?
His thoughts were interrupted as the doors behind him swung open, and boys from Calys’ new race strolled in. Souris, they were called. Angels with mortal blood. He had heard about them, of course, but he had thought they were just rumors. Even now, Alejandro couldn’t quite wrap his head around it, especially when he considered the fact that his hellcat was one of them. They were a quiet bunch in general, but the young boys behind him were a bit noisier, probably because of their age.
“What time will you be leaving?”
“Just a little after midnight.” The rueful answer was from the boy seated in the middle. “I’ve been tasked to go to the monastery, where the Lady Cayan lives.”
The third boy whistled. “Darn, that’s far. You know you gotta cross mountains to reach that place, don’t you?”
“They say that place’s full of chicks,” the first boy said a little enviously. “If any one of them looks even half as pretty as the Invisa Julianna, then I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat.”
“But I heard they have a vow of chastity. I don’t think I can even steal a kiss from one of them. And I can’t really stay long, you know? My mission’s to ask the Lady Cayan if she can think of a proper match for the Princess—-”
The three boys fell silent, rendered speechless by nervous fear as a werewolf prince looking larger than life suddenly appeared before them.
Alejandro asked in a menacingly soft voice, “Which princess are you talking about?”
The three boys looked at each other. Finally, the oldest-looking one mumbled, “Princess Calys, Your Highness.”
“And you say you’re in search for a proper...match?” Alejandro felt like he was hearing someone else speak the words coming out from his mouth. Jealous rage had him cracking his knuckles every few seconds, the sound reverberating throughout the bar, which was now quiet as a tomb. The boys gulped and stared. It was as if they feared taking their eyes off his knuckles, fearing that the first one to do so would get a taste of his fist.
When the boys didn’t answer, Alejandro asked again, “Wasn’t that what you said?”
The oldest boy nodded reluctantly. “We are to formally announce the royal house’s need for a proper match for the Princess, a husband—-” He stopped speaking when the werewolf prince turned and walked away without a word.
No fucking way. The words repeated over and over in Alejandro’s mind as he stalked his way towards Calys’ place. The room she rented was at the topmost floor of the inn, and when he reached the place, he immediately saw the guards stationed on each side of Calys’ bedroom door. Souris as well, by the scent of them.
He turned to face them, but their faces remained stoic. Looking at them, he suddenly thought of Misty Wall, the human girl his eldest brother married as part of his plan to rule the race. Misty had been fascinated with all non-human creatures and had grown up listening to stories about them. She would have loved to know about the Souris.
Thinking about Misty made Alejandro realize something else. The absence of bitterness – a feeling he had been denying all this time. Before tonight, he had been unconsciously bitter about Misty. His brother was the strongest of their race, the most powerful, and yet she had so easily exposed his weakness by making him fall in love with her.
He had hated her for it, but he had never been able to admit it to himself because even he knew it was wrong. Love could destroy anyone. Alejandro finally understood that. It had the power to make anyone weak and vulnerable, and there was no exception to the rule. Not Domenico, not Misty herself, and certainly neither Calys nor him.
But...
It could be avoided. Love could be avoided, and he had to make Calys see that. He also had to convince her that she didn’t damn well need another fucking fiancé to solve her problems. Been there, done that. Didn’t they have that kind of cliché up in panther land? Or were they too busy busting each other’s balls to learn about common sense?
He started for her door. Tonight, whatever it took, he would make Calys realize that all she needed was him.
The guards didn’t move a muscle as he stopped before Calys’ door. He knocked on the door hard. “I’d like to talk to you.” A part of him expected the guards to react at his curt tone, but they didn’t even blink. Smart of them. In the mood he was in, he might just end up knocking them out cold if they tried getting in his way.
